Sunday, January 29, 2012

From Sketches to Completion



These earrings I made for my friend Lyn took a long road from inception to completion. Starting as a discussion before my Ireland trip in 2010, Lyn suggested collecting water from Brigit’s Well and provided me with various-sized vials with cork tops. She sketched an idea of using one as a pendant made from crochet. But the crochet idea kept throwing me off since I don’t know how to “free form” in yarn.



When I’d see jewelry ideas in magazines or books, I’d get ideas for different ways of encasing the cork bottle. I filled several pages in my art notebooks with ideas and possibilities. I experimented with copper wire and spirals but had a clunky design. Something clicked, however, when I saw mini-bottles in JoAnn’s jewelry section having screw eyes in the cork.


Then, I brought my materials and ideas to someone I know who does wonderful jewelry work—my sister, Maria! I showed her my last design and she helped me craft the earrings which I filled with Irish sand from the beach at Enniscrone, County Sligo, instead of well water. Lyn loved them—success! Sometimes it takes a long time for an idea to reach fruition. But don’t give up; you’ll finally reach a solution. It might be radically different from your initial idea but that’s what art is all about—thinking, sketching, trying, discarding, adding, starting anew, and finally reaching conclusion. Have fun!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Recent Notebooks

Here are some notebooks I made in a flurry of production last month.










Northern California trip

Trinidad Head

I was lucky enough to spend the holidays with my sister. We traveled up to Northern California and experienced Nature in her wildness. We also got to spend some time doing creative things together~such a treat!



Trinidad Head








Redwood Forest near Humbolt