I’ve been busy making mixed media hearts and flowers designs for my online shop. Although I myself am not much for hearts and flowers – unless you count my appreciation for wildflowers growing untamed – I do recognize they are popular. Especially at certain times of year. You know what I’m talking about. Valentine’s Day.

That’s right, I said it.  I know what you’re thinking. “Too soon! It’s too soon for another commercialized holiday.” Some of you may have just finished putting away your twinkle lights and bows of holly. Or you’re at least seriously contemplating the need to do so. But here’s the harsh reality, the biggest jewelry, hearts, flowers, and candy-giving event of the year is mere weeks away.  Continue reading →

The theme for week two of May in the Self Representing Artist in Jewelry Design challenge is “Artemis, goddess of hunting, wilderness, wild animals, childbirth, and the moon.”  This is my third month participating in the challenges and my ninth design submission.

Over half of my designs so far have been made with polymer clay. While I am not new to polymer clay, making beads was not my thing and I have been challenging myself with new techniques like the smooth coin beads in Apollo’s necklace last week, or the swirled lentil beads for the air element last month. Continue reading →

As I head into my third month participating in the Self Representing Artists in Jewelry Design theme challenges, I am still on a roll with the polymer clay. The overall theme for May is Greek gods. The sub-theme for the first week is “Apollo, god of the sun, light, and healing.”

I have been a fan of mythology since childhood. Loving the theme for this month doesn’t necessarily make it less of a challenge for me to come up with jewelry designs that personify gods, which themselves embody human emotions and characteristics. But I am having fun, especially dusting off my mythology books and reminiscing about my world views when I fist got hooked on the subject. Continue reading →

The element “fire” was the theme for week four of April’s “elements” jewelry design challenge on the Self Representing Artists in Jewelry Design blog. I’ve been on a roll this month, making my own beads and focals from polymer clay for these challenges.

The element of fire is both creator and destroyer. When I think of that duality of destruction and creation for fire, I immediately picture volcanoes creating islands at sea. Liquid fire, in the form of magma, spews up from the molten center of the earth, creating new land masses at it is cooled by the ocean waters.  Continue reading →

The theme for week three of the April design challenge on the Self Representing Artists in Jewelry Design blog was “air” as one of four elements. Air can’t be seen, at least, not directly. So how do you represent in a jewelry design something that is not visible?

The influence of air on objects can be seen when a breeze rustles the leaves on a tree, or when wind blows clouds across the sky. Swirling currents of air can be seen when they pick up dust and debris and spiral them around in a vortex. The air element is often represented by a trio of swirls or by a spinning vortex.  Continue reading →

As I continued into the second week of the second month of jewelry design challenges on the Self Representing Artists in Jewelry Design blog, I encountered an unexpected difficulty with the theme.

The overall theme for April is elements, and the sub-theme for the second week was water. Water is a theme I’ve previously been very comfortable representing in my designs. However, I wanted to design something outside my comfort zone because that’s why I am participating in the challenges. And wow was it uncomfortable to be unable to execute my concept as envisioned. Continue reading →