New Pics

"I had a farm in Africa....

at the foot of the Ngong hills." Out of Africa is a classic book and movie. Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen) wrote a wonderful story and Meryl Streep and Robert Redford brought it to life on the screen.

A couple of pieces inspired by African artifacts....

Necklaces...

The first two are based on drawer pulls I found in Tucson. In the first necklace I included Napalese bone beads inlaid with brass rings.

This one was created after studying a painting of NYC buildings and bridges.

Happy Sweetest Day

I didn't know that Sweetest Day originated in Cleveland and that not everyone celebrates it or even knows about it. Here is the Wikipedia story behind the day.

The origin of Sweetest Day is frequently attributed to candy company employee Herbert Birch Kingston as an act of philanthropy. However, Bill Lubinger, a reporter for The Plain Dealer, contends that "Dozens of Cleveland's top candy makers concocted the promotion 84 years ago and it stuck, although it never became as widely accepted as hoped." The Cleveland Plain Dealer's October 8, 1921 edition, which chronicles the first Sweetest Day in Cleveland, states that the first Sweetest Day was planned by a committee of 12 confectioners chaired by candymaker C. C. Hartzell. The Sweetest Day in the Year Committee distributed over 20,000 boxes of candy to "newsboys, orphans, old folks, and the poor" in Cleveland, Ohio. The Sweetest Day in the Year Committee was assisted in the distribution of candy by some of the biggest movie stars of the day including Theda Bara and Ann Pennington.

Sweetest Day now involves giving small gifts and cards to your loved ones.

So we woke up today and Lou said..."I have a card for you but I haven't signed it yet" and I said "I have a card for you too ,but I can't find it" And we both started laughing.

Pouting Buddah

I wore the two of these together today. The bottom piece is 24" and was made from a drawing I did on Scribbler. I added a garnet drop. It swings back and forth when I move and makes a soft jingling noise. The top one is 18" and I've renamed him to Pouting Buddah and he has that great deep red color to match the garnet. I think I'm gonna have to keep these two.

The Pouting Buddah is perfect right now. That's my mood at work. I'm having an issue. I can't be promoted because rankings at my level are based on the size of your department and budget. So no matter how good I am at my job or how many extra projects I take on for the Institute at large...and I take on a lot of extra projects... I can only advance if I take a position with another department. I can never understand why employeers put people in this position. I've been with the department for 13 years so I won't be leaving. But I also won't be taking on extra projects anytime soon....Why Bother? I will get over this and go back to being my over-acheiving self...but for right now I'm not happy...I'm pouting...LOL.

I will be wearing Pouting Buddah everyday for a while....because it will make me laugh.

Baubles....

Happy Buddha...although he doesn't look to happy. I think I'm going to dome the discs a bit. He looks a little too flat on the top and bottom. Maybe then he'll be happier.


A couple of resin pieces. I think I made these about 2 years ago but never put them into jewelry.



This was the disc I was drilling. I put the 4 side holes in when I made the piece but then decided to use it in a different way so I drilled one hole and decided I wanted a second hole. Two days later when I was done drilling :) I put the piece together.

Drilling Bronze....Again

I spent another few minutes drilling a hole in a bronze piece today. I have to stop making my pieces so thick. Anyway... my brother the welder and around the house magic man...he builds everything....say that when drilling bronze be sure to use high speed steel drill bits. And there's a tool out there called a Drill Doctor. It sharpens dull drill bits. COOL!!!

Assembly...

I am busy assembling jewelry. Pulling pieces parts together. Bronze pendants, chain, gemstones, glass beads. I zone out when I'm doing this...because I enjoy it. I'm such a messy person. My desk becomes one huge pile of stuff and I end up digging through piles to find what I'm looking for. It not unusual for me to spend a few minutes looking for something .... just to find it's right in front of me. What's up with that? Why can't my brain see it the first time I look? I guess it's like finding Waldo. All the bronze pieces parts are roughly the same color so as I scan the desk I look right over it. It's so frustrating.

