Love From Lily

Rustic Rabbit Revelation. Work in progress.

Inspiration is a weird thing. I've been feeling a bit glum for the last few months and frankly, a little uninspired. My studio is a mess with bits of half finished work laying here and there, surrounded by rejected sketches that haven't even made it to the trash can. Honestly, I think it's the weather, which has not been cooperating with my Spring desires.

Then today, as I surveyed the mess—which is now expanding to the dining room because I don't want to walk into my studio—I was nearly ready to shut the door. Then I saw this poor little rabbit that I'd started a month or two ago. At the time, I wasn't quite sure how I wanted him to end up—I think I was thinking something along the lines of 'who doesn't love a bunny rabbit?'—but oddly enough, a vision hit me today as I thought of the strange juxtaposition of baby animals and the resurrection, Christianity and the rather commercial holiday of Easter.

The rabbit feels suddenly significant in that my dear kitty, Mina, has recently passed and she was considered our "Velveteen Rabbit" —scruffy, but oh so loved.

There will be color on this piece and a cross of some sort incorporated into a necklace. I am pondering using a silver cross that my mom brought me back from Mexico last week. That means the piece will be for me.

Which lead to another revelation: I feel best when I'm creating for me. Thinking about what others may want has only clouded my thoughts in recent months. And it's time to turn the focus inward again.

I realize that I am at my best when I create from the heart and not from the brain!

Well, duh.

It's always something simple that reveals the truth to us.

And with that, my friends, it's time to get to work!

P.S. I may have to tell you about my Rooster dream in a few days. I'm still trying make sense of THAT one!

Plain Jane Necklace

I have a string of pearls that I have restrung so many times I think it is currently held together by upholstery thread. I think there's something cool about wearing a funky piece with an evening gown or a fancy piece with a t-shirt. Pearls come and go in popularity, but they're always a staple for me. This piece was inspired by all the days I've worn a crusty t-shirt and worked on my car adorned by my everlasting string of pearls.

Gone to the birds.

I've been quite busy lately! The last few weeks I've been experimenting in the studio with less expensive materials like wood and polymer clay. I've also been working on some color transfer techniques. These pendants were made by applying crayon onto a wood surface, then melting and buffing and reapplying, and then finally sealing it with a spray sealant. They are available for sale in my Etsy shop. I've also got some fancier pieces in the works... stay tuned!

Virgins and Vampires

That's about how it goes for me. I'm a study in contrasts, so it seems. My latest two pieces illustrate this perfectly. When I design something, I usually ponder at great length exactly who I'm creating the piece for. Ever the daydreamer, it's usually some super heroine demon slayer or rock star—or in this case, a beautiful young vampire I've named Ann Marie and her antithesis.

In another lifetime, I might have been a dentist.

It’s true—except that I don’t have the stomach for gross stuff or bad breath. And while I won’t be attending dental school in this lifetime, I do feel like a dentist with my new rotary tool! Rrrrrrrrr!!!!! ZZZZZZZZrrrrrrrrr!!!!

When it comes to this adventure in Art Clay Silver making, I seem to be bumping into walls and breaking through—one karate chop at a time. After working my fingers into painful cramps with small pieces of sandpaper and having some difficulty with small crevices, I determined that some kind of tool to accomplish this least favorite task of mine was in order.

Enter the Foredom Flexshaft SR.

I gave it a test run this afternoon after setting up a little workstation in the garage and it made short work of my sanding task. I was pleasantly surprised by the limited amount of dust it kicked up—but I still wore my safety goggles and dust mask as recommended by the manufacturer. I think wetting the disk a bit would all but eliminate most of the dust. Still—it’s enough of a mess that I don’t want it in my clean working area inside. If I can find a small operatory dental lab unit with a filtration system on the back, I think the safety/dust factor for silver sanding would be greatly improved.

I do loves me some tools!

Back In The Groove

It always seems to be a bit of a struggle to get moving again after time off, but today I managed to get back into the studio and resume work on a few different pieces.

I'm nearly finished with the Baby Mammoth piece. I'm just putting the finishing touch on the cab before I mount it. I need to do a bit of fine sanding to remove a bit of the sheen and seal it before I set it. This necklace is going to be gorgeous!

The Snake In Hand piece is proving to be a bit tricky. I've got a good start of it though. I've refined the hand a little bit, sanding off the lower ledges to fit on a flat piece of silver and started in on the snake—including setting the eyes! I'm finding that I need to stop at a certain point with the ACS to let it dry, otherwise stuff breaks or gets mushed the way I don't want it to—as is evidenced by that dent in the snake's tail that was perfect until I jabbed it funny. No biggie, it will get fixed in the next session.

Snake In Hand
work in progress

I also worked on some simple molded pendants from children's buttons. These two pieces, Lily pendant and Remedy pendant will need some fine tuning in the green stage. I think I'm going to use syringe clay to write RX on the front of the Remedy pendant, rather than trying to carve it.

Lily pendant
work in progress

Remedy pendant
work in progress

Item No. 2

My studio looks like it was hit by a tornado with all these little projects in various states. I would like to get a few more pieces done before the holiday weekend. We shall see! Yesterday I finished this sweet little necklace. The eyes and mouth are painted over black and white transfer.

Why necklaces, you ask? Well it all comes down to this: I am a chronic bracelet and ring taker-offer! As soon as I sit down at my laptop, off comes my watch, rings and bracelets! They make me crazy clinking and scratching my computer. Also, I'm always getting my hands dirty. I'm always painting something it seems! So it's really been out of my own practicality that I've mostly focused on necklaces and earrings. Quite simply—they stay out of the way!

I'm trying to condition some Art Clay Silver that seemed a bit dry out of the package. I may have made a mess of it, but I'm hoping to get started on a new idea this afternoon. I've still got the Baby Mammoth design in the works and another little transfer necklace like the one above.

More soon!

Later that day... new ACS (art clay silver) piece on the workbench! Get a sneak peek here.

Item No. 1

I'm finally finished with the Elizabeth necklace and I'm feeling a burst of creative energy that I haven't felt in years. I suspect getting through this creative block will help me in every area of my life. All the sudden, things are new again. Lots of other ideas in the works... I can barely keep myself out of the studio!