How Life Gets in the Way

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Autumn Tree

Hello all, I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer despite the high temperatures in so many places. I have been fortunate with the house here on the mountain. Since it is built into the mountain the downstairs maintains a nice cool temperature even on the hottest of days. It’s like built-in air conditioning without the cost! Though I think we pay for it in the winter.

Kumihimo Beaded Bracelet

I am steadily working on my new collection but I must admit it has been hard. Though I had high aspirations of working on design ideas when I was on my trip to the US, that was not the case. But I don’t regret this. I enjoyed every minute of my trip and all the people that I was able to visit. Then when I arrived home I was sure I would be right back at it but jet lag reared its ugly head and I wasn’t functioning for a good two weeks if not more. When I finally had a clear head I hit on another problem. My muse had left the building. I could not come up with one good idea so I spent the last month frittering my time away on a bunch of disconnected pieces.

Finally, I feel like I have a theme going and ideas are starting to arrive. Of course, as soon as this happens I have to leave again. A week away in Bretagne to go to our dear friends’ wedding. It’s true that I am looking forward to seeing them and attending the wedding but once again I am off course. I am not sure how to solve this problem. Each time I leave, when I return it seems to take forever to find my place again. I told myself that I would release four collections this year. Right now I think I will be lucky to get three done. I know there is no way to do four. Who knows, there might only be two.

A row of mica resin leaves.

All of this to say…I am sorry for any delay. I am here. I am working daily to make new pieces. This is a whole new way of working for me so I guess it will take time for me to find my groove. Does anyone else have this problem when they go away?

New Experiments

I have been experimenting quite a bit the last few days. The final vestiges of my jetlag seem to be falling by the wayside and I feel my mind opening up and beginning to be creative again. I brought home a treasure trove of fun stuff to play with. New paints, micas, tools and mediums. Much fuel for a creative fire!

I have been tossing a few ideas around for my new collection. I had planned on fleshing it out more when I was on my trip but vacations really are another world aren’t they? I completely just let it all go and so I came home with not many more ideas than I left with. Loss of sleep further deterred me but finally, I am making some headway.

I learned a new technique this vacation from a dear friend. She makes awesome pieces and let me play with her tools. This dotting technique is just lovely in how it works up. It is a bit tricker than I expected and I am having to really work to get it right. I am pretty happy with the last few things I did though. I know I have to get more even and exact with those tiny little pinprick dots but I am working on it,

I also had a try at mixing my own paint! I bought some lovely pearlescent mica pigments and mixed this wonderful pearl white and gold paint myself. Although I am still not happy with my tiny dots I am getting the fluidity down and the dots are smoother. I have to wait for a few things before I can finish this experiment but I am happy with what I have made up so far.

What do you think of this method? Do you like it?

I have been experimenting quite a bit the last few days. The final vestiges of my jetlag seem to be falling by the wayside and I feel my mind opening up and beginning to be creative again. I brought home a treasure trove of fun stuff to play with. New paints, micas, tools and mediums. Much fuel for a creative fire!

I have been tossing a few ideas around for my new collection. I had planned on fleshing it out more when I was on my trip but vacations really are another world aren't they? I completely just let it all go and so I came home with not many more ideas than I left with. Loss of sleep further deterred me but finally, I am making some headway.

I learned a new technique this vacation from a dear friend. She makes awesome pieces and let me play with her tools. This dotting technique is just lovely in how it works up. It is a bit tricker than I expected and I am having to really work to get it right. I am pretty happy with the last few things I did though. I know I have to get more even and exact with those tiny little pinprick dots but I am working on it,

I also had a try at mixing my own paint! I bought some lovely pearlescent mica pigments and mixed this wonderful pearl white and gold paint myself. Although I am still not happy with my tiny dots I am getting the fluidity down and the dots are smoother. I have to wait for a few things before I can finish this experiment but I am happy with what I have made up so far.

What do you think of this method? Do you like it?

Finally

Another failureLast time I wrote here everything was still in upheaval. I was deep in the throes of unpacking and tying to settle into a life of living in two places. It took quite awhile to sort everything out and get to a point where I could create again. But time smooths most things and I fell into a rhythm. And finally, yes finally, I managed to complete my collection. The break-thru moment was when I was able to create the resin pieces I wanted. There are a lot of methods out there and I discarded them all. None satisfied me on their durability or looks. Now I am able to make pieces that I feel comfortable selling. Once this was accomplished I started to play 😉 I am constantly amazed at just what you can do with this amazing stuff! It’s like the strongest glue you can find. It is an amazing glass substitute. You can add things, build on it, just so much you can do!

sparkly, pink and bubbles. What's not to like?

So now my latest collection is finished and I publish it in two days. I am so excited to finally be here. I have learned so much along the way and gained much valuable experience. Making a collection is nothing like making one piece of jewelry. It involves a lot of planning and failure but now I feel confident to go forward with that knowledge and make another collection! And that is exactly what I am doing. I am already hard at work in my head, planning and designing a new collection. So I hope you enjoy my latest one “Flight of Dreams” and be sure to check back in the future for my newest creations. I will try to do better about posting my experiments along the way. I get so lost in the process that I often forget to take photos.os.

It's been a long road

The last time I wrote here was over seven months ago! At the time I was quite excitedly looking forward to moving into the city. Ready to start a new life among people. French classes were lined up, new adventures planned. I was so excited. Well. Life does not always turn out the way you expect it to. This time was no different. Over the course of the last 7 months, everything we had planned has changed EXCEPT that we are going to sell our house.

Within a month of moving into the apartment, we had turned in our notice to move back out. It was just not working out. There were problems with the apartment that could not be fixed and so instead of settling into a happy life right in the center of beautiful and exciting Colmar, I started packing things back into boxes.

We also had planned a long vacation in Georgia with our dear friends to celebrate their wedding and the christening of their son. Then shortly after our return from that trip, I had to go to the hospital unexpectedly with yet another problem that left me in the hospital during our move (poor Frenchie had to do that one on his own) So he moved everything back to our house and now…onward with the search for another apartment. I am dwelling in limbo.

I refuse to let this keep me down though. I am determined to finish my collection that has been lying dormant in my mind this entire time. Instead of staying in the house until the apartment is found, I am traveling each week with my husband to Switzerland. We have set up a temporary studio there where I am beginning to do my work again. It is still a bit chaotic and I am still finding my balance but it is coming. Slowly but surely it is coming!

One thing I have accomplished during this time is my website. I moved from my old shop platform to my very own site that I built on my own. I am not very tech-savvy so it was quite the endeavor but I ended up enjoying the process quite a bit. If you find anything too clunky there please forgive me and feel free to point it out to me.

I hope to be up and running in the studio this week and soon will be cranking out more experiments of course. I refuse to make anything to sell until I have a piece that I feel confident will make my clients as happy as it makes me.

This wing experiment has proved quite the challenge. Where it seems quite simple, resin is anything but that. It can be quite fickle and different types achieve different results. Add on top of that the fact that I am using it on my own artwork and it can be a bit tricky. I have had to play with different sealants and methods to try and create a good resin piece that will hold up to wear. I am learning a lot about this and have developed several processes that work for different items. I will continue to keep you updated as I go.

I am so excited about my new collection though. It takes everything I have learned so far and wraps it into one package. I really hope that you will find it as enchanting as I do. I hope you have a great week!