Something Sublime

Studio Rubiano

Despite the high heat here, in Texas, I spent a delightful weekend among friends in Austin.  I took Stephanie Rubiano's amazing "Magnetic Personalities" class at her beautiful home.

 

I traveled with my good friend, Sally Turlington, who was kind enough to drive us in her new car, while showing me the features of her new i-phone...very cool!  Upon arriving in town, we met up with Stephanie and our friend, Kim Loya.  The first spot we hit was the infamous Uncommon Objects.   Uncommon has the most eclectic mix of things you've ever seen. 

In amongst the giant clown shoes, stuffed terriers (sorry Maggie!) and vintage store display pieces, you can find all kinds of interesting baubles.

 

 

I had to grab this old, leather briefcase out of poor Sally's hand...

 

...and swipe these tiny cigar boxes out from under poor Stephanie.  But, in the end, they forgave me for my over-zealousness.

 

Don't worry, I left a few things for them (wink!).

See...we're still friends!

 

Next stop was Stephanie's home and studio where we met up with the lovely, Diane Cook.  Steph graciously allowed us to wander and take photos.

 

Let me tell you, Stephanie's workspace is filled with inspiration.

She has such a gift for arrangement as well as an incredible creative vision.

 

Of course, this extends right into the rest of her home...

 

...which is fabulous, as well and filled with artwork by Stephanie as well as by many other artists.

 

Sally, Kim and Diane

 

Cee Cee Grimes and Jennifer Rowland

Saturday was class day.  If you get a chance to take this class, with Stephanie, I highly recommend it.  I know she'll be teaching it at Artfest next year.  Look at the adorable thing I made:

 

Magnetic Personalities-Sarah Emeline

Actually, if you get a chance to take any of Stephanie's classes, you should jump.  She's so knowledgeable and, like I said, she's got that creative vision that turns everything she touches into gold.

 

In this class, we got to play big-girl paper dolls all day.

 

We created a doll from special materials (not just paper, after all) and worked on their wardrobes which was a kick.

 

Stephanie taught a lot of useful techniques, including waxing some of the clothes.  Fun stuff!

 

 

 

 

Sally's magnetic personality

 

I was lucky enough to acquire one of Stephanie's "Perching Pixies."  This one stands in a little tin teapot that reminds me of one my mom had as a kid.

 

Sunday was the Austin city-wide garage sale.  You'd think we'd had enough shopping after the hours we spent at Uncommon but nooooo...

 

This wasn't really a garage sale in the garage sale sense of the word.  It was inside, for one thing (thank you God, for that, as it was 103 outside!) and the place was filled with vendors; like an antique mall but with way, way better prices!

 

And guess who was vending there...

 

...my friend, Katy, from Beads by Sandy...yay!

 

 

Much as I love my vintage pull-down maps, old green fan, crusty little chair, cabinet cards and other goodies, my find of the day was this shabby chic birdcage, I picked up for a song (pun intended).  Wife Whisperer tried to put it on the curb last night for the garbage men but, luckily, I caught him!

Deryn and Kim

Thank you, Stephanie, for a wonderful weekend.

Play Day In Austin

Isn't she lovely?  I'm off to Austin with some artsy friends to do artsy things.  Sally, Diane and I will be traveling to the home of my other artsy friend, Stephanie Rubiano, for a day of creating our own "magnetic personalities."  Stephanie will be teaching this class at Artfest, but I'm thrilled to have a semi-private lesson!

 

I'm not really much of a doll maker but I jumped at the chance to take a class with Stephanie.  She's one of those artists who come up with the most creative ideas and everything she touches is incredibly detailed and well done.  So, I should end up with a nice, magnetic personality by the end of the weekend.  We all want that...right?

Steampunk Meets Tiffanys

Steampunk meets Tiffanys?  That's the way Stacy Alexander describes my jewelry on her blog Listen to My Art Beat.  Stacy's blog is home to all kinds of artistic inspiration in the form of reviews, links, artist's interviews and photos...tons and tons of photos.  I'm honored to be a featured artist for Stacy.  Check it out here!

Vintage Stuff And Things

More stuff and things!  I'm working on a new project...

