You were born with wings

new speckled eggs available in the etsy shop


Going through my stuff in my constant desire to purge and simplfy, I found some projects from my metals classes in college. I took several metals classes, as electives, after discovering that a drawing minor would eat up any opportunity to do something other than draw.

It is actually fairly fortuitous that I came to these classes late in my college career because at that point, I was already developing themes in my work and it was interesting to see the themes carry over into different media naturally without thought or planning.

a sandwiched pendant with riveting, acetate, and stamped words from metals class

Birds were something I latched onto right away. There were very strong themes of home, creating a home, and what it meant to be a modern female operating in today's society at that time, in my work. I have always struggled with these roles and the passing years have eased my angst on the subject. I realize now that it is less of something to be defined and more of embracing my own individuality and creating my own paradigm.

a domed birdcage pendant I made, this may have been metals II

interior with feathers and etching

After years of struggling through the post college amphora of identity and career, it is wildly satisfying to see how my work has come full circle and still embraces many of the themes that I followed so many years ago (can it be almost 8 years????)

now I've come full circle, now I've come HOME



How it has now changed and taken shape and how I have found the wings I've been seeking all these years.


You were born with potential

You were born with goodness and trust

You were born with ideals and dreams

You were born with greatness

You were born with wings

You are not meant for crawling, so don't

You have wings

Learn to use them and fly!

~Rumi

humble pie.

Do not worry about your originality. You could not get rid of it even if you wanted to. ~Robert Henri


You want to know what I did today?

Of course you do.

No?

Well, too bad, I'm gonna tell you because I need to get it off my chest.


Earlier in the week, I found another seller on Etsy selling beads similar to mine. They weren't exact copies but they were close enough that I took a wee little peek at that shop.

Now, there were lots of generous interpretations of not only my beads but also some other art bead makers. They were enough different that I just let out a big sigh and moved on until I saw her item descriptions. They were copies, almost word for word of my item descriptions. That irked me.

So I began stalking Etsy looking for others that might perhaps be doing the same thing.

You know what I found out?

Someone was making the exact same thing as me.

And had been, a long time before I was making it.

I was shocked.

It really bummed me out because I thought that specific item was really unique and cool and I was even considering making a tutorial on them and I have ready a ton of them to list in my shop tomorrow. But now I won't because that just isn't cool. I'll probably still make jewelry with them but whatever...deep breath....gotta move on.


We, as artists, do what others cannot do. That is what what makes us special. That we can create things that others believe that they cannot. Part of the hurt that comes from "copying" is that our ego is slighted. Someone has taken something that we felt was original and are now capitalizing on what we believe is our own efforts. Part of being an artist, in my own humble opinion, is setting our ego aside and learning to stomach that someone did in fact do just that, perhaps even better than you. That's what I found out today. Someone else was already doing what I was doing, and better, I might add.....

Ppolymer clay is merely a medium for me, I've always said that. For seeking a deeper altruistic expression... What I've learned from this experience, is that there are a ton of people out there who have been exploring it for many moons before me. So I need to go deeper....

So, I will be taking time off from producing new lines. I will still be adding to my existing lines and if you want something custom, I'm always open to offers and questions and communication....But I'm taking some time to explore and wonder and craft.

I just need some time to find my voice again....

Fractal

My thought and creative processes have been very fragmented lately. And, trust me, they don't need any help in that matter in the first place. After the busy-ness of the last several months, I have been feeling completely tapped out.



I've been in this wild, wonderful creative journey long enough to realize the importance of being gentle with myself, with my creative spirit and my sensitive nature. However, it is still a struggle for me.



I haven't been working on new polymer. Actually, I have, I did this week. Worked on some fall inspired colors and owls to go with the changing of the seasons and transition my color palette. The majority turned into a floppity-flop, which is fine. I was experimenting with a new brand of poly (fancy stuff, even) I think given time, it might grow on me, but as of yet, the experience is still leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

It reminded me, once again, how ingrained our process becomes with not only our medium but even down to specific supplies.

I remember this, of course, after the fact.

Being a mixed media artist, I remember back to different times when I HAD to have a certain brand of cerulean blue paint to capture that thing, that essence, that specific quality I was seeking.

So it is putting me in a bit of perspective, centering me, if you will. Despite the fact I've de-cluttered my studio and my life numerous times, it has me thinking really hard & reevaluating the clutter and necessity of my process and how I'm
honoring it.



