SPIRALS BRACELET

Life is circular...we are all connected... what goes around comes around. This cuff bracelet is photo-etched...16 gauge sterling silver... 1.25 inches wide...and can be made for any size wrist.

POND BRACELET

This is a cuff bracelet inspired from a photo of lily pads on a tranquil pond. I like it that at first it is a bit abstract and then, upon further study, the lily pads and lotus blossoms jump out. The bracelet is substantial without being heavy. It is 16 gauge sterling silver and is 1.25 inches wide. It can be made to fit a small. medium or large wrist and anything inbetween.

HEADING HOME

This picture was taken by friends as I returned from a show in Portland, Oregon.

Going on the road to participate in juried art shows is a trip...literally. Many artist drive big panel vans...regular vans...campers on pick-ups...suv's...and other high volume vehicles. Few, if any, show up in a Mini Cooper (although now that I'm making jewelry, that is a dream of mine.) Prior to making jewelry I made steel sculpture from 1/4 inch plate steel. For 12 years I used a plasma torch, mig welder and many different types of grinders. After trying several vehicles for hauling my wares, I ended up with a transit bus with a hydraulic wheel chair lift. That was perfect for hauling the large sculptures but it was so huge to drive. I remember once sweating bullets as I approached the Golden Gate Bridge toll booth in the wrong lane and cleared the booth by only and inch or two.

I am now doing fewer on the road shows and staying a little closer to home. For several years now I've been driving my 1952 Dodge pick-up. Her name is BALADEUSE which means wanderer in french but her nick name is Jupiter Louise. I love driving this truck. She is the best vehicle I've ever owned ( well maybe tied with an Austin-Healey Sprite I drove in college.) I love her curves and flowing lines...her color (like a latte)...her sweet running boards...and the original Dodge Ram on her nose. For now she is the perfect show vehicle.


Lin Haak, a wonderful Oregon oil painter and a dear friend, painted BALADEUSE for a commission. Here is the work in progress and the end result.

BEST OF THE NORTHWEST

I will be participating in the BEST OF THE NORTHWEST art show Novembet 16-18th. There will be over 280 artists showing their work in all mediums...come check it out. The show is just north of Seattle at Magnuson Park, hanger #27 ...just off of 7400 Sand Point Way NE. Hours are : Friday 10 am - 8 pm...Saturday and Sunday 10 am - 6 pm There is an $8 admission fee. Hope to see you this weekend.

AT EYE LEVEL

Tools...I just think they are the best...especially hand tools. I am particularly drawn to measuring devises ( like vintage folding rulers with brass hinges )...beveled protractors...and level vials. A level vial can symbolically represent so many things: water...motion...a state of balance...being centered...being level...being on the level...or being level headed. It's also just fun and hypnotizing to watch the little bubble go back and forth. In this country it is just about impossible to find small acrylic level vials with clear fluid. They are all filled with dayglow green or yellow...not really my cup of tea. I have to drill a small hole in the end, use a syringe to suck out all the fluid, replace the fluid with clear oil and then epoxy the hole. Quite an ordeal. Sometimes for larger work I order glass vials with clear fluid from a guy in Scotland (he has over 10,000 vials). Some are as long as 7 inches with a slight curve...now that's a thing of beauty!!

AT EYE LEVEL is a photo-etched sterling silver play on words. This pin measures 2.25 inches tall by 2.25 inches wide and is also available as a neckpiece. I promise that wearing this piece will help keep you on the level and centered!!

SUSHI EXPRESS

Last year I was asked to be part of a group show at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts. The theme was COMIC RELIEF. While many of my jewelry pieces have a whimsical feel, that is not something I set out to accomplish. It just happens. I actually find it quite challenging to create something funny, comical, whimsical on demand. On top of that I can't stand "too cute". There is such a fine line and staying on the correct side of the line is important to me. Whimsical is ok...evocative is even better...and a slight tugging on the heart strings is the best. SUSHI EXPRESS was one of the pieces created for that show.

Recently Sushi Express was purchased by a collector as a gift for Linda Hattendorf...the producer/director of the documentary film THE CATS OF MIRIKITANI. I've seen the film...loved it...and am so pleased that my work has found such a sweet home. This piece of jewelry is photo-etched sterling silver on a silver snake chain and is 3 inches tall by 2.25 inches wide.

IF WISHES WERE FISHES

As far back as I can remember, I have always been drawn to fish. I have a degree in Fisheries but I don't think that is where the attraction comes from. Is it their shape...their lines are so perfect for what they do? Is it their variety...I am more drawn to game fish than to tropical? I just can't quite pin it down. I especially like fish in art and out of context from their normal environment. I used to make steel trout and salmon and loved to place them swimming through the garden or adorning a fence post or as a weathervane with their sleek bodies silhouetted against the sky. Now they have found their way into my jewelry.

IF WISHES WERE FISHES is a neckpiece that holds eleven sterling silver fish. Each fish is 2.5 inches long and is photo-etched with a wish. The wish on the center fish is I WISH MY MOM LIVED CLOSER. I lost my mom this past April... that wish is more poignant and precious than ever. Other wishes include: I WISH I COULD SPEAK FRENCH...I WISH MONEY WASN'T AN ISSUE...I WISH I HAD MORE PATIENCE...I WISH I HAD MORE TIME TO READ...I WISH I LIVED IN A TREEHOUSE...I WISH I COULD FLY...I WISH DOGS COULD TALK...I WISH I KNEW ALL THE CONSTELLATIONS...I WISH WAR WASN'T...I WISH I KNEW THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW.

COUNTING THE DAYS

This is an elegant neckpiece with an Asian influence. It's about the passing of time. When there is something to look forward to...an event...a reunion...a celebration...we have a tendency to leave the present moment and count the days until.....? Days...weeks ...months may pass as the moon, always in transformation, arcs across the sky. We can count the days on our fingers...toes...or on an abacus. In this case the abacus is represented by ruby colored glass beads. COUNTING THE DAYS is photo-etched sterling silver on a snake chain. It is 3 inches tall and 2.25 inches wide.

JOURNEY

This is a favorite! People always want to know the story of this piece...are the dogs on an adventure or a misadventure...is the Basset howling out of pure joy or out of misfortune...is the Scottie seeing land at long last or the flashing glint of a fish just below the surface...and the steadfast Lab...is she the glue that holds this trio together??

This piece of jewelry has the recipe of a mythology of sorts. A boat as a vessel...a threesome as willing or reluctant participants...even a symbol of infinity on the outboard...add an appropriate title and a dose of imagination and the story stirs with life.

Journey is photo-etched sterling silver and is 4 inches wide by 2.25 inches tall on a snake chain. The propeller turns!

WAITING

This piece is mostly about patience and how sometimes we are asked to just wait...the time is not right yet. It is also about giving birth...to an idea...a notion...a new perspective...a different calling...or literally to a new life. The woman and robin are photo-etched sterling silver and the nest is copper wire. She is 3 inches tall and 1.75 inches wide and is available as either a neckpiece or a pin.

THE TECHNIQUE

A light sensitive plate of silver or copper is exposed to ultraviolet light passing through a transparency of the desired image. Where the light passes through and exposes the plate, the emulsion hardens and where the light is blocked, the emulsion remains soft. The plate is developed in a soda ash solution which removes the unexposed emulsion. The emulsion that remains on the plate becomes the resist when it is placed in acid thus creating the etched image.