I need to become more methodic. Keep all gemstones on the left side, all glass beads on the right, all findings in their bags in a box and all pendants in another box. Ah...but what fun would that be. It's my fate to work in organized chaos. I'm like that at work too. Paperwork in stacks all over my desk....somewhat organized but chaotic. About twice a week I gather up all the papers into a stack and resort and organize and start making a mess all over again. I guess a leopard doesn't change it's spots.

Bronze is hard!!

Funny...I've been working in bronze clay since it was released and never drill it before. I always made my holes prior to firing. Yesterday I had a piece that needed a hole. So I drilled...and drilled...and drilled. I knew bronze was hard....but I didn't realize it was that hard.

And I think that's about all I have to say today.

Gemstones and Mushrooms

I went to another gem show last Saturday and picked up a few more strands. I'm into facetted rondelles right now.

I picked up a few really rough strands of turquoise and some other stones. Funny...the ones I thought were the coolest were the cheapest.


I also got some silver. This is a small size chain..the discs are about 4mm. Nice and shiny...but not for long. I'll be dropping it into some LOS to give it a nice aged look.


Lou came home with another cigar box for me today. Perfect for storing all the gemstones.


Now for the mushrooms....seems like the lawn has become a mushroom farm. We found another large bunch of mushrooms today. Really cool shapes.


The undersides were really amazing.

Melancholy Baby

Boy...that's what I have been recently. Lovely word melancholy...and wistful. Polite names for sadness or depression. I'm not depressed. Just overworked and tired. Susan said it when she wrote " Having come from the corporate world, I found we were acting and deciding at 100 mph." Sometimes I find Mach 1 is a more apt description. I'm going through a phase at work right now that as I clear one item off my desk, 3-4 have come through the door to replace it. And though I am good at not bringing work home either physically or mentally....these times at work are draining. Once at home I have no energy to do anything except stare vacantly at the TV with a little bit of drool coming out of the corner of my mouth....I'm serious :)

So I've decided to fine-tune. My own personal 12 step program to focusing my life.

Step 1: Stay off the internet ....and here I sit blogging. But blogging isn't what I'm referring to. I have a bad habit of non-stop surfing...reading other blogs, searching for the next thing that will spike my interest, taking stupid quizes on FaceBook. It's like being a junky. I'm looking for that next fix.

Step 2: Get more sleep. I'm not doing myself any favor by only getting 6 hours of sleep a night. Especially since I'm staying up late surfing the internet or watching a movie that I've probably seen before. I'm better off getting a extra couple hours of sleep

That's all I got for now...If I can do those two things, it'll be an acheivment.

I'm in a mood...

Usually when I say that...I'm angry. I'm in more of a contemplative funk. I've been thinking about where I am in life and what I want to do next. And I've come to a conclusion....I have no idea.

I was reading Helen Drigg's flashcard and she quoted Lew Wackler as saying to acheive master status at something you need to put in 10,000 hours. And this got me thinking about where my life is going.

Do I concentrate on my job? I'm rather good at what I do...which mostly involves crunching numbers. I'm good at math. In college we had the option of not going to calculus class if we could pass the standardized tests. So I skipped class, taught myself calculus and passed all the tests with A's. I sometimes wonder if I should have gone for a degree in Math rather than Biology. But at the time I was headed for a career in the medical laboratory. I've been at my current job for 12 years. Given an average 8 hour day....I've put in close to 25,000 hours. I've definetely acheived master status.

Then there's the jewelry. I whine alot about the fact that I work a full time job and have limited time to design. But it's a fact....that I whine and that I have limited time. I estimate that it would take me about 20 years at my current rate to acheive master status. Now that's depressing. Especially since I ping-pong back and forth about the techniques and styles I want to focus on.

So I am contemplating the future...the shows this summer drained me. It was hard to prepare for them, do them, and work.. And each day I take as PTO to do a show is a day of vacation that I won't be taking to spend time with Lou.

I'm in search of balance and direction.

Old Transit Maps

If you like old maps...old transit maps...old New York City transit maps.....take a look at this site. It has all kinds of old maps of the transit system.

Countdown to Paris...

