Something Sublime

The Gift of Friends

mail art by Pilar Pollock

I'm so fortunate to be blessed with wonderful friends!  Out of the blue, a few weeks ago, the mailman brought me this fabulous package from my sweet friend Pilar.  Pilar and I share the same taste in art, including cemetery statuary, religious symbols and the sacred heart.  In fact, I now consider Pilar my "sister of the sacred heart" as I've discovered we have so much in common including a love of Led Zeppelin, the greatest rock band in the world (thanks for playing along with my meme Pilar-you have a great middle name!)

Santos doll by Pilar Pollock

Inside the mail art envelope was this gorgeous santo, or saint,  doll.  In her hands, my santo holds two religious medals.  One is a Saint Rita of Cascia, patron saint of impossible dreams and migrane sufferers (sickness).  The other is Nino de Atocha, patron saint of the persecuted.  This gift has great meaning for me and I've been moving my doll from room to room to remind me of my Protector.

"Three Eggs" by Pilar Pollock

Pilar also gave me this beautiful postcard of her collage work.  Thank you Pilar...you're incredibly talented!

My second surprise came last week from the exceedingly sweet Tanya Peacock.  I'm not sure why Tanya has gifted me with her friendship but I'm certainly glad she has!  If you know Tanya, you know she's just the kind of woman who loves to give.  She's constantly popping gifts into the mail to me.  And, not just any old gifts but really thoughtful things like this book that I absolutely adore.  Tanya knows about my cemetery fetish and knew how much I would love this little book about cemetery symbolism. Tanya also sent me some antique, silk ribbon.  I've been looking for some of this ribbon for quite some time and the soft colors and texture of this are perfect.  She also included a few strips of vintage fabric.  Such a thoughtful girl!

Thank you friends!  Your timing was perfect...just perfect!

The Gorey DeTales on Exhibit

The Gorey DeTales postcard for The Paper Studio exhibit

"Naberius"

A word about Naberius:  Naberius is a smooth talking and amiable figure in demonology.  He is a Marquis of Hell and has comand over many legions of demons.  He is also known as "Cerberus".  He speaks in a hoarse voice and sometimes takes the form of a crow or three headed dog.  The imagery I used in this piece is fairly obvious...the crow and feathers in the lady's hat represent Naberius' crow form.  The lady has stars in her eyes because she's been enchanted by Naberius' friendly manner.  And, although he is magnetic and attractive in appearance, his goal is to snatch her soul!  The urn, or course, represents the death of her soul as does the graveyard.  The words "Get thee behind me" at the bottom of the piece are a reference to Jesus' words.  My piece is very un-Gorey like in that it contains a quite a bit of detailed imagery and is a little "darker" in content in some ways.  My verse:  Clever Naberius...Lies in wait for the curious...Snatches up those blind to Grace...Steals their souls and leaves no trace.

While I was in Phoenix, last month, attending Art Unraveled, I had the chance to view The Gorey DeTales exhibit at The Paper Studio in Tempe.  It was a thrill to see my piece, "Naberius", exhibited with all the other pieces.  Click here to see them all.  There are two pages on the site so make sure you see everything.

Cindy, owner of The Paper Studio

Cindy did a fantastic job hanging the exhibit and kindly showed me around and let me take photos.  She had two walls with the pieces leaning on shelves and one larger wall in the back with the pieces hung together.  It looked great!

You can see my piece on the bottom left.  I didn't arrive in Phoenix in time for the artist's reception but someone passed on a few pics of the event:

The fabulous Jane and Richard Salley.  You can see Richard's piece to his right.  He incorporated an image of Jane into his piece.

The terrific organizer of our project, Sylvia Luna and her beautiful assistant, Pilar Pollock. 

Sylvia invited 26 artists to create a piece based on Edward Gorey's book Gashleycrumb Tinies.  Each artist was assigned a letter of the alphabet and asked to create a character whose name began with that letter.  The artist's were also to invent a grisly, little rhyme to go with their character and, of course, the artwork.  Here are a few more pieces:

by Kelly Snelling

(a portion of Jane Salley's piece is to the right)

By Sylvia Luna

By Pilar Pollock

(a portion of Richard Salley's piece is to the left)

by Marie Otero

On another exciting note, Stampington has published our project in the Sept/Oct issue of Somerset Studio!  Look for it in the "Melange" section.  I was honored to be one of the artists they chose to publish.

