Making New Jewelry

Originally posted 1.7.09
I've never thought of myself as a jewelry maker. I dabble in many things....and jewelry making would be one of them. Mostly I like to make things for myself to wear that no one else has. Then Vero at The Naked Art Gallery saw my nesting jewelry series in a blog post and asked if I wanted to sign on at her gallery as a jewelry artist. Right now she carries my paintings and porcelain jewelry line like below. The porcelain has my original paintings embedded into them with a bail glued on. Not really much thought to making those. Like mini paintings on your neck! And ears!

The nesting series I did a few months back was tedious but quite rewarding for me. First, not one piece was alike. I made about 10 pairs of earrings and 2 necklaces from these nest-like beads I found in New York. It took me hours to put them all together. So today I have 3 pairs of earrings left and 3 rings. I hand delivered them to Vero last week and her first reply was, "You are making more?" Well, you see those beads came from NY, and I have no idea where. So today I ventured into etsy and put in...materials....findings....and guess what? I think about 10000000 hits came up. Yikes! I opened the first shop that looked appealing called PatinaQueen. And there I became so inspired that I can't wait to put my new series together. Since I paint mostly birds and their environments I think my jewelry should reflect this as well. Everything I chose was brown, teal, turquoise, amazing greens, and a dab of pink. I already know the line's name, "Nestlings". So be looking for a new post soon with some sweet birds and nests that you can wear similar to those below.

So I Did Get My Brushes Out

After a yummy lunch with our family, a little napping, watching the movie Blind Side with William and an icy cold mug of brew, I started to paint. And paint, and paint. I just could not stop! It was liberating and fun and exciting! I was able to get 5 smaller paintings finished last night. My goal was to be looser with my paint brush. And since I had not started any with texture and was too impatient to layer the texture, sleep and then paint, I just kept layering and layering the paint onto the wood surface to obtain these really exciting new compositions:

I am headed to Hobby Lobby to buy some black gesso. I am thinking I may like the outlines left behind from the black gesso. I've also started a tandem bike, some funky lollipop flowers and some more back yard birds. I bought this great Georgia Backyard bird field guide which is where the inspiration for all the little tweets have come from. Off I go!!

Branching Out

It seems lately that I am really "branching out" with my bird sculptures. The plaster bird heads, new bird inspired jewelry on the table, and these beautiful bird babies: I am always on the lookout for materials I can re purpose. Especially bird cages, birds, and nests. I found about 20 of these paper mache birds around Christmas at Resurrect in Opelika. They were nestled in a glass bowl all chalky black with wild wiry legs. I had no vision, but the price was right so I bought them all. And now that my vision has come full circle, I am wanting more! So here's what I had to do to get to the finished product:

Step 1: paint the birds with my favorite color palette. Colors too bright...hmmmm Step 2: Apply a dark wood stain. Better now. (Now before step 3 I attempted to make some cool bird cages from fabric and Paverpol for these to perch. They failed terribly. And I was ticked. My vision was at a deadend. And then....)Step 3: Head to Lowe's and buy dowels for perches. Step 4: cut dowels, glue into T shape and stain with wood stain. Step 5: head to Phillip's wood shop and cut bases from his amazing pile of bead board. Drill holes in bases for T perch. Step 6: Add dab of wood glue and insert T to hole in base. Step 7: Attach birds to T perch by wrapping their wiry long legs around and around. Step 8: Step back and say WELL DONE!

So I love them. I've done a lot of felted birds in and out of cages. But on perched little stands, and paper mache....this is something new. And I like new. Sometimes I find that getting out of the comfort zone and jumping into new materials is just what an artist needs to kindle the creative energy again. So I'm on a roll............and the jewelry is in the works now. Like I've said before I work on lots of projects at once. And this time, unlike the old me, I AM GOING TO FINISH it all. Yep. All. So I better go now. I'll give ya a hint though, not ALL my jewelry is about birds.....think about what else I love to paint. OK, I'll give you a hint. It starts with the letter "T". hehehe.....

These will be landing at The Vintage-Flea tomorrow if you are interested. There are 8 right now at $25 each.

Listen to Your Heart

Have you ever noticed that when you listen to your heart to make a decision it makes your tummy do somersaults? Mine sure does. Lately I've been doing a lot of listening and decision making about life, family, finances, my business and relationships with friends. And boy you'd think there was a circus going on inside me! But seriously, when you make decisions based purely on what your head says is right, sometimes it's a little too black and white. When you listen to your heart to make a decision, it's a bit more painful. And almost always is a longer lasting decision. One that can potentially affect your path from that moment on. Because when you throw in a dash of passion with any decision making, someone always gets hurt....always. So, I guess I've been laying a new path this past week with my hearty decisions. And although I never meant to hurt anyone along the way, sometimes it just happens. And I guess this emotion is coming out in my work. As I sat back last night and studied the new paintings laying out in the studio, and my jewelry, I noticed a common thread. Words are everywhere. And I never put words in my artwork like this. Maybe a cute quote or a little word cut from an old book, but not like this. Large words are masked into the paintings......listen.....nurture....play.....embrace..... inspire... Maybe, just maybe my creative heart has a new voice that really wants to be heard.

