Hidden Faces

Ever since I was a child I have always found faces in things. Faces in tree bark, the sides of mountains, etc. It used  to be something that I did naturally, then it became a game that I would play and now it's back to being something that I do subconsciously. Perhaps it's the Brian Froud in me. He often illustrates goblin faces in rocks, trees, etc.

I follow the amazing talent of Carne Griffiths on DeviantArt.com and recently saw a hidden face in his piece entitled "New Light"  As Mr. Griffiths couldn't see the hidden face that I had found, I decided to circle the face and post it here. Can anyone else see what I am talking about? It's a man/goblin/gnome with his eyes closed and a rather long nose.

I love finding things like this in works of art. If you do too, then definitely check out Al Hirschfeld's work as he always incorporated at least one NINA in his pieces. (The name of his daughter)

New Pieces Finished and In Progress.

I've been feeling sort of down in-the-dumps. My artwork hasn't really been going anywhere lately and it's difficult sometimes to find the necessary drive and passion to continue on. Slowly I feel the shadowy curtain lifting and I know that I'll get back to my old self eventually, but it's been a rough few weeks.

I received a call from my mom last night telling me that my great uncle, Paul, has passed away. I didn't know him too well, but somehow his death has affected me more than I would have thought. My grandmother passed away late last year and Paul was the last of her surviving siblings.For some reason I feel as if I've lost my grandmother all over again. I suppose that I always saw him as someone I could visit so that I could hear stories of my grandmother's youth.  I would also like to mention my sadness that Diana Wynne Jones has passed away. She was one of my favorite fantasy authors and she will be sorely missed. My edition of Howl's Moving Castle is falling apart at the binding I've read it so many times! If you haven't read it, do it ASAP. If you aren't the reading type, you can get a slight feel for her creative genius by watching Howl's Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki. (who is a genius in his own right )

We often mourn the dead but really it's the people left behind who do the suffering.

On a more upbeat and happy note, I have been working on several projects that I thought I would share with you. I decided to turn my Princess and the Bluebird pendant into a necklace. I think that I was a bit too anal when beading it. It took a lot longer than it should have. I always want the necklace to be the perfect combination of color, size and texture for the pendant that it is framing. I am pretty happy with the end result. Not so happy with the photos right now, but the weather has been pretty dismal lately.

 

I have also created another fairy brooch. I am really liking the look of this one and should be able to finish it pretty soon. I want to create a drop for it as well as a matching necklace so that you can hook the brooch onto the necklace ends and create a necklace if you want.

I also did a sketch of a water nymph or naiad that I'm pretty fond of. I like her "come hither" look. I can easily see her luring some young man or sailor to a watery grave. Something innocent and yet dangerous about her...

I have some prints available as well as a really cool iphone skin available here.

A Biker Chic with a Penchant for Jewelry

I am currently sick and feeling like crap so it's the perfect time for me to update my blog. :) I wanted to introduce TamsJewelry to you. Here is a lovely lady from Texas who creates handmade beaded and wire wrapped pieces of jewelry. When not creating, she's either out riding her motorcycle or being a good wife and mother. She has a wonderful blog where she talks about her life, her creations and the works of other artists that she admires. Her  work can also be found on artfire, etsy and zibbet.

Here are a few of my favorites

She has recently added some wire wrapped rings to her shop and I really love the look of them. They make quite a nice statement don't you think?

Prayers for Japan

I had meant to write this journal entry yesterday, but something stopped me. I think that it was just too soon after the shock. I just can't believe the amount of devastation that we have witnessed in the past 7 years! Indonesia, Haiti and now Japan to just name a few. It's so sickening to think of the love ones that have been lost and the families left behind whose lives will never be the same.

Here is my prayer for Japan. That those who have suffered losses will be given hope, strength and peace. That those hurt will recover and be healed. That those missing will be found safe and sound. That the nuclear situation will be gotten under control so that no more suffering occurs.. and that Japan will find help wherever and whenever they need it.

All my love goes out to you Japan.

For those of us blessed enough to be safe one more day, let us learn from this. We never know what lies around the corner so we mustn't sweat the small stuff, be grateful for everyday that we are alive, treat others with kindness, compassion and generosity and live our lives to the fullest each and every day.

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Creating a Piece of Wearable Art

I recently finished a brooch that is based on the classic Hans Christian Andersen tale, "The Little Mermaid".
I'm really happy with the end result and am planning on creating more pieces similar to this one in different colors.

I am often asked how I create these pieces so I thought that I would do my best to explain my process in a blog post. I typically work pretty quickly and also very intuitively so it can be difficult for me to explain every part of my process. I also tend to forget to take pictures.

I typically do a rough drawing of the finished piece, but after doing my more improvisational art nouveau fairy brooch I decided to allow myself a bit more freedom and to just play with the materials.

