Earring as Expression

I love working on my torch-fired enamel jewelry (which I have been doing a lot lately in spite of my lack of blogging about it!) because included with it being part craft, part art, part practical, part impractical, part fun and part work it is also *all* expression.

This bright bold beautiful bauble bead (no alliteration intended but I like it!) earring I made is full of colors that express just how I feel today: warm, welcoming, happy, hopeful, positive, eager and ready.

The Cows Need to Get to Work!

Cow Coming Home

Hello! Summer is coming to an end here and I am *still* working on getting my little jewelry business going. I am having such fits and starts with it! It is very frustrating but I am not losing my hope - or my desire - to do it, which is a very good sign for me (since I can have a tendency to lose interest when I begin to understand things more.)

Right now I am in the process of expanding my jewelry to include necklaces, bracelets and rings (and maybe even hair-clips in the future). I am also wanting to expand my technique. Currently I melt the glass into enamel by using a stable flame into which I dangle the metal pieces but what if I kept the metal piece stable and dangled the flame instead? (I would do it very carefully, of course!) Hmmmmm. Sounds interesting! There are many options to explore and I am excited to see what results they bring.

I am also planning ahead to two winter shows I am hoping to do and I'm working on a long-term plan to have my own website (not just Etsy) and sell wholesale.

So many things to do!

I have to admit that it's challenging for me to be so excited about so many things I want to do and then to struggle with finding the time (and discipline!) to get to work just *doing* it! I am good at thinking up ideas until the cows come home those cows need to get to work!

Still at It!

So I'm still here and still working on my enamel jewelry. I've had one show so far this year and I now have another one coming up in a month. I'm quite excited for this one since I've done it in the past with my photography prints and cards and I know that it's a very creative, artistic and eclectic show. In addition, it's in a very lovely park location with a lake. As long as the weather cooperates I think it will be a great way to spend the day and I hope to see you there!

You Aren't Imagining Things - There's a Change!

Blooming Enamels Jewelry on Etsy

So I've been quiet, yet busy, for the past year as I've been traveling a path of exploring where my creative needs and artistic expression want to go. I've taken my time but I believe I've arrived at a destination -- it's enameling!

I first looked into working with metal clay but found it too messy and persnickety for my tastes and so as I kept searching I stumbled (very serendipitously I think!) upon torch-fired enameling -- and I love it! It's all about color and using high heat (fire) to fuse the color to a metal base. I mainly use raw copper sheets and cut and forge it into the shapes I want and then fuse the colored glass onto the metal with fire from a torch. I tried using a kiln but found that process very slow and boring! I also use pre-made metals objects, which are either copper or iron, such as beads. Whatever the case it involves dangling the metal through a flame to heat it up to about 1500 degrees Fahrenheit and then dragging it through, or sprinkling on, colored powdered glass. It's a very quick and dynamic two-handed process that really engages my interest and, since it's fire, keeps me on my toes!

Once the colored metal piece is created I turn it into jewelry by adding crystals or mixing pieces together or layering. Also, I make all my own sterling silver ear wires. It takes more time this way but I was told early on that the individuality of the handmade wires adds to the jewelry and makes it truly handcrafted and unique.

So anyway, this is just the beginning! I will talk and write more about my new endeavor as I keep going but just wanted you to know that your weren't imagining things - I *have* changed things around and what was Bloom Spirit Expressions is now Blooming Enamels. I hope you like it as much as I do! :)

Pre Lift-off

I love Canadian geese. I know lots of people think they are a nuisance but for me they are not. I just don’t walk where they are or else I *look* where I’m walking. J So I think they are kind of cool. I like how they are strong and sturdy and since they are migratory they are good on endurance. Did you know a goose can fly 600 miles in one day. Wow! And of course, they mate for life and take good care of their young, which is admirable you can’t dispute…

I like this papa goose. He might just be telling me to get away from his babies but out of context I can see him as preparing for flight. Stretching wide and broad in order to get the kinks out and forewarn his wings for what might come next: a long journey. He knows he can do it and he knows it’s important to prepare for it. He does the stretch and practices the movement. He knows the journey will be long but he is up for it.

