Lately I've been working on some jewelry projects based on found metal objects.  I've been teaching myself some metalsmithing skills and have enjoyed playing with texture and dimension by building on the pre-shaped forms.  The piece pictured here is on a beautiful oxidized based and has pieces of agate attached with copper wire. I've been playing around with copper quite a bit, hammering out some rings and earrings. Next weekend I've committed to carve out some time to do some form folding, I have some ideas for pendants and am eager to build the copper patina with fire. (I'll post some pix of the other found object pieces on my blog shortly).

I don't talk about my dayjob on social media sites, primarily because I want to keep my art identity separate from my (other) professional career. But it's worth noting that last month I was promoted to Vice President of Operations for the little ebook company I've been working at for the past 11 years. It's a big job with a lot of challenges unto itself, but the question I'm pondering this weekend is how to respect my artist's needs and protect enough time to keep creative. Aside from painting, I'm starting to learn metalsmithing to make my own jewelry and I don't want to give it up. I enjoy the challenge that my dual careers bring and I like that I get to use both sides of my brain. I suppose the goal, as always, is to figure out how to find balance between my worlds.

It's clear that I won't be able to self-market and sell my art to the extent that I have the past couple years, but I see that as an opportunity to really focus on creating new works. I burnt out pretty bad after everything I did to sell greeting cards last Christmas and I think at this point I'm better off selling originals or licensing my work instead of self-producing schwag. Opportunity costs are too high for self-production and I'm going to have to make some choices about where invest my energy.

I'm sure this new job will bring other changes as well, and it's already helping me to push my limits in some areas and gain new skills. I've said before that I'm never the same person for very long and I like change; I'm happy with who I've become right this moment and very grateful for all the choices I have available to me.

 

Recently I've discovered a new love:  modernist vintage silver jewelry. Silver's not a new love for me, we go way back, but the sleek, hand-crafted artisan pieces from mid-century speak to me in ways that jewelry has never done before (and I have some pretty nice contemporary pieces). I love the abstracted organic forms, the geometric shapes and patterns, and the texture of the silver. 

I've been poking around and picking up pieces that appeal to me with the intention of reselling them eventually. These three brooches are by Otto Bade (hallmarked Orb Sterling) and are nice examples of what I've been looking for. I've been reading books on metalsmithing and jewelry design and would love to learn silversmithing--as soon as I'm ready to put down one of my other crafts. I know myself well enough not to take on any more projects without bringing something to closure (even if temporary).

There's an abundance of modernist silver available so I've done a little reading on the artists and their techniques but mostly have been going with my gut. I loved a pair of large flower earrings from Denmark in an antique shop that were way out of my price range, but I came across a matching brooch at a flea market for 1/4 of the price. I bought it immediately. Last weekend I picked up two Ed Levin cuffs and one fabulous Robert Larin bracelet, will include photos next time. 

Some of the pieces I bought for me.  The curved ring is made in Israel and has red enameled spots. The two-ball ring is by Beau Sterling and is, surprisingly, adjustable.  The bracelet is by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and is either a reproduction of an artisan piece or was created to accompany a jewelry exhibit that took place.

My new appreciation for modernist style is influencing my design sensibilities and specifically my paintings. I can see it come through now in how I render shapes and in a certain relaxation of lines and colors in my work. I'm not sure if it's here to stay and I'm not quite ready to share yet but the pieces (gouache sketches, really) have a comfortable feel to them.

If you'd like details, clockwise-ish from bottom:

Joseff of Hollywood two lotus dress clip (he was a costume designer 30-60s)
ORNO silver branch with coral flowers pin (40s, Poland)
Danecraft leaf bracelet (the matching earrings are at the bottom of the photo)
Orb Sterling abstract wave pin
Orb Sterling abstract owl pin
Tom Hawk silver cuff (Navajo)
Orb Sterling triangle with three 'branches' pin (50s, looks like formica pattern)
Orb Sterling elongated leaf pin
Beau Sterling owl pin
Orb Sterling abstract crocus pin

 

 

Shopping, mostly.

