On Downsizing and Living Smaller

I love what Kate McKinnon wrote on her blog today:

"When you have Things, you have to house them, clean them, maintain them, and protect them. When you have nothing but what you need to survive, and nothing any man wants to steal, your life is your own. There is a balance in there that we all need to find for ourselves."

As a person who lives in a tiny, tiny house after living in a big, big house, I appreciate all manner of personal purging (not that kind!) and Stuff Reduction. I had a crazy idea about a year ago - after my sister took me to Costco and I came home with a 25-pound box of laundry detergent. I couldn't find anywhere to put it! I started thinking about building an addition on my house. I got all excited about having a real studio space and turning my existing studio space into the second bedroom that it was intended for. Overnight guests wouldn't have to sleep on the fouton in the living room! I even drew out what I wanted on graph paper and talked to a contractor about how it could be done and how much it would cost, but when we got to the cost part, that's when I gave up the idea.

I suppose I could have looked into a loan to build that addition, but then I would have to figure out how to earn enough money to pay it back, because my finances are usually hand-to-mouth. Short of going to work for someone else, it just wasn't possible. And, I realized that if I concentrated on getting rid of stuff I don't need or really want I wouldn't need another 400 square feet to put things in. And, I don't get that many visitors anyway, AND, I'm so much happier working for myself, even though I don't have a lot of extra money. It just wasn't worth it to give up my lifestyle just to aquire MORE STUFF!

So, I ended up scooping the detergent into plastic bags and storing it in my tool shed and I'm really careful about what I buy at Costco! But I still buy a $2 Powerball ticket every week so that when I win I can build that new studio!

Some New Eye Candy

Here's a few pieces that I've recently finished up. They're not listed on Etsy yet, but they might be. If you see something here that you just HAVE to have before then, just contact me and I can make it yours!

This first one is a boulder opal which has been bezel-set into the metal clay. This is a complicated process, where I first make the bezel (the silver part that surrounds the stone) out of fine silver bezel wire by shaping it around the stone and then soldering the seam together. Then I set the bezel into some polymer clay about one-third of the depth of the bezel. I mix up some investment, which is like plaster, and pour it into the space where the stone will be. After the investment sets up, I remove the whole thing from the polymer clay base and press it into the backing piece I've made out of silver clay. When it's fired in the kiln, the investment holds the place and shape of the stone, as the silver clay shrinks 10-12% during firing. After it's fired I set the opal in place.

The one below is a large purple goldstone donut with a fine silver disk. The bail is made from sterling silver wire that has been forged by hand. A rivet in the center holds the whole thing together securely, and it's the same on both sides.

Next, we have a fine silver pendant with a simple but elegant pattern and a black akoya pearl in the center. To make this one, I imbed a post of fine silver wire into the clay and set the half-drilled pearl onto that wire as the last step.

Then, I made a couple more necklaces with the seed bead chains to replace the ones that I left at the Little Art Gallery in Raleigh. They both feature beautiful dichroic glass cabachons, which can be put in place and fired in the kiln along with the silver clay. This first one is a toggle pendant - the pendant IS the clasp and it's designed to be worn in the front.

This last one features a center pendant and has a large sterling silver "S" clasp in the back.

Well, that's some of what I've been up to. I have four shows coming up between now and the end of the year, so I gotta stay busy in the studio. I'll post more about those shows soon. Also, I'm planning a HUGE sale on my Etsy site for the month of November to celebrate my birthday. You won't believe how much I'll be slashing prices on things that have been hanging around in the inventory for a long time. Stay tuned.

Thanks, Diane!

Since Diane Allison-Stroud just posted about me and my work on her blog, I thought I'd return the favor. We need all the help we can get sometimes, and I love promoting other artists. Diane was a member of Hands co-op gallery for awhile, but she got so busy making her beautiful hand-painted game boards that she had to leave! She outgrew us!

Gypsy Penny Pitch

Each of her hand made game boards takes about 3 weeks to make. They're hand drawn and hand painted - no stencils are used. They're functional as well as beautiful art to hang on your wall.

Circus Checker Board

The finishing process requires numerous sandings, but achieves the time-worn look. They're made of birch and poplar.

Chinese Checkers (comes with a bag of marbles)

Diane is honored as a 29th Guild Artist by Country Living Magazine. There are people who collect her work to create unique wall displays in their homes.

