Promise of Spring

When I go for my long walks through my neighborhood and the surrounding stream valley park, I keep my eyes and ears open for ideas for my jewelry. Inspiration in terms of color is easy to come by in the spring, summer, and fall months, and I tend to view the world through my painter's eye. However, it is winter when the sculptor in me is more awake to possibilities. Although lovely color can be found -- in the bark of a tree, a bright red cardinal perched on a tangle of vines, the reflection of a bright winter sky in the still water of a mostly frozen stream --I look more for the shape and texture of things that emerge when the foliage is gone. Recently, I passed a dogwood tree and paused to marvel at the tightly furled buds on the very tips of the branches. Their shapes were lovely, but I was even more entranced by the thought that, deep inside, like a wonderful secret held in a tightly closed fist, lay the promise of the blossom that would emerge when the days lengthened and sunshine once again warmed the land.

Last winter, I made a series of earrings out of sterling silver wire that I called Winter Branches (see my blog entry: http://mebdesigns.blogspot.com/2008/02/winter-branches-earrings-handcrafted.html). As labor intensive as they were, I enjoyed doing them immensely. The tree I passed on my walk inspired me to do something similar. When I came home that day, I sat down in my studio and began to draw shapes that reminded me of those dreaming buds on the tips of slender branches.

When I came up with a design that I thought would make lovely and graceful earrings, I set to work. Since this design is a little more elaborate than my Winter Branches design, I decided to use 19 gauge silver so they wouldn't feel heavy. Despite coming down with a debilitating case of tennis elbow, thanks to all the hammering, they turned out just the way I envisioned. Look for them soon in my etsy shop.

Change

The idea of "change" has been big this year, especially with the election. In my own personal life, I have experienced a lot of changes over the past 27 years, living in seven different countries on four different continents, and inhabiting fifteen different houses in the course of those moves. My latest move happened last August, when our landlords -- who themselves have morphed into friends of ours -- needed to reclaim their wonderful house.

This move didn't involve many big changes: I didn't have to learn a new language; adapt to a new climate; get acquainted with exotic fruits and vegetables. In fact, we moved only a half mile or so away from our last house. The biggest change is that this is the smallest house we've lived in for years. Surprisingly, and thankfully, I am happy with this aspect of the change. Although many of our beautiful memories are still packed away in boxes and stored in our little attic or our little bomb shelter (yes indeedy, we have a bomb shelter: this house was built during the Cuban missile crisis, which shows how paranoid average Americans were back then...and how clueless about what kind of shelter would protect them from Soviet missiles!), I find a small house both cozy and comforting. And certainly a lot less work to clean!

The subject of "change" comes up a lot in conversation with my friends. We talk a lot about the importance of being open -- not resistant -- to change. Many of us can't help it: change happens around us and we have to adapt. And many of us take these changes and find in them all sorts of opportunities for learning and growing. One friend in particular has been hugely responsible for a lot of my changes, in a good sense. She was the first to convince me to sell my paintings; she followed by convincing me to open an online shop on etsy for my jewelry. Recently, she did the impossible: talked me into hauling my jewelry to her home for a sale she was hosting with numerous vendors.

It is not as if she hasn't tried in the past to get me out of my studio and my computer and into the real world. She has long experience in attending craft fairs with her magnificent purses, and has built up a large, very loyal, clientele. My one attempt to sell things we no longer needed or wanted in my household at a community garage sale ended in lots of money, but wiped me out so much that I felt like I'd come down with the flu. She had an uphill battle convincing me to get out and sell at craft fairs after that experience.

This friend, however, is not the kind to give up. She decided to host the sale in her house and sent me an invitation to participate as one of the vendors. As I was panicking internally and wondering how I was going to get out of it without offending my very dear friend, I noticed her clever "escape clause": I could deliver my jewelry to her home, set it up, then scamper off. For a percentage of the proceeds, she would take care of the credit cards, taxes, shmoozing, and all the rest: ahhhhh, perfect.

