Running With Scissors ~ Inspired By Reading - August 2017

Wow - Has it really been a year???

I have read many of the Inspired By Reading Book Club selections. I've even been inspired to create.
I just haven't posted.

Hopefully this is more than just a guest appearance.

For the month of August, we read Running With Scissors, by Augusten Burrows.
It took a little bit to get into the story, but then I was hooked. It amazes me that the book is actually a memoir.

Without giving too much away, I will say that Burrows' mother suffered from mental illness and when he was just a young boy, she gave his guardianship to her psychiatrist. Dr. Finch was also a bit unstable and the household quite chaotic.

I set about to create a pendant that represented the various and very different characters that came together in Augustus' life.

The pendant consists of leftover scraps of copper and silver. My interpretation of chaos coming together.

The three silver balls (melted down scraps) are actually covering holes in the copper .

I related to several of the cultural references, such as, Jean Nate and the polyester McDonald's uniform - both vivid memories from my teen years.

I'd like to read Burrows' more recent memoir.

THE SILVER WITCH ~ Inspired By Reading ~ September 2016

I enjoyed reading and listening to The Silver Witch, by Paula Brackston.

It was the September selection for the Inspired By Reading Book Club, hosted by Andrew Thornton of Allegory Gallery. 

The story is told by two narrators on a Welsh lake - Tilda, a contemporary ceramicist and Seren, a witch and shaman in Celtic times.

Tilda finds what she believes is a bracelet with a Celtic carving of 3 dogs and 3 hares in a circle - seemingly chasing each other. 

I knew I wanted to, somehow, incorporate that image in my design.

After much research, I settled on a Celtic image I wanted to use.

NEW TECHNIQUE ALERT!

I used a laser printer to copy the image onto glossy paper.

Then heat transferred the image onto 18 gauge copper and put it into the etching solution for a few hours.

The middle image was printed twice, resulting in a heavy build up of toner.

*Lesson learned* Less toner is actually better and gives a clearer impression.

 Thanks for visiting!

Inspired By Reading ~ The Fault In Our Stars

I'll admit it - I over-extended myself with way too many events in April and May. It was great to step back and travel in June and scale back even more in July. This has given me the chance to read and dive back into the Inspired By Reading book club started by Andrew Thornton.

For July, we read The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, a poignant story of two teenagers battling cancer. I hope to see the movie someday.

Hazel, a main character, finds parallels in her life and the life of the main character in her favorite book. That character's mother fell in love with a "Dutch Tulip Man".

I was inspired to create tulips - 2 ways, on copper ovals cut in the hydraulic press with Potter USA's spoon shaped pancake die.

First I etched a flower design that I colored with alcohol inks.
I kept this design simple with a dangling carnelian bead and copper chain.

My next tulip is enameled on copper. I mixed the powdered enamel with Thompson's A-3 Holding Agent to create a liquid I could paint with.




Originally, I had planned to hang the pendant from a simple mixed seed bead necklace, but it needed something more. I love the way the little carnelian dangles on the silver chain tie the piece together.

Finally - a pair of sterling silver earrings with stamped stars.

Thanks for visiting!

The Night Circus - August's offering for the Inspired By Reading Book Club

Le Cirque des Reves, The Circus Of Dreams, lives in Erin Morgenstern's imagination and on the pages of her novel, The Night Circus. This is a circus like no other. It arrives overnight without notice and disappears the same way. It is only open after dark.

I listened to the book back in June during my 10 hour drive north to the Hamptons. Since it was a while ago and I am not feeling super intellectual at the moment, I'll quote the blurb from the back of the book...

...behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game only one can be left standing...

... Celia and Marco soon fall in love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, leaving the lives of everyone ... hanging in the balance.

I loved the myriad of unusual characters, the plot twists, magical elements, and, of course, the love story.

I was drawn to the description of the lighting of the bonfire each time the circus opened in a venue. I wanted to replicate that effect some way in a piece of jewelry. I had some torch issues, so it didn't come out quite the way I wanted it to. If you squint, you might see flames.






The crystals represent the shift of flame colors  as twelve archers light the fire...