...and had to run out for a few supplies.  Well, maybe I didn't absolutely have to run out but it sure was a good hunt.

 

I picked up a few lovely, vintage boxes because every girl needs a dozen jewelry boxes...right?

 

That bottom box is a quilted, vintage hankie box.  I love them because they're lightweight and come in a range of beautiful, retro colors.  The vendor had used a sticky price tag on the inside lid so I'll be altering that with some ledger paper, old ribbon and...oh, who knows what...

 

...maybe some flowers or tatting?

 

I picked up this gorgeous, glass lined dresser tray for a song...you saw it in the first photo.  It was marked "as is" but I didn't see a thing wrong with it.  Just because the colors of the fabric are a bit faded or the handles are a little warped?  It only adds to the enchantment.

 

I'm not sure what this little thing is.  At first, I thought it was a charm but there's no hole or ring.  It's a tiny pipe...with a face.  Very interesting!

 

And then, there's this guy.  I actually found him in Birmingham but forgot to include him in the previous post.  I wonder what woman wore this brooch...

 

...or this watch.  Don't you love the vintage patina?

 

There were two of these and I thought I might be able to use one in my project but it didn't turn out to be so.  The embroidery is very fine and I'm sure I'll be able to use them elsewhere.

 

I saved the best for last...my find of the day.  I'm so excited about this one!  At first, I thought it was a tiny Bible or prayer book.  It's only about the size of my wallet.  But, when I picked it up...

 

...it was actually a teeny, tiny album...

 

...full of teeny, tiny tintypes.  45 of them!  They're the smallest tintypes I've ever seen.  Each one is under an inch high.  Not only that, the album itself is precious.  This little book is a treasure trove of jewelry making, mixed media goodness.  Lucky, lucky day!

Birmingham Photo Safari

While I was in Birmingham, DJ, myself and some of the students went on a little photo safari.

 

Turns out, there are lots of old churches and interesting buildings in Birmingham.

Our little hike was short, but there was plenty to shoot.

Oh, what fun we had tromping through the streets.

Our little troupe got quite a few looks...

 

...a honk or two...

...and even a man who asked us, from his car, why we were taking pictures of a tree.

Well, why not?

 

This one is one that DJ took for me (she had a better zoom!)...

...it's one of my favorites...for obvious reasons.  Or, maybe not so obvious!

 

Objects And Elements Interview

"Prayers For The Girl Who Washed Away"

This week is my turn for the design team, featured artist's interview on the Objects and Elements blog.

This necklace is the one that Jen chose to feature with the interview.  She's doing a terrific job managing the design team for Susan.  There's a very sad story that goes with this piece...

 

The week that I worked on this necklace, we'd had torrential downpours in Houston.  I was listening to the radio as I worked and a news story came on about an accident that had happened.  A man had driven into a bayou, during the storm, while trying to answer his cell phone.  There were six children with him, all under the age of 10, and all but one drowned.  When the story came on the radio, one of the little ones had been found, some days later, and the announcer prefaced it with the words "the girl who washed away."  It really struck me and I thought about that little girl for a long time after.

The recycled sari silk that I used in the piece reminded me of prayer flags.  It was later learned that the driver was drunk as well as distracted.

In addition to the sari silk, I also used bronze wire, Roman glass (ancient and very cool), heishi, and bronze "bullets" all from the O&E store.  I hope you'll visit the O&E design team blog and read all the artist's interviews.

Treasure Hunting, Birmingham Style

Remember this girl (on the left), Ronnie?

We skipped out one day, during our Birmingham trip, for a little adventure.

Our goal was to go treasure hunting and, despite the extremely hot and humid day (and I do mean extremely!), we decided to walk.  Dentists must have some innate ability to hike in blazing conditions.  Ronnie bobbed along, barely even breaking a sweat as I wilted. 

In Houston, we have the good sensed to stay in during the heat of the day.  But, junk shops were calling.  It was a long, long walk.  Thank goodness for frozen coffee drinks!

There were a few interesting distractions along the way...