   

Next stop for The Gorey DeTales is The Artist's Nook in Fort Collins, Colorado from Oct. 5th through Nov. 17th.  Stop in and see it if you get the chance!

The Gorey DeTales postcard for The Artist's Nook exhibit

In The Middle

"Do Tell"

I've been tagged by the talented Roben Marie Smith and, since I haven't posted a meme in ages and, since I admire, respect and like Roben Marie so much, I thought I would play along!  Here's the deal:

You have to post these rules before you give the facts. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blogpost containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and to read your blog.

My middle name is Paige, which I love.  Ok, I know it's one of those super popular "in" names now but, when I was a kid, it was a weird name.  The great thing about it was that the other kids really couldn't come up with a way to poke fun at it.  Same thing with my first name...too weird for creative embellishment!  So...here goes with the tag:

P:  I have several cd's by Point of Grace and discovered today that they have a new cd coming out.  Click here to listen to one of their fantastic new songs.  It's worth a few minutes to really listen to the words!

A:  What else could "A" stand for but artist?  It's what I've always wanted to do....been compelled to do.  Whether it was making jewelry and painting with my mom or making candles in the garage with my dad, I've been creating artwork and jewelry for as long as I can remember.

 

"Artist Unnoticed"

I:  Incredible husband.  There's a reason he calls himself "Wife Whisperer"!

"Side by Side"

G:  God...of course!  It hasn't always been the case but, He is a big part of my life.  In fact He IS my life!  Right now, I'm doing an incredible Beth Moore study of the book of Daniel.

E:  Surprise!  Earrings:

"Fleur"

I'm sure you all can't wait to play...  I tag: Pilar, Artist Unleashed, Shari, Izabella, Geller, Michelle and Sally (yeah, I know it doesn't start with an "e" but, for the life of me, I couldn't come up with an "e" person.  Besides, don't you want to know what Sally's middle name is??)

Treasure Hunt

   

I got the urge to treasure hunt yesterday and popped into my local antique store.  I can usually dig up something there and found a bag of hand crocheted lace that I couldn't live without.  I can't even imagine the time it must have taken someone's grandma to make these laces.  My own great-grandmother tried to teach me to crochet when I was  young and impatient.  Needless to say, I never even finished one doily.  Bless her heart for trying!

I couldn't possibly leave the place without this copy of Steeles text.  Apparently, zoology was a topic to be taught, back in the day.  This little book is an absolute treasure trove of illustrations.  Take a look:

I was going to cut up this book for collage but, as often happens, I just don't have the heart.  It's chock full of images of every kind of animal, fish, bird and bug...and it's in excellent condition.  Guess I'll be making a trip to Kinko's!

Mercy

"Mercy" detail (sold)

Please check out my Etsy site for info on other pieces.

I love the way this piece of jewelry feels in my hand.  It has a very substantial, balanced feel.  I took the photograph, used in the focal, at a beautiful cemetery in Houston called Glenwood.  It's a photo that inspires me and I use it often in my work.

"Mercy"-(sold)

"For I desire mercy, not sacrifice" Hosea 6:6

My spiritual inspiration for this piece is from Hosea 6:6.  The Hebrew word for mercy is hesed...in this case a word meaning right conduct toward one's fellow man or loyalty to God, or both.  It is the sum of what God requires...and desires...of His servants.  The same Hebrew word is translated to mean "love".  Funny how those two go hand-in-hand...mercy and love.  It's hard to have one without the other!

"Mercy"

These brass bead caps are a precious find.  They dress up freshwater pearls to look like flowers or tiny ballerinas...  I really enjoy working with mixed media and have included vintage bark cloth, mixed metals, semi-precious stones and an antique oriental coin in the mix.

"Mercy" clasp

 

"Mercy" detail

"Mercy" detail

I just have to share this lovely little ditty with you that Linda B. was inspired to leave for me on my last post:

there is an artist with ideas divine
to create such beauty it is sublime
thoughts and visions she does inspire
she leaves us obsessed with beads and wire

Thank you Linda!  Your brain works in more creative ways than mine could hope to!

