I am tickled pink to be invited as a
guest on your blog. I enjoyed reading and learning from the others
that went before me. There are four great aspects of your blog/group
that appeal to my imagination: 1. Love, 2. My, 3. Art, and 4.
Jewelry.
I LOVE textures and contrasts, and have
always been visually drawn to patterns, repetitions. It might be more
evident in my photography, but it’s also obvious when I look back
on my body of jewelry.
Friends have suggested I make jewelry
that appeals to the mass market and can be easily reproduced. As
practical and helpful as they were, I was aware they didn’t
understand the whole jewelry business, or rather MY whole jewelry
business. I have a short attention span, and so seldom reproduce
jewelry I’ve made and sold. I want to make a living, but there are
other rewards I relish in addition making a buck. I know what flips
my skirt, and trust there are enough out there like me who will
gravitate to my hand hewn metal jewelry. I feel best when I’m true
to MY own aesthetic.
My love affair with ART started as a
toddler in a creative, artsy-craftsy family and continues today after
6 decades of art in painting, printmaking, photography, and jewelry
making.
I became involved with metal jewelry
back when my 13-year-old younger son was having problems at school.
He was good with his hands, and so I signed us up for a 10-week
Adult Ed silversmith class. I figured the one-on-one time during the
drive to and from the class would be beneficial for my son, and he
might get a self-esteem boost because of his manual dexterity.
Tutoring and counseling weren’t helping him, so why not try
silversmithing where he could use tools and a torch?
Owen was by far the youngest in the
class, and received a lot of attention from the other adults who took
him under their wing. It was a win-win. He was valued by others, he
made some things of which he was proud, I enjoyed our closeness, and
I absolutely fell in love with working in silver.
Since then I’ve thoroughly enjoyed
creating in sterling, copper, brass and steel, playing around with
different shapes, surface treatments, and the marriages of different
metals. I used to do a lot of hot joinery JEWELRY pieces,
incorporating gorgeous stone cabochons, but currently I don’t have
the space or proper ventilation to use a torch. I miss reticulating
silver, fusing and manipulating hot metal. I hope to remedy this
situation, but for right now everything is cold joinery, and the use
of beautiful stone beads. I make more earrings than anything else,
and typically they are a mismatched match.
I also create fiber-wrapped brooches
and neckpieces. The tactile qualities are endless, but my heart goes
primarily to my metal jewelry.
I’ve written about LOVE, MY, ART,
JEWELRY, but there is one last personal experience I want to share
before I end this. MAGIC!
I love, love, love the adventure of
cutting out a metal shape, manipulating it, allowing my inner Picasso
full expression. But, there is a potent magic that comes into play
when a person, usually a woman, a stranger to me, is drawn to my
finished piece, puts it on her body and that same piece, that I know
as well as my own heartbeat, transforms!
Alchemy occurs wherein the jewelry
absorbs the energy of the wearer and visa versa, and becomes
something totally different! The worn piece is enhanced in a way
above and beyond what I created. This is a major rush! I have to
admit that this moment for me is always one of WOW. It truly
parallels birthing a child, nurturing and caring for it, and then
that awesome awareness of him or her taking flight without you.
My life as a jeweler is most
satisfying, entertaining, and there’s always something new and
challenging to be learned!
Thank you for your invitation to guest
on your blog. I loved the opportunity!
I have three Etsy shops:
I write two ongoing blogs:
And … Birch Bay Kay can be followed
on Facebook
