glad rags

gladiolus - neocolor II crayons on beige cotton paper

it's mid-august, gladiola season, buckets and buckets of gaudy, flamboyant stalks for sale at the farmer's market. everything outside is full of bees.
why, in the spring, do i never remember to plant gladiolus?

eggplants galore

more galore - this time eggplants instead of earrings.

just to be a bit difficult i planted 2 eggplant plants in a flower bed next to the side door.

one plant has two lovely slender purple eggplants on it.

the second plant is a freaky eggplant powerhouse and currently has 46 small green & white striped eggplants developing on it- and more blossoms coming on.

i have no idea what variety this is, or how large the mature eggplants will be.

in any case, it has been a very entertaining plant so far.

earrings galore - part II

more new earrings.

peaseblossom's earrings - flameworked beads, freshwater pearls, serpentine & sterling silver

these where designed for 'art bead scene's august challenge theme - a midsummer night's dream."

hermia's blossoms - flameworked beads, glass leaves, freshwater pearls, heishi & sterling silver

these earrings were also made for 'art bead scene's august challenge.

coral hills - flameworked beads, freshwater pearls, coral branch beads & sterling silver

moonflowers & flies - flameworked beads, carved soapstone flies, garnets, freshwater pearls & sterling silver

the twins: bambi & fawn - flameworked beads, antique carved ivory roses, freshwater pearls, heishi, hand carved bone skulls & sterling silver (these are my current favorites)

i know, yesterday i promised an eggplant update today. alas, this morning i procrastinated and never took the veggie snapshots and then it rained all afternoon...

earrings galore - part I

yesterday evening i sat down and assembled earrings for hours and hours.

there were pairs and pairs of my flameworked test beads ready to go, all they needed were to be tossed with some pearls, gemstones and sterling silver findings.

japanese blues - flameworked beads, freshwater pearls, moonstones. tiny opals & sterling silver.

watermelon mishap - flameworked beads, freshwater pearls, jade chips, garnets & sterling silver.

black swamp love - flameworked beads, tumbled onyx hearts, freshwater pearls & sterling silver.

butterscotch glitter - flameworked beads, aventurine beads & sterling silver.

blueberry twists - flameworked beads, glass seed beads, sodalite & sterling silver

black moonfruit - flameworked beads, carved onyx leaves & sterling silver

oily puddle baubles - flameworked beads, freshwater pearls, citrine chips, carved amethyst cube dangles & sterling silver

more earrings tomorrow, and an 'eggplants gone wild' photo update.

lace nighties

continuing on with this summer's queen anne's lace obsession.

i took these at night, without a flash, by campfire light.

can anyone tell me why these beautiful flowers are considered weeds?

chalet leon

a perfect half a week get-away.

the chalet leon is the place to lay low-

and have a glass, or four, of the local wine.
this was a blueberry infused blush wine from the 4 chimney's vineyard - the oldest organic winery in new york state.

i recommend taking a boat tour of seneca lake.

a very cool, and cooling, thing to do on a 100 degree day.

that's the hotel building of the chalet leon in the up on the hillside, in the trees, on the far right. almost dead center you can just see part of the hector falls. between the hotel and the falls there are rustic cabins you can rent that are part of the chalet leon compound.

we blew bubbles and roasted weenies on sticks over a campfire.

i don't want to wait - let's go back now.

collecting my thoughts

packing up my pack of dogs and heading out this morning.

if you need me, you can find me sitting in an old aluminum lawn chair on the left side of this photo. my feet will be in the water and i will be happily finishing these damn harry potter books.

i have never written any personal stuff in my blog, but i just have to say that yesterday was one spectacularly unpleasant day. i am going to stand under these falls and wash the dirt of life off me.

as juju says in one of her songs "i'm not coming out of my box until everyone's forgotten me."

halloween mask & tiger balls

autumn is sneaking around the corner.
everyone needs a sweater in the evening - july is almost over...

'mask' oil on canvas 30" x 30"
another newly reworked old painting

some more of the sculpey beads from last week. let's call them tiger balls 'the doc' (my polyclay guru) will like that.

i need to make a very dense and excessive charm bracelet with them and about a million other round tigerish beads. it will be fun to have a new fall bracelet that clatters.

a bonfire on the beach - living the good life here on the north coast.

devilsfood with double cherries

yes, i love to paint.
and yes, i spend way too much time with the flame.

and then, there's the cupcake thing.
i love to make overly decorative cupcakes.

this little monster is a devilsfood cupcake with sourcream chocolate frosting and a rather 'dirty' looking fresh double red cherry on the top. (photo by lady j)

love cupcakes?
then hurry up and click here.

flickr be mine

i joined flickr today - just so i could participate in 'art bead scene.'

they have a monthly challenge to create jewelry to a theme - this month it is 'mermaid's grotto.'

the beads were made about a week ago and yesterday i put the set together just so i could participate.

the flameworked beads are a mixture of transparent greens, blues & teal rods with dichroic layered inside.
i pressed them freehand and created swirls by spot heating and twisting with thick stringers.

the necklace and earrings are all sterling silver, freshwater pearls along with my flameworked beads.

please, click here to see my flickr photos.

eggplants

in an unfocused moment i planted exotic eggplants in the flower bed next to our front door.

i had no idea how they grew, or what the plants were going to look like.
but look, the foliage is beautiful and now, tiny eggplants are starting to form

i cleaned piles of new beads today, so there should be lots of photos tomorrow.

thistles & lace

queen anne's lace is a delightful flower - i transplanted loads of them into my garden.

don't call them weeds around me.

a roadside field of thistles and queen anne's lace.

more new earrings.

these have inch long handmade 'twisted' tube beads that elizabeth (of morefire glass) made in one of her free monday night demo's. i am going to give it a try, but it was kind of daunting. you make a big hollow tube on the end of a fat boro rod, then seal another fat boro rod to the other end, heat the mess and pull like a giant hollow twistie. cool, knock it off the boro and clip into individual tube beads - very cool.

the earrings also have tumbled onyx hearts that look like worn lake rocks, freshwater pearls and sterling silver findings.

lucinda s. sees lucinda w.

lucinda williams is one of my favorite musicians.

here she is at the armory thursday night singing a bit of 'essence', what a hot steamy night, we all melted.

and here, a minute of her doing one of her love songs...

another new pair of earrings. the beads are cones of opalino yellow and black. for each earring i added freshwater pearls, a carved onyx hearts dangle end, some stray antique glass seed beads and sterling silver findings.