Wow, nothing since March 8th?!

I've inadvertently taken a blog break. It's been super hectic around here with work, workouts and life in general. I'm finally getting around to doing some light spring cleaning so I can spend an entire day in the studio tomorrow guilt free. Can't wait for large chai tea, mindless tv show playing on the 'puter then lots of fun with pretty beads, wire and maybe some other sparkly bits. :)

In the meantime, here are some images of a commissioned piece I did. I was incredibly nervous since my co-worker at the office was giving it to her art teacher (yikes!) but it went over big. Ann kept mentioning she was thrilled to have something from a local artist. I'm always conflicted by the artist comment but was incredibly flattered and felt a little validation that the hours at the soldering iron might be well spent.

Anyway, the requirements were to be hopeful, she likes Buddhas and spiritual things. The Buddha and fish are new picked up at a local store but the coin is antique boarding on super old. Green, and the green movement, feel incredibly hopeful and bring a since of re-birth and renewal. I dug around for inspirational text to line the borders and outlined them in charcoal. I'm also really loving the patinaed solder for instant aging.

Ornate Shrine

This is another shrine I finished last weekend and finally got the glass soldered to the piece. I like the juxtaposition of the words with the whimsical feel and shininess of the solder and the frame. This one actually took me a long time and it's been sitting on my desk for months as I kept adding and adding until it's complete. I think this one is going to work with me where I have a little gallery shelf.

Lucky Cat Shrine

I made this shrine a while back but never got around to adding the glass and then soldering it. I finally got it done this weekend along with a couple of other pieces (subjects of future blogs!) and took it with me to show my friend Suzanne to get her opinion on the patina color for the solder. Turns out, she loved the patina on another piece and wanted it added to this one. She also wants this one to put in her new apartment! Suzanne has amazing taste so I was incredibly thrilled and honored she wanted one of the shrines in her new place.

Bad desk new shrine

This is how my desk looked when I came into work in the studio this morning. Yet, it seems like I need the mess to get things done but I think this was the breaking point! I did manage to create this shrine in the chaos and now have several pieces that require glass and soldering so more pics later once I can get to the workbench past the Christmas decorations!

The little bottle is filled with Bombay ink (teal) that swishes like a snowglobe when you shake it.

Only half-dressed

This one is still in progress. She definitely needs a little something to perk her up although I'm very happy with how the charcoal pencil (thank you for the awesome tip Sally Jean - and if you could send the pendant I ordered in Sept or reply to my email I would be overjoyed!!!) really adds dimension and instant age/grit to the box.

I'm thinking of adding in some crayon coloring but have to admit I'm concerned about jacking it up but I just need to try it and add until I have a final result that I love. Tolerate. Don't mind. But, I have to tell you guys that I slam into the giant brick wall where I get nervous about experimentation. I have no idea why since it's just a fun kind of piece made with a broken doll, a $3 ornament, a cardboard box, paint and glitter so not a large or expensive cash output here. Still I hate to admit that the two months I've been working on it slowly were a waste but somehow everything feels like an art project that's getting graded by a super strict art teacher at the end and I really want that "A" and a gold star damn it! Okay, I'm just going to add some color, numbers, whatever I find on the desk and get over it.

Well, let me sleep on it.

Sybil Shrine

I posted a while back about the multitude of German dolls I've stockpiled. I finally finished a shrine I started a few weeks ago that focuses on a doll. The name of the piece is "Sybil's Shrine" based on the ancient greek seers who were called sybils. She's also got some text inside that says "Sybil, keep her secrets". Like my previous louvre shrine this was also inspired by the British Museum and my previous life in which I was an antiquities student.

This is a pic that always inspires.

Somehow when I think of shrines, I'm drawn to the museums with incredible antiquities collections or natural history museums. I would love to visit the Field Museum in Chicago again (summer road trip?). I always feel bad that when visiting the art museums I really do admire the incredible pieces but really just long for giant Egyptian statues or massive Babylonian doors. Like these:

In Progress

This is my studio work top as it stands at 1:01 am (cst) and I'm considering trying to sleep again but it's probably hopeless. I've reached the tired but not sleepy stage and these couple of projects are helping my mind to race since they clearly need something but I'm not sure what and I can't move on to all the jewelry projects I want to work on until I clear at least a little space.

I am, however, thrilled to have found a product called "bangle bling" in the $1.00 bin at Michaels. I picked up about 7 packages: gold, silver and mixed colors. They're tiny sequin like things that I think have the perfect vintagey sparkly bling quality (similar to vintage swaravoski but nowhere near as pricey) that I'm convinced all pieces need. All was not well at Michaels as I was horrified to discover that they don't carry crepe paper. This is inconceivable (yes, this word means exactly what I think it does!) to me so that's my quest for tomorrow.

My other comfort, besides bizarre craft finds, is Abby who is never very far away. She's such a sweet girl, to me anyway, and is just a giant snuggle bug - except to the UPS guy (another cutie!) who she's convinced is storming the house with every delivery and requires her to go into full attack mode. He delivered something fairly late last week and we happened to be home. Abby got away from me and made it to the porch. He smiled the biggest smile and said he'd always wondered what she looked like since she always "talked to him" when he had something to drop off. Seriously, how cute is that? She sounds like a 500 pound ferocious beast with her hackles up and the "don't mess with my house" growl and bark but he just looks at as chatting. That is clearly a sign of the holiday spirit at work people.

Tomorrow, I hope to have pics of all the german dolls Rolland and I finally got settled. We did a little bit of eBay craziness and I think I've cornered the market on vintage white german dolls. I do become slightly obsessed with the idea that if I love something I need to have hundreds of that thing just in case catastrophe strikes and they're no longer available. Yes, this is a storage problem and I'm seeking help; mostly at IKEA. :)