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!!

There She Goes Again....

Nothing says "Winter Holidays" to me quite like crystals. The clear icy color reminds me of the weather, but the sparkly "bling" of the hard, crisp surfaces says party sparkles all the way! So every winter, I get out my precious box of German leaded cut crystals....and try to figure out all new ways to use them.
A couple of new designs, above and below, and there are some others that I've not photographed quite yet. The design challenge is to figure out all new and different ways to embellish them.

These dainty faceted lemon quartz marquis cut stones have been staring at me for awhile now and I just wouldn't commit to how to use them. Well, I finished a commission this past week (finally! I was running pretty slow on this job!) where I was designing earrings to work with a customer's pendant, which was also artisan made....to make a long story short, this design evolved and I'm giving it a try in my Etsy shop--my customer liked them very much so we'll see of other women do too!

And finally, I'm working with some very nice Keishi Pearls I've been collecting for awhile now. I love these precious, organic shapes used to evoke little flowers and flower petals, and I find them really challenging to work with because no two pearls are alike. Plus, they are not plentiful and so the choice of colors and sizes is intermittent, at best. But these pale gray (above) and rich, warm brown (below) pearls, paired with Swarovski crystals and little gemstones are a dangle design that I really like, and that have been doing well in the gallery. They are really difficult to photograph well so I'm unsure about how much I want to stress over the photos to offer these in my shop? We'll see, perhaps my time is better spent keeping the display at the gallery stocked up because when seen in "person" these are quite charming and elegant dangle earrings.
...........to be continued!

I just drift away into my creative la-la land.....get lost for days....and you never know when or where I'll pop up next! Sorry, I don't mean to neglect my blog and blogger friends. But the countdown to the openings last weekend became so intense and then, things never did really settle down! I'm feeling the beginnings of the holiday crunch time and already, my house is neglected and I'm falling behind on things NOT about making new pieces....

But the good news is, there are a lot of new pieces here waiting to be photographed so thankfully, I'm getting inspired and have been working very hard. New pieces I'll show here soon include a whole new series that features large pearls and chain and my very first work in gold, what a thrill!!

Have a wonderful 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!

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!

Times They Are A'Changin'

German cut crystals that are true prisms
paired with a tiny abstract charm (a snowflake or a flower?)

Swarovski crystals in dark gray with a special finish

Swarovski crystals in a translucent white "opal" glass

Small black onyx beads wire wrapped to hand formed "stick" ear wires,
with free form hearts added to the ends
all silver is sterling silver

At the same time I've been designing quite a range of colorful earrings, the urge for black and white, for neutrals, also strikes. None of these are listed online quite yet. Posting new pieces is going a bit slowly right now except for the big push I had to get a nice collection of RED posted last week.

Things are in transition for selling my pieces right now. There are more "brick and mortar" outlets becoming available, some pieces are going to become "exclusive" in collections outside of my own shops (I'll be announcing them here when they launch), and I'm beginning to seriously restock my ArtFire shop again, where I can offer special deals, coupons and so on!

Etsy has gone through a lot of changes recently, not all good ones, in my opinion. There's this big internal push to connect the artists with each other via this feature called "circles." Now I don't mind getting to know more artists...but the reason I post my things on Etsy is to sell them, not to socialize about them, so I'm not clear about the changes and direction this huge monstrosity is going yet. It just keeps getting larger and larger even as the opportunities to get attention from buyers and new customers get smaller and smaller...so it's really just prudent to figure out ways to branch out, to spread things around a bit wider. In fact, that is what the company is pushing everyone to do--go out and promote themselves--except for that minuscule collection of Etsy favorites who grace the so called 'front page' ad nauseum (having nearly 200,000 shops means you just stick with your favorite 40 or 50, using them over and over, right?)

So as I roll with changes, my blog will remain my primary touchstone for all these kinds of things--new ideas and inspirations, new creations, and new places to exhibit my work and more. At least I can't get lost here!! So thanks for dropping by!! Have a wonderful weekend, and do keep warm!

