She's a Little Bit Hoopy

My idea of fun is to take a structure, in this case, a circle with a loop on top, and riff on it.  I've been calling these "hoop dangles" to differentiate from "hoops" which go straight through the old ear lobe.  Embellishing them has been an ongoing design exercise.  It's scary when one idea leads to 3 which lead to a dozen--what if I don't live long enough to do them all?  I try to write things down because odds are good I'll forget at least some of them before I get back to work.

May 1 was opening day at the campground.  Happy to say it was a dud (one camper) and I say happy because I still have to finish getting things organized.  I think all will be well by Friday, so we're doing well enough, even if I have been shorthanded.  Weather permitting, I'm expected a busy weekend out there!

And on my new house front, I'm wandering around with a calculator and a tape measure, trying to figure out shelving, lots of it, for studio spaces.  While I have a lot here at my current place that can be recycled into new spaces, I also have some more unusual places to try to set up and organize.  It just seems if I can get shelving moved in and installed BEFORE I start moving over boxes of my materials and stuff, I might minimize my odds of sort of losing things--which I fully expect to happen but am anxious to avoid.  Because orders just keep coming in and since I make things to order, losing certain things would really spoil my day!

Speaking of days, have a good one and Happy May Day--I used to love to leave guerrilla gifts for all the neighbors when I was a kid and earnestly celebrated May Day with home made paper baskets filled with violets and dandelions gifted to everyone I knew, and a few I didn't.    This was my idea of fun before I started making adult style art.....and my idea of a gift before I knew how to make real jewelry.  I've always wanted to see a real, old fashioned May Pole dance, where long ribbons get woven around a pole.  I've only read about them and hope to actually watch one some day--it just sounds like great performance art.

New Thoughts and New Pieces

Keishi Pearl Bouquet and Vine Hoops

Despite the crazy distractions of life the past few months, I've been finding studio hours when and where ever possible, but it's only when I finally make some time for photography, together with the detachment that offers, that I can see some patterns and directions in the work.

I'm seeing some ideas evolve and tonight I made some little groupings/collages to see how a few specific forms have changed with time.  I rarely stick with a singular idea and just run through permutations.  Instead, I normally juggle a collection of ideas, and one sort of feeds another.  Very handy if I hit a block in one structure, because then I've got something else ready to work on until I can come back with new solutions.

I'm not sure if I'm explaining this very well, but at any rate, the structure above, evolved from the beauty of the center drilled keishi pearl used as a kind of flower,  and these pieces span at least 3 or 4 months of evolution.  I love the tiny, organic details and it's been fun to experiment with different combinations of materials and colors. 

These are surprisingly easy to wear, although they are somewhat heavier than a plain hoop. I've been wrapping and carefully binding stones and beads to hoops for a long time now, and I wonder if this more free spirited, organic approach is a reaction to that tight precision?  What I do know is these literally grow right out of my gardener background and study of plants and vines.

I've got a few posts worth of other new structures and ideas that I've be concurrently exploring with some depth, so will be putting these up over the next week or so!!  I've got a really broad collection of earrings in my studio on Etsy these days, so if you're thinking new earrings might be just the thing for Spring?  Do take a look!

Thanks for stopping by!

The Power of Orange

Have you heard? Tango Tangerine is officially one of "THE" colors for Spring 2012. It's true, I read a few fashion articles about it and saw some designers' frocks that feature this color. I'm not sure a whole outfit of true ORANGE is a good color for all complexions and hair colors. The full dresses and tunics I saw seemed like a little too much of a good thing. BUT, a little POP of orange? It could be just perfect, depending on your mood....and your outfit.

A few years ago, I found these incredible orange quartz squares and finally, combined with some amazing variegated strands of carnelian and citrine (new acquisitions), they have become a new earring design. And since I added gold filled wire to my studio last year, I decided that for this experiment in orange, the metal used with it had to be warm, as in gold or copper.

And then, still smitten with this palette, I tried this sort of "sunset" mix of faceted roundels as a topping for golden quartz teardrops, too.

Next try, the combination of this simple orange square and a copper circle....bright geometry, anyone?
And on a more subdued note, a collection of tiny 2mm carnelian beads wire wrapped with fine gold-filled wire to gold-filled hoops that are about 1" in diameter. I've been exploring hoops, mostly handmade by me and used in a myriad of different designs. Natural carnelian is usually heat treated to bring more intensity to the red tones in these naturally orangey stones, and these beads are a good example of this. Tiny treasures, for sure, but the gold wire gleaming through the translucence does add a nice glow to these orange gems.

