... in the details

offering bowl - mjd 2014

-----

the air of winter 

may be biting, but in its

sting i feel alive. 

-----

my work over time has evolved into simpler things. my focus is upon solid craftsmanship and defining details. even my writing this year (because i felt like i was losing focus somehow) is being combined with some haiku writing - where the choices all matter - you only have 17 total syllables to work with. 

but in our work, this too is true. there are things you will always need - findings, texture, metal, beads or other materials. they are defining. 

bracelet bar - mjd 2015

-----

as i am me and

you are thee, there must be peace

for the sake of we. 

-----

there are days where components are my focus. they provide opportunities for practicing what i find to be important - creating texture, attention to details, attainment of satisfying patina, even what i choose to clean the pieces up with (sandpaper, steel wool, brass brush, nail shaping block, etc.). and figuring out if the addition of something really does add, or if it detracts and was just fun as an exercise in trying something new. 

this has taken me years - 

it's important - as you work, you find out what makes your work yours. there is no way to really know at the beginning, it takes time and mistakes and victories to find out. it takes listening to your heart and being attentive to what makes it sing. you can successfully execute a design, but is it something you want to do again or reflects your aesthetic? 

what are details that matter to you? what ones do you feel are key to your work? 

wishing you all a year filled with what you need - i think i speak for many when i say that 2014 was a bit of a brutal one. let's hope for something a bit gentler. 

mary jane dodd

mjd 2014

a leaf releases from the branch it was attached to.
perhaps rain or wind helped it along,
but there was no fight.
life happens.
the actions of others are outside of our control.
take care of your actions, your words
and thoughts -
consider how they impact the world.
do no harm
move with grace
let go.
like the leaf drifting through the air
landing on the earth from which it came,
let go.
and return
to your original self.

Boot Camp: Hoops and Negative Space

by Staci L. Smith

I was going to do a little tutorial on soldering hoops, but MaryAnne posted this great video that did all the work for me!  Thanks MaryAnne!

 

So it allows me to talk today about why I love using hoops / loops in my designs and some ideas of how to use them. 

 

 

 

 

 

I have always been drawn to hoops, whether in the form of wire or a donut bead.  They offer endless possibilities in design.  They can be a focal piece or an accent.  The can be connectors, or made into chain.  The form of the hoop, can give you an array designs and styles to chose from.

 

I personally like the negative space it creates.

Negative space is a space that is not occupied, or taken up by a focal piece.  It is used in great paintings, to push your eye to the main focal point of the picture, or to keep your eye moving around the piece. 

 

I find that water color artists often are the masters of negative space in paintings.  Below is a good example.  See how the negative space between the trees allows you to focus on the trees themselves? 

 

 

Painting by Pat Howard of the Painted Prism

http://thepaintedprism.blogspot.com/2012/05/watercolor-workshop-negative-painting.html

 

In jewelry, not only does a hoop provide negative space, but it can also lighten up a large piece of jewelry by occupying more area, using less material.  Using heavy stones, ceramic and glass can weigh a piece of jewelry down.  Especially if you like your jewelry large like I do.  Hoops allow me to make the pieces more wearable.

 

Creating a large focal using hoops, like this piece, allows you have a large piece that is very light, both in actuality and to the visually.

 

 

 

Adding negative space can also break up a flow of solid chunkiness, to give the eye a break from the heaviness, and since its a hoop, it carries the eye through the piece, without creating a break that is unappealing.

 

 

 

In fact, I am so drawn to negative space, I even started adding it to my beads, as in these skeleton hearts I created in polymer clay.

 

 

 

I have used hoops this year, to allow me to make some simpler pieces, that can still be funky.  In this piece, I used a simple loop to hang a bead I loved from.  That way, the focus is the paisley bead (by Diana of Suburban Girl Studio).  A very simple design, that is light and chunky at the same time.

 

 



Here I soldered some loops together and gave them a verdigris patina, and they have become the focal point.  I made it asymmetrical, so it could still be funky, yet it is light and simple at the same time.

 

 

Hoops don't have to be empty though, and I have also used them to frame beads that I want to accent, like in this piece with a fancy Joan Miller Bead

 

 

I hope you enjoyed a little trip through my mind, and how and why I love the shape of the hoop.  I also hope its inspired you to use them in jewelry creations.  Hoops span all styles of jewelry.  It is the most basic form.  It can be simple or complex.

 

Please share you hoop /loop creations in our Flickr group this month for the current Boot Camp.  I also hope you will join us on

 

October  14th for the blog hop, and show off what you have been making with hoops!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



guest post - deborah lee taylor

The Way of wabi sabi by Deborah Lee Taylor

“Appreciate this and every moment, no matter how imperfect, for this moment is your life.

When you reject this moment, you reject your life. 

You don’t have to settle for this moment, you are free to steer a different course, 

but for now, this moment is yours, so be mindful to make the most of it.” 

–from Living Wabi Sabi

Mistakes are our greatest treasures; we only need to allow ourselves to accept them gracefully.


We’ve all felt the influence of  ‘perfection’ is happiness. The perfect house, perfect job,  perfect love, even  in our Art, we wish for perfection. The If Only, the When I… I myself have heard since childhood, ‘if only you … you would be perfect’. Through my own suffering of striving for perfection, I have come to know the true beauty of the meaning 'perfectly imperfect'.  Through the practice of wabi sabi, I realized, to strive for perfection is a means of limiting your true creative Self. 

'Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering.

There is a crack, a crack in  everything. 

That’s how the light gets in.

 –Leonard Cohen

My wabi sabi work is my meditation in motion so to speak, to be in the moment of what I am creating, allowing my hands to manifest my thoughts into a piece of art.  In this way of being there is no room for judgment... only love for what I am creating.  There is no measuring or plan I follow, I just create.  This is my way of seeing life as it is meant for us to see and experience... the joy and endless beauty within ourselves, and honoring and accepting the perfectly imperfect.  The way of wabi sabi. 

you can find deborah's work in these places:
flickr account
etsy shop - e5jewelry
facebook page
and a feature with happy mango beads

challenges

mary jane dodd

'opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves

come when life seems most challenging.'

~ joseph campbell

big or small, imposed upon us or self-imposed... all hold lessons... 

i was feeling the need to make a cold connection bezel - i love izzy's work... and i adore the soft curves that enfold a stone when you set them this way... my neighbor happened to stop by the other day with some bags of cabs - she thought i might like to use them... was she ever right - i had been meaning to order some ... and am so grateful for the gift... 

did you know that a 1/16" drill bit fits 16 gauge wire?

and that a 5/64" bit can accommodate crimps to use as eyelets?

it's true!


and if you haven't seen it yet, barbara lewis has a really interesting solderless bezel design in her new book 'torch fired enamel jewelry'...