Or maybe it's my way of saying something to myself that I wasn't really hearing until right now.

Bringing Joy Home

I wanted to show you a few of the ornaments that made their way into my holiday collection this year. I am, and have been crazy for patterned paper. I love the smell, feel and look of finely made paper. I also have a crazy love for Amy Butler's fabrics and paper line. Her papers are double sided, a real treat when making cones like these: The quote along the bottom says, "May the spirit of Christmas bring you Peace." They would make a great gift card holder, little sweet treat holder, or other treat for your gift-giving this season.

I had a fabulous time with the Eddison letter cutter at my kid's school making snowflakes and cutting out perfect little letters last week (have you ever noticed that when buying letters there are NEVER enough of the one letter you need so you have to head back to the store and buy an entire set again?) . Several banners made their way to new homes this weekend. Joy and Peace would be a nice addition to your door wreath or mantel greenery.

And last but not least, I just had to have little bird ornaments. These are adorned with Amy Butler paper, diamond dust glitter, vintage tulle wings, and little glittery papered butterflies. Oh so sweet. A great little extra on a package and of course adorning your tree! So how are your handmade ornaments coming along? I always struggle with this aspect of my booths, but want to have them. So I fret and plan for the perfect little ornament. This year I've had a burst of energy and made several different types. All which don't have to just hang on a tree.

If you are in the area, they are available at The Vintage-Flea in Newnan and also at my upcoming show at St. Pius High School in Atlanta this coming weekend.

A Few More Collages

Just wanted to show off a few more of my new collage series. I had so much fun making the first couple that I ended up with I think 15! This is definitely something I intend to experiment with more. "Red Bird Nurturing Her Young"
"Summer Fun"

"Little Songbird"

Last, the new Paper N Stitch table is up! I placed several of the new collage pieces there available as prints. Please visit and give me a heart!

Works in Progress

Just wanted to share some works in progress. It's Spring Break this week so I am off to here and there. Unfortunately the paint brushes will not be getting too wet this week. I have until April 25th for Celebrate Earth Day, The Art of Green Show in Senoia and then on April 30th I head to the annual Wesleyan Show. This is the show that started it all for me. I am SO excited to get back and see all my artsy friends I met last year and hopefully meet new buyers! I am going back to canvas for a bit. This time around I am really playing with the simple compositions of birds, branches and a bit of collage with the leaves and border.

This is a ginormous canvas I decided to tackle using the same technique. Also new, all the canvases are being framed out by Phillip. I am amazed at how much more finished off the canvases look with the salvage wood around the edges. Anyhoo.....off to get a few more tasks completed before art camp tomorrow and heading to my Father's in Alabama to meet up with the kiddos. I hope you all have a GREAT week. I'll be back next week to share some new ideas in the works. The Green Show in Senoia has my head whirling up some great Mattie sculptures. My Father doesn't know it, but I intend to use his amazing workshop when I get over tomorrow to stop the whirling and get to making!

A Few New Goodies

Out on a Line

" It's time for work, it's time for play a little birdie says. "

These 3 little tricksters are out on the laundry line today, just looking for trouble! I had fun playing around with this composition, lots of patterns, papers, and words. My frame guy made up these two great frames from his burn pile wood to see what I thought. I am thinking I like them! What a perfect edge to these silly little compositions. No more burning for Phillip!
Resting Birds
"The joy that you give to others is the joy that comes back to you."

I love to paint simple compositions of birds doing the most tender of things. Do they show affection? Do they bring tokens of their love to one another? I'd like to think so.

Little Dreams

Tiny birds on branches of trees they whispered words to me

Silently a breeze in the blue shifted their shadows and my golden hair

If I were a bird I would sail into the sky with the breeze

Eyes shut tight, spring ringing through from tree to tree

My thoughts set free for little dreams
I've always loved writing. I have poetry from the old days tucked away that I've NEVER let anyone read. Mostly I wrote about love and the anguish of lost loves. You know, typical teenagey drama. Some days I feel the need to express more in my art through adding words. I have a technique that I think is unique. So here it is.

