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The Next Show Looms…..
We are preparing for our third year at the Mary Queen Christmas Bazaar–it’s one of the only two shows we are now doing annually, but it’s our favorite! If you have never been, I will describe it in short order: WE LOVE CHRISTMAS! 🙂 🙂 The Bazaar suits that attitude because booths are appropriatedly decorated and since many of them sell goods for the holiday, the atmosphere is ripe. Everyone is happy and happy, o’course, and since we are all under the roof weather isn’t an issue, and then there’s the lifeblood of the show–piles of people trek through. The event always attracts loads of visitors, to which our success…
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Winter’s Come Early to the Coast
Fall’s here, winter’s comin’, and we are gearing up for our favorite seasons at Alone Star with a couple of additions to the collection. Lisa and I both love the cooler temperatures, fall colors, the snow, icicles, even the dicey stuff like sleet and ice–mainly because in our part of Texas the divide between summer-to-fall and winter is so half-hearted, the lackluster seems to spill over into winter and we end up with a season that doesn’t really know it’s supposed to be cold. Especially in this coastal region you just have to reminisce, and you can if you have good kid memories like we do. Those of foot-long icicles…
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Post-Artoberfest
We made it through Artoberfest! It was a lot of fun despite the fact that we ran into a few little problems, not the least that our booth was turned the wrong way on day one! That wasn’t our fault–and we fixed it for the second day. We met some very nice people, particularly the lovely ladies in the booth next to us: Becci King and her long-time friend and show-partner Katharine Spanier. Becci lives in Galveston and knits and crochets her goods, our favorite the child’s long-sleeved boleros. Kathy is a very skilled watercolorist, and Kathy, you need a website! I bought one of her original paintings, and Lisa…
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Artoberfest
We have been accepted to participate in Artoberfest, “…Galveston’s premier art event! The Island’s hospitality, and the relaxed atmosphere provide a beautiful setting in which to enjoy the wide variety of original art in all media.” That’s a quote from Kathy Modzelewski, coordinator of the festival. We are looking forward to a new show experience, and we love Galveston, Texas, just a shell’s throw away to the south. We have bought a tent, and are going to get some kerchief neck coolers, since there is no electricity and even late in October you never know the weather’s plans in these parts. We are, of course, shoring up inventory of the…
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Country Girl finally makes an appearance!
Well, Country Girl has finally arrived! I know it took forever for me to get around to finishing this but there just always seems to be something else to do. I’m trying to stay on top of things these days so, with any luck, you’ll see more new things from my tiny little studio. Country Girl comes in at 4.6 grams of handcrafted fine silver. The thread I used is call Tenaraâ„¢ (previously Gore-Texâ„¢) and it’s used in a lot of things, including parkas, marine stuff, and even jewelry. It wears so well and is really tough, so it won’t snap or wear out. It has a slick feel to…
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Moving into Limited Editions
I’m sure all artists feel this way eventually – you want to create your work but you don’t necessarily want to create that same piece of work over and over and over and over again. Your brain works overtime coming up with new ideas and you barely have enough time to jump out of bed (I do a lot of my design thinking early in the morning before I’ve gotten up) and write them down (or draw them, as the case may be). At any rate, that’s where I’m at these days. I want to create the pieces that I’ve drawn on paper but I don’t particularly want to make…
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Ga-a-ack….
That’s my synonym for “Arghh!” I scrolled down the blog and saw the Flower necklace, and it is still sitting in the waiting room. I have changed the design–it’s more modern and groovy, with a custom bead for the bottom, into which the triangle feeds and from which the pendant hangs. It has to be fired and I wanted to wait for some other elements to crowd the kiln before screaming up the kilowatts over one little tiny bead. This is what I mean by ‘Jewelry Life, Interrupted’! The photo says it all.
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Life Goes On….
Many things have interrupted the small sculpture part of our lives, but lo and behold, Lisa popped up recently with a new design. I had been wondering why she was so quiet lately… She was inspired by looking at the work of other jewelry artists–that’s a rub for me. I almost hate doing that because I mistakenly think it will overly influence my own designs. But usually what happens is what Lisa said: other artists’ works can stretch the mind, and it’s what emerges to fill the extra space that can come from your own preferences for shape, texture, color and form. You have to be true to the elements…
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Magnetic Clasp (a slight variation)
A previous post mentioned re-making the silver “Tech” bead bracelet that I made for my son Micah, who is a big Red Raider fan. I finished the improved version today and mailed it off to him for his birthday upcoming April 6. A couple of snaps show how the clasp works, and by the way, these photos came out pretty well in light of my usual complaints! It is made with 2 sterling end tubes constructed by moi, each that measure about a half-inch and are loaded with a few magnets and epoxied to the round leather cord. I discovered that sliding the sterling ends inside the bead allowed for…
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Revisiting the Flower Necklace
I have been working on, but have not finished, the Flower necklace that’s about three photos below this post. I decided that the spiraling wire on each side would simply be too hard to clean, so I am looking at a beading alternative. Plain wire just kills the piece, so until I find the right substitute, this necklace remains on the bench. I will find a way!
