Dyed magnesite is vivid this year and I must silence my mother’s words when she asks “isn’t that pretty heavy?” Using chain with these colorful nuggets helps to lighten them and they are fun to wear. In addition to the necklace shown, I strung these with wire connectors and leather and also wired individual colors to go singly on neck wires. I’ve also made both short and longer versions of the one pictured. It’s been fun to make my own chain out of 18 gauge wire.

While it seems I should go to the bead store to find the “hot” colors for summer, I go to the boutiques. It doesn’t really matter to my customers if the bead is “hot” it really matters whether or not it compliments their new outfits. Looking at clothes and THEN going to the bead outlet makes much more sense. There is, however, a catch to this process. How do I go to the boutiques without wanting to buy the clothes? I guess I’ll just have to work on that one until my ship comes in.

This little episode made me start to wonder about the “free ride” phrase. I believe we get many free rides in our lifetime, but perhaps we just don’t see them as such. For example, someone held a shower at my home several weeks ago. It’s one of the few times when I’ve been able to literally sit in the back row, since I didn’t know the guests, and just enjoy myself. I didn’t have to be the life of the party or the charming hostess. It was a real treat. I think it was a free ride! I was able to ride on the bride’s veil tails and remember my own shower some 42 years ago. I also got to listen to whispers from other women about their own special times. It made me wonder if the back seat promises more enjoyment and meaning than the front. Is that where you have to be for a free ride? I think I shall try it again.

When a friend shows me a new wire or torch technique or someone at a design meet up shares an idea, is that a free ride?  They don’t ask for anything in return and I don’t have to contribute if I gave all my creativity at the office. Most of the  designers with whom I spend time are totally unselfish and share things for the sheer joy of it . . . a free ride.

. . . and the puppies? It’s blue bliss around here since we now have just the one pup we are keeping. While I was blue to see the other six leave for new homes, I feel blissful about their placements. Now I can have my laundry room back and things will begin to return to normal . . . whatever that is.

Keep your eyes out for that “free ride”. Perhaps you’ve had one recently and just didn’t recognize it. If you can’t find one, why not give one?

Today, I pulled a Mike Mulligan. My six week old puppies have figured out how to escape from their temporary outdoor fence. Disgustedly, since I couldn’t get anything done due to chasing puppies, I got in the fence and put up quite a formidable barricade so those little darlings would stay put. As I eyed my work, I suddenly realized that I had no way to get out. There is no gate and I had just sealed the only opening. Eventually, I stood precariously on a rubber tub, grabbed the porch railing and hoisted myself out. It was NOT a graceful happening.

I’ve had some Mike Mulligans with my new bracelet designs. While starting with great enthusiasm, after adorning the armature with the first beads, I’ve sometimes realized that I didn’t leave myself a pleasing way to finish the piece. The goal with these bracelets has been to create depth in the design without sacrificing comfort, Often when I achieve a large focal point on the top of the bracelet, it flips much too easily when being worn, but this style has done great – no flipping! The first picture, taken from the side of the bracelet, shows the dimension. You can see how the wire form layers to which small beads may be attached. The beads help hold the distance between the layers. The Mulligan happens when I get “stuck” on one layer and can’t figure out where to go next. This bracelet with red magnesite, lapis and amethyst is still in progress. The one below is finished and wears nicely.

In the end, Mike Mulligan and and steam shovel did not grow obsolete but rather found themselves in a new line of work – all because they got “stuck” Let’s just hope that as I get stuck on layers of these bracelets, I’ll find a new creative and attractive way to finish things off.

It makes me think how much fun we all have when we try different things. The wire work group with which I meet once a month tried etching and it was fun. I enjoyed this process, but was not fully captivated by it and realized that I can try something new without having to go “whole hog” into the endeavor. This is a phenomenon I’ve seldom experienced. I usually go overboard.  I looked around the room during our meet up and saw totally absorbed women working on their etching and seemingly not worrying about anything else. It resembled the concentration and joy I saw on my grandson’s face when he made the hammer go “ping”. Do you think we could market this to psychiatrists as “Creativity, the healthy way to improve your outlook”?

The pictures herein show some of the pieces I’ve done lately to “improve my outlook”. The first is a double strand of very rough cut turquoise and agate.

