More studio shots

More shots of the jewelry area - the metals bench is directly to the left of this shot above. 

the studio tour

So here's the metals table in my studio.  It's about 3 feet away from my beading table.  I love the set up - I can work with my torch & then move right over to the beading table.  And yes, it is unapologetically, messy.  Well, messy in an organized way, I suppose.  More studio tour in a few days.

Painting done a while ago, just needed to see some of my older work today to inspire me to get at it again!

weekend

We went to Dayton, OH to see a fly-in of World War I replica airplanes - yes, they were flying!  Yes, that's a BIG smile on hubbie's face!

I finished a necklace right before we left - posted it on Etsy today.  Yes, you can't see it, but there's a big smile on my face!

Weekends - Priceless!!

What's been on my jewelry table lately

I only get to work in little bits here and there once the school year starts.  I have to find things that I can do in those little snippets of time.  I don't ever think of it as "have to" but "get to."  Here's just a little peek at what I've been doing in those quiet, blissful moments!

A little sunshine from my sketchbook.   Just seemed like the sort of day to put a little sunshiny something on the blog.  Happy weekend, everyone. 

sparkles in your ear

Just some fun sparkles!

New earrings made

Sterling silver earwires, blue chalcedony stones, wrapped with black wire from the hardware store. 

trip to Door County, Wisconsin

The seniors of the Class of 2011 gifted me with a cruise on the ferry boat, the Badger - it goes from Ludington, Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin.  It's a wonderful old railcar ferry boat that has been converted for passenger car (and truck, and semi-truck, etc) ferrying.  Hubbie & I went this past weekend & then stayed in Door County - a delightful part of the world.  We explored and dined.  What a fun little vacation!

Thank you SO much - Class of 2011!!

Doodles

I had the chance to take a class at Art Unraveled with the wonderful Alisa Burke a couple of years ago.  I was hooked.  I'm a regular on her blog now, and have taken a couple of her online classes.  She's classically, formally trained in art, and it's fun to hear her vast knowledge & then hear her suggest that we spend time doodling!  Well, I've doodled all my life. 

So, here's a combination - a pic of a couple of doodles of sorts (the leaves of the other day became rays of the sun), and how I turned them into something else.  I don't think this is done yet, either, as I think it needs some "more" in the sun itself, or maybe around the outside.  That's the good thing about my sketch book - when I'm ready, I'll just open to that page & add it!

here's more of my sketch book

This little guy isn't "finished" in my book - no stem painting, no background color, no color on the page outside the box - but, I thought I'd share with you.  This little flower was one I saw when we stopped for gas in Southern Michigan on the way south to Georgia a couple of weeks ago.  First attempt at drawing in the car, while Hubbie was driving.  Pretty much, it seemed to work!

More Drawing A Day

Hope none of you gentle readers are tired of my little drawings.  Here's another drawing a day - this was done in the car (Hubbie WAS driving......LOL!) while we were on I-75 coming north Through Tennessee.

drawings, drawings, drawings

I won't show them all to you!  LOL! But, here's another "Drawing a Day..."  This one based upon a painting by Stephanie Lee (that I won in the silent auction at Art Unraveled!)

Another drawing

Just having fun with a leaf shape.

Isn't she sweet?

My cat, Riley - using the Pencil Camera app for Blackberry.  Little Sweetie!

Resolution

I'm not one to make New Year's Resolutions.  The best time to begin anything is 10 years ago.  The second best time to begin anything is now.  Why wait?  No fear of failure, either.  Just start.

So, about a week and a half ago, maybe more, I started trying to draw or paint daily.  Something, anything.  The "drawing" thing kept me from doing this for quite some time.  My friend Kim pushed me to take a drawing class with the wonderful Jane LaFazio.  It was terrifying for me - I'll admit it. 

And what was worse?  I liked it. 

Fast forward a full year.  Have I done any more drawing?  Nope.  Had I thought about that experience?  Almost every day.  And what was worse, was that I would often talk to my own students about the importance of practice.  "If you want to get good at something, you have to dedicate a little time on a very regular basis, to the practice of that thing." 

