Persephone

Fall progresses; winter nears. I've just done the Abernethy School show; finished 4 collage pieces for the Little Thing show coming up at Guardino Gallery; and am preparing for the da Vinci School show the first week of December. Immediately following that, I descend into the underworld, just like Persephone did after eating that fateful pomegranate seed. (And I just opened a pomegranate this morning. Coincidence? I think not.) My day job (which I like - don't get me wrong!) requires the increased schedule and energy expenditure of the holiday season in retail. It uses up everything I have; it makes me feel like Persephone, going to live in the darkness for the winter. My life becomes very simple: work, eat, sleep. No time or energy for anything else. Creative pursuits go on the back burner until the new year. Meantime, I can look forward to that time when I can replenish my reserves: energy, buttons, jewelry for the next round of shows... I'll have new ideas to explore, new work to make, and that's always an exciting place to be!

Gratitude and Bottle Caps

Here's one of my favorite things about my new Brew Button jewelry: it seems to be drawing abundance and generosity. So many friends have not only had a positive reaction to the pieces, but have pitched in and are diligently collecting bottle caps, digging buttons out of their stashes to aid the cause, or ready to give advice whenever I have a question. My best bottle cap collector not only turns up at least a dozen caps a week; she got her husband in on the act, and he donated a vise to the venture, so I can smash any cap that needs a little help. Another friend gave me an industrial-size bucket full of large juice bottle caps. I'm not sure yet what I'll do with them, but ideas are brewing. Pun intended.

Brew Buttons

These are from my newest series of jewelry. I've been collecting bottle caps for years, just picking them up off the street whenever I see them, along with any other interesting bits of rusty metal. The original intent was to use them in collage, but they haven't turned up there as often as I thought they would. Some how the idea popped into my head to combine the bottle caps with some of the pearl buttons I've stockpiled over the years. So I got a good metal punch and some tiny brass nuts and bolts, and started making jewelry. I love the mix of high and low; caps from beer bottles that I find in the gutter mixed with pearl buttons that could have graced the fine linen tailor-made Grandmother wore on her sojourn to Egypt in 1915 ...

The Colour of Rain

I was inspired (let's be honest: I swooned) by this quote from one of my favorite books, "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" by Susanna Clarke.

"She wore a gown the colour of storms, shadows and rain and a necklace of broken promises and regrets."

Such a beautiful image. It reminded me of the colors in these earrings (pale smoky quartz, and labradorite).

I guess I'll have to make a second pair to offer for sale, as I don't think I can give these up.

New Blog!

I was finally talked into doing this... So watch this space for information and photos of my jewelry and art.

I've been making art as long as I can remember; I started making jewelry about 10 years ago. I started working with beads, but have recently added found objects and chin to the mix. I get a lot of my inspiration from found objects: bottle caps, buttons, old photographs. Any type of object could end up in a piece of jewelry, a collage, or a sculpture.