It is my first summer in this studio, and I am finding it a wee bit hot. For this reason, I am planning on relocating my studio into the gallery, so that I can work in the studio while I interract with the visitors in the gallery.
Two friends from Mexico dropped in on my in the past month, and brought with them their work, which I will be showing in the gallery, as well as gifts. this is a beautiful parasol, that I had to leave behind in Mexico when it became damaged. Knowing how much it meant to me as it was gift from a very good friend, My friends all got together, and recovered it in pictures and paint. It is a wonderful piece of art, reminding me of my friendships, and of an area that I had spent 7 years of my life.
Allenda also brought me this piece, made by an artist in Tonala. It is Diego, riding a bike wih Frida on the back. in the basket in front, are rolled up paintings of Frida's, as well as paint brushes, and artists tools. Now if I can just find a little bottle of tequila, they would be on the perfect ride!
I have been busy in the studio trying to come up with alternatives to silver and gold, which are continuing to go up on a daily basis. here is a beautiful ancient coin from Japan. (The origin might actually be from China). I added a few antique brass bells, and a couple of crosses from my work. this was a piece I designed and wore on a recent trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is on a long piece of adjustable leather. I plan to make a mold of the coin, and re-create it using Bronze Clay.
Try as I may, I just cannot help but to use silver in my work. here is panel bracelet, that is just plain fun. usually my pieces tell a story, but the links in this piece were designed as I went.
The saying on the back of the frog panel..."I had to kiss a lot of princes to find...The Perfect Frog". (No reference to my husband.) My thinking was...in the old tale of the princess who kissed a lot of frogs to find her prince...what if she then decided she preferred the frogs!
This bracelet was the product of a PMC silver clay class that I recently taught. In this class we create panels for linking together for a bracelet. It was a lot of fun, and I just love how this piece came out.
so much texture and pattern...
I casted a heart, using the process of cuttle-bone casting. I then created a mold to be able to recreate this piece, as I loved the natural striations of the cuttle bone. here it is, set in a ring, with a 1/4 karat diamond. It is titled "Wild at Heart".
I am going to create a series of sculptural rings, using the original sculptures I create out of cuttle bone castings and PMC. here is the heart on a band, which reads "AMOR"
I sculpted a bee out of the silver PMC, and then created a mold where I have casted an 18K gold bee, using broken chains, and various gold pieces of jewelry, that I had stopped wearing. I am now casting a these for clients, who send me their gold, to re-purpose into a bee, a bird, a cuttle bone heart. why trade in your gold for a fraction of it's worth, especially if it keeps going up in value...DAILY.
This is a 14K gold cuttlebone cast heart. I added a couple of AAA Thailand sapphires on 22K gold to give it some sparkle. I love the cuttlebone casting process, which allows you to have a one of a kind miniature sculpture, with the beautiful natural patterning from the cuttlebone on all sides of the pendant.