First yellow, then clear sky blue, warm bright pink, ripe pumpkin, sparkling crimson, incandescent wine, shimmering violet, indigo, midnight blue, black, and, finally, blinding white.
As I write, I realize I have forgotten the black and blinding white crystals. I also plan to use a shorter connector.



This next piece came about quite by accident. The last time I was in NYC I picked up a gorgeous strand of red coral at Wonder Sources on 38th St. I love the contrast of the rectangular ceramic beads from Golem Studio. I purchased those (and more) directly from Vladislav, the artist, in Tucson last February.

As I tied knots in the silk cord, I remembered that the circus tents were striped white and black, with no other color. I also recalled the "Revelers", a society of folk (groupies) who followed the circus, wore black and white with a splash of red to distinguish themselves from other circus patrons.













So - back to my stash for a bumpy black and white lampwork bead by Jason Powers. I repurposed a black Chinese crystal necklace that hasn't sold in a few years and a splash of red - more ceramic from Golem.

I love the results!

Thanks for visiting!
Please visit our book club leader, Andrew Thornton's blog to learn about the next book and links to see creations by the other participants.   click here!

Swamplandia – another edition of the Inspired By Reading Book Club

I was disappointed to miss last month. I was traveling once again ~ busy on Long Island attending retirement parties, family events and participating in the Sag Harbor Arts and Crafts Fair. In case you’re wondering (and even if you’re not), in spite of the pouring rain, I had a good show, with follow up opportunities.

I enjoyed Swamplandia, by Karen Russell. The story follows a family of alligator wrestlers who run an ailing tourist attraction in the Florida Everglades. Chief Big Tree and his children struggle to keep Swamplandia open after their mother, the main attraction, succumbs to cancer. They also have to contend with competition from “The World of Darkness”, the new high tech amusement park on the mainland.

It wouldn’t be a book club selection if there wasn’t a bit of the supernatural or weirdness involved in the story.  Sixteen year old Ossie considers herself to be a spiritualist and believes that she has relationships with ghosts. After finding a ghost ship (really a dredge from the 1930’s), Ossie imagines herself in love with a young man who perished in an explosion and decides to run off and marry him.

The obvious inspiration for this book would be alligators. So, as I read, I checked my stash and a few suppliers – no alligators. Then Ossie and Ava stumble upon the decrepit ship with a swarm of buzzards overhead. There was my inspiration! Somehow, someway, I was determined to create a buzzard. Luckily, Kevin Potter has a great bird pancake die and it was on sale when I wanted it. I headed out to the hydraulic press with some 20 gauge sheet copper. The next challenge was how to make it look like a buzzard…

After an internet search for buzzard images, a trip to Ornamentea in Raleigh for Thomson enamels, and four torch firings of different layers and colors, I’m pretty excited with the result.

I don't always counter-enamel, but felt this piece needed it  

I've added a bail and chain, maybe I'll add some beads, but haven’t decided if I prefer copper or silver chain. 

What do you think?

Please visit book club leader, Andrew Thornton's blog here to learn more about our group

and visit other participants listed below...

Sarajo Spurgeon Wentling

Allison Herrington

Mary K McGraw

Ann Schroeder

Home By Toni Morrison ~ an Inspired By Reading Book Club post

Sometimes I wonder why Andrew lets me stay in “the club”. 

I don’t think I’ve met a deadline yet.

The Club is the Inspired By Reading Book Club, the brain child of Andrew Thornton, owner of Allegory Gallery in Ligonier, PA.  Each month we read a book, create and blog. This month our book was Home, by Toni Morrison.

It’s the story of a young black man reclaiming his life after returning from the Korean War.

The San Francisco Chronicle said the book “Brims with affection and optimism.” Perhaps I missed much of the symbolism, but I found it to be somewhat dark and depressing. Because of that, I had a difficult time deciding on a project.

At the very beginning of the story, Frank Money and his younger sister sneaked into a crawl space to watch two horses in an overgrown field.  One was rust colored and the other deep black.

My design idea was very literal – I had planned to use a Green Girl horse pendant with black onyx and carnelian.  The horse looked too rustic and out of place with my faceted onyx so I ended up with two necklaces.

