when life gets in the way, and there isn't a lot of time to be spent in the workshop, sometimes the only way to create is to keep it simple. I have been struggling with a few things lately, and one way to keep my hands busy is by making earrings that are not too complicated, no set stones, no skillful cutting with a piercing saw, just shaping, and then whacking the crap out of it with a texturing hammer...therapeutic and yet productive :)

I love the combination of copper with turquoise, cobalt and amethyst, and these earrings feature one of those combinations. The beads are glass, but a great color, and everything is hand forged, including the spiral headpins and the balled sterling ear wires. Usually I smooth the little heads out, but I liked the pitting effect with the textured copper, so in keeping it simple, the pits stayed in place, and, yes, I meant to do that.

Peace!

Every so often in this life an opportunity arises. You weren't looking for it. You didn't expect it. And then it falls in your lap. Question is...do you jump in with both feet and not look back, or do you brush it off your lap and keep going...

Hmmm. Lots to think about.

Peace

If there is one thing there is plenty of in my workshop, it's skulls. Aside from the human variety, there are several animal skulls, some of which I can identify, some of which I am not sure. One such skull has been hanging on the wall for probably at least 15 years, and last week, for some reason, it was like I saw it for the first time. I dragged a chair over to the wall, climbed on up, brought it on down, and went to work.

Initially I wasn't sure what I wanted, but I did know I wanted the design to complement the shape of the skull, enhance, but not overpower it. After giving it some thought, I started to sketch lightly with a pencil, and the result is what you see. I decided to keep it subdued, and used a burnt red acrylic in as transparent a finish as I could, to bring out the "natural" colors, along with transparent blacks, and just a touch of yellow and turquoise for highlights. I'm happy with the way it turned out, with the way the colors blend, and the overall design. For now, the skull is back on the wall. Come the weekend, it will be placed in the garden on a tall stake, a painted guardian watching over the property.

Peace!

So I went and got my hair cut today, first time in almost a year. Brought pictures and everything. Turns out what I saw in the photo and what the stylist saw in the photo were kind of two different things. Hm. Good thing it grows fast.

It's like art in a way. Two people look at something and see entirely different things. Does that make it a bad thing? Well, maybe only if you have to put a hat on the art you're looking at.

Peace!(es) of hair...on the floor. No longer on my head. Hm.

No matter how many times it happens, it is always an honor and a privilege to be asked to create something special for someone. The most recent commission I completed was a set of spoons to commemorate one of my colleague's almost 39 years of service as a Registered Nurse. My first reaction was "spoons? really?", and then I got to sketching. And sketching. And sketching. And really coming up with pretty much nothing I thought really represented much of anything. Someone very important said to me, "Lyd, you're overthinking it. Just start, and see where it takes you". Oh yeah, I forgot I could do that :)

I started with the stems, forged out the tops and bottoms, started hammering, and off I went. I won't say it was easy from there, but I got past the block and managed to create something that I felt actually represented her well. The petal/leaf shapes at the top represent her love of plants and green thumb, I chose the teardrop shaped Sodalite cabochons to mimic the petal shape, and blue is one of her favorite colors. I chose to incorporate lots of different textures, to represent the many layers of her work over the years, and kept the date plaques smooth, to stand out from the textured background. The bowls of the spoons were forged and raised by hand, and I chose to leave the tool marks rather than smooth them, and then fabricated the letters, M and J, from several pieces each of silver wire, and soldered them to the bowls. I used Silver Black to create a patina, to lend them an aged look, and also to make the textures pop. Soldering all the individual pieces together was extremely tricky, and I'm pretty sure that once again I was holding my breath through about 90 percent of the process. In the end it all worked out, and she was thrilled with the finished spoons, which were presented at her retirement tea on Friday.

To throw at least something of "me" in there, I included in the box a small turquoise skull bead wrapped in silver because, really, the whole thing felt just a little too serious! Everyone laughed when they saw it, and Monica said she couldn't wait to add it to her Pandora bracelet.

The beauty of the spoons is that she intends to use them, not just display them, which is exactly what I hoped she would do!

Peace!