The old with the new. I've been experimenting with some techniques I picked up out of Stephanie Lee's Semiprecious Salvage. Here is my first finished experiment ♥

Erudite Collection....

erudite er′yo̵̅o̅ dīt′adj
having or showing extensive scholarship; learned
[from Latin ērudītus, from ērudīre to polish, from ex-1 + rudis unpolished, rough]

The new Erudite Collection is a collection of rough hand-faceted polymer clay pieces fashioned into wearables. I was really inspired by Diane Hawkey's faceted ceramic nuggets that she sent me in the Bead Soup Party and before that time, I had already been contemplating a new ready to wear jewelry line that incorporated faceted pieces of some kind. I'm getting ready for Indie Craft Parade and I wanted to have a bunch of one of a kind affordable pieces on hand to sell there.

Part of my love affair with polymer clay is taking standard items like tribal fetishes, stones, netsuke and translating them into polymer clay. Polymer clay is such a versatile medium and I leave the mokume gane and canework and complicated things to the polymer clay masters. I am, by my own admission, not a polymer clay master. I couldn't make a cane to save my life and I don't really care to!

I use polymer clay as an extension of my creative process. I could be using any medium, so long as I achieve the aesthetic I set out to get. For me, I have developed a process which I like to follow. For polymer clay, it is sculpting, carving, painting, sanding, polishing.... It is focused and therapeutic to an extent. I use these same process over and over but often the work speaks to me and asks me to change.... Sometimes it asks me to stop and think and reexamine. Should you carve after you paint? Should you carve after the baking/firing?

I've come to realize that I'm very much a process oriented artist. I think that process art gets a bad name sometimes. Sometimes, people associate that those who make process oriented art do not care about its outcome. I think that is untrue. The outcome IS important to me and through the process, I reach this state, where the process is finished and the outcome is apparent. It is very similar to Wabi-Sabi. One accepts the impermanence of all creation or that this piece is finished for this maker.....

What is your aesthetic? How do you work?

The above pieces are currently available for purchase in the shop.

Keri Smith

feldman by keri smith on Flickr

I really don't know why I haven't visited Keri Smith's blog and website until now...I just never made it there. All you artsy-fartsy peeps out there will probably recognize Keri as the author behind such paradigm shifting work such as Wreck this Journal and How to be an Explorer of the World.

As an honest review, I find her books to be sort of a novelty to me. I've never bought one but I love them. I pull them off the shelf at B&N sometimes when I'm there. It is what I strive to do on a daily basis, to think about things in a different manner. They are the epitome of out of the box thinking. That being said, I might get to a point someday where I need more of that thrust in my work than I have within me and they would all be handy little workbooks.

But I love her blog and her website. It is just so refreshing. I was having a moment last week....

OKAY....

A DAY.

I was having a DAY. or a DAY and A HALF.

One of those days where you just feel like you SUCK. And nothing on the earth is going to change your mind.

And THAT is the day I found Keri Smith's blog. and suddenly I didn't feel like I sucked anymore. I felt normal.

YAY!

What made me feel better? It was this post. And the little free PDF's that she gives you and specifically, the page that has "HOW TO FEEL MISERABLE AS AN ARTIST"

GO THERE.
NOW.
FEEL BETTER.
OR BOOKMARK FOR A DAY WHEN YOU FEEL REALLY SUCKY AS AN ARTIST.

A Handmade Manifesto vol.1

slow down by thewheatfield on etsy

I've really been in a contemplative mood lately. It is a symbiotic thought process really. I live a very simple life by many standards, but I'm always thinking of ways to make my life even more simple. However, sometimes making your life more simple makes it more complicated in other ways. I've been thinking a lot lately about the nature of THINGS, of STUFF. Modern production, the accumulation of stuff, the labor that goes into things in general and my place in the whole realm of it.

For instance, soap, I'm sort of militant about buying all natural soap. Yes, I could probably make it myself, but that is a whole other art I don't have time to be taking up. I started to think about the production aspect of it though. What makes up real soap? Lye, fat, water, fragrance/botanicals. All of those things could be drummed up naturally, except for the lye. How is lye made? A quick google search led me to a rudimentary way to make lye the old fashioned way.

Obviously, those who are making soap are using commercial sources for their ingredients. Some probably grow their own herbs and additives. Botanicals, goat's milk, etc. but most are probably buying the hard stuff commercially (the lye and the fat, unless you're Tyler Durden).

And, that's fine, but I continue to think about "progress." About making something HANDMADE. What is the essence of HANDMADE? My products are made by hand but my resources are still commercial. If those resources didn't exist tomorrow, I would have to rethink my work.

And so, that brings to mind being an artisan. What does it mean to be an artisan? I wish to be an artisan, and yet, I am not. I do not use raw materials to make something. How many of us do? Not many....How many of us even know how?

I would love to hear your comments. Your thoughts and reactions. This is a huge topic which covers economics, art, craft, sustainability, etc. What do you have to say?