Belle Armoire Jewelry 3

 

I'm so pleased to be able to say that the kind folks at Stampington have published another of my jewelry projects in their newest issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry.  Several friends also have projects in this issue including jewelry and metal clay artist Catherine Witherell who's gorgeous bird house necklace graces the cover!  Inside, Kristen Robinson generously shares her knowledge on how to create beautiful poured resin jewelry and Rhonda Scott has an article on metal "retro recipe gals"...very cool!  Here are some pics of my published pieces:

"Crystal Rose"-vintage chandelier crystals, rose quartz, vintage spoon, freshwater pearls, steel wire, leather, paper. (sold)

"Crystal Rose" detail

"Crystal Rose" detail of link-rose quartz and freshwater pearls

These pieces have been away from me for quite awhile so it's really exciting to see them published!

"Blue" (nfs)

"Blue" detail

"Faith" (nfs)

"Faith" detail

Joy of Boys

"Rosary Drops  Two" (sold)

I've been working on getting a few orders out since returning from Seattle.  These are designs of mine that I've worked before but, this time, added something a little different...different beads, different metal, etc.  I love the "Rosary Drops" design, mainly because I have old lady earlobes and like my earrings nice and light.  Believe it or not, these are.  The faceted briolettes are a favorite of mine as well.

"Raindrops" (nfs)

The same design only with an amazing color of blue chalcedony.  The blue is translucent and glows beautifully.

"Sojourned" (sold)

This is another of my favorite earring designs.  Adding antique Bible pages to my jewelry gives the pieces a real depth of meaning.  These pages came from Genesis, the passages that record stories about Abraham and his wife Sarah.

I've been super busy so only have a few new pair of earrings on my etsy shop but I'd love it if you'd take a look.

"Iridescence"  (sold)

Any of you proud owners of boys out there may enjoy this little photo show:

http://ebcrennie.googlepages.com/boys

You just can't help but smile when you look at these pictures!  Make sure you read the bit at the bottom.  Wife Whisperer got to number 11 before he started thinking..."I know we have Clorox.  I wonder if I have any brake fluid?"  Feelin' the joy...

The Emerald City

I returned this weekend from a trip to the beautiful, Emerald City of Seattle.  My friend Sally and I were blessed to be able to attend a weeklong workshop with the super-talented Susan Lenart Kazmer.  Susan is one of the most generous and energetic teachers I've ever met.  Every time her laughter wafted through our workroom, it brought a smile to my face.  Just being around her puts you in a different, more creative, state of mind.  Susan always encourages outside-the-box thinking and troubleshooting was one of my favorite parts of the workshop. 

I put a few of the terrific projects I completed in class into the slide show above.  "Secrets Revealed" is a fabricated/found object ring that can also be worn as a pendant.  The secret is that, when you wear it as a pendant, you have to lift it up to see the faceted stone inside.  Also, some of the "secret" found objects I used were old coins, a bottle cap and found brass.  "Filigree Prayer Ring" is also made with found brass.  I tucked a Bible page through the center along with some ribbon and a feather which has a special meaning to me.  The "Chinaman" piece os one that I had a lot of fun troubleshooting.  A sweet lady in class, Riki, gave us all an antique shoe button to use and it fit perfectly for his feet.  I love the way he turned out!

Scenes from Seattle:

Things I learned in Seattle:

The seafood guys get crabby when you only want to take a picture.

So does the pepper lady.

Don't squeeze the fruit.

Pretty things get thrown in the trash and ugly things get put on the wall.

Don't pack a 50 lb. bag when you have to schlep it up the Staircase of Doom.

Socialized kitties are the wave of the future.

When they say "Left Bank" they really mean it.

Seattle is a gorgeous city!

Mean People Part 2--Nibbled Half to Death

I've just returned from the fabulous city of Seattle and have some terrific photos to post but, for now, I'll provide this link to part two of Luann Udell's insightful post on professional jealousy.  As I mentioned before, I don't know Luann personally at all but anyone can see from her blog that this woman has it all together! 

If you've ever felt like life is getting you down, one nibble at a time, Luann has a great book recommendation for you called "The Nibble Theory and the Kernel of Power:  A Book About Leadership, Self-Empowerment, and Personal Growth" by Kaleel Jamison.  You can find more of Luann's thoughts on the book here.  Happy reading!