Geesh.  Was I listening?

Well, yes, and so I began.  Here's a peek into my sketchbook:

So far, I'm liking this drawing, painting daily thing - some days I won't get to do both, and some days I'll be able to gloriously enjoy time spent with great intention on my sketchbook.  But for now, just setting aside time to practice seems enough.

Have a great week!

still recalling Art Unraveled

 I'm still fondly recalling the fun so many of us had while at Art Unraveled this year.  Here's a book I made in a wonderful class taught by the talented Stephanie Lee.  The covers are a combination of old book covers, plaster cloth, paint and imagination.  The binding is a wonderful binding technique that allows the book to lay flat.  I chose to cover the binding area with some vintage crochet & some old buttons.  The pages are fabric, stiffened through her "magic process" to become much more like paper book pages, and able to accept writing. 

I think my book came out looking very much like it should contain a mystery story, or a tale of Halloween. 

Have a great rest of your weekend - whatever you choose to do! 

The summer of the tomato

The tomatoes on this plant look just like bunches of grapes!!

Tomato vines everywhere - YUMM!

quick trip - back now

Pinecone from Georgia - this is on our property on the side of the mountain!

Tree some place in Tennessee - just couldn't resist this picture opportunity.

Minis Today

These little canvases (and I know you can't tell they're little by the picture - but they are 5 x 5 inch squares) are so adorable!  Gail Russakov's class at Art Unraveled, "Mini Magical Memories," was a blast, and we made these in that class.  Wonderful technique for making texture, and then placing that texture on a canvas and adorning.  Cute & fun! 

Happy Wednesday!

More art made

 My next two paintings I show you today were made in a class with Stephanie Lee - she's a wonderful many-media artist whose work I admire.  Her class was entitled "Painting Mindscapes," and the idea of this class was that we would be working mainly in acrylics, but she would work with us on creating images that have an almost "dreamy" quality.  Many wonderful techniques later, I emerged with several pieces, two of which are below. 

I like this piece because it really has a truly dreamy quality - and a rustic charm. 

This piece has a look of a weathered landscape, perhaps remnants of something that once was. 

Enjoy!

Show and Tell, Day 2

Today, it's all about encaustics.  I had a wonderful class with Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch - we played with encaustic mediums, paints & then played with different burning techniques - I loved the amber shellac technique, and used it on these three paintings.  Yes, these are made with wax!  I know it's hard to see, but the finish has a subtle sheen that only wax can give.  Yes, I'm hooked!  I took a class with Patricia last year, too, and loved it so much, I had to play again this year!  Enjoy!

Art Unraveled 2011 - what a great time!

To my Art Unraveled friends, this will seem like old news.  To my friends who didn't get to go to Art Unraveled, well, it's "show and tell" time. 

Took a wonderful class with Richard Salley - here are two pairs of earrings I made.  Just put the earwires on them today - made the earwires this afternoon, because I didn't take any sterling wire with me - every square inch of space was precious in my suitcase!  Can't wait to work on more of these - I have several designs swirling around in my head!  These are mixed metals pieces with lovely stones set into them - I think they're going to be fun to wear.  More tomorrow!

New Class Taken - New Opportunities!

I love learning.  Of late, I love learning about all things metal, although I still LOVE painting and journaling (when I have time).  So, I'm currently taking a class with Deryn Mentock called "Boho Bliss."  It's one of her two classes that I've really wanted to take since I saw the class examples (the other is "Balance Bronze Bangles," hint, hint, Deryn - offer it online!) 

I am now proud to show my latest creations - straight from my studio!  In fact, I paddled over there this morning in my bathrobe to redo one little aspect (it shall remain known only to me, gentle reader) before I posted here and on the class flickr group.  I always hope, while I am in the midst of a cockamaymie idea like that, that none of my students, current or past, have a video camera going.  LOL!!!  But, sometimes, a girl's gotta create!


