INNER SOUL 2:  The Gate Keepers

Location:  E Street Gallery  1115 E St Sacramento, Ca  2nd Sat reception 8/11   5-9pm

This is the second year I am participating in this fundraiser for Joshua's House Hospice in Sacramento.  Artists were asked to use the shoe as symbol.  I decided to use slippers, same thing, right.  I choose slippers because it was always a little heart wrenching to see homeless folks walking through town on worn and torn slippers.  I added the bottom photo so you can see what the slipper looked half way through demolition!  The bodies of the two Gate Keepers are made from the fluffy topside of the slipper.  I used parts of the inner soles to make the green landscaping and the while cloud.  The flying, steampunky, angel winged images on the upper left utilize the big, black buttons on the slippers.  The furry, fuzzy slippers were a bit difficult to prepare for paint.  Lots of fabric stiffener and gesso finally harden the slippers to my satisfaction.

So the idea is that the Gate Keepers will guide those homeless in hospice to their next life;  that is what I thought about as I made the above assembled paintings.  They are 3D as the bodies protrude out from the canvas.  This project was great fun even those I had a limited paint palette!  The auction is a silent bid and I am hoping these two lovelies bring in donations.  I will not be at the 8/11 reception but  if you are family or a friend you can join me at the artist reception on 8/9 5-8pm.  

Getting Back To Business!

The above necklace was finished just in time for the membership show at Blue Line Art Gallery in Roseville, CA.  The large stone is jasper which sits below an oval labradorite cabochon.  The porcelain white raven cabochon were made by Laura Mears. There are five shell pieces covered with faceted glass.  I titled this piece "Transformations".  The raven is a symbol of transformation to the Native American Indians.  I look at these white Ravens and see white, to me, a positive transformation into death or another positive place.

In the past two years I have lost several loved ones.  It has been difficult.  I view death, how ever it may come to oneself, as positive, taking an individual to a higher place.  When making this necklace I thought often about loved ones lost;  I thought about how they are physically gone but will always be with me in my heart.  For me, his is a very special piece!

So, I've put these losses behind me and am happily creating again!.  I participated in the Sac Kiwanis Art Fiesta a few weeks ago.  It felt so good to connect with customers again.  Fantastic show which I  look forward to doing annually.

Anyhow, it's good to be back to business!  I love what I do!

Twisted Fringe

Boulder Turquoise Necklace

While in Tuscon last January, I found a few Boulder Turquoise cabochons.  Boulder Turquoise is also referred to as Ribbon Turquoise. Lapidarists  cut the stone so the turquoise presented in a thin strip through its host stone.  I made two necklaces and a pair of earrings.  the necklace above has gone ton the Artery along with the earrings.  I will keep the second necklace as I really love this stone!  It looks so naturals if this is how you might come across turquoise while digging!  The fringe is twisted.  This is the first time I attempted twisted fringe (which I have always admired and wondered how they did that!).  Twisting the fringe is a bit tedious but the look is well worth it!  The blues and greens in the beadwork complement the turquoise in the cabochon which changes from a deep green to a bright blue.  Lots of fun making these necklaces!  

Art and Sole: Fundraiser for Joshuas House

I took break from beading to create this collage, "Kickin' It" for the Art and Sole Fundraiser in Scaramento.  The funds raised through this auction of artwork will be donated to Joshuas's House, a soon to be built hospice for the homeless.  I had soooo much fun with this project.  I have been a fan of Finnabair for a while and wanted to create a collage/assemblage using various gels and heavy past mediums.  I used my sons shoes and that is his portrait in the collage.  For the portrait I used Golden GAC800 medium to make a photo transfer which was then attached to the canvas using Golden medium as a sort of glue.  I also used  Golden products to stiffen the shoelaces and upper shoe, which was used to create a hat.  There are all kinds of components used in the collage;  vintage keys and watch parts, computer circuits, vintage bottle caps, brass findings, clock hands, and a few small photo transfers.  Anyhow, it was great fun and I looked forward to creating more collages/assemblages in the future.

Gallery Shows

 Amaterasus' Messenger was display at Blue Line Arts Gallery in Roseville, CA during the month of March.  The show was entitled
"To The Touch" and selected participants presented work that the viewer would want to touch and feel.  In this collar, I surrounded a beautiful and large blue agate with pheasant feathers.  Everything is stitched on metallic grey lambskin, glove quality leather....very luxurious!  The fringe really makes the collar quite luscious; it was a last minute decision to add the fringe.  The collar closure is a vintage brass button that looks great with the piece!

Amaterasu is a Japanese sun goddess who often used pheasants as her messengers, thus the name of this collar.  It was great fun creating a piece of jewelry for a gallery show and really pushed me out of my artistic routine!

This necklace was made for a "Black and White" show which ran through the month of February at the Pence Gallery in Davis, CA.  It was quite difficult to make this piece work.  In the beading world no two whites are alike and so it was a bit of a challenge to finds a group of whites that worked well together!  The necklace has a wonderful Art Deco feel to it.
The square cabochons are Onyx surrounded by longer frosty white bugle beads and and even longer black bugle beads.  The center piece is finished off with a spiral rope of Swarovski white opal bicone crystals and black glass beads.  the closure is a vintage black glass button that works well with the piece.

I am very pleased with the results!

Hey, I'm still here!!

I will not bore you with the reason for my inactivty on this blog..suffice to say that my life has been full of many surprises which have pulled me in all sorts of directions!  I have kept up with my bead embroidery but decided pull out of one gallery which represented my work.  I felt like a change was needed to prevent further stagnation in my work.  I still sell my work at the Artery in Davis, CA.  I am considering taking steps towards on line selling but I cringe at the thought of how much time I would have to spend on social media in order to get my business moving on line.  I am also considering participating in high end fine craft shows;  this would mean I would have to upgrade my booth appearance.  So my brain is plodding along looking for new creative direction.  In the meantime I've gotten myself into the quality not quantity state of mind as I pursue new ideas I have for my jewelry designs.  Here are a few photos of new work. Enjoy!

It's Been A Very Busy Year!

Such a busy year so far!  In April I was accepted into the Artery this past April;  the Artery is another cooperative gallery in Davis, CA.  In June my daughter graduated college and began college a few weeks ago.  In June I went on an 18 day tour of Europe and fell in love with Europeans.  There is no truth to the comment that Parisians are icy towards Americans;  I found Paris to be very welcoming.

In August my mom passed away from cancer;  everything happened very quickly.  I miss her a great deal.  Every morning I warm up at the gym playing Cold Plays song "Always In My Head" and give my mom a few minutes....just she and I and memories.  Shortly after mom's death we placed my dad in assisted living memory care...that was very difficult but the right decision;  he is happy and socializing.  

Anyhow, I am finding myself asking...."what was I doing before all this happened"!  I have been busy at both galleries and have not posted or taken very many photos:(   I converted to Mac Air and iPhone 6 this year and haven't figured out how to get photos on Blogger.  I am not very astute in computer technology.  Hopefully I will have more photos soon!  In the meantime I am off to bead!