So, I agreed. But, as everyone knows who has sold at craft fairs or home sales, one has to come up with a display. I've been keeping a keen eye on display ideas, both on the internet and in craft fairs where others boldly sold their wares. I wanted something that stood out, that offered my goods to the public while also protecting them from potential thievery, that represented me and my shop. While I am a living breathing human being, I wouldn't be there to represent myself, so the idea of representing my shop became more important. But how do I represent in reality what is basically only a virtual shop, existing in boxes in my studio and photos on my online shop? Plus, I had to do it as inexpensively and flexibly as possible.

Inspired by a picture I saw on the web, I focused on some old Ikea toy crates that no longer served their original purpose. I painted them, framed them with some stock molding from Home Depot, attached under cabinet lighting, then made necklace displays, earring cards, and tags for all necklaces, sets, and bracelets. It was a lengthy and involved project, but I am very happy with the outcome. How would I describe it? Practical and versatile, with an elegant and organic feeling....just as I'd like to project my online shop! Here are pictures of my "real" shop...

You can check out the website of my fabulous friend and her marvelous purses and totes: http://www.margaretboyle.com.

A Creative Mind and a Cluttered Studio

Why is it that creativity and chaos often seem to go hand in hand? In my case, in my jewelry studio, chaos usually reigns supreme. As I've noted in earlier posts, this often leads to serendipitous combinations that might not occur if everything had been in its place. On the rare mornings when I enter a clean studio, I dive in and start taking out trays and beads and silver and gold and, by lunch, chaos has returned. I wouldn't have even bothered cleaning my studio last week if it were not for a very aggravating and potentially very dangerous problem.

You see, my jewelry studio has a large, west-facing window. This is usually a source of pleasure for me as we tend to keep the temperature very low in our house and my studio warms up nicely on sunny days. I sometimes feel like curling up there and purring in the sun like a lazy cat. But the sun's deleterious effects include nearly blinding me. This is particularly a problem when I am working with metal and using my torch. In bright sunlight, it is difficult to tell if a torch is lit, or if the gas is just hissing out. This is not a good thing, and this is what propelled me into a major reorganization of my studio. Why don't you just get some curtains and block out the sun, you ask? Ah, you've forgotten the pleasure I get from feeling the sun!

It took me the better part of the weekend to clean up and reorganize, and now I can proudly state that my studio is clean and much much safer. I solved the problem of the sun dissolving the flame of the torch by putting my body between the two, sort of like a human eclipse. I now have three distinct working areas, two for works in progress, and one for my metalworking. I can swivel in a chair from station to station, and work much more quickly and efficiently. Safe? Quick? Efficient? That sounds more like a government-funded study on workplace methods than a creative artist's studio, but I also find that my creativity is still going full steam ahead, that is, when my cat doesn't decide to take advantage of the clean space to take a nap in the bright sun....right on top of my work in progress. See if you can spot the cat about to settle down on top of my necklace. See also the photo of the necklace set which I just finished after managing to snag it out from under a warm and furry belly. The necklace set is now available -- without cat hairs -- in my etsy shop.

Sacred River Necklace

Designing a necklace can be a long and wandering process. I had a necklace lying around that I had made several years ago, in the days before I began making most necklaces adjustable. This particular necklace, I finally decided after wearing it for a year or two, was too short, so I hung it up in my studio and basically forgot about it, even though it was hanging in plain view. One day, a visitor to my studio saw it, and liked it, and asked if it were for sale. Why yes, I said, with some surprise, as I had forgotten all about it, but it was too short for me and it will be too short for you. I'll have to restring it and make it longer, I told her. So, I moved the forgotten necklace to my jewelry table...and completely forgot about it once again.

I realized one day when I couldn't ignore it anymore as it was right there, constantly getting in the way, that I was not happy with the design. I couldn't quite put my finger on the reason. All the components of the necklace were quite lovely: flat ovals and cubes of chrysocolla; beautiful faceted lapis lazuli beads and smaller heishe beads; gorgeous rounds of Peruvian opal that I had bought in Lima; and silver pumpkin beads from Burma. They were all lovely components, but they no longer excited each other. Or is it that, in the years since I had made that necklace, I had progressed in terms of my own ability to create an exciting and beautiful composition in a jewelry design?

