Jazzy Jewelry

I had an artist date with my talented and very good friend, Deb, this afternoon at her house. Our mission was to make a wire bracelet from start to finish. I was not able to go to Sharilyn Miller's class in April when she was here in Ohio, but Deb was and she gleaned lots of info from Sharilyn. We went on an excursion to find beads in Milford at the end of May and my chosen ones were lampwork with greens and blues. It is quite summery and I really learned a lot today, but have so much to learn before I master jewelry-making. I am really looking forward to Sharilyn's book, Bead on a Wire http://www.sharilynmiller.com , but until then I do have some rudimentary skills. I'll try to get a picture posted when I have a chance.

Monday mania

I just finished packaging up my 34 items for the St. Louis Paper Guild's Artvent project. What a fun month August will be when each day a new art gift is opened from many of my old cohorts and new friends to be. I worked on small 2" tiles (backed with magnets) with alcohol inks and leafing and then packaged them in coin envelopes. It was nice to get this done a bit early so I can concentrate on other things. The rest of this week belongs to some ATCs that are due for a swap at the end of June and unpacking from my teaching trip to St. Louis.

I am having fun these days playing with patterns to create texture. I used a Coldwater Creek catalog and tore vertical strips from dresses and created an interesting background that flowed from the greens into the blues for my altered calendar. I want to play more with these ideas.

The beginning

I hope that this blog helps me to verbalize my creative process. I think that's what fascinates me the most about art....the process, the thoughts that run through my brain so fast that sometimes I can't keep up with them. And then five minutes later I can't remember what had me so excited.

Tonight I worked at a Homearama in a fabulously furnished 1.9 mil home. I was almost on visual overload while tending the front door. Rich oils and beautiful decorative painting, distressed hardwood floors and handpainted Chinese screens all worked seemlessly together to create compliment the eclectic furnishings. I was amazed at how many people just glossed over the fine details to see the latest in appliances. They don't know what they are missing.