The myth to live by

"What did you do as a child that created timelessness, that made you forget time? There lies the myth to live by" -Joseph Campbell

A number of years ago I was asked this question in a creativity workshop. My immediate thought was of the children's program at Chicago's Art Institute. The bright high ceilinged rooms we worked in,  touring the African collection and then creating papier mache versions of what we had seen. I still remember the deep bright red I painted my mask and all of the colorful tissue paper streamers that represented straw hair. 

I recently went to my first drawing class in many years; Drawing From Life. The room was high ceilinged with papier mache masks ringing the room. How much of an omen is that?

I've been busy getting the house ready to sell. It's such an exciting time!

Making lamp shades...

Arranging books and artwork...

Constant cleaning, arrggghhh.

Anybody want to buy a house?

L'art pour l'art

It's been a time of great change and possibility. The last few months have seen decisions made and acted upon. Our house will go on the market in the spring. The house that was our dream home with every bell and whistle and furbelow and geegaw we ever wanted. We moved in and within 6 months the bottom had fallen out of the market. We don't expect to get our money out of it, but we're ready to take our lumps and move on. 

We're looking at houseboats and condos in Portland and Universities nearby. The Oregon College of Art and Craft and the University of Portland are our 1st picks. Tommy will study philosophy and I will study art.

I'll spend the winter working on my portfolio and getting rid of clutter. It's time to focus on one art form and get really good at it. There will be giveaways of art supplies and a lot of artsy grab bags on deep discount. Downsizing and rethinking what we need is on the agenda. 

I am so excited and at peace with all of the changes, and it's all happening so easily I know it's the right path. 

Art for art's sake is my plan and my hope for the future.

we have a winner!

Laura of Blue Antiquities

Laura is making lovely things with enamel. Simple, unusual, masterful jewelry. She is part of the Bead Soup Blog hop coming up this weekend. Please check out her site!

And Laura, send me your address!

Soup's on!

Welcome to the Bead Soup Blop Hop! My wonderful partner this time is Adrienn Lukacs of Rasputin Design. She does the most amazing beaded creations. Please check out her website, you'll be very impressed.

This time around, I sent mostly pieces that I made. Metal work, patinas, resin, bead wrapping, and wire work. The glass bead came from my stash was the perfect color match. The ceramic heart was made by Melanie Brooks of Earthenwood Studio.

Here are the beauties sent to me by Adrienn. Look at all that lovely copper. I adore the Fishy clasp and and Rose Quartz is one of my favorite stones. The shell pieces are shimmery and a great size.

For me this Soup was all about fixing mistakes. Of course I had to patina the copper. But I left the little Fishy in the brew too long and the clasp mechanism closed permanently. 

Then I broke the Rose Quartz focal. 

The donut slipped from my clumsy hands and shattered. 

~sigh~

Living nowhere near a bead store, I went online and tried to replace the donut. 

What I found was HUGE.

I tried using it as a clasp and the Fishy as a bead. LOVE the Fishy.
It was just too much.

Instead I used the copper bits and the shell pieces and made a clasp for a simpler strand.

Here's what became of the Fishy. Handmade chain and clasp, green silk and a Fishy bead with Rose Quartz, shell and Turquoise dangles. I really love working with waxed linen.

I really wanted simplicity this time around so I gave the beautiful wing a suede strap and added a large pearl. I've been wearing this one a lot.

I'm going to giveaway the beaded piece. If you're interested, please leave a note in the comments section and I'll add your name to the hat. I'll pick a winner on Sunday the 19th.

Please check out the many other Bead Soupers- the link to Lori's page will get you there.

Thank you so much Lori for another great challenge!

Hostess, Lori Anderson, Pretty Things

it's all in your mind- feel beautiful

it's all in your mind - feel beautiful by cathiecarroll featuring leather jackets

Resin Jewels

I've had a box of Envirotex for YEARS. I was always moving it out of the way to get to something else and think- I really should do something with that. Well I did it, I finally started to experiment!

Different sizes of raw brass open backed bezels; some given a patina, glitter from the dollar store and larger flakes of vintage German glass glitter, and my favorite addition- alcohol ink. I also found dollar store PlayDoh and small plastic numbers and letters, cheapo molds if you will. You might want a newer box of resin, mine had yellowed a bit. I actually like that for my purposes. I've read over and over mix exact even amounts or it won't set, so I very carefully made up my batches. Exactly one half of each. Stir and pour.

Because I used open backed bezels, they needed a bottom of tape to hold the resin in place. Some of my tape job was less than stellar but resin can be forgiving. After the first pour was cured, I was able to peel and pick away what I didn't want.

For the first pour, I added a drop of silver or gold ink to each bezel. The ink spreads and looks super cool as it moves around and fills the space.  Then I had to walk away and let the resin cure. Each of these pieces has 4 or 5 pours. Every time I added resin, I also added another layer of glitter. Because I did mini batches and added something each time, the jewels have amazing depth.

I'm not completely crazy about the letters yet. I think I need to add more color and help them look more organic. But it works. Play Doh and plastic toys.

The final picture is part of a wreath I'm working on. My Resin jewels fit right in with the old buttons, door hardware and lamp parts.