Celebrate!

Oh, there are so many things in life to celebrate! SO many! Just the fact that the weather here has gotten cooler and we are now coming into the holiday season is enough for me to celebrate!

But I think in this post, I am going to take a few minutes to celebrate what I think is a major accomplishment for me this year, although for some in the art jewelry world, I'm sure it's pretty minor.

Publication.

I have always been an artist at heart. Always. When I was younger, it was only applicable to whether I could draw. I sure as heck could dance. I was thoroughly trained and beautiful. Plenty of recognition in my world. But that didn't make me an artist, really, said my young adult self. What baloney! Thankfully, I realized what was at my heart before I got to the end of my life! Now, I am an artist, in multiple media, to be sure, but that is how I describe myself, because *I* believe it. I don't really need to have anyone else acknowledge that fact, because it's essential to my soul.

Outside validation, though, is still pretty darn cool.

So today I am celebrating something I never thought would happen. In 2010 and early 2011, I will have six pieces of my work featured in five magazines. Two of the publications are out right now....

First was the September 2010 issue of Bead Trends magazine:

And the second is the October/November issue of Step By Step Wire Jewelry:


And the third should be available on December 1st, according to the website. I will be in the Winter issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry! That would be exciting enough, but what really takes it over the top for me is that two of my friends are also in the same issue -- Cindy Wimmer and Melissa Manley! I am so thrilled to be included in a publication along with such fine artists!

Edited to add: I just heard from another friend, Barbara Lewis, who is ALSO going to be in the Winter Belle Armoire Jewelry! That makes it even more exciting! I {heart} Barbara Lewis!

Check this out!

There's a little sneak preview for you, of one of the two pieces that make up that article. I have to admit it was a complete shock to see this, and I am thankful to Cindy Wimmer for sending it to me, otherwise I would still be in the dark about it! I cannot wait to actually hold the magazine in my hands and see the photography for my pieces....and see what Melissa and Cindy have in their articles, too! Only a few more weeks til it's out!

Sigh. I love celebrating things. This has been an especially fruitful year for me, personally and professionally, and I am just thrilled.

What are YOU celebrating today?

Remembrance of things past

I'll get back to my adventures in metals at ArtBliss in my next post, but first, I wanted to write about something for my Art Bead Scene Carnival post for the month. The topic is Remembrance.

I have been making glass beads for about seven years, and selling them in my own jewelry designs for about the past three years. It's always funny (funny-haha, AND funny-strange) to look back on my own work from those beginning days.

When I see pictures of pieces I made back in 2007, I don;t know whether I should be alarmed or wistful. I clearly didn't know much about working with wire or metals then, and I certainly didn't feel like I was *really* expressing myself. I'm going to embarrass myself here a little and show a picture from those early days...like this one, a purple and black Viking wire necklace that just....didn't work:

THAT, my friends, is an abomination of photography AND jewelry design. I had a concept in my head, and definitely was going somewhere with it, but somehow it got lost along the way. I probably refolded the map incorrectly or something because we did not reach the artistic destination here. Ugh!

I still have this necklace, and recently, I thought about taking it apart and remaking it somehow. I love the wirework, and the bead isn't too bad, but it looks like a Gothic nightmare when put together!

Over the past little while, though, I have learned a few things about photography as well as jewelry design and my own inclinations as an artist. First of all, I don;t have to try so freaking hard all the time. A lot of my better work springs from not actually wrestling with the materials. Here's a more recent Viking wire necklace that I think works a little better (and has some MUCH better beads in it!):

Much better, in terms of photography, beadmaking skill, and design. I actually DID get to where I was going with this one, and it garnered a lot of attention (alas, but no sale) at my recent show.

As an artist, I think it's important to look back periodically and see where you have come from. Perspective is always a good thing, and it helps you figure out where you are now, as well as see how far you have come. I know that I am always amazed at the difference three years makes, and I am excited to see where I will be three years from now. So many good things have happened in 2010 for me that I think truly anything is possible in 2013!

What do you look back on and remember that gives you perspective for today?

Exploration

"One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore."

--Andre Gide (1869-1951)

Exploring is a necessary part of an artist's path. It's a necessary part of life, in my opinion, because if you don't reach out, don't go further or see what else is out there, well, how can you possibly be alive? I don't know....I have had a strong desire all my life to "see what else is out there", and it's soemthing I don't feel I took full advantage of when I actually had the time, space, energy and freedom from responsibilities.

So, I seek my exploration now in other ways. I'm definitely the type of person who has never met an art supply she doesn't like, and if there is extra money in the budget, I'm usually buying something to make something else with. Fabric, metals, paint, paper, wire, stamps, glue....you name it, I want some of it. The possibilities for creating are just endless, and these days, with DIY and crafting so much on everyone's radar, there are TONS of different supplies and tools and ideas out there. It's a bit overwhelming, sometimes, having SO MANY choices, but it sure beats not being able to find a photo-safe glue stick, or alcohol ink, or a Crop-a-dile when you want one.

Recently, I have spent more of my inner reflection on exploring my abilities in art-making. My jewelry and glass is, of course, a constant series of expeditions into the unknown and the impossible, with the end results sometimes being completely awful. But, that is part of things. I have had some good successes, though, with a few of my "impossible" ideas...a bracelet project I developed will be published in an upcoming issue of a national jewelry magazine (to be named later!). That project was a result of my vision of the end project, and my utter lack of "real" metalsmithing skills. I just got to the end bracelet by figuring out what I needed to do at my workbench to get there. Sort of like navigating by dead reckoning. It was fun!

Lately, I am looking longingly at art journaling. I don't even know where to start, mostly, but I have plenty of paper and glue sticks and some paint and markers. I think I will just put some paper on paper, and maybe paint over that, and write a journal entry. Start there, and see how it goes. Tonight's project is a page in my journal with the theme "red". I don't even know what i want the page to end up looking like, but that's half the fun of exploring your media and your creative ideas. So, I am going to stop writing *here*, and go writing and drawing and painting and markering and collaging and gluing over at my paper art journal.

So, I challenge you....readers and art-people and all you especially who think you are not creative...reach out beyond your 'usual' medium and explore something else...what will you try?

Explore!