Endurance is a skill I would be wise to nurture. It’s not easy to stay focused and motivated to achieve a certain goal but in doing so you can achieve great distances – like a goose flying 600 miles in one day.

The Sweet Striver

It’s the spring season again here in Northeast Ohio and that means both my lilac bush and dogwood tree are in full bloom. I just *love* that… J

So this year, instead of cutting off a sprig of lilac (smells so good!) and photographing it while in a vase on a table (and so therefore having a perspective of looking down on it from above), I decided to just let the bloom be and took pictures “au naturel” (that is, from underneath and looking up). And of course I love the new perspective! It feels more energetic and “vivacious” to me.

For me, the sweet little bloom I’ve focused on here has the sun on her face while she is yearning and striving and reaching and hoping for the gorgeous blue skies above. The other blooms already surge ahead of her but nevertheless, the confident young bloom is holding on to her own special wishes and dreams. The Sweet Striver quietly aspires to the boundless possibilities she knows are waiting in the open expanse of opportunity before her....

Crystal Clear

Bending down, going low, getting in real close, and authentically examining through all the clutter can ultimately lead to an awareness and understanding that is as clear as crystal.

Sometimes you just have to go against the tide....

Rebel With a Cause

This little yellow flower *burst* her way out of the pink and purple fuchsia plant basket. I don't know how she got there or where she found her moxie - but there she was! As strong and confident as if she were surrounded by nothing but a field of other yellow flowers just like her. Instead of worrying about being the oddball, the little flower assumed she was as "routine" and "typical" an occurrence as anything else in that plant basket - and in that way she could grow and blossom to her full potential.

The little yellow flower didn't trip herself up on the fact that she was the oddball. Instead she made a choice to allow for her difference, honor her difference, and embrace it. This little yellow flower accepted herself and so presumed that her sense of belonging, among the very different fuchsias, was nothing but inevitable. She expected and projected the acceptance she gave herself and wanted from others, and so she received it....

Soul-Swaying

I'm learning that part of the trick of growing into my authentic self is to go with the flow. To allow life to unfold for me and to be open to the detours it presents for me -- for those are the opportunities of growth, and eventually (hopefully), wisdom. I am not to be daunted or discouraged but patient, trusting and steadfast....

ArtCares Cleveland

Thanks to a good friend I was made aware of an upcoming art auction benefit to which I have donated these three images as matted and framed prints:

The proceeds of the event and auction will go to the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland to help them to continue their important support of persons with HIV in Cleveland. I will be attending the event and am looking forward to seeing all of the donated artwork. If you are interested in attending the event too here is the official information and maybe I'll see you there!

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"ArtCares Cleveland will be held at the Battery Park Power House (in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood on Cleveland’s Near West Side) on Saturday, April 16th at 7:00pm for VIPs, and 8pm for the public. All proceeds from the event directly support the AIDS Taskforce.

 This year’s event will honor the Zone Family for their unwavering support of the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland, the arts, and the City of Cleveland. Councilman Joe Cimperman will serve as auctioneer, and the event chairs are John Farina & Adam Tully, and Noelle Celeste & Jon Benedict. Honorary Chairman is Howard Lake. Entertainment will be provided by the always irreverent and fun, Lounge Kitty, and DJ MisterbradleyP.

Ticket prices are $50 for General Admission and $100 for VIP. Please contact Rebecca Strong at rstong@atfgc.org, or 216.621.0766 x232 for more information.

Initiated by the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) in 2003, ArtCares is now an established collaborative tradition between the CIA and the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland. This event arose from awareness of the devastating impact the AIDS epidemic has had on individuals involved in the creative arts community, and from a consequent awareness that artists are uniquely positioned to contribute to the fight against HIV/AIDS. ArtCares celebrates contemporary art with both a silent and live auction of donated work."