So here are my earrings: 


Earrings #2 - made with baby blue faceted amazonite & dark blue apatite and bronze & copper wire.

Earrings #1 were made with sterling silver wire, and watermelon tourmaline chunks - decided to start with the expensive wire and just see what happens. 

I like both pair - I made the bronze pair to wear when I'm teaching at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp - I think they'll look pretty cool with my camp uniform! 

Have a great day!

July 4th Up North

Northern Michigan loves a good reason to celebrate.  July 4th is one of the best reasons of all.  Yes, we have a wonderful parade - yes, I have 2 bands that march in it - yes, I actually go through the parade twice!!  (and it's not a short parade!)

We have carnival rides, fireworks, caramel corn wagons, and craft shows.  This year, my work colleague and I decided to have a craft show of our own, in living room and dining room of my "craft house."  (That's the house that has my studio in the basement - yes, I'm a lucky gal!)  We held it on July 2 & 3, and we had a lot of visitors, even though we did little to advertise it. 

My colleague does stained glass work and tatting.  I showed mixed media work and jewelry.  We both declared it a success when we finished on the third!  Then.... off to band practice we both went.  It was funny, as we packed up my colleague's car, we said, "Hey, fun show - see you in a couple of hours!"  It's so fun to work with someone who has common interests outside of work - sometimes we find ourselves chattering on and on about our "other" world, while we're at work!

Here's some pics from our crafty open house - hope your July 4th celebrations were wonderfully fun.

Blogging Blight

I try, I try.  But, I am a blogger who has ambitions of regular, beautiful posts, complete with wonderful pictures.  The reality - I am a some times (very, very sometimes) blogger with blogger remorse.  I wish I could post more often and have wonderful, beautiful pictures to include.  Maybe someday.  Maybe not.  Right now, with a full time job (I guess many would say more than full time), and more interests than I know what to do with, I'll have to suffice with a little blogger remorse from time to time.

Here's what's new around the compound:

We visited Dayton and the US Air Force Museum - really an awe inspiring place, especially for a flier.  We went to Huffman Prairie - the place outside of Dayton where the Wright brothers practiced and perfected their flying.  Another place of reverence for the flier in my family. 

We spent the weekend in Chicago - one of us (not me) had meetings on Saturday.  One of us (yes, that was me) went to Stamp Thyme in Lockport and went shopping, then came back and found some great little stores in Forest Park (just outside Oak Park).  What fun. 

And now, to prepare for the 4th of July!  An open house with friend and work colleague, two parade practices and a parade, and then collapse in exhaustion in the back yard.  Have a great week!

Full mode summer

Well, it's summer here, finally - the weather's gotten warm and sunny & I think everyone's finally feeling like we might actually have summer.  (If you're not from my neck of the woods, suffice it to say it's been cold and rainy here for most of the spring - really good because we will have more water in the lakes, rivers, etc - not really good because we've also had lots of water in our basements, yards, etc.)

It would seem that I've done lots and lots of work on school-type stuff and very little work on "me" stuff.  That's wearing thin, but I'm hanging in there. 

Yesterday we went to the garden store, bought our garden and our flowers and started planting.  Today, my muscles are reminding me "um...what were you thinking..." but it's all good.  I look out the windows and see the pretty, neat rows and the pretty, neat, cleaned flower beds.  Only a little more to do today to make it sharp.

Then, we decided to take the little yellow car out for a spin to our favorite fish place for an early dinner - late lunch.  Yummo!!

So, the day seemed too good to just end with a drive back home - so, we went to several little towns, and ended at the car ferry dock in Ludington.  This is an old coal-fired ferry boat, originally meant for rail cars to be shipped across Lake Michigan.  Now it carries passenger cars, trucks, and passengers back and forth.  It is a wonderful ride, especially on a nice day.  We were there at about the time the boat would arrive from Wisconsin, so we decided to sit and wait.  It was wonderful!