Whatever the reason, I felt dreadful that I hadn't restrung the necklace for my visitor, so I decided to bite the bullet and sit down and work on it and see what happened. As I began playing with the beads, I realized that I had overlooked an important element: the beautiful faceted lapis beads looked like a midnight sky with golden stars twinkling down. Oho! Not silver, I thought to myself: that was one of the problems with the necklace. I was going for my gold findings, when my eye fell upon a large chrysocolla bead in my stash, and the design immediately fell into place in my mind's eye. It was perfect: it provided a focus; it tied together the green and turquoise and blue of the chrysocolla and lapis; and, what was best, it introduced a contrasting color that made the rest come to life. It even provided me with the name, which was inspired by the dark blue diagonal line which bisects the bead like a river cutting through a landscape so far away that it must be viewed from the heavens: Sacred River!

So, vision and title firmly in mind, the excitement of putting it all together kicked into high gear. Within a very short amount of time, I had the completed work. What I left out was the Burmese silver and the Peruvian opal. What I added were horn beads and hand-carved horn cones, into which the multiple strands disappeared, and copper -- lots of copper! The necklace went from uninspiring to sparkling, from forgotten to heavenly! I also made sure to add that most useful of elements -- an extender chain, which enables the wearer to adjust the length from 17-20 inches. As you can see from the photos, that makes it very versatile.

Combining Silver and Stone

I love silver. I love semi-precious stones. I love precious stones, but I can't afford them. I love combining silver and semi-precious stones in the same design. One of my favorite shapes to create from silver wire is a teardrop. I find it to be such a graceful shape, and so much fun to make. I also find that it combines beautifully with stones, whether round or oval or other.

I recently came across some beautiful strands of kyanite, which I'd never worked with before. I was surprised when I read that one of the places that kyanite is mined is Burma. When I lived in Burma, I don't recall ever encountering the stone, although it is quite possible my attention was more riveted by rubies and sapphires. Kyanite comes in several different colors, but the blue that I found is by far my favorite. It reminds me of mica, with its silvery striations, but it is the color of a favorite pair of blue jeans. I've combined it in necklaces with beads of a lavender or lilac hue, and it comes out looking like the color of a beautiful hydrangea. I've combined it with amber, and it looks like a deep blue autumn sky shimmering over a stand of golden aspen trees. But I love the simplicity of combining it with sterling silver.

I made two teardrop shapes out of 16 gauge sterling silver wire, soldered on a loop on top, and then hammered the base to create a contrast with the thinner silver wire. I hammered it for additional texture and lightly oxidized the teardrops to emphasize the texture. Handcrafted earwires and headpins joined the teardrops in my tumbler, which strengthened and polished the lot. A final polishing by hand to bring out a rich gleam in the silver, and they were ready to pair up with the kyanite. I love how they turned out.

Sea Goddess

This necklace began with a strand of pearls that I wasn't even searching for. In a sense, it found me and I was completely captivated. Whatever thoughts I might have had of working on something else completely vanished. I have never seen such a beautiful strand of coin pearls. The closest I can come to describing their color is that it is the color of sea foam at sunrise, shot through with hues of pink and gold. Beautiful aquamarine briolettes are like drops of crystalized sea water. Interspersed are small Swarovski crystal bicones, with a depth and sparkle that both catches the eye and highlights the paler hues of the pearls and aquamarines. To make this necklace really special, I hand formed, soldered, hammered, and tumbled a beautiful teardrop shape out of sterling silver wire as a pendant, whose materials encapsulate the materials used in the necklace itself. I went through the same process to make two more pendants, a little smaller, for matching earrings. All silver used in this piece, with the exception of two tiny Thai silver beads and the crimp bead covers by the wonderful, organic, spiral shaped clasp, was made by me. I can just imagine Venus, the Sea Goddess, the goddess of love and laughter, as painted above by Sandro Botticelli, rising from the bosom of the waves and wearing this necklace with pride.

Black Flower Earrings -- Oxidized Sterling Silver

I have been itching to try out my Liver of Sulphur ever since it arrived a few weeks ago. Liver of Sulphur, which smells as bad as its name, is used to oxidize silver. To tarnish it, in other words. Why would you want to deliberately tarnish silver, I hear some of you asking. It seems oxidized silver is quite popular these days in the jewelry world and, I have to admit, it has a very interesting effect.

