Beach views

Curt and I are making our plans for another Artfest trip.  It made me think about the beautiful beaches where we find sea glass and stones.  Thought you might like to see a couple of photos from those places.  I love the line of red growth along this log.  The textures of the log inspire some of my forging marks on my silver work.

The combination of sand and rocky shorelines make for some very interesting beach combing.

Messy Atmosphere

Some people need order.  Some need complete chaos.  I seem to be somewhere in the middle.  I have a nicely sized table to work on - probably 4' x 6' BUT I only seem to have about a 12" square space that remains clear enough for work.  My girlfriend Gail and I were talking about our "messes".  We have decided to cut ourselves some slack...our excuse... you can't clean and be creative at the same time! Works for us - what about you?

Earrings

Earrings - I like creating them, but it is sometimes very difficult to make items created by nature close enough to be called a pair.  BUT these were really good!

A new pair of earrings in the same idea vein as the pearl and disc necklace I posted before.  I really enjoy texturing the metal... making marks in it to create a more organic surface.

I created this pair of earrings from a long rectangle of sterling silver with fresh water pearls.  Sensing a theme here of silver and pearls?  I do love them!

ATC published

    An ATC challenge from Artfest was published in a great book from J.K. Ludwig entitled "Collaborative Art Journals".  I was lucky enough to be one of the participants chosen for the publication.  I thought I would show a couple of steps of creating my ATC.

    
      I needle felted several owl faces onto one piece of felt.  I loved the rows of eyes all looking at me as I developed the faces!

     Each owl had free motion stitching around the features to give more definition and texture.  The ATC challenge forced me to experiment which is a really good thing!

Bee Shay was the organizer of the ATC trade.  The theme was A Walk in the Woods.  Thanks to Bee Shay for her wonderful organizing skills and to L.K. for including our Artfest ATC trade in her book.

Holiday Art Sale at 212

Saturday, December 5th, was the first day for the Holiday Art Sale at 212 Art Association.  It was wonderful to spend time getting to know some of the creative people that make up 212.  They have a wonderfully active group.  My friend Kat and I worked in the gift wrapping room.  It was fun to see all the items being chosen as gifts.  If you are in the mood for great gift items for your family, friends or yourself please check out the variety of items at 212.  The sale runs through December 18th.

Sea Glass Earrings and Collecting

Just one example of earrings I will have in the Holiday sale.  These are made with sea glass from Pt. Townsend, Washington and fresh water pearls.  The sea glass we find  differs from Pt. Townsend to Orcas Island.  Pt. Townsend glass tends to be very rounded while Orcas glass is mostly flat.  Curt and I really enjoy the hours combing any beach for found objects.   

            

  I thought you might like to see part of our collection of rocks, shells, sea glass, etc.  The sand dollars are also from Washington.  Most of the shells are from the

Outer Banks of North Carolina.  These jars hold only a small portion of our collection.  We really are like crows collecting pretty baubles for our nest.

Gallery Art Sale
I will be participating in the sale at 212 Art Association in Saline. The 212 Holiday Sale will kick off Saturday, December 5th from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.  The sale continues everyday until December 18th.  I hope you will be able to attend!

Black Friday

Madness of the shopping hoards!  I felt like this crow gathering pretty things for my studio "nest".  Yes, I allowed myself to be involved in visiting stores on Black Friday.  Just couldn't pass up the sales at Michael's.

The picture was taken at West Beach Resort on Orcas  Island in Puget Sound, Washington.  This beach and surrounding beaches are where a lot of my jewelry stones and sea glass are gathered.  If you ever have the chance to visit the San Juan Islands spend some time on Orcas.  Curt and I are visiting again in the early spring.  Can't wait!  Definitely no shopping hoards at this place.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.   It is great when you are able to be surrounded by people you love and give thanks for having such a truly wonderful life.

Pearl Stack Necklace

I've had some more time in the studio working on "sputnik cheeseburgers" as my girlfriend Kat has named them.  They are fun pieces to make.  The piece pictured is made from copper, sterling silver and fresh water pearls.  The patina on the copper didn't show up as well as it looks in real life.  I'm still working on my photography skills.  Blogging is forcing me to record my work with better images.  I will keep working on them!

Necklace for Molly

Two sterling silver pieces with fresh water pearls.  I love "beating up" the metal.  I think the forging was my favorite part of creating these pieces.  My least favorite was riveting the pearls!  My daughter Molly proudly wears the piece in the upper picture.  The other piece will be in the sale at 212 Art Association in December.  Molly encouraged me to create these pieces.  Thanks for the inspiration Molly.

Necklace made from copper and a piece of beach glass from Lake Erie one of my wonderful knitting students gave me.  I've practiced a lot on drilling glass and stone so I don't have as many mistakes as I did at one time.  Today I set up my dremel drill press for drilling.  Wow - what a difference it made to be able to lift the drill easily in and out of the holes to clear them of debris while drilling.  Wish I had done that studio trick earlier!

Earrings made of distressed copper, enamel and
fresh water pearls with mixed metal beads.  The
enameling is a lot of fun.  I revisited enameling with
Richard Salley at Artfest last March.  I used to
enamel when I was in middle school. You never know when those early experiences will resurface.
I'm looking forward to my granddaughter becoming
old enough to play with all our art stuff!

Jewelry

I finally snapped some pics of my jewelry made from sea glass
and stones Curt and I collect on our Washington State vacations.
The piece has a center shield design of hand hammered brass and copper with a copper bale.
I've been invited to join the Holiday sale at 212 Art Association in Saline so I'll have more designs to share with you.  I'll include more
info regarding the sale when I have all the details.