tiny paintings

I made this miniature egg tempera painting (2"x 1 3/4") a couple days ago, after feeling a little disconnected from myself, or rather who I perceive myself to be. Oddly, I still consider myself a painter whenever I'm asked what I do, even though I haven't made a painting in forever. It's something I enjoy immensely, even though its tedious, makes my neck, back and eyes hurt. Not to mention the pigments are extremely toxic to breathe. So I don't do it very often, because when I get to paint, its ALL I want to do and any interruption is vastly annoying. Anyway, I was feeling as though I had no business even thinking i was once a painter. So I ordered some tube egg tempera from The Art Supply Warehouse (solves the pigment dust issue) so I wouldn't have to mix my own paint from powdered pigments and egg yolks. I have to say, I'm enjoying it! I started with tiny oak panels I prepped by applying layers of gesso and sanding between coats, so the surface is satiny smooth, a process I like because I feel like I'm inacting a process that is unchanged since Botticelli. It felt satisfying, building the surface with hundreds of brushstrokes, attaining colors the same way one embroiders.

I finished this little baby bird who looks like Max, this evening, just as the sun set. The untidy nest is woven through with threads and bits of paper, to make it cozy. You might be wondering why I'm so obsessed with the whole bird/human hybrid creature. The short answer is that I've always thought it looked cute, ever since I first saw images from King Tut's tomb when I was a kid. The facination continued when I discovered that almost every culture has some version of this creature: the Egyptians called it Ba, the symbol of the soul flying to the afterlife, the Native Americans used the symbol as a Bringer of Storms, the Greeks called them Harpies or Sirens. The symbol has an interesting history that appeals to me.... I'm always drawing or sculpting it. So, I now feel like i deserve to call myself a painter. Time to be a sculptor and start bustin' it for Bead and Button!

spring

It is perfectly beautiful in Asheville right now, so much that we've spent most of our time outside. This was taken at the Bird Sanctuary, a few minutes north of where we live. It was a nice adventure, Max and Azalea were in manageable moods and allowed me to sketch for awhile.

My girl looking lovely under a flowering tree, the name of which has escaped me.

Here's a peek of my outdoor studio, the back porch. Its a high vantage point overlooking dogwoods and in the distance, mountains. Its really pleasant to work outside here, with a nice breeze and all the birds singing away (we have the usual crowd of chickadees, finches, sparrows and crows, along with more unusual broadwing hawks, pileated woodpeckers and eastern bluebirds).

This is a shot of the new bronze, silver and shibuichi pieces that finally made it onto the website. Some items have been around for awhile, but never make it to the site because they get snatched up too quickly at the shows. Greg put up about 30 pieces that haven't made it to the shop before. We celebrated by enjoying a fire on the porch and sipping wine.

In my efforts to discover the mysteries of porcelain, I was, yet again, set back. Our local shop was all out of it! Can you believe my luck? I've attempted to try this clay out for years - since high school, but was always intimidated away. Anyway, I bought white stoneware, so I could make something until I got the real stuff. These little faces have holes on the sides so they can be attached to doll bodies. They are about an 1 1/2" across and will shrink a little more after firing. I can't wait to paint them. *I recieved a package from Melanie today! It contained underglazes and porcelain! Yay! Thwarted no more!

This is my new 'necklace of power' as I like to call them. Basically, its a piece made with my favorite beads, chosen very carefully. This one was inspired by the treasures of earth and sky, carved birds and suns, opalized ammonites and star sapphires. I made the chain from fine silver and carved the ruby, labradorite (next to the fossil) and the moldavite dangle with a lapidary grinder. The three silvery beads at the top are made by Basha (and available in my brother Andrew's store). The carved crow and two star sapphires are from Pat Jordan. The tiny rainbow sapphires dangling on the chain and the tourmaline points are from Beads Forever. I'm pretty happy with how this necklace is coming along, although its not quite done, as I like to keep adding or changing it, to get it just right.

spring break

Hi! We just returned home from Cincinnatti, where we decided to spend Azalea's spring break. The picture above (with Max in the stroller, Greg and his mom Ann and Azalea) was taken at the Newport Aquarium in a giant tube, with sharks and grouper. I love aquariums and could spend all day surrounded by the peaceful blue light and the graceful undulations of the sea creatures.

My girl was facinated by this primitive catfish. She seemed most interested in either the miniscule (like baby jellyfish smaller than a dime) or the enormous (like the ancient alligator snapping turtle with a head the size of a basketball).

Lately, she's very interested in looking very lady like. She carried that sequined bag everywhere, of course it did contain her necessary equipment: a 20 color hello kitty pen, blank index cards and stickers.

I love this picture! That girl is not afraid to get dirty.

This is funny, just moments before she was preparing to pitch a fit, then I told her if she made a nice face I'd give her some chocolate. As you can see, she wanted that chocolate!

