Summer slipping by

I want to post about meeting Claire, new(!)  projects, old projects...but the perfect weather (especially compared to last weeks oppressive weather) draws me away from the computer.

For now, here are the new beads I'm working on that allow me to recycle scrap, cured clay.

Hope you're enjoying some gorgeous summer or winter weather, wherever you may be on the globe!

The well traveled bracelet

Shisha bracelets with polymer clay inset from Nepal, via Australia, through the U.S. and now...Ottawa! We are here to see the Van Gogh exhibit AND to meet my far away friend 

Claire Maunsell of Stillpointworks. 

Archipelago

I'm not exactly sure where the island pieces are headed. I carve; I paint; I arrange and look for the next step.  I've started adding some color to one of the pieces with layers of colored pencil and washes of black acrylic. 

'No Man is an Island'

No man is an island entire of itself; every man 
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; 
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe 
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, 

as well as any manor of thy friends or of thine 
own were; any man's death diminishes me, 
because I am involved in mankind. 
And therefore never send to know for whom 
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. 

All my current Etsy orders are now completed and shipped so I'm back to working on gallery pieces for the polymer clay book. I've been fiddling with these island pieces for quite some time now. Hoping if I fiddle some more something will coalesce.

We're winding down our school year with just days to go. Amidst the flurry of putting together portfolios we all felt like getting out would do us some good. Samuel has expressed some frustration with drawing animals because they move so I thought getting out to the nature center would be more fun than drawing animals from photographs. I did some sketching too and felt rusty. I haven't been drawing enough lately.

I've been working on some new earring shapes and custom wires to complement them. The last pair of earrings is my Lake design but with custom ear wires rather than with the pre-made hoops. This was at a customers request and despite the fact that they lose the movement, I'm thinking I might like them better this way. Let me know what you think. 

Strong Shape

I can remember being drawn to distinct, graphic shapes even as a young child. Calder, Jasper Johns, Matisse's papercuts...I remember doing a little jig in front of a Mondrian at the Baltimore Museum of Art. I was probably 4 or 5 years old. 

Some things never change - these hollow copper bracelets from J. Collier are one of my latest pins to my Pinterest boards. Aren't they fantastic? 

Make sure you click over to check out  one of the pieces in progress. I love seeing how things are made! 

Have a great weekend!

Photography giveaway

Friedasophie did a nice interview with my daughter, Ema, on Friday and is running a giveaway for one her photos until May 10 (your choice of any 8x10 from her shop). These are a few of my favorites.