First I create the painting. Once the painting is complete, I select an old book and start cruising the words for sentence fragments or words that literally speak to me. I cut the words out and continue to cut until I have a fluid verse of sorts. I am not a poetry expert by any means, but I do like to put words together and create little stories. I really like this piece, and it all started with finding the words "little dreams". I have lots of little dreams these days, and some are coming true. I believe that life is stream of events that people, things, and places can alter along the way but only if you allow them to. Things do not happen by chance, but rather are placed in your path to encounter. How you approach the oncoming obstacles is what defines your fate.

I was in a bookstore today and found that Somerset Studio now has a publication out called Art Journaling. I haven't studied the pages well yet, but I glanced enough to know that other artists enjoy placing words with their art as well. If you have a chance, cruise through this beautiful publication to become more inspired on how to use journaling to enhance your work. I find it refreshing to get these words onto the canvas. So might you.

Going Back to the Crayon Box

As I posted yesterday, I just finished up quite a collection of jewelry for the Naked Art Gallery. Whew.... Seriously I am thrilled with this new idea of making jewelry to sell and not just adorn my neck and ears. I will say however, that I feel I need reading glasses now from the countless hours spent threading those tiny pearls on wire! The time and energy spent was well worth it and hopefully the pieces will find loving jewelry boxes very soon. Anyhoo....my post today is about going back to the crayon box. Every one has one.....it's just that mine are these most fabulous collection of Sennelier oil pastels. Oh how I love these little guys and what they can do to paper! The upcoming show I am participating in is actually called "Microlove". Great idea. Everything is not necessarily lovey, but they are items you could buy for your sweetheart. And the micro part is that all the artwork had to be under 6". Yes, that's the size of a $1.00 bill. I found these great paper mache frames at Michael's in the scrapbooking section last week. The work on it's own would have been just okay. But with these fabulous frames it really makes the work special. I added little copper hooks and voila! Micro art ready to hang anywhere you please!

So I'm off to joint compound some freshly cut wood. What's the inspiration you ask? Well, this go around I have on my mind umbrellas, a pink bike, chairs and a special idea from William. I'll post work as I complete it, hopefully very soon!

Buckle Up Girls!

I've made bunches of buckles for The Vintage-Flea in the past. Mostly I'd use Amy Butler scrapbook paper and rhinestones. While getting ready for these last few shows I had one of those A-HA! moments....belt buckles with my bird images on them. And voila! Here they are:

I enjoyed making them and decided quickly that my little images didn't need any bling, they have enough personality on their own. Priced at just $20, they are a great stocking stuffer, or just a little "happy" for your wardrobe! You can purchase these at the Braelin Elementary School Christmas bazaar on Dec. 6th or at the Serenbe Christmas Bazaar on Dec. 7th! (you can also just call me!) Time to buckle up girls!

Sweet Mornings

I've not been painting much these days. Tisk...Tisk...We've been playing musical beds in our house, which for some reason led to major clean outs and clean ups. I try so hard to stay organized, but alas, I feel there is no hope. My constant need for change makes staying organized impossible. We've lived in our home for almost 13 years now. This is the longest I've ever lived in one home. Growing up, by the time I was in first grade I think we'd moved 4 times before landing in Homewood, Alabama. After that there were 4 houses in Homewood, an apartment during that time as well while building, a house in Vestavia, an apartment in Mtn. Brook, 2 fabulous townhouses in Southside of B'ham, and well, I should probably count the 4 years at Auburn, each year in a different apartment. So I always had change in my home growing up....so there goes the story behind my constant "nesting". I did however, paint this sweetie last week before the major clean up. The leaves are made from vintage check registry. I really like playing with collage in my canvases these days and have big plans for some fabric soon! "Sweet Mornings"

16" x 16" acrylic on canvas

New Oil Pastel Paintings

"In the Winter Bloom"

"La-La in the Kissing Flowers"

These are two new oil pastel paintings. I've mentioned in previous posts that I really like working in different mediums with the same subject matter. I was looking at my oil pastels and just had to dive in last night! These are the two I finished and plan to put in these great IKEA frames I bought last week. They'll probably be heading of to B'ham in August.

This Week at Art Camp- Birdies!

One of my favorite little things to paint are birds, of course you already know that I am sure. So this week's camp was super fun for me! We painted on canvas Mommy and baby paintings. The children were asked to place in the nest the same number of babies in their families. They were so cute adding Daddy, Grandma, and Brother's and Sisters. Each bird had a name and a story so quickly! Oh the little imaginations!
One of my favorite silly birds is a Toucan. Those beaks look like they'd make their little bodies fall over! The kids drew and painted these fellas awesome!
We also made a little nest a birdie from air dry clay. Adding the feathers was a fun touch and made them even more lovable!