I removed the horse, added a black onyx nugget as a focal piece and highlighted with sterling silver bead caps and daisies, and shiny copper nuggets.

Then - I hung the horse with a hammered silver ring from a silver chain. (I mass produce the rings so I always have a few in stock.) I wire wrapped more of those shiny copper nuggets to the chain for texture and interest.

Please go to Andrew's Blog to learn more about the book and check out the other talented members of the group.

Into The Wild - Inspired By Reading Book Club

More than a year ago, I joined the Inspired By Reading Book Club, hosted by Andrew Thornton. After reading the selection of the month, participants are inspired to create. While most of us do create jewelry, it's definitely not a requirement. We'd love to see other artistic mediums.

I was playing along quite well until last August, when we sold our house and I moved twice. I read the books, bought or created components, and have several finished and half-finished pieces hanging around. I hope to compose a catch-up post next month.

So, now that the studio is set up and I've found most of my tools and supplies, I'm ready to play again!

This month we read Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer. It is the story of Christopher McCandless, a young man in his 20's, from an affluent family, who decided to give away all of his money and venture alone into the Alaskan wilderness. Sadly after 4 months, probably due to his inexperience and naivete, McCandless perished.

Krakauer included historical references to adventurers and mountain climbers, as well as comparisons to his own experiences. My inspiration came when I read about Krakauer's obsession with Devil's Thumb. a mountain in the Stikine Ice Cap region of south east Alaska.



The name and description immediately brought to mind an artist bead I purchased just before Christmas at the Wake Forest Farmer's Market.


I know...
It didn't really scream Alaska to me, either.
But... do you get the thumb???

And we're supposed to be inspired ~ no one said it had to be an exact representation.








The bead did scream Sleeping Beauty Turquoise. Happily, I had some left from last year's Tucson trip. That and some chocolate brown freshwater pearls ~ Wah-La

I kept it super simple this month, because I am still getting my act together.






The pendant did pose a slight design challenge as the hole was slightly off center at the base.
I flattened 18 gauge silver wire to form a loop so it wouldn't look quite as lop-sided.








Now for the freaky part ~~~
This morning, I decided to research Devil's Thumb.


Check This Out!!!

'nuff said!

Hey Y’all  (I’m a southerner now!)

Don’t forget to visit AndrewThornton’s blog to see who else was inspired this month. 

We’d love for you join us next month! Our book is Geek Love, by KatherineDunn. It’s a bit bizarre, but I can’t put it down. I actually stayed on the stationary bike at the gym for 40 minutes because I didn't want to stop reading!  

Here's a link for future titles!

Design Challenges, Book Club, Swaps and Blog Hops ~ Why Do I Do Them???

Why do I stress myself with deadlines?

 It's simple ~ there are times when I need that deadline to get my act together, to give me a reason to go into the studio and create something. The life of an independent jewelry artist can be very solitary at times. The challenges and blog hops keep me connected with the creative community.I am inspired by the talent and variety of designs that come from a single bead kit.

Check out Andrew Thornton and Lisa Lodge's blogs for information about the kits challenges they sponsor. Lisa's Facebook Group and the Allegory Gallery Design Challenge Group are great sources for info.

The swaps encourage me to think outside the box and work at the edge of my comfort zone. You never know what your partner might send you. I try to send favorite items ~ things I have a hard time giving up or components I've creating specifically for my new friend. And I know I always push myself to create something that might impress my partner and the other hoppers.

I love participating in the Inspired By Reading Book Club. There are plenty of folks lurking on the Facebook group, but usually just a handful participate. I've read books I would not have picked up on my own and met quite a few great people through the blog hops and in-person meet-ups that Andrew hosts.

So to simplify my answer ~ challenges, creative book clubs and blog hops supply and endless source of inspiration and have led to many friendships.

The Drunken Botanist ~ Inspired By Reading

The Drunken Botanist, by Amy Stewart is one of those books that I will need to buy. Stewart combines science, history, folklore and recipes to introduce us to “the plants that create the world’s great drinks”. It’s a book that I will continue to return to just to read a small snippet.  

