howe caverns <3

a new charm bracelet.

i started with a nice, heavy sterling silver bracelet and added my own charms.


the centerpiece charm is a lovely brass, enamel and mother or pearl vintage howe caverns locket. it works perfectly and is ready for someone to hide their secret love photos inside.


the other charms are my flameworked glass beads, freshwater pearls, mexican turquoise, mother of pearl beads, and tumbled onyx hearts. all the findings are sterling silver.

yes, it will be for sale on sunday at artist's row.
my space is in shed a, booth 8.

new audubon paintings

a whole new batch/flock of small audubon paintings.
each one is acrylics on arches paper.


catbird


bohemian waxwing


brown capped chickadee


boat tailed grackle


american dipper (1)


american dipper (2)


worm-eating warbler


other chickadees


house wren

i actually painted these at my kitchen table, something new for me. i think i had a better studio set up when i was a toddler than i do these days. i cannot ever remember having absolutely no space of my own to paint in.


one day, i suppose, i will have a studio again. but not today.

the queen's night out

a couple of late night snapshots of queen anne's lace growing in jacqueline's vegetable garden.

today was a stupidly busy day, but i did manage to finally finish nearly a dozen small bird paintings for artist's row this sunday. i feel satisfied and very tired.

why would anyone think of this flower as a weed?

new brooches

i have been scavenging bits of antique jewelry at garage sales, estate sales and flea markets all summer.

in some cases i took the original brooch apart, others were already missing parts.

i altered them by adding my glass beads, freshwater pearls and gems.

these are all headed to 'artist's row' at the public market next sunday (september 21st).

alas, i am not really ready to sell them, they are so newly made that we are still on our honeymoon.

tomato juicy

i was going to show you 22 new pairs of earrings -
but my camera battery is out of juice.

hardy hibiscus

despite my best laid plans -

i did not spend one moment yesterday making jewelry.

little miss college sophmore fell at 12:30 on tuesday morning and dislocated her kneecap, her injury required an ambulance ride to a hospital in hornell since alfred has no hospital (alfred barely has a stop light). it was an all night cel phone free for all, i have never appreciated our cel phones more, we were able to stay in constant contact thru her whole emergency room visit. she has wonderful friends who followed the ambulance to the hospital and stayed with her and then drove her back to her dorm at aound 4:00 am.

so far, miss mango is doing well. she is on crutches and wearing a brace. she went to classes today and seems rather lively this evening.

i managed to calm down enough to fall asleep around 6am and woke up around 10 to discover that my hsbc bank had lost a large cash deposit - that took all afternoon to sort out. if i had not had my deposit receipt i would have been screwed - so keep track of all those scraps of paper.

by the time i won my epic banking battle - the day was spent. i made my husband a richly deserved meatloaf dinner and went to bed.

(with luck) i will make jewelry tomorrow.

nap(oleon) p. oodle

i need a nap too.
like a little kid on christmas eve i want it to hurry up and be tomorrow.
why?
because i have set the whole day aside for making jewelry.

p/s summer is officially over, i wore socks with my birks today.

a new flock

i made a pile of tiny bird beads last thursday night at more fire glass.





















all are matching pairs, made two at a time on a single mandrel.
(even if the photo only shows one lone bird - it happily has a mate)
each birdie is about the same size - perfect for perching on the tip of your finger.

i am planning on turning them all into earrings and listing them on etsy - if you would like a particular pair as loose beads please email me and i will put them up just for you.

peachy

when you're on a jag about something there comes that moment when you start to wonder... have i come to the end of this obsession? have i made enough bird images? enough bird beads?

i think not.
look who perched on my bedroom window sill - and began to sing his little heart out.

early september is glorious in upstate new york, the weather cools down just a bit and the harvest really gets rolling. right now it is the peak of the season for both peaches and tomatoes. i have big bowls of them on my counter and despite having cooked loads of tomato and peach dishes in the last few days it still looks like i have more than i can possibly use. last night i baked a gratin of summer squash and tomatoes and for dessert a small peach clafouti.
and today - another much larger peach clafouti because my husband had a clafouti freakout...

now, what to do with all those red peppers?

turquoise rocks

turquoise and black - how 80's.

i am just not sure about these beads...

maybe i will etch them.

that's one of my beading mottos -
when in doubt, etch.

little birds

a new flock.

the latest flameworked glass bird beads.

made two at a time on a single mandrel.

small enough for the most delicate of ears -

and so much fun to make.

punkin'

before i start a big oil painting i always make some acrylic on paper studies - it seems a shame to just let these little ones languish in a dark flat file drawer.

so, i went into my stash and listed a bunch of little paintings on etsy.

simple pleasures

a new pair of cardinals -

smaller, simpler and ready for earrings.

i got to torch for hours and hours today - the inside of the kiln looked like a mandrel nest.