Here's Azalea taking a break from chasing her Uncle Mike (Greg's brother) who was also visiting Cin. from Memphis. While I was there, I researched porcelain on my new laptop, which was a nice way to relax and recover from a cold. Since I've been staring at those Enchanted Dolls so much, the idea of trying out porcelain hasn't left my head. Although I studied ceramics in art school, I never explored the intimidating medium. It was reserved for the serious potters and I was by no means one of those. My pots were heavy, thick and impossible to break, hallmarks of poor throwing skills. Now handbuilding I could do and that was all I did, which in retrospect, was a bad idea. So now I must teach myself how to mold doll parts, miniature sculptures and to paint and draw on pebble-like forms. I've asked the lovely Melanie Brooks from EarthenWoods for advice and she has been very helpful and generously informative. I think she should write a book, since there are so few just about porcelain. I'm imagining carved faces, with watercolor washes and delicately drawn details, unglazed and matte smooth, for sewing onto rag doll bodies. I'm excited and can't wait to begin.

baby teeth

My girl lost her first tooth the other day! It's odd seeing her new gap tooth smile. I asked her if she wanted to leave the tooth for the Tooth Fairy, or give it to me, to put in my tooth box and she gave it to me. Of course, I offered a Zhu Zhu Pet. When she saw inside my box of collected teeth she picked out one of my enormous wisdom teeth (that had to be surgically removed it was so large) and asked if was real. She seemed deeply impressed that it was mine and real and promptly told my sister all about it.


Ok, Max does have more than this one orange sweater, but its for 'town' and he always seems to be smiling when he's in it, either because he knows were going out or the sweater, I don't know. He really likes getting out and seeing the world, look how happy he is. Anyway, he has two little white nubs protruding from his lower gums already! Can you believe it? Seems like I just birthed him.


I made this bracelet for my neighbor, who is really nice. She rescued me a couple weeks back when I locked my keys in the house when I was taking Azalea to school. I was certainly happy I didn't have to sit out on the porch long, it was such a cold day. I used peridot and green tourmaline on fine silver wire and one owl pendant from our line. I think that piece would look great in bronze.

We are gearing up for the Bead and Button Show, so that means its busy times for this crew. We have two new clasps in the works and my bird link will probably be finished by then. I'm also hoping to have more one of a kind pieces available, like my bezels. I'm saving for an Enchanted Doll, a doll of rare and unique beauty that I must have! I'm completely obsessed and have been squirrelling away my pennies so I can get one. Look at them, you'll see why I want one so bad.

Fish

diversions

Look at this boys smile! He's a happy baby, hanging out with me in the studio. Can you believe he's over 16 lbs.? He's my little cream cake.

My new prized possession, my resin ball jointed doll from FairyLand Dolls. The dolls come unpainted from Korea, a blank canvas- no eyes, clothes or hair. I bought an airbrush and taught myself how to use it so I could paint her face and body. It was a lot of fun to create her personality, painting her expression and choosing eyes and wigs. She becomes a totally different doll when I switch out her eyes and put on a different hairstyle. I also made the dress and jewelry.

The dress is unfinished, it needs a belt and maybe a little cape. Making the jewelry was fun, but a little tedious - each piece took all day! I guess I'm slow. The green necklace is for my friend Jessica's doll and is made from 28 gauge fine silver wire, sapphires, green tourmaline, peridot and green garnet. The longer piece features the same wire, with tiny spinel drops and a few sapphires on a very fine chain. I think I'm a little obsessed with my doll. I've spent half the day planning her tiny shoes! I'm thinking scarlett leather...with some hand painted details. Anyway, we've been enjoying having my sister Sheila, visiting from L.A. for the week. We've had a great time, pretty much playing with baby Max and Azalea all day, only broken up with bursts of making things. We have such good times when we get together, laughing at childhood memories and making big plans for projects. This week we're plotting out how to fabricate a watercolor box out of pmc or sheet metal, small enough to fit in the pocket of a traveling girl.

organized

Ok, here's a quick peek at the studio so far. Above is a shot of the photo area with props stored underneath the table and on the case next to the table. Books are now tidily stored on the many cases.

This is a shot of the length of the room, my jewelers bench peeking out on the left, the green case storing my favorite books across from my desk (along with dolls displayed on top). Note the clean tables! I hope it lasts, although my nature is to spread everything out so I can see all the components at once.

This is my toolkit which I take everywhere: matte tape for perserving little flowers/leaves, date stamper, Le Sport Sac pouch, various micron pens (absolutely necessary for my survival), mechanical pencil, ball of kneaded eraser, small water spray (for wetting watercolors), two water brushes, watercolors and magnifying lens. Its very light and doesn't take up much room in my bag, which is good, because i could get away with just my sketchbook and pens, but I feel rather incomplete with my tool kit.