And to think a few years ago, I didn't think I even liked orange....now? I think it's beautiful....in small doses!

Thanks for dropping by!

Actions Speak Louder....

...so although I've not had too much to say the past few months, thankfully, I've been mostly immersed in my studio. OK, I know that sounds lame, but how to explain my tied tongue? I really cannot.

But the work of making things, this has not failed me these days. The Winter holidays were good for my little shop. And then there's Valentine's day. I don't quite know why I'm so enamored with the iconic "heart" shape, but I am, and have been for years and years. A smattering of more recent earring designs is below and there are many more in my shop. A quick list of links to earlier "heart art" is at the bottom of this posting.


Earrings are all mixed up with everything else, and somehow wound up in 3 different sections in my studio--as gifts, as $30 and under, and as Hoops and more.

I just love the color red so find Valentine's day a great excuse to use a little more than usual. It's also a nice color to work with during the cold, gray days of mid winter--sort of lightens up the visuals! Above is a screen shot of my shop at a recent moment in time. I find that I change it around several times a day as I've learned that the average visit is usually to page one--and I've got around 13 pages these days! So moving things from the back to the front in some wacky rotation is a current strategy. Opening other shops or web sites is another idea I'm thinking about, but that's a huge commitment so I'm not exactly rushing into it!

Meanwhile, I've been trying to design new Pearl Bibs at a rate of a couple new ones per week. I find this structure to be challenging in an engineering sort of way. And since pearls come in so many different colors, shapes and sizes, having a general design in mind is only the beginning as it seems each one comes together a little differently, based on the pearls attributes. Click on the image to see the current listing of pearl bibs in the studio.

I just realized it's too tedious to list past posts about hearts and valentines....but using the blog search over on the right------------------------------->
the word heart give 15 posts and the word valentines gives another 3 posts. So if either of these topics, as explored in an art blog, are interesting to you, please have a peek using the tools right here!!

Have a great week and thanks for dropping by!

Holiday Shopping at WillOaks Studio

A fun collection of hoops, narrative and holiday earrings both in my shop or about to be posted over the coming weekend. If you're an earring fan, check these out soon--lots of fun and plenty of bling. And I'm finally adding gold to my mix--14/20 gold filled wire and beads besides the sterling silver I've used forever....

A range of pieces in more traditional forms and colors, for winter and for the holidays, are scattered all through my shop on Etsy. Garnets, rubies, keishi pearls, cut crystals and Czech glass and much more!

And a personal favorite new direction: Pearls for the Holidays. Long metal chains with wire wrapped pearls and gemstones and coordinated earrings. Available individually or save 10% when earrings and necklace are purchased together.

Plenty of time to order gifts for Christmas giving and if you've shopped with me before, watch your e-mail box for a discount code to sweeten the deal!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend. Over here, the holiday parties are starting this weekend!!

Lucky Random Mix

Mixed Metal Hoop Earrings with Peridot Green Glass Leaves

A lucky chance mixture of photos in my "Collage" folder on my computer desktop inspired me today. Earrings current in my Etsy shop and Autumn photo collages from recent walks seem to have color echoes that are surprising and interesting, to my eyes.



Autumn is one of the most colorful seasons here as so many of the different grasses, trees, bushes and other plants take on shades of orange, yellow, red, purple and many subtleties of browns and earth tones, and a full palette of greens. And there are still flowers blooming (especially sedums and there is a huge bed of asters I've been meaning to capture.)

Beaded Hoop Earrings with Pastel Opalized Glass Beads and Sterling Silver

These original earrings are coiled hoop constructions from my studio and each feature a different "bead soup" which is a cute way of describing a mixture of beads that are somehow color coordinated, and then used randomly. The three color schemes in earring designs each echo the autumn collage above.

Beaded Hoop Earrings Bright Colored Trade Beads Original Coiled and Bound Sterling

The mix of antique trade beads above are from Ghana. Their history is they were made in Europe, probably Bohemia or Italy, at least 100 years ago and then made their way to Africa where they were used for trading--a kind of currency. What inspires me is the effect of the joyous color mixtures as there are so many little individually different beads.

Hoop Earrings Tourmaline Colored Vintage Beads Original Coiled and Bound

The vintage bead soup used for this coiled design is labeled "Watermelon Tourmaline" as the color selection is inspired by a semi-precious gemstone by this name. Small faceted transparent glass beads in shades of purples, pinks, teal, light and dark green, clear and light pastels mimic this stone and hold their own as they add a vintage flavor to this mixed color palette.

So it's gray, rainy and much cooler but the weekend, our last open for camping this year at WillOaks, could be lovely typical fall weather. Sending best wishes for a lovely weekend to all!! Thanks for dropping by!

