Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Home Sweet Home


Hi, All! It's been a while since I've been on the LMAJ blog. I'm just now feeling a little bit settled since we made the big move from West Texas to North Carolina. It's been a long trip in more ways than one. Life could not be more different here. For one thing it's really, really green.  West Texas summer is hot, dry and kind of brown. And there are hills here and it rains...a lot.

The house we moved into hasn't been lived in for more than 3 years. You can probably picture the state of the gardens. Total wreck. We've spent many hours out there cleaning things up. It's something of an obsession of mine right now. I love to grow things. Yes, I know this is a jewelry blog but we're getting there. Truly.

The heat last week chased me back inside and to my new studio. Air conditioning is the best thing since sliced bread! I'd show you pictures of the new studio but it's a disgraceful mess right now. It's starting to feel like home sweet home. Maybe another time I'll give you a tour?



These are some of the things out in the garden that are inspiring my work right now. Coreopsis, bitty baby tomatoes, new leaves, tickseed. It's not so much about the colour as the shapes. I love the form of seed heads, the unfolding of leafs, opening blossoms. I take a little tour every morning as the day is getting light. I'm looking for new small wonders to reveal themselves. I'm never disappointed and always feel quite in awe of the beauty of quietly growing things.



Bronze head pins. I never in a million years would have thought I might make head pins. But they just seemed the way to put together beads into something that mirrored my feelings about all of the lush green growing things out there in my little world.



And bead caps. I have one hundred zillion ideas in my head for bead caps.


These are my tomatoes. OK, I know they don't really look that much like tomatoes. But that's the great thing about taking a leap from the literal to the abstract. You can use what you see, what feels good as a spring board to expressing your own unique world view. 


So what's inspiring you right now?

4 comments:

stacilouise said...

Those are just wonderful! Love the head pins and bead caps. I think those little elements / findings that we tend to use all the time, are often overlooked, and when they are all fancied up, can be an important part of the design. Can't wait to see what you make with them!!!!!

Artisan Beads Plus said...

LeAnn...

I LOVE those headpins. One of these days I am going to try bronze clay. I've experimented with so many different types of creating beads/components for jewelry and so far.... my love is still ceramic. Seems to me that this is very closely related and I might LOVE that too! I'm always amazed when I see the creations! BRAVO!!!! Those could be used in soooooooooooooo many ways :o)
MaryAnn

Barbara Lewis said...

Bronze clay and you is a marriage made in heaven! The head pins are ingenious! Your happy state of mind in your new surroundings is showing itself! I'm so happy for you!

Patty said...

Beautiful, LeAnn! Bronze clay is on my list of things to try, but I'm afraid of ruining my kiln for silver. Your sculptural talents are a natural fit for this medium!

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