Taking the big leap...

After spending most of the day writing my first blog post, I managed to hit "delete" instead of "edit" and sent the whole thing off into hyperspace oblivion.  How come every other program on this computer asks me a minimum of sixteen times if I really mean to do that before it actually erases anything? "Are you sure you want to delete that?  Maybe you should think about it a little more." That will teach me not to do anything of importance at 1:14 in the morning.  Sometimes my brain is not my best friend.

So let me start this rewrite by saying that I never expected to be writing a blog.  Although I really enjoy reading other people's, especially hearing about their creative processes and seeing their work, it feels a little self-indulgent to be doing it myself.  Why do I think anyone else might possibly be interested in knowing what I'm up to?  (Subtext:  Who the hell do I think I am???)  Well, I'm doing it because Etsy says so.  Etsy also says to link my blog to my FaceBook page, my website and my Etsy shop.

Right.

Detail of "The Empress" ,
quilt - hand dyed  fabrics

I've been collecting beads and buttons and little sparkly things ever since I learned to walk.  I still walk along with my eyes on the ground so I won't miss some treasure: a shell, a stone, a fabulous rusty runover bottlecap.  (And I'm still smacking my head into police call boxes and low hanging branches.) I take my goodies home and lovingly sort them and put them into those wonderful plastic boxes with all the dividers and sometimes in those plastic containers takeout food comes in.  And then eventually they find other things that they need to be with so they can have a conversation together.  Sometimes they want to be part of an Altoid tin shrine (I call them mojos).  Those are sort of like the art quilts I made in another life, reduced down to their essence and concentrated in pocket size.  I learned from quilt-making that if you want to be able to realize your visions, you need to have acquired the yardage to start with.

Amulet bracelet

So after several years of buying cool beads and things on E-Bay and Etsy and at every bead show within driving distance,  I've assembled more earrings and necklaces than I can possibly wear in a lifetime.  I've been inspired by Connie Fox's "brangles" and by ethnic jewelry of all kinds.  I've bought beads and pendants from refugees from Tibet and Afghanistan and from glass beadmakers all over the U.S.  Now I find myself unemployed and able to devote a big chunk of my time to developing my own style.  As I figure out the photography side of all this, I'll be posting more of my work.  I'm so inspired by the jewelry artists out there who are pushing the envelope and making pieces that look like artifacts from another civilization.  Some of their blogs are listed in my profile.  Please check them out - they are amazing.  My biggest inspirations are Dawn Wilson-Enoch and Susan Lenart Kazmer.  If you haven't tried Susan's Ice Resin yet, do yourself a favor and order some.

Thanks!

No ladybugs were harmed
in the making of these earrings
(but I had to rough up a 
spider a bit...)