With some 18 gauge sterling silver wire, I hand-formed two flower petal designs. I hammered them for strength, and then soldered into the center of each a flower-shaped bead cap, followed by a flower-shaped bali bead spacer. I like the way these draw the eye into the center of the flower. I pickled them, then tumbled them until hard and polished. I was tempted to leave them that way, all bright and shiny, but decided instead to use my Liver of Sulphur. It takes a little getting used to, as either the solution or the silver has to be hot, but it finally came out to a uniform, dull black. I then took the flowers back to my studio, where I hand-polished them to a rich gleam. I'm very happy with my rare and exotic flower earrings!

The Dress

Stay tuned for the necklace I am designing to go with this beautiful dress, which will be worn by the lovely daughter of a dear friend, to her first high school Homecoming Dance!

Whiskey and Pearls by Firelight

Long ago, when I was first married, I bought my husband a burgundy velvet smoking jacket at a thrift store. It was so elegant (I thought then; I wonder what I'd think now?), and I had visions of us in front of a fire in a cozy, book-filled library, crystal glasses full of whiskey in hand and some beautiful music in the background. The jacket is long gone (I wonder what happened to it?), we have a cozy book-filled room, but it is a dining room rather than a library, and there is no fireplace there. Plus, I never developed a taste for whiskey.

Yet, the other day when I went to my second favorite bead store, I saw some gorgeous facetted whiskey quartz nuggets. They were big, they were beautiful, they were very expensive. I fell in love. As luck had it (or fate?), I had to go to the mall where this bead store is located again this weekend, to provide fashion advice for my husband as he bought some shoes and pants he needed for a trip to Latin America. Well, the pants needed to be hemmed, the shoes were expensive....so I had time on my hands and a husband feeling guilty for spending so much money on shoes. I said I wanted to go to the bead store while we waited for the tailor to finish and, lo and behold, that strand of whiskey quartz stones was still there, beckoning. Did you buy it, you ask? Of course I did! I know that two wrongs don't make a balanced household budget, but he felt guilty: I knew he would be relieved that he wasn't the only one spending too much money. The way I see it is that, by buying that glorious strand, I alleviated his feelings of guilt. Now, isn't that a perfect wifely thing to do?

So, they are now mine! All mine! I carefully examined them, found the most perfect of all these perfect stones, and set to work. The whiskey quartz is so gorgeous that I decided to pull out all the stops: nothing less than crystal and pearls. I found some beautiful, facetted potato pearls whose lustre encompasses the gorgeous warm, tawny color of the whiskey quartz. I had a stash of Swarovski bicones of a perfect, neutral, light topaz color that provided just the right sparkle, like firelight reflecting off a cut-crystal glass. I finished it off with a handmade clasp with a spiral shape that echoed the spiral lines on some additional pearls I added, and a chain that makes this necklace adjustable from 16-20 inches (42-52 cm). In this necklace, I recreated that long ago vision of an elegant evening with crystal and whiskey and pearls in front of a fire. Now, how perfect is that?

The First Signs of Autumn

It is easy sometimes, when walking in my neighborhood, to forget that I live in a suburb of a major metropolitan area. A short stroll away lies a stream valley park where, as often as not, I see or hear some form of wildlife. It might be a cluster of deer, startled into statues by my coming. Occasionally, I'll spy the tawny red coat and spindly legs of a fox. Rarer still, but not uncommon, is when I catch sight of a beaver, either sliding down the riverbank with some tasty tangle of leaves in his mouth, or gliding through the water towards his dam. Always, I am surrounded by birdsong, the chatter and scramble of squirrels, sometimes the cry of a hawk as he sails overhead, and the mesmerizing song of the cicadas.

I lived overseas for many years in countries where there were only two seasons: the hot season and the cool season; or the rainy season and the dry season. Coming back to witness again the four seasons of a temperate climate has been thrilling for me. As I walk now, despite the persistent summer heat and humidity, I see leaves fluttering down onto the path. The trees themselves are just beginning to show hints of gold or red or brown. The combination of colors in a temperate forest in the autumn is always both soothing and exhilarating to me, exciting my artist's eye and promising more changes to come.