Hoops, Finale (for now)

I had a strand of natural Spinel stones and the range of colors was truly amazing. Too much of a good thing because I fussed and fiddled with these for an awfully long time before I finally, FINALLY committed myself to making something with them. Well, I was also intimidated because I don't usually spend quite that much $$ on 14 inches of stones on a string....

But prior to this, I had worked with a strand of rubies of a similar price tag and I've sold a few of those OOAK earrings, so maybe I'm getting more confidence about taking risks like this? At any rate, examples of my final "hoop form" in the hoop mania I have been covering, and these are examples that are currently available in my Etsy Shop.

Silver Hoop Earrings with Wire Wrapped Spinel Gems OOAK

Pastel Spinel Big Hoop Sterling OOAK Earrings with Latchback, Gold and Silver

Copper Hoop Earrings with Spinel Stones OOAK Hoop Earrings

So this coming Saturday, I'll be setting up a display of a collection of my pieces in the big picture window of the gallery in Barrington, BCAC at the IceHouse Mall, that I've mentioned here earlier. It's a gallery program called "Featured Artist of the Month" and eventually, almost everyone gets a turn. I'm at the stage of making my final selection of pieces to use, themes to follow, etc. I think it will be fun but am very hopeful that my last order of display busts gets here in time.......

Meanwhile, over in the WillOaks Studio on Etsy, I've begun to post a body of work that features tons of pearls....I'll write a little more about this newly revisted direction later this week!!

The weather is crummy, rain rain rain rain.....

Hope your week's going great!

More Hoops, Part 2

This coiled hoop design came to me a few years ago and has changed and evolved with use. Recently, I've been inspired by some vintage seed beads I've either found, was given, or purchased and I needed a way to showcase these tiny beauties that wasn't just sort of straight and boring So I pulled out my trusty old coiled wire design and pushed it to a new direction.

Since I fabricate each part of these earrings, I can make them any size I wish and as simple or complex as needed. Oxidized sterling, bright sterling or copper are fair game for materials and mixed metals are just beginning here with some new pieces.

Big Hoop Earrings with Brightly Colored Antique Trade Beads

Vintage Beaded Hoop Earrings in Sterling Silver with Tourmaline Colors

Beaded Hoop Earrings Brown Bamboo Coral and Original Coiled Copper

Big Sterling Silver Brown Hoop Earrings with Vintage Rootbeer Beads

There are a few others in this vein with more colors and different sizes to be seen here and here. Don't worry if they aren't quite "your thing." The pairs I've sold so far seem to be going to musicians and artists so maybe they are kind of "out there?" And even more interesting, I'm selling these better outside of the U.S. then inside our country...I have to wonder if it's something about the weakness of the dollar.

At any rate, true confession, although I had every intention of editioning these when I first made them, I've since discovered (how embarrassing) that they are actually really difficult to make a 2nd and 3rd time around. This doesn't happen too often (thank goodness!) that I come up with a design that I can't seem to repeat, but with these, I haven't figured out an easy way to do these, they take a lot of time....in fact, they are pretty hard to make.....bummer!

But I'll file it under the "live and learn" category!

Sending warm Equinox wishes to all and have a lovely Sunday!

Back track to Hoops

If you check in now and then, perhaps you have noticed that I often work in series. That is, I don't usually just make one version of an idea but often explore many variations on a theme. The past summer, while I was working and not writing much, I became enamored with hoop earrings. In fact, I did about 4 different series featuring different design approaches to this shape.

Below, a few examples from my more simple design with a focus on gemstones wrapped around a nice size of hoop. All sterling hoops and wires and all semiprecious stones in the roundel shape.

Chrysoprase Big Hoop Earrings Wrapped with Silver

Amethyst Hoop Earrings Sterling and Phlox Purple Wrapped with Silver

Tiny Peach Coral Beads Wrapped on Sterling Silver Hoop Earrings

Ruby Big Hoop Earrings Wrapped with Silver

Peridot, carnelian, and crystals in a chakra rainbow are also in my shop with this shape of hoop. Pearls, garnets and other stones are still on my "to do" list. I think of this design as a staple in the sense that monochromatic pieces like these can be easily and frequently used--and do not necessarily need to "match" the color of one's outfit--in fact, as a counterpoint, it can really be a lot of fun!

Later, I'll show other directions that hoops have taken in my recent work, from simple to wild and crazy.

Speaking of wild and crazy, best wishes for a nice weekend--here in the Midwest, we are getting our first taste of sustained cold weather. A bit too early for my tastes.....