...and, after a couple of closed stores, a strategically placed coffee shop, and one very mean junk collector, we landed in goodie heaven.  I think we walked about 25 miles.  Well, maybe not 25 but it sure felt like it.  I was glad to see a drop of sweat finally break out on Ronnie's brow.  The truth is, when we finally arrived at the antique place, we both nearly collapsed in gratitude for the amazing delightfulness of air conditioning.  But...there were treasures to be found and purchased.

I fell really hard for this beautiful, popcorn crochet bed throw.  It weighed about 50 pounds and, when I packed to leave, the bulk of it was a little tricky to squeeze into my suitcase but determination won out and I finally coerced it in.

I debated about this really cool, retro jewelry box...

...and, in the end, couldn't resist it's groovy 60's charm.

Among other things, I found more of these sweet little, kokeshi dolls...

...and, my deal of the day, this mother of pearl piece for 6 bucks!  Sweet reward for all that walking!  We rolled back into the hotel, sticky but happy.  Ronnie, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

Back From B'ham

I'm back from teaching in Birmingham and am feeling the glow of a fantastic trip.  We all had such a terrific time!

Not only were the classes great, but the area we stayed in had tons of really wonderful restaurants.

The food was great and the company, even better.

It's always a pleasure to spend time with my friend, and fellow teacher, DJ.  DJ and Ronnie (previous post) are the type of good friends that I can pick up with like we'd never been apart.

 

In addition to all that, the students were just absolutely delightful...friendly, creative and fun.  Among the new faces were a few acquaintances from the internet and from other classes.  A huge thank you to each and every one.  It was such a joy being with you all!

As much as I'm not crazy about traveling and leaving my guys, this trip reminded me how much I love to teach.

As you can see, the venue was great for us.  I just realized, I forgot to get a photo of my jewelry all set up (thank you Ronnie for assisting).  I had emptied my etsy store to take things with me but have added back a few things that were left.  I was amazed that someone actually paid me for some jewelry...by paypal...in class...with her iphone.  Cool, eh?!

I have to thank Joyce Vance, especially, for organizing such a terrific event.  I know how much work it must have been but she carried it all off with style and grace.  She also did some incredible work in class and even blogged about it...on her iphone...from class.  Again, amazing!  I might have to get one of those gadgets!

Greetings

Greetings from Birmingham!  Pouring down rain...wish you were here.  Having a fabulous time painting and pounding.  (Love this photo of my friend, Ronnie Grundset!)  More later...

Mingled Elements In Birmingham

I'm off to Birmingham to teach "Mingled Elements" with my dear friend DJ Pettitt.  DJ is such a sweet and creative person and we always have a great time together so I'm really looking forward to it.  The Birmingham gals look to be a wonderful group and I can't wait to see a few friends there, as well.

 

"Wingkeeper"

In the interest of keeping my sanity, I've decided to teach only a couple of times a year.  My next workshop will be at Art & Soul in my hometown, Portland, Oregon...in October.  This is going to be such a fun workshop!  It's two days because there was just too much technique and too many elements to fit into one. 

Besides all the different elements in the necklace itself, we'll be creating several, interchangeable, focals:

 

If I don't see you in Birmingham, I hope to see you in the Portland workshop!  (For details of my class, click here).

While I'm gone, take a look at my mini interview at Craft Gossip...thanks to Barbe Saint John.

LK Ludwig-Collaborative Art Journals and Shared Visions in Mixed Media

Have you seen it?  LK Ludwig has a brand new book out...just released...and it promises to be as awesome as her other books.  I got a glimpse of it on my friend Sally's blog.  From the peek I got, I can tell this book is filled with artistic energy and inspiration.  The best part about it?  It's based entirely on collaborative works;  artists working together through shared visions of creativity.

