Tag: copper

Art Jewelry Elements – October reveal!

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AJE

 October is going out with a bang… at least here in the Mid Atlantic. I am writing this ahead of the reveal date, as we have a predicted date with Hurricane Sandy… 

You may recall that a month or so ago – I shared with you that I had become a member of the Art Jewelry Elements team – a fantastically talented group of bead artists, jewelry artists, designers… here and in the UK. At AJE we have a challenge of sorts… Component of the Month. Components are made, and offered to the team, and in a give away to the readers. Magic happens, and we post the pix here!

October’s CotM was this crazy fabulous seed beaded bead set and leaf charm by Kristen Stevens of “My Bead Journey”. Take a look : 

AJE Oct. components

 I knew I wanted to showcase the leaf and give it a little more visual impact as it was really delicate. I have a tendenacy to incorporate text into my pieces, as you most likely have gathered by now…  In keeping with the organic concept of the piece, I chose to pair it with seed pod slices, pearls, rough emeralds, and citrine. I utilized the seed pod beads as cones of a sort, where I attached seed bead and leather strands for the back of the piece. 

AJE Oct.

Here’s a detail of the pendant…to me the leaf was asking to be embellished – so I enameled a small flower and attached it with a soft rivet, using an enameled headpin. (Thank you SueBeads!) The quote reads: “dance on the edges of time” – an excerpt from this quote by Rabindranath Tagore: “Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.” That quote really struck me; so perfect for the season. 

AJE Oct detail

I will say – I had never used beaded beads before and wasn’t sure how I would incorporate them into my aesthetic. ( Hence the challenge, I know…) I am very pleased with the result, and love the beads. I like the texture they add, and a bit of volume visually while being lightweight. I look forward to working with them again! Thanks Kristen!

PLease stop by the Art Jewelry Elements blog to see what my colleagues have done! 

History Hop… My Medieval muse, my Celtic roots.

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Hop to it! (Just a wee pun for our hostess, Leah of Beady Eyed Bunny…)

The brief – select a period of History – which in and of itself was a HUGE challenge for me. I liked and was inspired by so many… and create a piece inspired by that time, those people, their materials, their style…The choices: 

I had to choose Middle Ages/Medievel. In my minds eye I was seeing enameled pieces from Sutton Hoo, golden torcs, spirals, amber, pearls…My Celtic heritage was not going to be passed over. But gold – not going to happen. 

Celtic inspirations

My Celtic heritage has been a great influence on my work since I studied abroad while in  college, living and traveling on the soil of my ancestors. I designed and created Celtic penannular brooches in my final semesters studying metals in college. I wanted this piece to be informed by and inspired by – yet be modern, and reflect my current tastes in mixing materials and making pieces with meaning and intention. 

The Celts wore amber. and quite a bit of gold. They enameled, and created intricate knotwork designs, both geometric and zoomorphic. Knotwork seemed too obvious. Amber… My parents had given me a tiny bag of sand and raw amber chunks they collected on the beaches of Skagen, Denmark. I became intrigued with the idea of encapsulating the amber, so it moved freely within an amulet. 

But thinking on Celtic art, I was also thinking of runes and ogham script. In my associations, runes are more Scandinavian while Ogham is more Irish/Welsh. I usually include text in my pieces – so ogham was a must. I perused books in my personal library – La Tene period, Hallstadt…

Ogham stone Ogham

Sketchbook

The plan was to inset a plastic lens into faux bone thus creating a niche for the amber. I started that – last Wednesday. Not going to happen in the time I had remaining. Plan B – polymer. I have recently been reintroduced to polymer by the multi talented Christine Damm. I knew it would do exactly what I envisioned. 

polymer process pix

Top: working. Ivory polymer. 

Bottom: Ogham writing around pendant. Copper overlay to be sawed. Amber and lens in place. 

The pendant

Here is the finished pendant! Three chunks of amber for the Goddess of the Celts – in her three forms of maiden, mother, and wise crone. The Triquetra – a three lobed symbol, also representing trilogies – body, mind, spirit; earth, water, sky; youth, maturity, age…… The ogham translates as “Goddess guide me”. The back – a subtle pattern of knotwork and a central triskele motif. 

Back of pendant

I had intended to pair this with amber beads. I am not sure. I have taken pix with a few different gemstone combinations. What do you think? 