I began by creating a sketch for my mermaid. The sketch is almost the full size of my sketchbook but I shrink it and use a copy machine to create the smaller image that I will then transfer to my polymer clay by placing my image face down on a sheet of polymer and bake according to package instructions.

In past pieces I have done a full color colored pencil drawing and have transferred that to my polymer. I created this piece a little differently. I transferred the copy to my polymer and then played around with colored pencils ON the baked polymer. I like the more textural quality that this gives the piece. Not sure if I'm going to continue to do this all the time, but it's nice to know that it can be done this way. I did three different color schemes so that I had some options. I decided on the far left piece but will probably create pieces using the other two later on.

After I have fully colored the image I typically go over the piece in places with acrylic paints. This is smooths things a bit more and gives a bit more definition. I will then go over certain areas with some pearlescent mica powders. I especially like doing this on the tail so that her tail shimmers like that of a real fish. I added some frosted whites and golds to her tail and some deep blues and shimmery teals to the water.

Once the piece is fully painted I roll out some polymer to use as a frame. I marbled some green and pearly white to create a sort of sea foam concoction and then wrapped the piece in this. I VERY carefully cut away the excess with an exact-o blade and smooth all of the edges.

Now things get a bit more tricky to explain. This is where I just let my imagination go wild. I basically rolled some polymer into long thin strings and began seeing what I could create. I created spirals and waving pieces of seaweed. I carved shell shapes and embedded some small freshwater pearls to create some sea life for my mermaid's habitat. I also had found a really fun iridescent glass bead that resembled a bubble and embedded that in a swirl of polymer. Once I get the frame to a point where I am happy, I bake the entire thing again and then varnish my painting with several coats of matte gloss. This not only protects my painting from being scratched but it also helps to really enhance the colors within the piece and really makes the mica powders shine.

For the final touches I use a very strong metal glue to adhere the pin back to my piece and often will use this glue to really make sure that the glass bead and freshwater pearls stay put as well.

Well there you go! Hope that this was helpful. I will try to do another one of these soon and I promise to try harder to stop myself in between steps and take some pictures!

Meet Teresa Rusk AKA Trusk4u

Introducing yet another amazing artist, this gal is one after my own heart. Not only does she live in North Carolina (one of my favorite states), but we have quite a bit  in common!

Teresa began her crafting career with sewing and only had jewelry making as a hobby. Later on the hobby became her more prominent form of crafting and even an obsession. (sound familiar?) She is constantly exploring new techniques and mediums and her work definitely shows this diversity. You know you're in for a treat when an artist's favorite materials are " beads of any sort, recycling old jewelry, wire, life, sense of humor." Here are some of the wonderful goodies that I found at Trusk4u on Etsy.

Check out this delicate and beautiful example of wire wrapping. The perfect gift for Valentine's Day!

I especially love this cute bunny necklace as it would make an adorable addition to any little girl's Easter basket.

I also love the colors in this beautiful bracelet. ( aptly named, She's a Classy Dame )

If you visit her blog you are instantly struck with how generous this crafter is. She is constantly promoting the works of other artists and even allows artists to promote themselves on her blog. She also has links to help support a variety of worthy causes such as building a playground for an elementary school. (It also made me happy to be listening to Donald Fagen while reading her blog. )

You can also find her at http://HollyhocksLLC.com
                                     http://twitter.com/trusk4u
                                    http://www.facebook.com/trusk4u

Hope that everyone is having a super duper day! Thanks for stopping by!

Handmade Meets Haute Couture

Do you ever find yourself to be ahead of your time? You've been wearing something a certain way for years and all of a sudden you find your style to be the latest trend? I have always believed that Coco Chanel had the right idea when she said " Fashion fades, only style remains the same."
That being said, I can't help but feel a certain sense of satisfaction when I discover that I am accidentally following a fashion trend.

I was surprised when I came across this article in Vogue magazine a couple of days ago. 

Apparently glitzy floral headpieces are very much in for this upcoming spring. This cracked me up because I've been making floral headbands and barrettes for months now. Nice to know that they are acceptably "in" now. It's always nice to know when you have somehow stumbled onto a trend at just the same time as some of the leading fashion geniuses.

I  also enjoyed the quote that it mentioned from Nasir Mazhar (a brilliant London-based milliner). He states "I can do utter fantasy, but like to make new and modern pieces for real people too." I can absolutely relate to this. I LOVE to do completely crazy fantasy costumes or jewelry pieces, but in the end I like bringing some parts of that fantasy into the world in a more practical and wearable way.
A bit of fantasy for the urban fairy if you know what I mean.

Anyway, hope that everyone is staying warm and that this winter isn't too bitter. Spring is just a couple of months away and I just can't wait for the flowers to come out! :)