 

No Rush Toward the Inevitable Farewell

I find this image to be quite sad but hauntingly lovely and dignified at the same time.

At first I see what was once a lovely Queen Anne's Lace bloom that is now, not only dried up and past her prime, as she is trapped among the bars of the rusty fence, but she is also frozen in this untimely moment of capture. I'm guessing that the regal flower would not want to be seen caught in this way.

But, in looking further, when I concentrate straight into the heart of the image, I also see a quiet, meditative stillness. I imagine that the spirit of the old bloom is still going strong and the cold and ice of this day, as well as the stabilizing structure of the fence, only serve to help the flower as she slowly moves closer toward her final farewell.

It is a fact of life that the bloom will eventually break down and return to the elements of the earth but on this day she is hardened and solid in time as she is helped by the fence and ice and, in no pressing rush toward the finish line, the queen flower is standing still and strong.

On my daily walk this morning, just for the heckuvit, I made a snowball.

Then, to continue down my path of whimsy, I made a snow angel.

I’ve been missing whimsy in my life lately. It’s much easier to get bogged down in all the “musts” and “should” of life. Those things are all clearly explainable as to why I do them.

But why did I make a snow angel? I don’t know. I don’t have a clearly obvious answer for that. Because I wanted to? Yes, but it was more than that. It made me feel good. It was simple but it was a tiny adventure in my otherwise sober hour of exercise. It made me feel childlike and simple and free.

I don’t know how else I can pursue a path of whimsy in my life but I know that I will try. If a detour that small and nearly insignificant can make me feel so good, then I want to try to find more of that…

Winter Stumblings

I am smack in the middle of winter here in northeast Ohio with no clear signs of the season letting up (in spite of what the little groundhog had to say) and I am stumbling between hibernation and exploration. Although I am staying as much inside as I am able I am also ready to get out again with my camera and investigate my world!

So yesterday I ventured out a bit and saw what beauty the ice can bring. This old and dead flower bush that is left over from a late summer blooming has become nearly immortalized as it is frozen in the drippings of a melting icicle higher up. It must be very weighted down by the heft of the icicle but it is mustering through and waiting for the thaw.

 
That is how I feel. Winter is always heavy for me but on some days I see the bright sun and know that it is coming back again soon and strong. Like this old bloom knows that even as I am taking the picture of its frozen existence the icicle encompassing it is slowly melting away...

The Young Family

Waiting for Spring

First Light

I've been walking very early in the morning when it is still dark (and cold!). I am very much looking forward to when the sun will start peeking out as early as I begin walking.

Beauty of the Third Age

I was very pleased this past weekend when a customer at the craft show was taken with this photo.

I love this photo but since it's not your typical, easy to understand, photo of a fresh and pretty delicate flower I had thought that no one else out there would like it like I do.

But there was someone!

I explained that this is a photo of an old, dried out and "wilted" hyacinth blossom. She suggested to me that the bloom wasn't wilted but was "weathered" and I agreed wholeheartedly. That's why the name of this image is, "The Beauty of the Third Age."

As a woman over 40, who is nothing but *thrilled* to have turned that corner of the aging milestone process, I see this weathered hyacinth flower, in its third phase of existence, as a gorgeous, vibrant and enduring bloom which portends only continued strength and increased self-possession as the days, and time, inevitably will march along...

Old Wheel Barrow

I saw this old relic of a wheel barrow while walking yesterday morning and just *had* to take its picture. I like it!

Upcoming Show!

I have a show coming up and thought I would let you know.

I'm quite excited about this one because I have been working, working, working, busy as a little honeybee, to get lots of new products created and made. I have been feeling very inspired lately!

Let me just say though that this Artisan Bazaar is truly a great show. There are lots of vendors and they *all* have such creative, cute and unique items. It's hard for me to go there as a seller because all I want to do is roam the aisles looking (and buying!) all the amazing creative gifts I see. If you are able to come and see for youself I highly recommend it. It's a great show with a warm and welcoming atmosphere where you can stock up on truly artistic and special gifts. Hope to see you there!