Find her work on her website: www.dallisongameboards.com and read about another artist living and working here in the Blue Ridge Mountains at www.dianeallisonblog.blogspot.com

Well? Whaddayou think?

"When the flush of a new-born sun fell first on Eden's geen and gold,
Our father Adam sat under the Tree and scratched with a stick in the mould;
And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart,
Till the Devil whispered behind the leaves, 'It's pretty, but is it Art?'"

-- Rudyard Kipling, the Conundrum of the Workshops


I really do believe that the argument about "what is art" started at this point in time. I remember when my mother saw her first Jackson Pollock painting, she said "That's awful! It looks like a 3-year-old did it." Then, later, she decided that modern art was cool and hung a Picasso print over the piano. When I has in high school my best friend's mother had the same one in their house.

Go to http://www.jacksonpollock.org/ and you can practice painting just like he did! Just move your cursor around and click to change colors.

Murano Silver Give Away

"Toth" Limited Edition Fine Silver and Gold Collarette by Murano Silver

Here's a good reason for a new blog post! Nicola Callow of Murano Silver does a monthly give away and this time she's giving away two books - a signed copy of PMC Technic by Tim McCreight and a copy of Fabulous Jewelry From Found Objects. You can enter her contest in several ways and you get one entry for each place you enter. (So, the more places you enter, the better your chances of winning.) This blog post counts as one of my entries.

Nicola is a fellow member of the Etsy Metal Clay team. She lives in Market Deeping, England and is also a member of the British Jewellery Association. Her beautiful work can be found on her Etsy site.

I Was Afraid This Would Happen

**Yawn** This is the best picture I could find of "boring".

I started this blog a few months ago under protest. My friend, Tina, said that my friends and customers would enjoy reading about my thoughts, my life and my jewelry making endeavors. I wondered who would want to read about my boring life, and how in the world would I ever come up with things to write about? I started out fine, telling you about my work and the co-op galleries and my lack of work and a weekend trip and other stuff as it came along. Now, it's happened. There's nothing to talk about. It's just the same-old-same-old.

I follow several blogs and get frustrated sometimes when my favorite people go for DAYS without blogging. Now I understand. There comes a point where there's just nothing. Nothing cool to take a picture of and show you... no new work to brag about... I'm even finding Facebook boring. So, if you don't mind, I'm going to take a blog break for awhile and not feel guilty about it. If there's something that you out there in blogsville want to know about me, leave a comment. I'll be back when something exciting happens.

Observations On Summer's Waning

I can feel the end of summer coming on. It was acutally chilly last night and I had to close my bedroom window. The garden looks tired, and I'm tired of dealing with it. I don't have too many things that bloom this time of year and all the flowers that are finished need to be dead-headed and cleaned up. The tomatoes blighted and the beans are finished. Everything looks over-grown. It will almost be a relief when the first frost comes (in as soon as a month from now) and I can cut everything back to the ground, spread out new mulch, and wait for the cycle to come around again.

The kids started public school over a week ago, and classes started at the University today. That always lends an air of finality to summer and causes a lull in tourism here. Business in the galleries slows down (which is not good considering that sales were not all that great during the summer this year). They'll be back in October to look at the leaves from perches on the ridges, and we'll have the usual Holiday rush. Then we all hibernate for the winter and nothing happens. Even though we have ski resorts here, the people that come to ski usually don't go shopping. They spend their money on lift tickets, hotels and food. Usually this time of year makes me sad because I LOVE summer. But this year it doesn't seem so bad. I'm actually looking forward to the seasonal changes coming up.

I've noticed that I'm becoming a person who doesn't get so riled up about things that I used to be passionate about. I just don't want to deal with the drama any more and my life is so much smoother and happier since I decided to let go of some things. (Go figure!) There are just too many important things to concentrate on and the small stuff gets in the way. This recession as caused me to re-think a lot of things and to do without some things. I realized that I really don't miss them. I think one reason that our co-op gallery members get along so well is that the majority of us believe that things are running smoothly and no one wants to muddy the waters. It's obvious that the ones who want to change things, or complain, haven't embraced the "if it's not broke, don't fix it" attitude. And, if enough of us want to make a change, I can go with the flow. No more digging in my heels and being obstinate. It doesn't sound good to say that "I just don't care", but that's the way it is sometimes. I find myself saying "whatever", but not with the eye rolls that teenagers do when using that statement. Is that stupid, or am I finally getting older and wiser?