"Midnight in the Valley of the Bones"

collaborative by Jen Worden and Deryn Mentock

photo by Jen Worden

Included in the book is this collaborative I did with the incredibly talented Jen Worden.  I have to admit, this is one of my favorite projects of all time.  Jen is not much of a horn-tooter so I'll do it for her.  I've long admired her spectacular work.  Her style is way beyond "rustic", delving into the funky and fantastic...I love it!  I'm honored to have been able to work on this project with Jen and thrilled and grateful to be included in LK's inspiring book.

photo by Jen Worden

Part of the fun of working on a collaborative project is being inspired by each other's work.  While I'm immensely inspired by Jen's work, I didn't have the advantage of seeing her work in progress.  I had approached Jen with a few thoughts and sent her a couple of rough sketches and went to work on my end.  The idea was for me to create a neck piece that Jen would incorporate into one of her amazing assemblages.  And she did just that, with incredible style and craftmanship.

photo by Jen Worden

My necklace is based on a Biblical story of Ezekiel.  I don't know how familiar you are with Ezekiel.  He was a Jewish priest and prophet, living during a time of great social and political upheaval, almost 600 years before Christ.  Much of his prophecy was based on God's divine judgment of His people, which takes form in the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Lord's temple and the exile of the Jewish people.

photo by Jen Worden

Other of Ezekiel's prophecy was based on hope;  the Lord's restoration and redemption of His people.  This time of hope was to occur after the fall of Jerusalem and the temple and after the people had been carried off into exile by the Babylonians.  God's judgment on His people would ultimately reveal His grace and teach His sovereignty over all of creation.

photo by Jen Worden

My piece was based on one of the prophecies of hope, from the book of Ezekiel, chapter 37.  In this prophecy, Ezekiel has a vision in which he comes into the middle of a valley full of dry bones..human bones. I was fascinated by the thought of Ezekiel coming into the middle of this valley filled with bones.  I could imagine heat, radiating from the valley floor...the sun pounding down...the dust and dry bones.  In his vision, God commanded Ezekiel to speak to the bones,  and God would bring them back to life.  When Ezekiel spoke, there was a noise; the bones rattled and became covered with flesh but were not alive.  God commanded him to speak again and, this time, God breathed life into them and all those bones rattled back to life and stood...a vast army.  The vision is one of a dead people; separated from God...brought back to life, and given hope...by God.  I started to think about what it must have been like for Ezekiel in that valley and began to form an idea for a jewelry piece that would include things he might have found during his time there...

...bones, of course.  An animal skull, dried from the sun and weather...

...feathers from a predatory bird, gliding overhead...

...stones and shells from the desert floor...chunks of carnelian...petrified wood...

...and a collection of other things:  a butterfly wing, sand, soil, egg shells, tufts of grass, tiny shells.  These bottles contain remnants of things Ezekiel may have found in the valley.  There are twelve bottles; six at a time can be hung from the necklace.

photo by Jen Worden

The others fit into cleverly designed compartments in a special drawer Jen created in her fabulous assemblage.

photo by Jen Worden

Jen added a few other, interesting artifacts to the drawer as well.

The clasp for the necklace was created with leather cord and a bone fragment.  A "tassel" hangs from the bone, made from a bone bead, bullet casing, feathers and ribbon.  Above the clasp, I added two pieces of snake vertebra (thank you Kay!)...cause snakes live in the desert, right?

 

Every part of the necklace has meaning of symbolism to the story...

...and the story SO speaks to me.  There are times when I feel I've wandered into that dry valley myself.  Times when the dust and heat of this world seem to take over but, we should take heart!  The One who created us, also restores and refreshes us...with the breath of life.

Huge thank you to Jen and LK.

Deb Trotter For Icon Shoes

Who wouldn't want to slip into this fantastic looking mule by Icon Shoes?  My uber-talented friend, Deb Trotter of Cowboy's Sweetheart, is now a licensed artist with Icon Shoes!  This is a match made in heaven.  Deb is well known for her beautiful, cowgirl themed artwork.  Many of the cowgirls are hand drawn by Deb.  Not only is Icon featuring Deb's cowgirl artwork on shoes but, take a look at this:

...gorgeous leather bags!  My latest weakness.  Oh, Deb, I wish you hadn't done this!  Wife Whisperer doesn't seem to think I need another bag but, who could resist this?  Wouldn't it just be the perfect bag to tote a few art journals in?  Congratulations, friend!

Objects And Elements-Reader Challenge

Something exciting is going on at the Objects and Elements blog...their first reader challenge!  It's all about closure...make your own or use one of the great closures available in the O&E store.  Then submit your entry.  The challenge is open to everyone.  O&E blog readers will vote for their favorite entry and the winner will get an O&E closure plus a few goodies from the O&E store.  Check out the details here!  Oh, and make sure you read the new Design Team interviews with Barbe Saint John and Jane Salley.  Check back for interview of the rest of the team; Kristen, Jen and myself.