I love designing jewelry that showcases those changes. I just finished a necklace called Smoke and Sparkle, which has hints of the beginning of autumn. Starting with a lovely smoky quartz nugget, which looks as if it has been caressed over time by wind and water, I surrounded it with the sparkling facets of smoky quartz briolettes. Nestled in between these, I added chips of peridot and small Czech facetted cathedral beads, with lovely transparent green barrels tipped with gold like the leaves in autumn. I love how the green sparkles amongst the brownish grey quartz like sunlight on the leaves in a forest. The necklace has a wonderful combination of textures and colors, that are both subtle and eye-catching. It is now available in my etsy shop, along with additional photos.

Pearls Pearls Pearls

I love pearls. Diamonds may be some girl's best friend, but not mine. Where diamonds are flashy, pearls are more subtle. Their beauty comes from their shape and their iridescence, which can reflect a world of hues. I love the plethora of pearl shapes and colors. I love how they feel in the fingers, whether they are smooth and perfect and round, or bumpy and organic, or long and lean. I love using them when designing necklaces.

My latest necklace took as its inspiration a beautiful leopardskin shell. Shells and pearls certainly have an affinity, and I wanted to bring that out by using pearls which echo the iridescent hues of the shell. The two main colors of the shell are highlighted by lovely, top-drilled teardrop pearls in champagne and bronze. The shell's iridescence captures pink and green hues, which are also echoed in the pearls. Tiny seed beads with a golden glow, together with small champagne and bronze pearls, and lovely Czech crystal and glass beads, whose facetted surface twinkles and catches the eye with every movement, separate and emphasize the larger teardrop pearls. To finish off this necklace, I have added a 14-karat goldfilled chain, and a hand-formed and hammered 14-karat gold-filled clasp, which allows the wearer to adjust the necklace to match the neckline of a variety of outfits.

This necklace has been sold since I wrote this blog entry.

Caribbean Captured

The last time I went to my local Afghan bead merchant, I was mesmerized by some aqua chalcedony beads that had been clearly facetted by hand. Each was unique in size and shape, but each held me spellbound with the color. When I held them in my hands, I felt as if I were holding opalized drops of warm sea water.

I lived for a time in Cuba, and a longer time in Costa Rica. In both countries, the Caribbean sea was a source of great pleasure for me and my family. The beach beckoned us frequently and, whenever we could, we would pack the car and head to the shore, the Buena Vista Social Club and other Cuban cds accompanying us the whole way. Knowing that, at the end of a long drive, lay a palm-fringed beach of white sand and crystalline waters, made our hearts soar along with the music.

When I saw these aqua chalcedony beads, I was immediately transported back in my mind to the wonderful hours I spent floating in those warm waters, with nothing more pressing to do than to contemplate the colors of sand, sea, and sky. I have taken these droplets of pleasure and combined them with the earthy and smoky hues of glistening bronze pearls and facetted smoky quartz beads. Interspersed among them are Czech glass beads that look as though sediment formed around aqua water, encapsulating that color for eternity. It is finished off with a handmade s-hook clasp and chain, both 14-karat gold-filled.

The necklace is now available in my etsy shop.

Pearls and Perils

I did return from vacation as planned, but was felled by a terrible summer cold that wiped me out for a couple of weeks. Happily, the wonderful memories of my vacation remained with me to cheer me up as I recovered. Additionally, I bought a number of strands of gorgeous pearls of various sizes, shapes, and hues, which I fondled and played with and daydreamed about even when I didn't have the strength to produce any finished products.

One recent afternoon, I was idling picking through some loose beads I had in my inventory, and the light caught a beautiful bronzite oval. The golden inclusions and rich brown hues brought to my mind the colors of a lioness. Before I knew it, my mind had created an entire necklace starring that bronzite oval and some wonderful golden teardrop pearls. I knew what I wanted it to look like, and it was just a matter of fiddling a bit with the more peripheral stones which, although not the stars themselves, play a very important supporting role.

I loved the bronze colors of a variety of facetted Czech crystal beads I happened to have, which catch the light with every movement like the glint of a lioness' eyes. Additionally, their deep hues highlight the lighter gold of the pearls, and echo the chocolate brown of the bronzite. With the addition of two beautiful smoky quartz facetted rounds, the necklace was nearly complete.

As I like to provide options for friends and customers who wear my jewelry, I wanted to make this necklace adjustable. I bought a length of 14-karat goldfilled chain, with delicate, hammered links, and made a 14-karat goldfilled s-hook clasp to finish off the necklace. Additional images of this lovely necklace are in my etsy shop.

Sunlit Sea

One year ago yesterday, I sold a necklace called Sunlit Sea. Today, in an odd but happy coincidence, I was commissioned to do something similar. Happily, I still had enough of the beads playing the starring role, as well as a good supply of supporting cast members. The colors on the glass beads that I used remind me of the sun shining on the waves, with hints of the cool depths underneath.

Sadly, this will be the first summer in many years when I won't have the opportunity to see the sun shining on real waves. I lived with my family for several years in Costa Rica, where we would brave the terrible roads as often as possible to go to our favorite beach on the Caribbean side. We saw that beach many different times of year when it had many different moods. The best memory I have was one October when we went there to celebrate our son's birthday. The sea was completely calm, soothingly warm, and one could float to one's heart's content, staring up at the blue sky, or turning one's head to the side to see the long line of the palm-lined coast. The worst memory was being there shortly after the terrible tsunami in Asia. This time, a terrible storm knocked out electricity and washed out the road back home. As my son said in a quavering voice, in the pitch dark of the hotel room, with the sound of the waves roaring loud in the utter stillness: "The air is a little too thick with adventure!"

Last summer, we had the privilege and pleasure of spending an idyllic vacation with wonderful friends on the Isle of Palms in South Carolina. Before the tide would go out and leave miles of sand exposed, the water would calm down and, again, one could float, lifted and caressed and gently rocked by the waves. The bonnet-headed sharks swimming around gave just the right note of danger.

So, this year, my sea memories will have to be created by the colors of the beads and stones in my studio. I have some gorgeous chalcedony the color of a warm, shallow sea that I hope to turn to next. All of you who have access to a beautiful beach, I wish you gentle waves and warm breezes!

Turquoise Celebration Necklace

The other day at the Afghan shop in nearby Annandale, Virginia, I couldn't resist buying some gorgeous turquoise rondelles. Turquoise has a strong appeal for me, in part due to its color, and in part to its significance to the Native Americans of the southwest where I spent a lot of time growing up. It was the beautiful color and the substantial size of these turquoise rondelles that really caught my eye. Months before, I bought some deep red coral drums from this same merchant, and I've only been able to use them in one or two necklaces; their bold color and shape require something that will really stand up to them. So, perhaps, I thought, purchasing the turquoise, this will be the perfect marriage, and couldn't wait to take them home to consummate the relationship!

Today, at last, I was able to sit down and introduce the two. They hit it off immediately! Wondrously, I had four sterling silver rondelles left from a stash I had bought in Peru, and they fit in like a dream, weaving in and out of the turquoise, which is flanked by two smooth coral beads, and centered by one perfectly carved one.

The rest of the necklace consists of lighter materials to offset the substantial heft of the turquoise and coral. Smaller turquoise drums, and antique red heart glass beads provided the perfect finish, marching from the large coral around to a beautiful and substantial sterling silver clasp, which had been waiting for just such a union.

The result is bold, clean, and eye-catching. It looks like a party waiting to happen!

Fascinating, facetted onyx

Even the name is exotic: onyx. It is a stone that has been mentioned since biblical times, and has long fascinated me. As with other onyx, black color is often enhanced through heating. Unlike other onyx, one can also deepen the color by combining sugar and an acid. Who figured that out and how? Were they examining it one day over a glass of sweetened tamarind water and it fell in, the bands magically disappearing as the color deepened?