Wordless Wednesday (Rainbow or Chakra?)

And Two Years Later...

My newest design and new series of holiday necklaces,
called the "Knotted Glass" series, at WillOaks Studio for 2010

And what a two years it has been since I began trying to sell my work online. I set up my little "studio" on Etsy just over two years ago and then just about this time, in late November, made my first sale. I was pretty rattled because it had been so challenging just to assemble my work for a website and to create and post all the photos and information...I had no idea what to do when I actually sold something. You would have laughed to watch me scrambling around, trying to find some kind of envelope and all.

The ever changing, ever popular "Made With Silk" series, begun
in early February, 2010, and still evolving.
Long, fine chains of crocheted silk capture all manner of other materials,
especially pearls.

And in the beginning, not only were my photos pretty marginal, but I didn't understand how to obtain postage online, so when things really began to sell (only because I had the dumb luck to open just weeks before Christmas!) I had to keep running down to the post office to buy postage for each order. I got to know the new automatic postage machine there very well and believed I could win a contest for the fastest info input.

Original necklaces that incorporate leather, linen and silk have been gaining
in exposure and popularity.
Experimenting with different structures and unexpected materials
is my favorite part of studio work.

And then, the holidays were finished and I had no idea how to keep folks coming to visit my shop! Very challenging first year, for sure, because, who could forget, we were also into our first year of "The Great Recession." Who wanted to spend any money, much less on art jewelry...or any art for that matter?
It was a crazy time to try to launch a little business, that's for sure! But I began to experiment with this blog and to investigate a number of different social networks for artists. There really was a lot to learn besides the studio work evolution. Simply put, putting up a web site is barely the beginning because getting folks to visit....well, that's where the work begins!

Bracelets and cuffs are another structure for experimentation in my studio.
But be it a necklace or a bracelet, comfort is a top priority in all of these creations.
Yes, I believe they are art, but they are also meant to be worn.

Which was probably just as well for me because I see now I really had a lot to learn--not necessarily about how to make things--I've done that all my life-and inventing new forms is my favorite activity. But how to work within the "virtual world" and especially, within a "virtual art gallery." To this day, managing a shop online is definitely a "continuing education!"

My "Special Chain" series began in January, 2010 and new pieces continue to be added to this series on a regular basis. In fact, two new pieces for the holidays will be added shortly: one with faceted turquoise and another with faceted hematite.

So I'm taking a bit of time out here to look back for a moment and to put this blog post together. I'm amazingly swamped with holiday orders in my little studio, and it's just exhilarating! Can't help but have a Sally Fields' moment, when I step back and look at my situation at WillOaks Studio on Etsy, and think "They like me, they really like me" (well, my work anyway!) Of course, it sure helps that the overall economy is marginally better, when compared with the past two Holiday seasons.

Earrings were the bread and butter of my little studio early on,
and I continue to explore new stones and materials.

So I've got 2 full weeks plus one last weekend ahead here to do all I can to fill lots of orders and do my part to make my customers happy for the holidays. That's the beauty of my studio, as it has evolved on Etsy. Pieces are made to order. Customers return for new pieces and many have learned that it's often possible to have their orders customized, just by dropping me a note!

So thank you for dropping by to check out what's up "behind the gallery view" today, and you're surely invited to drop by my Etsy shop, maybe do a little shopping for the special women on your list. I'll do my best to come up for air & drop in here during this final stretch. Believe it or not, I've edited my photos from my recent artist residency, but I won't have time to really focus on that project until the holiday season winds down. Which is just fine. Knowing what my next project will be is like the gasoline in my engine!

Have a lovely weekend!

New Treats from Me to Me....

You bet I earned it...I've worked really hard this summer and so, I've done a bit of my own Etsy shopping for some gifts: from me to me. I'm writing about this today because I'm highlighting two artisans that you may wish to take a serious look at in order to treat yourselves (or loved ones)!!

