Best Friends & Vanity Fair Magazine

All artists search for many things...creativity, their muse and the inevitable "lucky break".  Mine may have happened recently.  I had decided that this was going to be my year.  And in a myriad of events and creative circumstances it has turned out to be one of the best years of my life.  I have gotten my work out there and made some really unique pieces.  Found my path to what I really want to be doing and have been following it.  Made the August issue of maine magazine.

The other night I decided after dinner to stop into an eclectic bar where a friend of mine was bar tending to say hello.  When I walked in I saw an old friend.  An old best friend.  We had had a falling out about 20 years ago and really have not spoken.  So, of course, small bar, we strike up a conversation and friend each other on facebook.  A few days go by and she contacts me to see if she can wear my jewelry in an upcoming photo shoot for VF.  Goes to show how clueless I am since I actually had to ask what vf was?  Turns out to stand for (drum roll please) Vanity Fair magazine....yikes.  I quickly said yes...after I cried a little.   This is a magazine who has my photographer idol on staff (annie leibovitz, of course).  And amazing covers and stories...Domminic Dunne, a naked Demi Moore cover...the list goes on. 

So after a little discussion we decide on a couple of animal pieces (the story is about animals) and decide to meet once again at the eclectic bar.  We end up having a great discussion about the past and mend fences (so to speak).  And it becomes just like it was.  Two friends catrching up on a life that they have missed out on for all of those years.  And I realize life is not all about achievements and making it up the ladder.  But it is more about the friends and connections you make along the pathway of life.  It is more importantly about love, kindness and relationships.  Some are more complicated than others.  Some come and go, some last.  And some are worth mending after 20 years of not talking. 

Thank you for wearing my necklace in every single shot, thus insuring visibility in the story, and for a credit in the magazine.  But more importantly thank you for being my friend.

Zebra Necklace #3

Black Onyx, Coral and aturquoise cabochon decorate this zebra necklace.  I used black seed beads with a copper delica for the edge stitch.

Unicorn Special Order box

Finished Piece! 7/24/11

Here is a picture of a unicorn box top in progress.  This is a special commission piece for a little 6 year old girl who lives in California.  thanks Jill!

Maine Magazine August Issue

The new issue of Maine Magazine is out. My puffin necklace is on page #24.  Here is a picture of it!

Antler Necklace

I just love combining beads with something out of the ordinary.  This antler piece may be one of the most rewarding pieces I have ever done.  I used silver lined dark topaz seed beads (hundreds) individually hand stitched with freshwater pearls, turquoise, amber and garnets.  A little foiled glass face and a lone turquoise leaf complete the look.  I laced it up the sides with more garnets and put a little bit of peyote stitching along the bottom edge in small ruffles.  I have another antler so watch for another one of these coming soon.  So far I have about 6 hours of stitching in this piece alone.

Antique Nailheads Pendant

The cabochon is of unknown origin but I loved the colors of it.  The seed beads are a perfect color match and compliment to the stone.  I alos used some drilled polished agates for the side edge and some antique Czech nailheads.  I loved these when I first saw them but had a really hard time finding them.  Finally the Beadin Path in freeport came thru for me!  As always thanks, girls!

SOLD

Simple Beaded Necklaces

While organizing my beading closet I ran across these unfinished projects.  It only took a few minutes to finish them off with clasps.  Now I can take them to the next fair that I am in.  The black and orange one is chunk of carnelian and vintage black heshi beads.  The blu is also vintage faceted beads with a cool abstract coin bead that I got from the Gifted Hand downstairs bead shop.  It is very mod 70'ish.  The coin shaped pale blue beads resemble candy.  This one has a matching pair of earrings. Both have sterling silver clasps.

A Whole Lot Of Pink

My friend, Beverly Lameroux, makes these beautiful buttons.  I was lucky recently to obtain a few to use as cabochons.  I picked this pink swirled one to try out first in an attempt to make something out of my normal range.  I used the holes in the middle to weave a few strands of seed beads and crystals thru as well as around the edge.  Debating on what to string it with.

Bee Necklace

SOLD!

I got this pretty hand etched bead in my bead of the month club.  It came from my favorite beading store in Freeport, Maine called the Beading Path.  They have a great selection of beads and materials.  And the staff is really helpful and encouraging.  I knew when I saw it that I wanted to create a bead embroidery piece with it.  The color was perfect to match with some carnelian beads I had in my stash.

earrings

Whipped up another pair of earrings.  I ordered handmade sterling silver ear hooks from my good friend Shelley for them.  I discovered I have no earrings for an upcoming fair so I guess I know what I will be doing!

Melding past and Present Techniques

I love those moments, when as an artist, you discover something that brings you so much joy.  That is how I feel about beading.  It brings me joy.  Picking out the materials and then putting it all together in a way that makes you sigh at the end is what I strive for. And when everything else is perfectly in place you end up with something you are really happy with.  Sometimes during that process you remember things that you learned before and how to incorporate them into the present.

I took a class a few years back at an amazing place called Haystack in Deer Isle.  A friend of mine called it a treehouse whee you could drink all the hot chocolate you wanted.  It is true.  But more than that it was a place where I learned to immerse myself into metal folding which soon transformed into a life experience of unfolding and opening.  What we present to the outside world and what we fold into ourselves and keep secret.  I made leaves in copper for days.  Hammering, cutting, acid washing...until copper became a medium I understood and I longed for another metal.  The shop, on the premises, happened to have a small sheet of silver which I promptly bought.  I looked at it for a long time not seeing leaves but unsure of what it wanted to be.  I cut out some circles and triangles and hole punched them and folded them thru a crank machine.  But still they were not quite right.  So I started with a shape that i then folded and unfolded and it became...a pea pod, a different leaf.  opened and exposing crystals and pearls in their center.  It became the metaphor for unzipping to see the insides. What lay underneath the layers as you peel them back. The only thing I had packed for the trip to work with was a box of pearls and crystals.  They were perfect.

So, today, while making this necklace I remembered how much fun hammering and copper were,  I got out some wire and an old hammer.  Twisting into shapes and hammering softly on different rocks outside.  This is what I came up with.  The perfect clasp for this necklace.  I feel as if I have turned a corner and learned how to meld past and present into something that speaks from gentle taps of a hammer, copper wire and a rock.  It brings me creative peace.  I have put a few pics of the leaves I still have and a peapod as well as the necklace I spent the morning making.  I hope you enjoy it.

This is a piece of Tasmanian Atlantisite that I bought recently at a fossil shop. It is a rather large and dramatic piece and was strung with seed beads and some chunks of dyed turquoise and vintage black faceted beads from my stash.

Pretty In Blue

I found this blue cabochon in one of my drawers today and it inspired me.  I had some matching beads with silver on them and some crystals.  Trying to get a little out of my comfort colors and use some different combinations.

Bib Necklace Masterpiece

I finally finished this bib necklace.  I think this is the largest project I have undertaken.  I love the lushness of this piece.  It practically drips with chunks of peridot, amber, freshwater pearls, turquoise that all surround a vintage carnelian cabochon, a black onyx and agates.  Backed with the softest of black ultrasuede and strung with more freshwater pearls.  This was a lot of fun to create and really let me try out some new techniques.  Retails for $550.