The next is a sterling silver wave adorned with cherry quartz, amethyst and pearls.

The third piece is made of shell with some spiney oyster and magnesite.

I’m definitely hoping for spring weather with the latter two pieces. I find that the boutiques are bulging with new spring clothes, so it’s time to think about pastel jewelry. All three of the pieces were new combination for me and another creative avenue. We don’t have to try something totally new to be creatively happy. It you can’t get to a brand new experience, just do a little juggling with the one you are currently tackling. I used to tell my gifted/creative students that if they were bored, it was their fault. They have to bring something to the learning experience. I think my grandson brought a great big hammer!

Thankfully, several things did come together as shown in the photos herein. All the necklaces have earrings, but the pictures of a couple didn’t work out. I believe that all the major bead components for these pieces were purchased from Turquoise Magpie.

The stones/colors for all these necklaces were selected with Spring in mind. The boutiques are already filling with fashions for warmer weather and the clothes beg for these lighter colored accessories.

Seeing a warmer than Texas setting on television for the Super Bowl helped me think about Spring and realize there is hope for brighter, more pleasant weather ahead. I’m thinking that designers need some special video, lighting or music to jump ahead to the next season while still physically stuck in the current one. I guess the Super Bowl “watching” helped me get there.

I hope your team won and that even if you are not a Saints fan, you will cheer with me for the city that came back. Having lived in Louisiana for nine years and hearing first hand from those who survived Katrina, I can only find joy in this win for the city of New Orleans and the whole Gulf region.

Puppies at Play – growling and biting

TROUBLE! “I’m sure I can get out of this whelping box.”

DOUBLE TROUBLE! “If SHE can get out, so can we!”

OOPS! “ I think we just got caught. “ BACK IN THE BOX!

I’ve been going in circles with the metal work this week. It all started with a single left over circle from a pair of earrings gone awry and things mushroomed from there. Using the torch I had added color to some copper sheet metal and several natural circles appeared. The left over earring became a pattern and the medium circle necklace on the right developed. You can see a bit of the color created from the heat of the torch. Perhaps I went a bit overboard as I created a hand made chain out of wire circles. These circles are graduated becoming smaller toward the back. 

Since there was more of this copper, I cut some smaller circles and made a second necklace.

Undaunted by strange looks from across the living room, I made one more set of circles. Surely someone might want a bit more bling! The larger circles came from a piece of metal I got at the recycle establishment. They already had an interesting patina.

It’s quite a wonder this latter piece ever came together since I worked on it between trips to the lease pasture to help round up and haul the cattle several times today. I even took the components with me when I served a picnic lunch to the men and they laughed at me for working on the necklace instead of eating. Some days, it’s a real struggle to finish anything and I wasn’t giving up. The glare on this picture gives the copper a strange hue that is not really present.

The final photo shows the back of one of the necklaces which is the same for all three.

I’m thinking this journey in circles should continue into bracelets and belts now. It seems that I’m enjoying going in circles. Could it be I’ve been on the straight and narrow for too long?

Who knows? Next I may decide to try rectangles . . . , but somehow I don’t think it will be the same.

In my masters and PhD work, I studied many artists, particularly investigating their creative thinking. At that time, I don’t recall seeing any bios that resembled my own. For example, Julia Cameron discusses artists in her book, Walking in this World: The Practical Art of Creativity. “Artists have stared out of windows and into their souls for a very long time. It is something in the staring-out that enables us to do the looking-in.”  I don’t recall ever really taking the time to stare out and then look in. I could say that LIFE got in the way of this, but I believe the true artist carves out time for this introspective endeavor.

Wikipedia defines artists stating “the definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art.” Webster further explains that an artist is (1) a person who works in, or is skilled in the techniques of, any of the fine arts, . . . (2) a person who does anything very well, with imagination and a feeling for form, effect, etc. . . . “ Both these descriptions make an artist more common than I suspected.