This is the first part in a continuing series. to be con't....

so....

canvases prepped for painting
preliminary sketches ready for paint

I'm making a concentrated effort to blog everyday. Yes, I am. Whether it is bland, boring, exciting, fascinating or whatever. I'm making a more ardent attempt to document my life on my blog.

And so, being said, the last few days weren't so exciting. I've been making some new thick copper bezels, in simple inspiring words, that are now listed in the shop. Plus, I've been making a few custom orders. An order of custom studs for a wedding party (pics of which I'll show soon), some matching earrings for a necklace that was previously purchased, and I've also been inspired to paint.

It's odd, because ever since this whole jewelry thing took off, I haven't been inspired to paint too much. Which, in whole, probably has something to do with why I started making jewelry and beads in the first place.

However, in a strange way, the painting has started to creep back in. And I'm welcoming it, quite frankly. I miss painting. Even though I'm not sure quite what to paint yet. I'm just going with it and seeing where it takes me. Painting is my first love. I'm not a fine artist. I'll be the first to admit that. Even though I have the shiny fancy degree to prove it. My work lies somewhere between illustration and decoration and I'm okay with that. I want to tell a story but I also want to paint what I paint. I don't want to get caught up in any convoluted notions of what it means because it is what it is. I plan on finishing these up in the next several days and updating my long neglected art shop.

And in the same vein....

And in the same vein....

Thinking about this part,from my favorite movie, not necessarily in the realm of love, but just about life in general, I am quite the dichotomy of both characters, both Elinor and Marianne:

Marianne: Always resignation and acceptance. Always prudence and honor and duty. Elinor,where is your heart?

Elinor: I think we should both be very foolish to assume that there would not be many obstacles to his marrying a woman of no rank who cannot afford to buy sugar.
Mrs. Dashwood: But Elinor your heart must tell you...
Elinor: In such a case it is perhaps better to use one's head.

Guess I'm channeling my inner Marianne now....

Have you hugged your local artist lately?

Free Hugs by kimberlyg on Flickr
Well, have you?

Sometimes we go to some piddly little craft fair or flea and you see someone there, maybe who obviously doesn't belong there amongst the cheesy crocheted dish towels or dollar store regurgitation or crappy plastic yard sale junk you wouldn't have given to the local thrift store. But hey, they are there, selling their stuff along everyone else. Maybe you buy something and maybe you don't, because you weren't anticipating finding such lovely goods amongst the trash.

OR, maybe you're the entrepreneurial craftsperson or artist just trying to get yourself out there and funds are limited and you think that you'll get your feet wet by dipping them into the local waters and seeing where it takes you. A local joint, where the fees are lower, but maybe the clientele may or may not be welcoming. You hope your work speaks for itself....

Sometimes it's nice to reach out and give those artists or craftspeople a hug. Maybe not in the actual physical sense. But in the encouraging sense. I've been in both circumstances, on both the selling and buying end. As a seller, I'm so encouraged when I get a kind word after the sale is done. Maybe someone comes back for another purchase or sends me positive feedback on Etsy, or just sends me a note to say, "I REALLY LIKE THAT. KEEP DOING IT!" Not all of us live in metropolitan areas where there are a variety of customers to keep coming and coming. More of us live in suburban or rural settings where many folks may wander by and think, "That's nice but I can buy it at (insert discount store here) for way less..." and keep walking. It's harder for us.

So, I've decided, as a point, when I buy something I really enjoy from a local business or individual, to THANK THEM. Whether in person, or in the form of a note or feedback, that I'm grateful to have them in my community. I thank them for their effort, for their product or service, and tell them what I like about what they do.

It's a lonely world out there for us artists and craftspeople sometimes, give a little love.

Thoughts, the giveaway & Adorned by Morgan

I'm a little late in congratulating the winner of my beads that I was giving away over at The Constant Gatherer. Rachel of Adorned by Morgan won her choice of a multicolored set of birds or owls! She chose birds!

The best part for me, is that I was already an admirer of her work! Rachel's designs are truly unique. Since I am both a bead designer as well as a jewelry maker, it's hard sometimes to rectify making a truly handmade bead to the wealth of equally lovely embellishments that can be purchased on the market for sometimes better prices and fabricated into stunning pieces. You can search on Etsy for hours and not find many pieces that carry the charm of Rachel's work.

What is unique about Rachel's designs is that each piece carries a lovely narrative all it's own, a quality I strive for in my own work. You can tell that they are all carefully considered and each component is thoughtful. Thanks Rachel for participating!

p.s. her work is vegan! how cool is that?

Images:
1) the set of four beads that Rachel won!
2) Sweet Spool of Flowers $32
3)Gypsy Trove Necklace $75
4) Blossoms from Wonderland $36.5
5) Sweet Japanese Baskets {sold}