Clear evidence that I am occasionally overwhelmed by obsessive compulsive behavior. I picked these beads out of several trays of loose strands, put them in tiny piles, then packed them into the tins. Then I arranged the whole lot by hue and chroma. I know I'm sick, but it only gets worse.

Four small boxes arranged by color. I do have some by stone, like labradorite. Of that variety there are a few boxes holding all the cuts and sizes.

Two larger boxes holding labradorite and a variety of pale rare beads, like snakeskin agate and Dutch opalecent rondelles. It took me about two weeks of just sorting beads before I got tired of it and stopped. I finished about 29 boxes with a few trays and one cigar box filled to the brim left to sort. I'll save that for later. I just finished sorting my paints and brushes and other art supplies, getting them ready for the warmer season ahead, which means working outdoors! I love taking my supplies outside and working, its nice to have the good light and birds all around.

It feels very satisfying to come upstairs and see everything ready to go. This time I really got down to business, dragging out everything in the supply room (which is across from the tall bookcase in the first pic) and then put it all back, in order. I think it will stay nice....hopefully.

owl munny

This is the first thing I made in my newly organized studio....Owl Munny! Andrew picked up the blank vinyl doll last time we were in Brooklyn and asked me to paint it for him. I traded him for one of his bird collages. It was nice to just paint something for fun, after all the strenuous organizing! I unpacked boxes that haven't seen the light of day in ten years! Of course, the whole process felt like a sort of therapy for other issues. Sometimes when I'm stressed out I clean, it just seems to help burn off steam and also a way for me to feel productive when I'd otherwise be incapable of creating. To me, art that's made when your heart isn't in it always seems forced, or else its a constant reminder of a hollow passage of time. I've learned I'd rather not have those reminders. So, after tediously separating thousands of beads into colorways and between light and dark (shades of red blending to pale pink) it felt really good to break the paints out (neatly, of course). The doll is about four inches high, with twisting arms and head and painted with acrylic paints. Its sealed with matte medium. I ordered several more from Chuckwa and am looking forward to painting more!

turn of events

The events of the past couple of days have left us surprised and a bit tired out. I had to remove my 'fighting back' post because it worked! We are now being taken seriously and there is no need to make the point. The response was huge. I thought a few people would send in a note...nope, my inbox is full. Its a good feeling, to know that there are so many folks that have our back.

I'm researching symbols that embody community, family and good intentions. As an artist who is completely entranced by symbolism, its often more time consuming to develop the perfect image to accompany an idea. I want to share how this experiance has affected us. How can I put into words how it feels to be small and then to see so many come to our aid? I can't, not really. So I will send out this token into the world, to remind us that we are not alone, or powerless.

unpleasantness

Ok, I debated with myself and with Greg about posting this, as it generally plunges me into a pit of fury, then depression when I think about the subject. We are being knocked off again. Our pieces are being molded and reproduced without our consent. We actually have the receipts from when they purchased the goods from us. Now, this in and of itself is not new or surprising, as it happens all the time, its just this time the person is in full knowledge. They know who we, know that this is our sole source of income and know that this will hurt us. Over the years I've kept these incidents quiet, since they are so unpleasant to think about.

But I lost it today when I opened my favorite beading magazine Stringing (I still love them. Its not their fault.) and found some of our work credited to the offending party. My heart lurched and my eyes stung as I stood there, feeling like I got slapped. I knew this company had over thirty of our designs reproduced- a customer in San Francisco had an 'incident' with the culprit (and I will love her always for it!) and phoned us immediately with the news of what this company had on the table - our work in other metals and seeming much smaller and not as detailed. We have a lawyer and she will undoubtedly flatten them with the law. But since our discovery, this company has stolen from FOUR other artist friends! So much of the line is composed of stolen designs.

This incident has left my family deflated and angry. We usually try to make a bunch of designs, to prove that WE don't have to steal and that our well of creativity is deep, but this time, we haven't made anything. I've found myself wondering if it wouldn't be smarter to focus on designing finished work, so its a little harder (and more expensive) for thieves to get. Or, buying land near the ocean and painting landscapes for tourists and living off the bounty from our garden. Alright, that is mostly fantasy, since my landscape capabilities aren't great. Its just these companies are taking the joy out of what we do. Its hard to make new work when you know that piece will be stolen. I feel like starting over, so this horrible feeling will go away. Anyway, I'm not sure if its a good idea to post this, since its so private and its going on right now, but I have to trust that sharing this bit of our struggle will somehow help. I'm also certain this company will continue to 'add' to their 'line' till they are stopped and want to warn artists to be on the lookout. So here is the main company guilty of copyright infringement:

Forever Silvers

If you are vending on the west coast and want more info on this person, email me. I also want to thank (again!) all the loyal customers that spoke up for us and helped us during this stressful time.