Holiday Reds

When Thanksgiving is over I turn to the color red. I have an enduring love for the rare glass beads called white hearts or Venetian Cornaline d' Aleppo. They were made in Venice in the 1800's and early 1900's for trade and are the color of pomegranate. They come in many sizes, from tiny seed beads to very large and chunky. In between those are the oval shapes. You can see the "white hearts" in the photo.

I will never tire of their beauty. I wear them everyday in December. They don't glitter or sparkle but they suggest the holidays in my favorite form.

If you would like some of your own, get in touch. It may take a little while to source them and certain shapes may be harder to find than others.

Fall

Fall means two things to me, Chinese lanterns which I grow every summer and harvest in the fall and Amber beads of all shapes and sizes. Anyone can see why they go hand in hand and why it's critical to have both in abundance.

What makes a hair stick, stick?

I have long hair and I like to wear it up. Over the years I have bought many hair sticks. Some were too long and stuck out too far, some were beautiful but slippery or too heavy and fell out, which defeats the whole purpose. You don't want to have to stop and redo your hair all day long. I discovered wood carving and began making my own. I continue to enjoy exploring this seemingly simple art form.

I make them out of all kinds of wood that turns up in my studio. Friends drop off branches, chunks of all sorts  like cedar, cherry, pear, iron wood, and lately black bamboo. It turns out a lot of materials can be made into great hair sticks. Each type of wood suggests a form and has a unique texture which is challenging and fun.

The texture, weight and length of hair varies a great deal and the techniques of securing hair are endless. There may not be one specific type that works for everyone but within the variety there will be a solution for most.

“Where I create, there I am true.”

— Rainer Maria Rilke

Approaching summer with old favorites

Welcome fellow lovers of adornment. I hope to use this space to show you jewelry that I'm excited about. I have made jewelry most of my long, adult life. I also collect jewelry because my parents got me interested around the age of five, but that's another story. I am drawn to people who are passionate about their interests. So I hope these occasional musings will spark something for you and that this be a place to share our enthusiasms.

As summer approaches I start thinking about all the shades of white and off white, in clothing but also in jewelry. White with silver, gold, pale wood, and shell and bone. I am always focused on simplicity, but even more so in summer when paring down our houses, and peeling back layers is how we get through the heat of summer. I picture windows open, lace curtains billowing into a room, bare feet in sand, a breezy porch.

I bought this set of bracelets about thirty ears ago in a wonderful shop that is long gone. They are antique from Africa and came in a stack, a perfect tower lashed together with bamboo, each one slightly smaller than the one below. They are carved from the core of a shell. I wear them every single day in summer, in groups and combined with other bracelets. They make a wonderful sound, clacking against one another. I have ever worn all ten at once, I would need much longer arms. Three is perfection, three means summer to me. A few have formed cracks so I am repairing them with gold staples.

These bracelets were in that category of "a find" in my life. I hope you have those in your collection too.

“Simplicity is complexity resolved.”

— Constantin Brancusi