It's time to make the donuts....or in my case...the jewelry

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  It's time (for me at least) to focus on making jewelry.  I have been away from it for a while. My day job has required a lot of my time over the last year and I have been trying to spend time with my Mom on Saturday's.  This year has brought some health issues and family issues that have made it an emotional roller coaster. The stress has brought on a kind of mental paralysis. When I'm not going 110 miles an hour I'm either binge-watching TV or endlessly surfing the internet. It's been a means of escape but now I think it's time to get back to it. 

So....this weekend I purged my closest.....I know, I know...nothing to do with making jewelry.  But I filled 5 bags with clothes that have just been hanging around (literally) for years. I look in the closet now and feel good. I actually have room for my clothes to hang properly and not get all smashed and wrinkled. My colors are slowing being winnowed down to black, grey, and white. And I'm OK with that. Goes good with my grey hair. There are a few dashes of color...but not many. My boss teases me about wearing black all the time. It's just easy to wear black.  Here is an interesting article on "8 Reasons Successful People Are Choosing to Wear the Same Thing Every Day". 

But...I digress...back to the jewelry.  I have been spending a few hours here and there cleaning, sorting and purging the studio. Like most students, with each class that I took, I would buy supplies and equipment to continue the technique on my own. Some stuck and others didn't. As my skills advanced I bought better tools.  Well...I now have a couple of storage boxes full of little used equipment and beads to move out. I have a ways to go in this process since I have boxes in the garage full of teaching supplies that need to be sorted and stored. As with my closet, it feels good to purge and frees up space both mentally and physically for new work. 

As I move around the room I am drawn in by various keepsakes and remembrances.  I have a ton of books.  I am a card carrying member of the book whore club....that would be a great name for a book club by the way.  I think it goes back to when I was a kid. My dad used to buy Reader's Digest books. The one I remember the most was 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.  In fact I think that one might merit a re-read sometime soon.

But I always surround myself with books. They come and go. Some I read and then move them on to their next owner. Others I keep. 

More books....

After coming back from the Color on Metal workshop with Deb Karash, I pulled out a couple of books I've had on the shelf....Pollen and Seeds.  Yes I know...exciting, page-turning books...but the pictures have these great color combinations and bizarre shapes.  Wild Acre girls....you should check these out. To round out the series, I still need to get Fruit: Edible, Inedible, Incredible.  I live such an exciting life. 

 

I seem to be cramming things in every where.  I have rocks sent to me by my sister from Montana and rocks from my brother's beach in Vermillion.  Cats and vases and a Botticelli. 

The Botticelli is Venus and Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman. Below is just a small piece of it. I saw this it the Louvre and had to sit in front of it for a while. I think it is one of the most beautiful pieces of art I have ever seen.  It was found in a villa under a coat of whitewash.  

And elephants.  For some reason I have started a small elephant collection.  I also have more than a few silver pendants from India with Ganesh represented on them.

Various bits I've collected. The bottles are old lemonade bottles are from France and hold oil and water for when I work in metal clay. The Eiffel Tower one of those touristy things you buy when you are in Paris. The set of keys hanging off the tower are old keys from France. 

Two of my favorite "Bad Boys"...at least they thought they were on a long ago summer day at Put-In-Bay.  Doug and Lou were both in the military and I've never felt more safe than being surrounded by these two.

And Sophie has her own basket on the shelf to sleep in.  When she isn't walking all over my beads you can find her in the basket. 

 And what studio would be complete without a baby head with a rhino horn and a scary little girl. I usually look like her just after I get home from work.

A tribute to my friendship with Cris. We found this is Tucson a few years ago while there for the Gem in Mineral Show.

A few old hammers on the wall and a couple of Van Gogh's.  I brought the prints back from Amsterdam after visiting the Van Gogh Museum there. 

I have five or six of Mercury glass ornaments hanging in the studio. I just like the look of them.

My wall of beads.  I hammered 30 plus holes in the wall for all the hooks before I realized I should have just put up a wire grid and only put 4 holes in the wall.

And the studio wouldn't be complete without the hole in the ceiling. One night during a storm, part of a tree came through the roof and studio ceiling.  The roof was repaired right away but we never did get the ceiling repaired. One of the times Cris was here she looked up and grabbed the hand off the desk and stuck it in the hole. It's been there ever since.  I wouldn't think of fixing it now....it goes with the baby head and scary girl so well.