Big Year Ahead!

So as you may have already noticed, I am not really much of a blogger. I have a super busy year ahead of me in the studio, big changes, big shows and lots of new work to make! I have decided to take the blog off of my list of things to do, so I can spend more time making and less time on the computer. This doesn't mean I am going to leave everyone in the dark. If you want to hear about exciting news in my jewelry world and see pictures of my work in progress, studio shots and shows "like" my Facebook page, it will definitely be full of updates this coming year. Also, I recently discovered Pinterest and totally love it! It is so great for finding and sharing inspiration, check out my Pinterest page to see the things that I am inspired by.

It is still a little too soon to start sharing the details, but I can say I am very excited about all of the opportunities coming my way!

Indulge

I can't believe that Indulge at the Bellevue Arts Museum was already a year ago! But what a positive and productive year it has been!!! And I have to say that I am very proud of all that I have accomplished. Doing the BAM show was just the push that I needed to get myself back in the studio and focused on jewelry. And now I am very excited to be embarking on a new body of work (more to come soon).
I am very excited to attend Indulge this weekend and checkout this year's lineup of artists. Including some local ladies who's jewelry I adore,Tia Kramer, Sarah Loertscher and Gina Pankowski to name a few.
For more info about the show and to buy tickets checkout BAM's webite.

Promise of Spring

On my walks around the neighborhood this past week I was excited to find small green surprises appearing on the almost bare branches and pushing their way up through the dead leafs. One tree I passed was full of hundreds birds screeching above me. And when I walked home at the end of the day, I wasn't in the dark but catching the end of some amazing sunsets over the Olympics. I love when I first I notice the these changes in the season. Now I don't have to wait for spring anymore, I can just relax and watch it bloom.

into the woods

It seems like my sources of inspiration have been following the natural course of evolution and coming out of the water and onto dry land. Back in October I took a backpacking trip to Kauai where I was expecting to find myself scouring the beaches and sea floors for bits of inspiration. But I was actually much more excited about the strange and beautiful things I found growing in the jungle. Here are just a few photos from my trip

Lately my go to book for inspiration has been Treasures of the Fungi Kingdom by Taylor F Lockwood it is a fantastic resource for colors and textures. Here is a taste of what's inside...

vivarium came down last week and today i cleaned off my bench! now i am ready to move onto my next endeavor in jewelry and i'm excited to share my progress along the way, so stay tuned...

Schools out!

I had such a great time with my first beginning jewelry class at North Seattle Community College! Everyone was so hard working and ambitious, they were really a fantastic group of gals. Here are some photos of their work
























































































































I wont be teaching beginning jewelry again till the spring. But I am really looking forward to my enameling class running this winter quarter. There is still some time left to sign up!

Vivarium Opening!

"Vivarium”, Latin for place of life, is any space created to display life, most commonly aquariums or terrariums. Our (mixed media) installations will act as an environment to give context to our jewelry and the jewelry will be life on display.











Here are the few photos that I have from Dixie's and my opening at Ghost Gallery last Thursday (thanks to Roger Schreiber). This was my first installation and I learned so much. But the biggest realization that I made is how much I prefer working in a small scale. And while there may not be larger installations in my future I still want to explore giving context to my jewelry, just a miniature environment.
Thank you so much to everyone who made it out! If you missed out it will be on view through January 6th, so you still have time to check it out.