Yamatake China, espresso cups and saucers

 

Centura by Corning bread plates

 

Pyrex covered butter dish (Snowflake)

 

Taylorstone platter (Corinthian)

 

Noritake China plates

 

Blue striped pyrex casserole dish (allegedly rare)

 

Funky new silverware, Studio William from Bed Bath & Beyond

 

Depression glass

 

Even the cats are eating in style now

 

My compulsion for plates is well known (Cavalier Ironstone by Royal China, various patterns)

 

Standing mixer from Goodwill

 

Homemade sewing table from the 70s. Front doors open to support table top when it's folded open. Left front side has 3 deep drawers; Right side side (not shown) opens for sewing machine storage. When top is open, right side side has a dropped shelf to operate machine on and the inside bottom is hinged to flip up so you can put foot pedal on the floor. Very cool.

 

Album side table. I should have photographed it open to show you the inside album dividers, which also work great for oversized art books.  The two paint by numbers on the table are vintage and adorable (wooden bowls are hand turned, bought last year from a local artist).

 

Space-age petite telephone table. Note cubby is sized to hold Yellow Pages (remember those?). There's also a springy pen holder just below the top shelf.  I'm going to paint this a gorgeous color once my new couch arrives and I decide what color theme the living room will be.

 

Evil clown painting I accidentally bought in my first online auction.  Crazy monkey candle holder accompaniment.

 

Most of the vintage dishware is for resale once I find time to build a storefront. 

 

Now, I just need to figure out where it all goes.  :)

I burned out pretty hard after my holiday craft shows and haven't been able to work on my art yet. Instead I've been channeling my creative energy into nesting and cooking, trying to make my house feel like a home again. For me that means scouring the local Goodwills for treasures.

I've been focusing on the kitchen and started with these funky Cavalier Ironstone plates by Royal China. The sets come with tiny bread plates instead of regulation salad plates, something new to me, and I adore the 70s styling. I picked up some smaller plates and bowls in different patterns to go along with them and bought some (new) modern flatware to compliment the settings. Dinners are a lot more fun already.

I also picked up a couple serving platters by Ceram Casual, they don't exactly match my plates but I love the quality and unique patterns.

 

Next came the pyrex. I've fallen in love with the cinderella bowls with various colors and patterns.

 This was my first, with square flowers in avocado.

 Then came the solid avocado cinderella with the pour spout handle,

 when I stumbled on a set of nesting casserole bowls in buttercup yellow.

This quirky casserole is 1.5 cups with a matching lid. They said it was a rare pattern but I'm finding they always say patterns are rare...

My favorite is this 1 quart cinderella in tangerine. It's in pretty good shape and I love the color.

This little square dish is a good keeper for onions and garlic with a retro snowflake pattern.

 

So once my dishes and servingware shaped up I started working on some kitchen cosmetics. I had the back wall painted a bold chartreuse, which actually works as a neutral with all the other colors I have going on in the kitch. My cabinets are an old-fashioned oak stained a pretty orange, they're heavy but I've grown attached to them. They needed a hardware upgrade though so I started replacing the plain black knobs with some color.

The knobs made me happy and worked out well, but the cabinet handles were problematic. I couldn't find anything I liked that matched the drilled holes already in the doors, then I couldn't find anything I liked that was priced within my budget. I thought I would go with these handles from Anthropologie

but they were overkill and really overpriced. So I decided on these brushed nickel pulls for a more understated look

not as exciting as the colored pulls but simple enough to work with the rest of the kitchen.

I still have a few areas to work on and a few items, like switchplates, on order. The biggest improvement though was the lighting: I switched out the underpowered fluorescent for some Ikea track lights. Amazing difference. It'll probably take me another month though to clean everything now that I can see the grime everywhere!

