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!

More News and New Work

His little face still melts my heart--another way of saying he can pretty much get away with anything!

Labradorite Stones and Teardrop Necklace on a Special Chain

Garnet Heart Dangle Earrings

Photography marathon today, the better part of 8 hours to style, shoot and edit. I guess it really is more efficient to gather a nice batch of new work and then just photograph it all at once...as long as the light is cooperative! I discovered I had a number of heart-themed earrings today--just for the season OR for folks like me who just like hearts.

It's always fun when the cats help me here and of course, who can resist Purrmeister sitting there posing? Not me!

My "Special Chain" series has been so much fun and slowly, keeps growing more diverse and more colorful! New additions include a labradorite teardrop and a turquoise concoction--take a peek!!

Cat Antics and Blue Hearts

Further evidence I'm working too hard. I just rediscovered this collection of "Fun Heart" earrings I made a few months ago, inspired to think ahead to Valentine's day...and then forgot all about. Until I found them tonight and went, ooops, oh yeah, I forgot! No problem! The basic idea was to play with hearts that were neither pink nor red AND to see what might happen with these cool Czech glass beads I happened upon.

Next, Purrmeister has decided that my small handwash laundry basket is his favorite bed (he already outgrew the "Dora the Explorer" chair my little niece gave him at Thanksgiving!) A new game is to hide in here and when Red or Mariah wander into the room, pop up like a jack in the box and tackle them. The long suffering adult cats.....Well, he has nearly doubled in weight since he came home with me not quite 2 months ago, so he is becoming a force to be reckoned with! Mariah regularly puts him in his place, and he keeps bouncing back for more.


And finally, my normally very pretty Mariah striking a very unattractive pose. Maybe she was about to scratch an itch or something....it's pretty amusing!

Wearable Art vs "The Object"

Most of the "Open Heart" series is finished now, photographed and posted in my Etsy store. And most of them are displayed as precious objects--with props. Apples, rocks, a white background. I realized as I stepped back that my descriptions were quite objectified, too.
And is was a conscious decision to choose, for the main image, from these object-type photos. I described references to calligraphy, to playful textures, to interesting uses of fasteners and stones. But after I finished posting number X, I thought, "Wait a minute...the whole point of these is to be worn!" and that was really driven home for me when I delivered number IV to my friend Denise, who had purchased it earlier in the day.

She promptly opened the box and put in right on. I was sitting across the table...and I couldn't believe how good that piece looked on her! No, really, I was pleasantly surprised because I just don't get to see my pieces on other people very often. It helped that she was wearing a wonderful purple sweater that served as a great foil for the patinae on the silver. In this context, the gesture, the shape of the piece was nicely emphasized.


At any rate, later, it got me thinking about the "wearing" of these pieces versus the "object" status I had chosen for display. I put together this collage in order to sort of step back, and consider how these, well, wear. I can see that some are more successful than others where the marriage of form AND function is considered.





Although there are still a few more to finish so this series is complete, I am happy to realize this has been a terrific learning experience.

On a different note, as I'm brainstorming here. I've gotten a couple of "custom orders" the past couple of days, which I think of as wonderful design challenges. A chance to take a set of parameters and see what I can do within these. All the while, hoping to please the other person, the customer. Let's be honest--we all like to be liked, and I confess it's sometimes true about my work. It helps a lot to know where to begin when the conversation includes "...something like that one...and I like......"

But I digress. In both cases, the pieces ordered feature stone focal points and I was rooting about in the studio, realizing I have quite a collection going here of larger "rocks." I wonder if there would be a way to offer some kind of "design your own" neck ware, with the customer choosing from the various focal points and then my putting this together with assorted ways I can work in silver, chain, linen or leather? Hmmmm.....