Making Spring - 10 Robin Paintings

Making spring happen.
Ten 10"x10" oil on canvas paintings.

Robins to the Power of 10

Ten 10"x10"
Let's work some sympathetic magic in the studio.
Ten robin paintings to banish this endless winter we're having here in Upstate New York.

A Little Piece of Chicken

Day #1 of a new rooster painting.

Gingko Leaves :: Day #1

Just started some of the dark green under painting.
Look at all that stupid snow out my window.

And So It Begins - - Again

Getting started on some new paintings.
A quince, ginkgo leaves in the grass, a rooster and possibly white peonies.

New Earrings - Nancy Valle Beads

Earrings with hammered sterling silver & ceramic art beads.

I made some things today just for myself.
That almost never happens.

Earrings with hammered sterling silver, ceramic art beads and found shell fragments.

I have a fantastic stash of ceramic art beads by Nancy Valle.
They're hoarded in a special jar. I pawed around in that jar today and made myself some earrings.
Her beads are just so gorgeous and wild, they're like fossils and ancient relics.

I love, love the ones below that she imprinted with little leaves of parsley.

Earrings with hammered sterling silver & ceramic art beads.

 Earrings with hammered bronze, ceramic art beads and gold plated earring wires.

Donuts or Cherrios?

A new bead style - like the tiniest donut or the biggest Cherrio.
Made off mandrel with swirls of color and frit.

These are for a bracelet class at the local bead store Let's Bead.

Starting with a piece of 5mm round leather and a magnetic clasp these are for piling on with other fun components to create your unique bracelet.

Tricks With Shorts - or - How to Make Marbled Beads

Grab all your turquoise glass rod shorts and your nippers.
Light turquoise, dark, smurfy, atlantis, rainforest, copper green, opal, all of 'em and some sky blue too.

Chunk them up with your nippers.
I use a plastic colander to catch them, otherwise they go rocketing everywhere.

I keep them in a small, plastic frit jar.

To make the beads just pick up a chunky chip with the blob at the end of a rod of turquoise.
I carefully introduce them into the flame by sneaking the chip in around the backside of the blob.

After you've melted in a bunch of different hued chips, and have a nice size gather going, just wrap the whole mess on to your heated mandrel. The more you stretch out the gather to wind it the more marbled the bead will be.

Obviously this works great with all sorts of colors and mixes of colors.

I always have a jar of turquoise on hand, as well as a nice mix of corals. Greens are good, a mix of greys and browns, I'm thinking of making a mix of black, dark silver plum and ivories.

(some of these also have some frit too)

Devil Baby

The last oil painting of 2018 - 'Devil Baby.'
oil on board 4"x6" unframed

This is the one I am keeping.

Winter's Light

This afternoon in my studio.

Red Apples & White Clover

"Red Apples & White Clover"
oil on canvas 20"x20"
2018

Because I Needed Bead Release...

What glass beadmaker out there has not done this?
I needed bead release.
So I got all this beautiful, new glass because I wanted the free shipping deal.
The evil minimum order for free shipping.

But look at these amazing greens from Cims.

It's like spring in January, right?
And 'Spooky" might finally be the translucent white that won't disappear while working.

(Dr.) Who know what I need this fabulous new color for.