For the Inspired By Reading Book Club I decided to try my hand, once again, at etching. Actually, I have successfully etched since I disintegrated my copper back in March. This time, I thought I’d try a copper cuff.  I chose copper because the old stills were made of copper. I rounded the ends of a 1”x6” copper strip from Impress Art/PJTools and used a leafy rubber stamp to represent the grain.     

This is my first cuff like this, and I have to say I'm pretty excited with the results!

As far as I know, the birds have no significance. Since I was etching I thought it would be fun to practice with the rubber stamps and try out my new disc cutter by making some 1”circles.

When I learned that gin is made from juniper berries, I knew I had found a use for the vintage German glass beads left over from October's book My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me.…

I’m really into dangles these days, so I made a copper circle to hang the “berries” from. As you can see, this time I created a mixed metal piece, with a soldered copper ring and sterling silver dangles and chain. The chain is about 24” long, but if the wearer prefers shorter from time to time, my handcrafted hook will slip into any of the chain links.

 

Check out the other creative folks in our group.

And do consider joining us next month as we read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Mary K McGraw http://mkaymac.blogspot.com/2014/07/drunken-botanist-reveal.html

Sarajo Wentling https://www.facebook.com/groups/inspiredbyreading/

Eric Wentling http://jackofallbrews.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-drunken-botanist.html

Mary Harding http://maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/inspired-by-reading-book-club-drunken.html

Andrew Thornton, Laurel Ross, Alison Herrington, Constance Vale and Karen Hiatt http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com

Inspired By Reading ~ April~ interpreter of maladies

I enjoyed the April selection for the Inspired by Reading Book Club. For this month, our moderator, Andrew Thornton chose the Pulitzer Prize winner, interpreter of maladies, by jhumpa lahiri. It is an engrossing collection of short stories set in India and Boston. The stories opened my eyes to the customs and culture of the people of India in both settings.

I found inspiration in many of the stories and was able to complete two pieces. I actually combined inspirations from 2 stories for my first design. In, “A Temporary Matter”, the character consults a calendar of William Morris Wallpaper designs. And in the second story, “When Mr. Purzada Came to Dine”, Mr. Purzada's clothes always consisted of plums, olives and chocolate brown.

I searched the internet for William Morris Wallpaper in plums and olives and found “bird and pomegranate" at The Original Morris and Co. 

I made a bezel with 14g copper wire which I hammered and soldered. The oval bezel was soldered to a copper plate which I then textured with metal stamps. The metal was oxidized and tumbled.

Some of you may remember that last month I swore I would never again tumble chain. Well - I did.

Luckily there weren't too many knots.


I asked Andrew for his thoughts on sealing the picture in the bezel and I've decided to wait till I have time to practice on something I don't care about.
(btw - for those who have been following my progress - this piece represents my new skill this month!)

I recently traveled by car from Long Island, NY to Portland, OR with my husband. It was great to have small snippets to read along the way. I read "Mrs. Sen's" as we drove through Ohio. There were several references to the powdered vermilion she put in the center part of her hair - an Indian custom for married women. As I finished the story, I looked up - 
we were just about to cross the Vermilion River!!!
 I quickly jotted a note - I knew I had to find a way to represent that line of vermilion. 

Teepee Canyon Agate and
Rose Quartz from South Dakota

Before visiting Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, I insisted we stop at The Rock Shed in Keystone. My husband would have loved to bring home a large landscape speciman - the South Dakota rose quartz was gorgeous! Unfortunately that was impossible as we were flying home. After a while of wandering around the small shop and chatting with Gene, the lapidary, I chose some tumbled rose quartz and Teepee Canyon agate cabs. 

click this picture to see shape of cab

In Portland, I found matching seed beads at Let It Bead. What a great shop!

I kept the wire wrap simple and neat so the pendant could be reversible. I'm planning to let the copper oxidize naturally. I love that rustic brown.   


The necklace is about 22" long to offset the 2" cab.