First up, 2TrickPony. My Etsy buddy Rachel is an A+ metalsmith, quite renowned for her hoop earrings. I bought some earrings from her earlier, and now, I've convinced her to make new jewelry from old for me as recycling precious metal and other parts is one of her specialties. My new/old recycled ring is still a work in progress (and I'll blog about it when it's finished), but the newly remade earrings are so wonderful, I'm getting comments left and right.

Some years ago, my brother and his wife bought me these turquoise earrings and a matching pendant since they knew how much I love turquoise, teal, aqua...that family of colors. Since I'm blond, the blues suit me, too. At any rate, back to the gift earrings...they were posts and I have trouble wearing posts because my ear lobes are too skinny and anything with any weight sort of droops and looks bad...so I only wear dangly earrings. Well, I sent these posts to Rachel, not really sure if she could figure out a way to turn them from posts into hanging earrings...and EUREKA (actually, she lives near there in CA) look what she created for me!

Now I love, love, love them and...they make me so happy!! Rachel did a brilliant job of creating a special bezel for the mounted stones with a half hoop soldered on and once she saw that they hung right, made wires for them and clipped off the posts. To me, they look like they were meant to be this way from the start, lol!


Treat #2. About 1998 I spent a semester in Lodz, Poland (pronounced "Woodje"), as I've briefly mentioned here before. The art academy where I had my Fulbright residency is renowned for its fashion and textile departments...as was, historically, the city of Lodz.

So I happened to notice the fine knit lace patterns a Polish artisan from Lodz was making after Aga, owner of the shop Amadeitknits, used one of my pieces in an Etsy treasury that she put together. I wrote to her and asked if this scarf could be made in a color other than pink and learned she was happy to oblige as she had a new yarn order on the way.

I chose a really soft gray color which I just discovered Aga wrote up on her blog after she made it for me. Well, my finished scarf finally arrived in the mail on Friday (mail can be slow between Poland and the US) and it is as beautiful as I imagined.

The knitting is so fine and delicate and the pattern is so rich and intricate in its monochromatic color. It wraps my neck and then loops in front with length to spare and I will love, love, love wearing this....probably with my new earrings!....as cooler weather settles in around here and I go into my winter scarf wearing mode.

So the overarching reason I'm writing this is to remind one and all to shop HANDMADE! The amazing quality, the unique features and pieces, the custom work...all of this is possible for just a bit more (& sometimes a bit less!) then the costs of shopping mass produced things. For yourselves and for your loved ones--it's the right thing to do, as often as possible. Guaranteed to make you happy happy happy! Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

News & Notes

Open Heart Pendant, 2009 (sold)

new Open Heart earrings to coordinate with pendant
private commission

Lots of things are always happening here at the old WillOaks Campground and last week included quite a nice surprise. My jewelry business rarely intersects with my campground duties, but a couple of campers (& friends) who had stayed with us last year showed up. They had purchased a couple of my one-of-a-kind neck pieces last year and decided that coordinated earrings were going to be their next order.

I really enjoyed seeing my older piece again. The "Open Heart" pendant was a part of a larger series of pieces that I had made in early 2009 and it was challenging, but a lot of fun, to create this pair of earrings to go with it.

With Fall coming, my Made With Silk line will soon feature richer, darker colors

Mille fiori (thousand flower) glass is a personal favorite that I've used different ways in my
pieces and this fall, a new bracelet features this mixed with bright crystals in multi-colors

My friend also decided to pick up some new pieces to wear this fall and winter. Above is a coordinated long silk and pearl piece, in shades of dark blue, with coordinated earrings. A cuff style bracelet in colorful Mille Fiori glass that's been strung on fine black leather is a piece she chose to add for just that welcome shot of bright color during the shorter, darker days coming now. I've just finished coordinated earrings that will be mailed to her tomorrow.

And then, I asked her to model a few of my other new pieces for photos, including this new bracelet in red and black that I call "Wild Thing." I showed this piece in last week's Wordless Wednesday all stretched out and it's posted in my shop now.

