You Can Guess What I've Been Up To....

Showing lots of new work in Barrington, IL 2-24. Packing, labeling, stressing.....

Happy Wednesday! More later.....

A Science Experiment

...and the inspector.

New Direction, Inspiration, & a Treasury

Readers of my blog know how, when I can, I like to show sources for ideas that I use, things that I find inspiration in. For example, for a few years now, I've explored the use of red pearls. So last year I was finally able to backtrack a bit, and take very pretty photos of an autumn crab apple tree. Then I juxtaposed these images with the pieces I had been making that were inspired by this really typical (around here) seasonal sight.

It's not usually a straight line from the inspiration to the inspired project, however. This summer, for probably a month or more now, I've been experimenting with this really beautiful, heavy, artisan made and dyed silk fiber which I've been combining with dyed quartz beads. I love this silk even as I learn the best ways to use it. Quartz beads are one of my favorites because they are semi-translucent and seem to hold very vivid dye colors or can be very beautiful in their natural states. This material is very hard and resists any kind of damage. Plus, to me, they sometimes speak of berries & cherries, especially in shades of reds, pinks and purples.

But these new pieces, as exciting as I find them and as promising as they appear to be, are not quite finished yet. There are some challenges of the best ways to finish these for looks and wear-ability...so that's why there are still errant threads showing in spots and why they aren't in my shops yet, as they continue to be refined. Problems of the best way to close them so that the length can be adjusted, etc. have yet to be solved in ways that I'm sure about...so more experiments still need to be done.

But these details aside, I was out taking photos around WillOaks Farm a few days ago and I stumbled upon these amazing berry-filled bushes. At first, I was puzzled about what they could be. Then I realized they are actually a pretty bad "invader" around here called "honeysuckle" that threatens to overwhelm native bushes. To its credit, besides these amazing glowing red berries, in the late spring & early summer honeysuckle has small trumpet shaped flowers that the seasonal hummingbirds just flock to....

And now, I've learned that their autumn appearance is just stunning, and so it was really exciting to bring these new images back to my studio and see the correlation with my new autumn pieces in progress here.


Meanwhile, over on Artfire, a new program has begun, similar to Etsy, where artists can curate and assemble collections with different themes drawing upon the different shops on Artfire.

Below is the most recent one I've been fortunate to be included in and the artist who curated it titled it "Roses and Olives." She later told me that my bracelet here, of a similar title, had been the original inspiration for her collection, which was very flattering!

Roses and Olives was curated by ImaginaryRelics on Artfire. The name of her shop alludes to surprises you will find there. Do take a look, but I'll give you a hint. She is making the artifacts of an imaginary history, working in a current genre known as "steampunk." Now I know you're curious....so do click her link to look closer, and also click on the treasury to take a closer look at her collection and the artists included in it.

One other new thing I meant to mention--are any of you using Tumblr yet? I just found it and have a whole new page going. I actually like it better than Twitter, it's much more photo friendly, but don't take my word for it...go take a peek yourself! Follow me and then, I can find you, too! http://willoaksstudio.tumblr.com/

Thanks for dropping by!

Wordless Wednesday

So Where Have YOU Been??

All the best laid plans gone awry....and I'm still not thinking perfectly clear, but am coming up for air to offer a small picture story of my plight.

I didn't just come back from North Carolina with new images, adventures and ideas...oh no. I came back with a really vicious virus that knocked me back like I haven't experienced in years. So, when I show you this photo.....

...it is to illustrate how my throat has felt for several days now....

Or this one...
...and say, well yes, it's my new orchid that bloomed while I was away, but it reminds me of spinning pinwheels, which is exactly how my brain has been acting--true thought or reasoning hasn't been possible.

Or this one...

...and say, well yes, it's a new silk and pearl piece with the title "Evening Waterfall" but actually, a waterfall is an apt description of my nose. Who knew so much liquid could flow from one's head? I wish I owned stock in Kleenex!

My friends say this nasty bug going around has knocked a lot of people back on their "you know whats"....I must say I slept more in the past 5 days than I have in the past 2 weeks..uh oh, maybe that's why my resistance was down?

I do know that I may as well have been...

...like these husks, pretty useless.

But that I hope and trust that in a few more days, I'll be...

...back in flight like this lovely Swallowtail I spied in the botanical garden I thought I'd be telling more stories about!

And once I am all back to normal....

...new goodies like these will turn up in my little shop on Etsy,
and more new stories will be told!

Keep well, everyone! I'm going back to bed....

Holiday Decorating - Lots of Plants!

WillOaks Farm -- As a Christmas Card!

I already mentioned that I'm not decorating this year, in the sense of dragging out the boxes of "stuff" and the artificial tree...BUT that doesn't mean there's not a sense of the holiday season around here from a floral perspective. You see, I'm part of a "blog hop" today and the theme is "holiday decorating." A perfect excuse to dig up some of the photos of holiday plants in bloom around this time of year. For me, blooming plants and cut flowers are the ultimate in decorating--that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

And some of these are actually blooming here right now: the pink poinsettias in my golden sleigh plant pot holder, the "Christmas Cactus," and the geraniums. The amaryllis are not blooming quite yet. In fact, many of my older bulbs have reverted to blooming in the Spring instead of winter as they are no longer tricked by their birth and early life in the southern hemisphere. But when I first got them, they bloomed for Christmas. If I had bought some new ones, these would possibly be blooming now, or very soon. And some years, I give away potted amaryllis bulbs to my "non-green thumb" friends as presents.

OK, the NEXT stop on your tour of Holiday Decorating tour today is Margs Pets! Just hop along and get into the spirit of the season...visually!!