Check out Andrew's Blog for links to all the other participants!
The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton



There is one more piece I want to make. In "This Blessed House", the main character wears a "pearl choker with a sapphire at the center". 
Yes, I found sapphires on my trip! Specifically, rough sapphires from the Missouri River at Opal Mountain Gems in Philipsburg, Montana. 
But first I have to tumble and polish them. A project (and learning experience) for another day!

*A little more trivia about the book 

• it was featured as a question on Jeopardy
• it has been used in high school English classes in Lansdale PA

I can't wait to see how our next book An Object of Beauty, by Steve Martin inspires me.
Won't you join us???

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me

  

It's time once again for the latest installment of the Inspired By Reading Book Club.
This month we delved into the anthology My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me, edited by Kate Bernheimer. The book is a compilation of fairy tales with a modern twist. As it is a rather long book, It was decided we could read as many or as few as we wanted as we found our inspiration.

After reading several of the fairy tales, "The Brother and the Bird", by Alissa Nutting spoke to me. It is based on the Grimm fairy tale, "The Juniper Tree". In this modern version, the jealous stepmother kills her husband's son, cuts him up and feeds him to his father. His sister eventually rescues his bones from the deep freeze and plans to bury them under the juniper tree. The juniper berries swarm off the tree to consume the bones. Meanwhile, the family's radio would mysteriously turn to static, send out the sound of fluttering wings and play the following song, "Mother killed her little son; what a beautiful bird am I. Father ate 'til meat was gone; what a beautiful bird I am. Sister saved my bones; now I sing and fly..."

I did a little research. Found a few photos of juniper berries. And went in search of the perfect beads.

I found them in NYC at the Whole Bead Show. These vintage pine cone shaped vintage Blue Heron beads were perfect.




I actually won  these beads from the Whole Bead Shop!  I entered a contest on their Facebook page -  Whole Bead Shop - and won a $25 gift certificate!
Yeah - I spent more!
But scored some amazing vintage glass beads.    
















The beads were wrapped onto a medium flat oval chain to resemble a
cluster of juniper berries. I added some pale gray labradorite to represent the the layer of ash at the base of the tree.
And a bird from Green Girl Studios finishes off the necklace.

As always, I have enjoyed the challenge put forth by fearless leader, Andrew Thornton.
Don't forget to check his blog, as well as the other participants.
I hope you'll consider joining us in the future.

Andrew Thornton  Our host!

Sharon Palac

Mary K McGraw

Jeanne Steck

Sarajo Wentling

Mary Harding

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Sue Kennedy

Sally Russick

Erin Prais-Hintz

Inspired By Reading Book Club/Blog Hop ---- July

I was excited about the July selection for several reasons. For the first time ever, I finished the book and project on time!

And… I had decided to take a road trip. Yes, I traveled 7+ hours to join the group at Allegory Gallery in Ligonier, PA. It was so great to meet Andrew, Laurel, Amy, Terri and Connie. We enjoyed Andrew’s hospitality, including the yummy peach cobbler and interesting chocolate “wedding cake”. Thanks to Amy and Laurel for running down to the ice cream shop.

For the month of July Andrew chose the book,  The Cookbook Collector, by Allegra Goodman.  It is the story of two sisters who are very different from each other. Emily is the corporate CEO during the rapid growth of technology, while Jess, the philosophy major is the perennial scholar/environmentalist. As Goodman introduces her many characters, you wonder what their connection will be. The free-spirited Jess spoke to me early on. I went in search of the “Green Girl” pendant I purchased a few years ago, but could figure out how to use. It’s a rather large, heavy rectangle, with 2 holes on top and 3 on the bottom. When I reread the quote on the back I knew it was perfect for Jess!

 

My goal this month was to work out of my stash. The conch shell on the front of the pendant steered me toward a ‘beachy’ theme. Out came the larimar I purchased in the Dominican Republic. I challenged myself to work “outside the box”, or should I say “outside my box”.  The finished piece is asymmetrical or unbalanced. 

I also wanted to to showcase some wirework and be a little more creative this time. I've included wirewrapped sections of beads, handcrafted links and connectors.

Finally, I created a simple pair of earrings with my handcrafted earwires.

Check Andrew Thornton's blog for more information and links to the other members of the group.
The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton