Leave more up to chance

I don't like everything planned out. In some areas of my life I have to plan - a lot. So by the time I get to the studio, frankly, these days, I don't feel like ticking off a checklist. 

I've been messing about with this method of working. Its relaxing. It feels a lot like how I played when I was a child - more concerned with the process than the outcome. (I posted about earrings I made this way a couple weeks ago.)

I start with a big marbled sheet of clay in colors that I like, or colors that I'd like to watch combine, and make repeated passes through the mill. 

This is how I start the beads for my Reef bracelets/necklace so I'm not going to end up with waste either way. I roll the sheet through, if the shapes created by chance are interesting, I cut them out using patterns and add additional abstract texture. Scraps are cut into disk beads for the Reef pieces. I doubt this makes me sound like a very good business person...but it is relaxing.

No two pieces end up a like. It is, perhaps, the antithesis of caning. 

My SALE and Mail offer is going on until the end of the month - details here! 

Flexible

I've been messing about with Premo's flexibility. I'm trying out adjustable rings to see if they will retain their shape and go back to their original size even if they are worn, and expanded, over time. Still clunky  to wear - I'll try thinner.

A Day in the life

My days are a patchwork of activity as we prepare to leave the country in about 1 month. Any given day right now you might find me...

-  emailing the South African Embassy
-  reading history essays
-  assisting with a science project on inertia
-  discussing the use of quotation marks
-  checking math problems
-  researching/purchasing next year's school curriculum

-  working on our final permaculture design project

-  tending seedlings (our daughter will keep the garden going while we're gone!)

-  making appointments for medical check-ups

-  exercising (yoga and several miles of walking/day)

This really was my day yesterday in addition to meals and laundry. 

One would think a highly organized worktable would be helping me stockpile work before we leave - and one would be right. However! I'm finding the need to just unwind and play once I make it into the studio. I find myself doing this patchwork/collage kind of stuff with my shape patterns. I'll see if I can get some photos of the process for next week. 

Looking forward to some gorgeous spring weather over the next couple of days! Have a great weekend wherever you are in the world!  

Our back garden - things are really getting green now! 

The long and short of it

I've been working with the idea of interchangeable jewelry (teaser...thats the focus of my project in Cynthia's upcoming book).  I like the idea that jewelry can be art that the viewer/observer actually interacts with so it makes sense that I push that idea a little further and construct pieces that the wearer has to the ability to change.

Long, slip over the head necklace

Folding the necklace in 1/2 

I have several pieces like this on my work table right now with the possibility of a long necklace, short necklace and bracelet all combined into one piece. Connections will make all the difference and I want to take the time to work the idea through so that every option is as comfortable and wearable as the others.

Other artistic endeavors

I  purchased just a few new painting supplies to take on our trip. You pack carefully, for 2 months, on an island 1200 miles out to sea and only accessible by ship (or at least you should).

I paint a bit, not as much as I should but I enjoy it.  I thought I'd share this wonderful card that a customer turned friend recently sent me. The second photo is one of my paintings  - no wonder we get along! (I wonder if Marcia has a favorite brand of black pen...)

Marcia Simpson 2012

The view from Matinicus Island, 2010 by Me. 

Marcia is teaching a polymer basics class at Cotuit Center for the Arts in Contuit MA throughtout August. (Marcia is a veteran high school art teacher  - this should be a great class!) 

Marcia's work. Thats A LOT of beads! 

Green rocks by Marcia. I love these! Not surprising that a New Englander is good with stones and rocks. 

6 weeks to go

Between finishing up the school year, spring cleaning and preparing for the trip I am managing to get some of my new work into the shop. (How? I do not know.) 

 Remember my SALE , now through May 30! (10% off and a handwritten postcard from one of the most remote islands in the world)

In the shop soon...can you help me think of a name for these? 

Prismicolor as a highlight. 

Indigo Ombre earrings

I think I'll carve these more and see what happens.

Almost there now

For those of you who haven't heard yet, Cynthia Tinapple's book, Polymer Clay Global Perspectives, Emerging techniques and ideas from 125 international artists is now ready for pre-order on Amazon with a release date of July 30!  (That's my project - interchangeable earrings - top row, second from the left!) I will be somewhere else on the globe at that time but will be home soon afterward and I hope to have a book event at my local library not long after that.