Unfortunately, only the second Webster definition, included imagination (creativity) which I believe is essential to the artist. Are artists those who perfectly replicate what they have seen created by others, found in nature, etc. or is an artist that person who imagines something unique or creates a true variation on something that already exists? I choose to believe that creative thinking is an essential component to artistry. I remember using the Torrance Visual Creativity Test to in the evaluation of several adults. One young woman was a painting major at a reputable college, but her creativity test indicated little visual imagination. I didn’t discuss her score, but learned later that she had changed majors to business. (quite a big switch). At that time, I wondered if we might save some art majors a good deal of unhappy college hours if they investigated their own creativity at an early stage or if the colleges, at the least, provided training in creative thinking.

You do not need to find fame to be an artist. That’s certainly apparent by those who commit to their art by doing as the artist for my books used to do. For many years, he slept on a pallet in his cold warehouse studio, earned money by baking bread for a bakery at night, and painted during the day. Luckily, he has now found sufficient success for a more comfortable life.

If you don’t need fame, do you need recognition to be an artist? Again, I would say no. I think a true artist solely requires appreciation from within. If so, the old “believe in yourself” statement holds true. Many of us, however, do require the appreciation of others to continue our art work. I would certainly have ceased to create new designs if my early pieces had not been appreciated. I feel it is very difficult to create in an arena of naysayers. 

What elements might it take to be a true artist? On the practical side, skill and technique developed through patient practice would certainly head the list. The less tangible elements of creativity, vision and fortitude weight strongly among those other needed qualities. If I chose these elements and wanted to work toward being more of an artist, I find that I need to go back to skill and technique. My creativity and drive have pushed me into production and now I notice minimal flaws in construction. If I want to “be” an artist under my definition, I need more skill practice. (If this was music, I’d be saying I need to practice more scales and arpeggios!) This skill practice also requires a critical eye, the kind that doesn’t accept “almost perfect”.

The difficulty will be in conducting skill practice while wanting to forge ahead with production. I need a healthy balance between the two and will try to keep from tipping the scale. Perhaps this will allow the “artist within” to emerge.

I observed this same phenomenon with the graduate students that I taught. One evening, in an early childhood class, I let them experiment with drops of colored water on waxed paper. Each student had a straw and they were to observe the movement of the drops blown across the paper as well as the manner in which they combined. The drops move like liquid mercury. I thought we had put everything away and started my lecture only to glance up and note two women in the back of the room racing their water drops across the waxed paper as they blew through the straws. I bent down and met them at eye level just as the first water drop crossed the finish line. I was laughing so hard inside that it was hard to be stern. We never did quite return to full intellectual seriousness during that class.

With the knowledge of how freedom can trump rigor, I was concerned about following the Celtic knot pattern. Thankfully, I don’t have to go somewhere to get straightened out. I can still create a balanced pattern. The necklace shown here, composed of Celtic knots IS balanced. I have several acquaintances who really like Celtic knots, but I’ve wondered about their meaning. I retrieved the following information from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_knot

“Celtic knots are a variety of (mostly endless) knots and stylized graphical representations of knots used for decoration, adopted by the ancient Celts. These knots are most known for their adaptation for use in the ornamentation of Christian monuments and manuscripts . . . “

This didn’t tell me much more than I knew, but the Christian connection is interesting. I like these knots because they are seeming endlessness. I had a great deal of trouble figuring out the pendant knot. The others on the necklace chain are not endless. Each is made of two separate figure eights that are brought together with jump rings on each end. This is more easily observed on the earrings.

This set has found a temporary home at Dovetails of Wimberley and if folks like it, the store owner suggested we make it in silver. We shall see whether or not I can replicate that knot.

You know, following a pattern wasn’t too bad. It was actually quite calming to know exactly what should come next in the design. (But I wouldn’t want to do this all the time!)

The butterfly pendant is atop a domed and stamped piece of copper. I used the torch on the butterfly to give it a bit of color.

This piece is made of ruby zoisite (large chips) and kiwi. I used plated silver beads and added some blue rounds to the necklace. I regret the color doesn’t show very well in the photo

This piece took several days because I didn’t know what I was doing. I wanted to do a layered pendant and use rivets, but in the end I just have layers and fake rivets. The oval is copper and the diamond shape is brass that I stamped with Ranger brand alcohol ink to add a bit of color.

The seed bead pendant has been close to completion for quite a while. Now I can check it off the list of UFOs (unfinished objects. . . check . . . Hurray!)