Category Archives: Photography

Bracelets and April BJP

I’m so excited to announce that my bracelets have been posted to my website! You may view them here.

I’ve been diligently working on my April journal page. It represents my moving and settling in to my new home journey. As the garden has been blooming in bright colors, I decided to use a vibrant color palette to reflect that and my blooming happiness. I’m hoping to finish it this week.

My camera renders oranges and reds so intensely that I had to really tone down this photo quite a bit in Photoshop. It still appears like the background color is overtaking the colors of my beadwork. I don’t know how I feel about the empty part in the middle of my heart. I’m thinking of filling it up with something, possibly pearls. I may leave it empty though to represent an open heart which I aspire to have. What do you think?

I’m starting to meditate about my May page. I want it to represent a link to my very first page from last year called “The Garden in my Heart”. Now that I have a physical garden once again, there will be a connection with that. I’m still thinking about it…

A Woodland Walk

Yesterday we went for a walk in the woods. The moment I step on the path, I feel enveloped in a hush, a quiet that I don’t know in my regular day to day world. To me, the woods are a sacred place where everything is as it should be and “being” is the way of life. A deep calm permeates my whole being with every step along my woodland journey.

The ladyslippers, orchids of the woodland, are in full bloom under the trees. We found this beauty in a ray of sunlight, like she was on stage taking her bows. Oh, what treasures we find as we go deeper along our path.

I love the way the light plays amongst the leaves, giving it that dappled appearance.

I found this little hidden place at the base of a tree. Why am I so drawn to trees these days? Their strength, their majesty, their rootedness. I think of all of these qualities as I lay down the beads on my March journal page. As predicted, I didn’t get much done at my guild meeting but I had some time last night to work on it and, hopefully, some time this evening, too. I’m still considering what to do about the roots and the sides of the tree. I want to hang a couple of dangly roots to symbolize my inner feeling of rootlessness. Maybe a suggestion of branches since my main focus was on the bark texture and knots. I’m also thinking of what lies ahead for my April page. An image of a heart inside of a house is starting to form in my mind.

The Birth of a Studio, Part 1

Where shall I begin?

I started bringing my art supplies over to my new home a couple of weeks ago. I was very lucky that I had time to do that instead of having to get it accomplished all in one weekend. However, now that I look back, it might have been a good idea to set up the structure – shelves, tables, portable storage – first before I dumped everything in the room. Now it looks like this.

The room is actually a downstairs family room in a split level house. There’s even a brick fireplace on the left hand wall behind where I was standing when I took the photo. I can have some nice cozy fires in the wintertime while I work. A couple of months ago this room was walled with dark wood paneling. I think the “slipper shell” color we painted it really brightens the room. My studio space is approximately 11′ x 12′. I’d like to have 3 work areas for beading, polymer clay and metalwork. This weekend I’m going to take a ride over to BJs to check out their portable tables. I’d like to purchase two 6 foot tables, one for beadwork and one for polymer clay. I’d love to find a jeweler’s bench for the metalworking area. A good friend suggested that I make paper cutouts of the components for my studio area and play around with placement. I love that idea and will probably play around with that this week before I get my tables. So, step one is to make paper cutouts to determine how the structure of my studio area will be setup.

Libby Mills has been interviewing artists and their studios in her blog posts, Studio Snapshot. You can read the latest one here. Knowing that I was setting up a new studio area, I’ve been avidly reading every interview. Two important considerations that have been consistent in each interview is lighting and the ability to face outside (if you can) while working. As you can see from my photos, I do have a sliding glass door leading out into the backyard. There’s a wooden deck over it so that does limit the light. Right now I just have one portable OTT lite so I’ll have to invest in more lighting.

Does anyone know where I can purchase a wooden jeweler’s bench?

Polymer Goddess

polymergoddesscloseuphang.jpg

Ever since I discovered the clips from my light tent kit, I’ve been having fun taking photographs of my necklaces hanging from the clips. It’s a great way to show the front part of the necklace, especially if it has a pendant or dangles. A photo of this type of necklace laying down just doesn’t do it justice. I am experimenting with different ways to display my jewelry and the necklace is telling me, in a way, how it looks best.

As I was naming the file for this photo, I realized that this necklace didn’t have a name. Usually, when I’m creating a piece of jewelry, a story or name will start to be “born” based on what inspired me to create. This necklace was inspired by color and gold leaf, as in “wouldn’t it be way cool to make a rich Skinner blend with gold leaf over it and then cut it into dagger shapes for dangles?” And thus, this necklace fit for a “Polymer Goddess” was born.