The beautiful many-facetted onyx ovals that I bought the other day on my Afghan adventure have been whispering to me, enticing me to highlight their beauty in a piece of jewelry. I love their deep black mystery, and really wanted to make something special. Today, I sat down with them at my ever-messy work table and, as I always do, just started to play, putting them with this bead or that bead. They immediately showed an affinity with my other facetted onyx beads: the different shapes and sizes and types of facets added a nice contrast. To really make the facetted onyx stand out, I added in some lovely simple sterling silver beads I bought in Peru several years ago. I have had a hard time parting with the last of those Peruvian beads, but the smooth silver surface is such a perfect foil for the complex facets and deep black of the onyx.

I feared the necklace would be too heavy if I continued with the larger beads, so I started adding in smooth round onyx beads and smaller black horn drums. Finally, to finish it off, I used the beautiful, textured hilltribe silver beads I bought from the Afghan merchant. An adjustable sterling silver chain, a handmade sterling silver clasp, and a tiny sparkling Swarovski crystal bicone complete the look.

Dramatic in its contrasts, I think my design does justice to these lovely beads. And I love that its components came together from all over the world in this necklace.

Tribal Loot

Every now and again, one needs a little adventure and a little exotic sustenance to keep the creative juices flowing. I have a friend who was intrigued by my tale of a local Afghan merchant, whose shop is overflowing with beautiful and enticing things. Happily, his shop is also located in a nexus of Asian restaurants, and my friend is as game as I to try some new, inexpensive Asian food. I invited another friend, to whom I had taught beading, to come along. The three of us set out on a hot, steamy day to begin our adventure.

It had been a while since I'd been at the Tribal Rugs and Jewelry shop in Annandale, Virginia. But, rather than the having-packed-the-tents-and-fled scenario that I feared finding, I found that the shop had overflowed its banks and spilled into several more rooms in the little antiques mall that houses it. The experience begins at the entrance, where there are displayed numerous ready-made necklaces, with huge coral and silver beads, delicate mother-of-pearl, and all manner of jewels designed to draw one in.

The quantity of ready-made necklaces had expanded enormously since my last visit. Many of them are "tribal" necklaces from the mountains of Afghanistan, Tibet, Nepal, and India, featuring large, beautifully fashioned silver beads. Others are more modern, with facetted briolettes gleaming in the cases. There are huge silver bracelets and breastplates and items of jewelry for which one can't quite imagine the appropriate body part. In between are beautiful antique vases and robes and wall hangings. The center of the main room is piled high with carpets from Afghanistan and Iran, providing a plush surface on which to recline should one feel overwhelmed by the bounty on the walls of the room.

And then there was what I had come for: display case after display case of beads. An entire case of coral, another of sponge coral. There was onyx in every shape and size imaginable, chalcedony in more colors than nature had dreamed of, piles of freshwater pearls, turquoise, agate, jaspar, labradorite, buckets of hilltribe silver, acres of pewter and vermeil findings... And, in the "inner sanctum", lies the real treaure: beautifully facetted tourmaline, rubies, emeralds, jade, lemon quartz, all shining and gleaming and leaving one feeling wistful. The photo above is the "loot" I happily left with, featuring chalcedony the color of a warm, shallow sea, beautifully facetted onyx ovals, gorgeous turquoise rondelles, and two kinds of hilltribe silver spacer beads. I couldn't wait to get them home to my studio!

To recover from this surfeit of beauty, we drove a half mile to a Korean restaurant and indulged our appetites for spicy and tasty and filling foods. Seafood pancake, kimchi, barbecued pork belly, vegetables, soy sprouts, bean starch.... We left in a downpour, replete in all senses.

If you find yourself in the wilds of Annandale (if you pronounce it the way my Latino acquaintances do, it sounds quite exotic!), Tribal Rugs and Jewelry is located at 7120 Little River Turnpike. If you have a hankering for good Korean food, the Gom Ba Woo restaurant is a mere half mile away.

Earth and Sky Necklace

A friend sent me the other day a link to a video that features faces of women painted throughout the ages, each face morphing into the next (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUDIoN-_Hxs). It is beautifully and lovingly done, each face almost caressing the one that replaces it. It made me think back on my studies of art history at Wellesley, where I saw those same faces parade through my books and on the screens of darkened auditoriums. But it also brought to my mind something that made me laugh, and that is how, with the best of intentions, what one sets out to make sometimes morphs into something completely different.