64 days to go. The apartment is booked. I can't wait to see this place. It has beams going through the living room and a ton of windows. It's up on the 5th floor so it overlooks the rooftops. At night you can see Notre Dame off in the distance.



We booked the flights tonight. Lou travels so much that he had enough frequent flyer miles for both of us to get free tickets. Woo-Hoo!!!

Gemstones

I played hooky from work this afternoon and went to the Rings and Things show. It was only in town for one day and ran from 12-4 so I had no choice but to take the afternoon off. I was looking for some small rondelles to use with the bronze. I picked up a few strands....garnet, labradorite, sodalite, and carnelian.



But my most favortie buy was a strand of jade Happy Buddha beads. There are about 20 of them in the strand and each one is a little bit different. There were only 2 strands and now I'm thinking I should have bought the other strand too....Oh Well.



There is another gem show in town this weekend at the county fairgrounds and since Lou is golfing Saturday morning I think I'll be heading to the show. This will be a bigger show with different vendors. I'm still looking for some amethyst and anything else that catches my eye...like the Happy Buddha's.

Crack....Thud.....Whoosh!!!!

That's the sound of a tree falling. And this is the second time it's happened this summer. Not the whole tree...but a very very very large branch. Extend your arms out in front of you in a circle.....that's about the size of it.

At 2AM this morning I awoke to that sound. Luckily the last sound was a whoosh...which means the tree didn't hit anything. The whoosh is the sound that the leaves make as they sort of whiplash on the ground after it hits. If the tree had hit something it would have been Crack....Thud....metal crunching, glass breaking, cats screaming.

It spanned across the entire front yard and down into the driveway in between our two cars. It missed the cars, missed the lampost, missed the fence, missed the house. It did take out a little 3' tall Japanese Maple. But we were extremely lucky there was no significant damage.

The tree dudes came out right away, cut it up, and chipped it. They also went up into the tree and took out some other questionable branches. We left work early to clean things up but they did a great job of taking everything. We hosed down the driveway and front porch to get rid of the saw dust but other than that...the dudes did it all.

I don't have any pictures because they were gone before we got home. As we cleaned up we did find a few mushrooms.....very, very, very large mushrooms. Those I made Lou hold up so I could take pics.

Can you believe the size of this? It's bigger than a wedding bouquet...with this mushroom I thee wed.



This one is smaller but it looks like it could talk....."Feed me Morris"

Maybe tonight I'll get some sleep. After the tree fell I didn't sleep at all.

From my bead stringing days.....

Back in 2005 I got the cover of Bead Style magazine. It was particularly significant because this was the necklace I made the night my Dad passed away. I couldn't sleep and my mind was numb so I put my hands to work and this is what I created.


Kalmbach has released a new book...Big & Bold. The necklace in one of the projects in the book....page 58.

New Pendants

Cleopatra has nothing on this chick. I would show the original picture that it came from but...I accidentally saved the tear-away image over the original picture.



This came from a stained glass window in the Cluny Museum...



This came from a picture of the Conciergerie. One of my favorite buildings. I like the turrets. This looks better in person. I was having a hard time photographing it.



The Eiffel tower glimpsed between trees.



I haven't decided if this will be part of a mixed media piece or a bracelet or...


I overlaid a picture of the Eiffel Tower over the French version of La Vie en Rose.

I struck a nerve.....

with the post on Monday. Sounds like I'm not the only person that gets suckered into repairing jewelry. But I will not do it again and I will not apologize for it.

So everyone ...say it with me....NO, I DO NOT REPAIR JEWELRY. NO, NO, NO, NO NO.

There now don't you feel better. I do.

I will never ever agree to do this again....

that is what I said to myself with each amethyst chip I strung tonight. Get ready because I'm going to rant even though I did this to myself.

I've had a number of people at work approach me to fix their jewlery. And a few years ago I used to do this and even design things with strands of beads they would bring me. But I haven't strung anything in a long time since my interests have moved on to metals. But they still continue to ask. And now that I think of it, the ones that have come to me have never purchased a piece of my jewelry....but they still ask if I can fix theirs. Most of it is cheap and they would be better off if they just threw it out. But for some reason they want it repaired. A while back I decided that I wasn't going to do this ever again. NO, NO, NO.