Michelle Ward Crusade-Make It Your Own

Michelle Ward has posted her 31st Crusade over on the Green Pepper Press Street Team blog.  That's right...31st!  It's hard to believe she's been doing challenges on the street team blog for about two and a half years now.  I haven't participated in nearly enough of them but I thought this one was interesting.   It's called "Make it Your Own--be authentic, be unique, be  yourself."  There's always a lot of discussion on this subject but I really like Michelle's take on it:  "claim the elements you're using" and "interpret inspiration so it has your own personal spin."  She's not saying "don't use a product unless you've designed it and made it from scratch (for instance, scrapbooking papers), and she's not saying "don't be inspired by what you see others doing."  What she IS saying is "Trust (your intuition), Study(what grabbed your attention), Imagine (the possibilities), Personalize (make it your own)."

The first thing I thought to submit for this challenge was my wire nest charms.  I designed this little nest charm years ago and thought it would be fun to share.  It's been published, taught and shared in my my Etsy shop as a tutorial.  While I really enjoyed sharing the technique, I eventually wanted to change it up a bit...re-make it back into my own creation.  Inspired by the wonderfully creative artist Susan Lenart Kazmer's resin-on-paper technique, I added wire and paper leaves and vines.  I didn't use Susan's exact technique...but, I was certainly inspired by it.  I put my own spin on it and re-spun my original design in the process.  Exactly what Michelle's Crusade called for...MIYO!

Frozen Charlotte Goes Heavy Metal

 

My friend, Judy Wilkenfeld has a terrific article in Stampington's new issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry (summer 2009).  It's titled "Casting Call" and it's about metal casting.  Judy has an Etsy store, chock full of incredible found objects, charms and cast metal pieces, perfect for use in jewelry making and mixed media.  She had the genius idea to cast a perfect, antique, bisque frozen Charlotte doll (take a look at this post for the story on frozen Charlottes) in pewter and this article describes that process and gives some inspiration as to just exactly how these heavy metal babies could be put into use.  Judy chose several artist friends to help her with this and I was honored to be one of them.

"Caged Charlotte" (sold)

For one of my pieces, I decided to enclose Charlotte in a little, wire birdcage.  I added some of my "signature" vines and leaves and a flower with a garnet center.  Charlotte wears a crown of vintage brass.

I hung Charlotte from an array of luscious stones and goodies... 

...chunky faceted garnet stones, a glowing freshwater pearl, a carved jasper cross...

...a velvet wire-wrapped link with vintage crystal button dangle, a gorgeous filigree brass bead...

...vintage rosary beads in crystal and garnet glass...

...a sweet, vintage rosary connector with silk ribbon...

...vintage brass chain, and some incredible, faceted red tiger eye.

Not to let the front out-do the back...I used a large vintage ring and handmade clasp...

...then created a long dangle from more faceted garnet and a beautiful vintage religious key medal. 

Judy's metal Charlottes are so much fun to work with, I made a second  piece:

"Sweet Charlotte" (sold)

This little darling is the focal of a three strand bracelet.

She's wearing a green silk sash and is connected on either side by sterling and rhinestone connectors.

I used lots of pearls, some vintage rosary chain and a length of lovely vintage tatting for the body of the bracelet.

I finished it with a handmade sterling clasp and a faceted jasper drop in the perfect shade of green.

If you've never seen Judy's work, you're missing something special.  Every piece that Judy creates is infused with insight and soul.  She's extremely talented and full of original ideas and inspirations...like little metal Charlotte!  When she came up with the idea to cast these dolls, she invited several of us to use them in our jewelry creations.  I was in the good company of fellow artists, Diana Frey, Ro Bruhn, Jen Crossley and Kecia Deveney.  All huge talents, so you can imagine how fabulous the pieces are.  We've waited a long time to see this article and Stampington did a truly wonderful job with the photography.  Make sure you pick up a copy of BAJ and take a look!