Three gifts from nature and progress on my Paper Covers Rock neckpiece

This morning I went for a walk with a friend and discovered a new part of my neighborhood that is connected to parks and nature. Along the way, we passed a wild rose bush, and I had to pluck a fragrant blossom (1). We ended by the beach where we found some feathers, and I finally got to indulge my desire for a quill pen. (Of course I scrubbed the feather with soap and water then soaked it in a hydrogen peroxide solution (2) for a half hour, but still I think Ms. Austen would be proud.)

Inspired by these gifts from nature, I went to the studio where I finally decided to work on my Paper Covers Rock beads (3) again. Before today, the beads had been underpainted with burnt umber. I imagined layers of scuffed down colors on the beads. After seeing all the beautiful colors in nature, I decided to mix a batch of vermilion red (cadmium red hue, permanent alizarin crimson, and cadmium orange hue). The beads are still in progress, much like my life. The walk got my morning off to a good start, now it’s time to get back to the studio.

Clarity: four things I know to be true about jewelry.

First true thing: I know that I just want to make tiny little objects that women put on their bodies to signal to the world the ideas they have about their inner selves.

Second true thing: I make my jewelry for women, but I wouldn’t call it feminine. What is femininity anyway?

Third true thing: if fine jewelry is jewelry designed solely with precious materials (gold, silver, platinum, gemstones), then I’m certain that I appreciate fine jewelry but I don’t want to make it.

Fourth true thing: Sometimes people use the phrase “art jewelry” as a marketing strategy without a clear understanding of what art jewelry is nor how it came to be. There are many great books about the history of art jewelry. One of my favorites is

After Voulkos ring

I remember the first time I saw Peter Voulkos’s ceramic work. It was raw, sensual, almost violent. I was working as a painter, moving from portraiture into non-objective painting, and building up layers of paint on canvas that was almost sculptural in effect. Years later I find myself fascinated by polymer clay—the stuff of hobbyists and plumbers. A plastic that moves like clay. This ring is a tribute to Voulkos who planted the seed of imagination in my mind. It is made of thermoset polyvinyl chloride also known as polymer clay.

Works in progress: 061008

1. ring of polymer clay and oil paint. 2. focal bead (for the Chado neckpiece). 3. large green beads (for Paper Covers Rock neckpiece). 4. small green beads, medium brown beads, and focal bead (for Chado neckpiece); huge brown beads and cement beads in progress (for Paper Covers Rock neckpiece).

Notes from the Studio: Music & Meaning

Working on Quiet Evolution a neck piece.

Listening to Notes Bob Humid’s, “No. What You Really Need Is a Female Black Zen Buddhist President”

Today in the studio: Beadmaking & Decorating

Here is a picture of the dining room. I need to finish the two side chairs, then I’ll put tall, white bookcases behind the four dining room chairs.

I’m playing around with cement, and I made a study of a large, mixed media bead. That bead is approximately 8″ (25.4 mm) in circumference. When I work everything out, I’ll reproduce the beads in wearable sizes. (Could you imagine wearing a necklace of 8″ cement beads? I think not.) Right now I’m baking a new batch of paper beads. I’ve never made paper beads so large. I made them last night and they’re still moist, so I’m drying them at 150 degress…we’ll see how that goes!

Finally, I’m reading a fascinating article on The Future of Technology and Deception by Hope Katz Gibbs. Those futurists, what ideas they have!

Notes from the Studio: Go big or go home, Felix Laband, and a Community Project

Yesterday P & I saw Sex and the City. The fashion was fabulous (but of course) and the jewelry was inspiring. I was a bit disturbed by some assumptions in Charlotte’s Mexico scene and Miranda’s apartment hunting scene. Those things aside, Sex and the City–the movie was campy, good fun.

Months ago, I wrote about feeling compelled to design oversized jewelry and how the theatre and performance aspect of couture fashion is a significant source of inspiration for me. In the field of fine art jewelry, we often talk about the relationship of jewelry to the body. I suppose my connection is more indirect. It’s a given that jewelry has a relationship with the body because it lies on the body. I’m more interested in how people in general and women in particular connect with their ideas of identity (individual and group) through their choices of adornment. For me, fashion and jewelry are elements of the same equation.

So right now, I’m:

• listening to Felix Laband’s “Sleeping Household” on his Dark Days Exit album
• thinking of a community project (to spruce up the traffic circle near my street)
• thinking of all the small beads that I did well, and would like to do over as very big beads.