But I had a weak moment when a co-worker asked about a bracelet. I said OK but it had to be after my shows were finished this summer. On the day after my last summer show she followed me to my office to give me the bracelet....an amethyst bracelet strung on elastic that her daughter had broken. Much to my surprise she pulled out a bag of amythyst chips and proceded to tell me about the necklace she wanted me to string for her and the single strand bracelet now became 4 strands with silver pieces in it. I don't know why I didn't say NOOOOOOO at that point but I took everything home and it's been sitting here for 2 months.

I couldn't give it back to her at this point because it's been so long. So tonight I strung the necklace and with each chip I said..."I will never do this again". And it wasn't like they were spectacular chips and maybe I could have enjoyed the beauty of the gemstone. The chips are really low grade. So it was torture. I also strung the 4 strands for the bracelet but I don't have a clasp that will work from a design perspective. So I am taking everything back to her tomorrow. The necklace is finished and I am going to recommend someone else at work to finish the bracelet. I will not take on the task of looking for the right clasp.

At one point tonight Lou asked me if I was OK. He said I looked angry. I started laughing. I was angry. But I did it to myself.

I WILL NEVER EVER AGREE TO FIX JEWELRY THAT WASN'T MADE BY ME....EVER AGAIN.

Colors....

Pretty colors. I'm off to prep another load for the kiln. I could have made one big load but like a little kid...I couldn't wait. I wanted to get some of it fired. It's like opening a present when I pull the bronze out.

BibliOdyssey

If you like old book illustrations, you need to check out BibliOdyssey. I could spend days and days on this site. Pick an picture...any picture and use it for inspiration. There is also a list of recommended books in the BibliOdyssey Emporium that are worth taking a look at.

The Thunderbirds are here....

This weekend is the Cleveland Airshow...an annual Labor Day event. The Thunderbirds arrived today. I could see them practicing from my office window. It was hard to concentrate because I could hear the planes coming before I could see them so natuarally I kept looking up from my desk.

Then later when I got home I heard whinning engines overhead. I stepped outside to see the C-130 Hercules descending so it could land at Burke Lakefront Airport. It's a cargo transport plane and is massive.

Last year we got to see Fat Albert...that's the Blue Angels C-130 transport plane. It can perform jet-assisted take-0ffs. Imagine this big ass plane lumbering down the runway for a take-off. It's so big you can't believe that it will even get off the ground....but it does. At some point very soon after take-off they kick in the jets and this massive plane rockets into the sky. It's impressive.

Of course there will be protesters outside the airshow. They protest these "weapons of war".... "weapons of mass destruction". Lou tells me I'm a bleeding heart...I don't ever want to see people go to war. I grew up watching the Vietnam War on TV. That definetely had an impact on a 10 year old girl. These are weapons that can inflict massive destruction but I also think the sheer force of their existence can keep war at bay. Sane people will think twice before starting a conflict because of the consequences. It's the insane ones that don't care and start wars anyway....kinda like our past President (that's means you GW-yah).

OH but this is much too serious for my blog. I am taking tomorrow off so I have a 4-day weekend.....and we have no plans....and if I'm lucky we won't have any last minute invitations. I might actually get 4 days in the studio. WOO HOO!!!

Like a Stuck Record....

I'm stuck on making tear aways. I played around with pictures I took in Paris and I've been making tear aways for about a week. Sometimes I get stuck...I make something and then get lost in making different sizes and variations. Put down the pasta machine and walk away!!!!

I'm anxious to work with them. Here are two that I really want to see put to metal. The first was from a picture of a stained glass window in the Musee National du Moyen Age....Middle Ages museum. It's a little grainy but I'm hoping that adds to the piece.

The next is from a stone tablet in the Louvre. Same issue with it being grainy.

We'll have to see if they translate to metal. Sometimes something that looks good on paper doesn't easily make a good tear away or translate to metal well.

I'm going to do some work with these this weekend. I'm hoping to take Friday off as well as Monday. If that happens I should be able to get some concentrated time in the studio. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't have to be at work on Friday.