So just a few other quick notes regarding my Wordless Wednesday post yesterday. Yes, I have driven the Ford tractor that I showed, Grace. I bought it about 6 years ago from a local guy who is very good at fixing and restoring these "antique" but working machines. But the reason it's all cleaned up for this photo is it's going up for sale. You see, we just bought a bigger, more powerful Massey Ferguson tractor, slightly younger (1966) with a Front Loader, which will be a huge addition to what we can do around the farm as far as improvements go.

And the drawing I showed yesterday was by my young nephew who visited me, together with his little sister, over the past weekend/early week. The campground is such a fun place for kids that I was pleased and surprised when these two slowed down enough to really get into using their art supplies. And I was very happy with the pieces they made to leave with Aunt Karen!

New Ideas, Fun Stuff, Odds & Ends

Maybe just a little bit scattered and random today. When things begin to warm up here, I find I must try to begin a schedule that includes working outside...but right now, my INSIDE schedule is pretty darn busy....so, frankly, I'm glad it's been raining!

Most of the snow is gone now, revealing some pretty ugly stuff that needs attention:

• squirrels have dug up parts of my garden
• dog droppings from a whole (long) winter
• dead vegetation that didn't get cut back last fall-this has got to go before new growth starts
• too many dead leaves--some are good mulch, but too much chokes the new growth
• pot holes in my gravel drive and piles of gravel shoved together by the snowplow
• weeds, already!

I need to find some help...I don't have enough time or energy to care for all this but appearances are important when the campground opens in May (the road back to it is basically my driveway so all who enter go past the gardens, the yard, etc.) Maybe I can figure out how to simplify, move important plants and then put more grass seed down so keeping up with weeds, etc. isn't so much work? I've just got to get this figured out soon!

Meanwhile, there are orchids opening indoors and petals falling from mature ones...I just love the look of the freshly dropped orchid blossom, just as it's drying. They don't turn brown, they are such a fleshy blossom while alive that they really hold an exquisite form as they dry. I collect them into bowls, just to look at them. I used them as photo props this week. And many brand new buds are now opening...so hopefully, there will be some new orchid photos here shortly.

And finally, I'm so excited to be making progress on a self-imposed design challenge--my own original "self-latching" pierced ear wire...designed to hold a pearl or other dangle. These are moderately long (typically 1 to 2") making them a total of 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" when completely assembled. I'm including a couple of samples here...a couple others are already posted in my shop and more are on the way.

I love the way these are going, they are so comfortable...and best of all, they don't come out of my ears because they are latched shut (obviously, I test run/test wear all my designs before they go into my shop.) And they don't look sort of cheesy like the "kidney wires" from the old days, which just don't seem substantial enough and I won't use them in my work. My new ones, on the other hand, are developing to really look good (I think) AND to function as I've hoped they would. So hey, earring wearers who stop by...what do you think!!?? Let me know!!

Have a wonderful weekend, all!!

Green for Your Ears...

Freshwater pearl drop-for St. Patrick's Day and new

Nephrite jade wrapped hoops - new

Czech pressed glass and copper - new

"Green Rain" earrings

Spring Green flowers earrings

part of the "Wasabi Blossoms with Lime Leaves" set

I feel compelled to finish out the week with my accidental green theme. I was drawing a bit of a blank until I heard from Grace this morning, on the hunt for green earrings (thank you, Grace!) Well, I took the opportunity to peruse my portfolio in the hunt for potentially suitable candidates, and was quite pleased with myself to put my little collection together!

Some were sold (but could be recreated), some are currently listed and still others are newer, and will be listed within the next couple of days...and something that really delighted me was the RANGE of greens here....very cool, if I do say so myself! I'm not going to tell you which ones she chose...that's up to her!

On a totally different note...is it just me or have any of my other readers been encountering a higher number of infected blogs (which thankfully, my AVG virus protection is blocking...so far!) when returning EC drops? It's got me a bit spooked. I'm considering returning to just my blogroll again but when I do have a bit of time to blog surf, it's the curious cat in me that wonders what is behind the new avatar....although tried and true blogs have come up infected too....how does this happen?