Along with the kitchen, I've been reworking the dining room. I identified the reason I don't use my dining table as the incredibly uncomfortable chairs. Terrible.  I turned to my trusty Goodwill for this fantastic wing chair in 3/4 size:

It's in great shape and the candystripe fabric is a lot more fun than it looks. It's soooooo comfortable at the dining table that I've spent entire evenings in here after dinner, watching movies or reading.

I also picked up two low-back chairs. I like their shape, condition is OK. Eventually I'll put them in the living room and recover them but for now they're great at the table.

and I moved this retro Goodwill lamp I got a few months ago from the living room to the dining room, it's a great fit.

I'm very happy with my new kitchen, it feels much more like MY home now

I should mention that I got rid of bags and bags of stuff as part of my redesign, some to friends and most to Goodwill. Ironic to see my old dishes on the shelves for sale among the mod treasures.

Next up:  living room and studio revamps. 

My family is coming over this weekend for a belated Chanukah celebration and I'm cooking up a storm. It's not like me to have so much holiday enthusiasm but I'm pumped up for a serious Sunday meal:  potluck, but I'm making chicken soup, pot roast and a honey cake. 

I've never made chicken soup from scratch before. Tonight I made the stock by starting with this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/homemade-chicken-soup/Detail.aspx

but I added a clove of garlic and some thyme, rosemary and parsley. One of the comments suggests tossing out all the stock vegetables and adding a fresh batch for the soup, so I pulled out the chicken and strained out the stock. I burned my tongue tasting the stock so I can't quite report on how it turned out (besides hot). On Sunday I'll add some shredded chicken and fresh veggies, cooking it up a little more with some gluten-free egg noodles. 

The only recipe I'm a little worried about this weekend is the honey cake. I bake gluten-free and the couple times I've made this cake the center has caved in, I assume from the weight of the honey in the batter vs. the GF flours. I may cut back on the honey and add more leavening this time to see if I can compensate. It may not look pretty but it sure tastes good, much like the honey cake my Grandma used to make.

 

Update 12/20/10--Chanukah dinner was a disaster. The soup was fine but the pot roast was awful and the honey cake burned. I got smacked with a cold in the middle of dinner and checked out for gift exchange. I'm finally recovered and determined to regain my cooking confidence.

This was dinner last night.

 

When I was in Poland a few years ago I had a wonderful root vegetable dish, braised and served in a light broth. My hosts, though fluent in English, couldn't translate the veggie name for me. I suspected it was parsnips and made a note to try some out myself, which I promptly forgot upon returning home. Until...

Last Sunday morning I had the TV tuned to cooking shows while I puttered around, when something caught my attention. The host was making a dish with the ignoble name Chopped Root Salad:  parsnips, potatoes and carrots. Seemed like a good time to test the parsnips theory. I used this recipe here

http://www.katiebrown.com/kbep1.cfm?cat=COOK&episodeid=4&seasonID=5&cooksort=2 

but modified it a bit: added butter to the oil; covered the pan after adding carrots so the veggies would soften faster; used dried thyme; omitted the parsley.  The results were excellent and I'm definitely a parsnips convert:  potato-like but with more tooth to each bite. Next time I think I'd sub sweet potatoes for the red potatoes to vary the color and favors. And, I'll keep an eye out for a braised recipe similar to what we had in Poland.

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This weekend I'm having family over for our Chanukah celebration and I'm planning to cook a pot roast. Anyone have a good recipe for a crock pot?  I've only cooked a roast a couple times, years ago, and the results weren't too good. I'm confident I have the skills now to bring about better results.

I'm a big fan of convergence. It's not just the warm and fuzzy feeling when a plan comes together, it's the synchronicity of finding the meaning in disparate projects and how they come together to feed a bigger goal.

I've been thinking lately about multitasking and focus. There's a lot to be said for living a life with singular purpose, but I'm learning to honor my need to have my hands in many projects at once.  I CAN paint and draw and felt and sew while working full time and trying to live a healthy life, as long as I accept that the tradeoff will be depth of experience in any one particular field.