The necklace I made today was a perfect example of how that happens. I have these beautifully facetted little smoky quartz briolettes (even the name is lovely!) that I have been wanting for a long time to use in a necklace. I decided I would put them together with some lovely golden brown potato pearls. I added in a large smoky quartz nugget as a centerpiece. Hmmmm.... Needs something..... I know: I'll add in some turquoise nuggets which echoed the shape of the smoky quartz briolettes. I also brought in some facetted smoky quartz rondelles and some turquoise drums which echoed their shape. Oh, those drums looked lovely with the pearls and crystal and glass beads in between! But, hmmmm....I don't really think the smoky quartz briolettes belong in this necklace anymore. So, what started me on this designing adventure ended up back in the box, to await their debut another time.

I love how the necklace turned out. I love all the different textures and colors and shapes. I love how the facetted beads twinkle and draw the eye. The color of the earth and the color of the sky, joined together in a myriad of materials. What fun this is to work on a necklace which ends up dictating its own outcome! To see more photos, check out my etsy shop or my flickr.

Rock Crystal Columns

Several years ago when I was living in Peru, I happened upon a cache of beautiful, transparent rock crystal columns. Each one was enticingly different. Until now, only I wore these crystal beads in a couple of necklaces I made for myself. I have been very reluctant to part with the few I had left as I know I won't be able to find them again easily. But they are so much fun to work with, and I wanted to experiment with a necklace that both emphasized and contrasted their smooth shape and transparent essence.

I took some sterling wire and handformed some links that echoed the shapes of the crystal. I made some small jumprings to connect these links, and realized how much I liked the contrast of circular and columnar, so I made some larger circular links as well. I found some sterling silver pumpkin beads in two different sizes, and then started playing with it all. I decided the crystal beads needed something to emphasize them more, as their transparency gives them a tendency to dissolve from view. I happened to have some simple bead caps and, for some real contrast in texture, I added some granulated sterling silver spacer beads, which incorporate the columnar shape of the rock crystal, as well as the round links and beads. All that was left was to weave it all together in the most visually pleasing way possible.

Silken Sea Necklace

For me, designing a necklace is like working with the pieces of a puzzle that you yourself create. I bought some gorgeous large peacock coin pearls with a fabulous lustre a few months ago, and they have been in the back of my mind since then. I knew I had to make a spectacular necklace to highlight their gorgeous qualities.

Since I had a lot of errands to do today and didn't really have time to get into a lot of metalwork, I pulled the peacock pearls out and began to play with the puzzle. Besides these large, gorgeous, smooth ones, I had some medium sized peacock coin pearls as well. I decided I wanted to use some of those, in part to lower the overall cost of the necklace and, in part because I liked the contrast their crinkly surface provided with the larger coins.

My necklaces tend to have seed beads of some sort between the main beads, because I like the fact that they are therefore visually separated and therefore each is highlighted more. I, happily, had some small amethyst beads, as well as some glass seed beads that I knew would be perfect. Same for the lovely, delicate, translucent amethyst coin beads I had. But the necklace lacked something: a piece of the puzzle was missing....

If you read yesterday's post, you know by now that I'm not one who keeps a really neat studio. In this case, that was a lucky thing, as my eye fell on a strand of aquamarine rondelles lying nearby. If I had put that strand away, I might not have seized on it as the perfect thing. I grabbed for it and -- yes: the missing piece! I loved how the pool of watery bluish-green highlighted and complemented the intense color of the peacock pearls. The aquamarine looks like it is a drop of water from a warm and shallow sea, and the peacock pearls have the deep, reflective colors of an ocean in the moonlight.

The rest of the necklace was easy to put together once the main puzzle pieces were in place. All that lacked was the name.... I chose Silken Sea Necklace because the large peacock pearls remind me of a beautiful silken taffeta shot through with wondrous hues, and the aquamarine inspired the "Sea." So, all done, photographed, listed on etsy AND I even got a lot of errands done as well!