1. Amber 2. howlite and emeralds

1. Amber 2. Howlite & emeralds

3. aquamarine & emeralds 4. Labradorite, howlite emeralds

3. Green aquamarines & emeralds 4. Labradorite, howlite, emeralds…

 

Please tell me what you think… I am thrilled with how this turned out, and thank Leah for initiating this challenge. I think I have a few more pieces rolling around in my head still! Please check out my fellow participants and their historical inspirations. (I may be late to the hopping, everyone! Teaching all day today. Monday over coffee at the latest, but I will jump in my Time Machine and meet you there. ) 

Ahowin – Art Nouveau www.blog.ahowinjewelry.com
Alicia Marinache – Victorian http://www.allprettythings.ca/
Becca’s Place – Renaissance www.godsartistinresidence.blogspot.com
Beti Horvath – Ancient Egypt and Art Deco www.stringingfool.blogspot.com
Cherry Obsidia – Ancient Mecynae Greece www.cherryobsidia.blogspot.com
Cooky – Renaissance www.shepherdessbeads.com/Blog.html
Jennifer Davies-Reazor – Medieval www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog
Kathleen Douglas – Indus Valley www.washoekat.blogspot.com
Kashmira Patel – Etruscan www.sadafulee.blogspot.com
Lady Grey – Victorian www.beadsteaandsweets.blogspot.com
Laney Mead – Pre-Columbian www.laney-izzybeads.blogspot.co.uk
Leah Curtis – Ancient Roman www.beadyeyedbunny.blogspot.co.uk
LiliKrist – Persia www.lilikrist.com
Melissa – Mesopotamian www.design.kcjewelbox.com
Melissa Trudinger – Art Nouveau www.beadrecipes.wordpress.com
Micheladas Musings – Ancient Romans www.micheladasmusings.blogspot.com
Sandra Wollberg – Art Nouveau www.city-of-brass-stories.blogspot.com
Sharyl McMillian-Nelson – Art Deco www.sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com
Tracy Stillman – Victorian www.tracystillmandesigns.com

 

 

You can never have too many earrings! Earring Swap reveal!

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Earrings and a necklace. Daily wear! Whether I am in the studio, teaching, working from home – I am not dressed without them. So – when Diana of Suburban Girl Studio announced an earring swap – sounds good to me!

My first partner is Linda Younkman. Arent these lovely? The blue beads are very detailed. and I love a spiral motif!

earrings1

And then these came from Mary Shannon Hicks! They are a bit heavier, so not every day wear for me, but that owl!  Thank you so much for all the work in that wire wrapping. 

earrings2 earrings2.2

I know you may hop to other blogs, just wanted to post a picture or 2 of what I sent to my partners…

my swap pairs

I enameled these copper washers, and originally had them paired with enameled discs (seen below). They were so uniform in composition, and lacked movement. So – I had to swap them out for pearl and gem dangles. The vintage bells will add a bit of jingle as they dance around. The extra discs? Sent to my partners -a little bonus for them to make into something…

first version extra bonus

Here is the list of participants. Have fun taking a look. I am sure there will be diverse offerings for every style!

Diana Ptaszynski     http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com
Patti Vanderbloemen        http://myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com/
Lesley Watt        http://www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com
Jenny Davies Reazor      http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog
Melinda Orr      http://www.orrtec.blogspot.com
Cilla Watkins      http://www.tellyourgirlfriends.com
Stephanie Haussler       http://www.pixybugdesigns.blogspot.com
Sally Russick     http://www.thestudiosublime.com
Susan Kennedy       http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com
Cheryl Brown    www.dragonflybeads.ca

 

 

Capers with Copper! Kristi Bowman’s End Cap Blog Hop

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Kristi Bowman's end cap hop

Hello and Welcome! Can I just tell you quickly how excited I was? One of 9 spots, and it was mine! Kristi Bowman of Kristi Bowman design works wonders with bronze and copper clay. We were aquaintances online, and I jumped at the chance to participate in a challenge using her pieces. I love metal clays, yet do not work with them myself. I like the fine details Kristi gets in her textures, and think the colors are rich and inviting. So – thrilled? Yes, I was. Here is what she sent me: 

k. bowman end caps

My thoughts immediately went to turquise. Was it the color combination of turquoise blue and copper that I was seeing? Was I influenced by pieces from her recent bracelet focal challenge? Well, I had that idea firmly in my head, and true to nature did not start the piece until right before the hop. Actually I completed it while waiting for parts of my button hop piece to cure…

end cap bracelet

 I wanted to do a multi strand bracelet to use the cones in a traditional way. I had thought one strand would be all those large chunks of green turquoise, but they were too much, the scale overpowered the cones. So smaller blue turquoise… The sari silk is a snippet from a variegated hank I have, thankfully the aqua/yellow was long enough. 

view 2

The matte blue iris size 8’s bring out some of the darker indigo tones the copper patina holds. I created a simple clasp from 20 ga. copper. (Nope, didnt pickle or patina it. Want it to age naturally.)

view 3

The large turquoise chunk is the prefect counter weight for the copper caps; keeping the design balanced physiclaly and visually. I love it, and am wearing it often. This one is mine!

model shot

Thank you Kristi for the chance to work with your lovely pieces! It was a pleasure, and I think the caps are fantastic. And there is a sale today, you say?!

Go take a look at my partners posts! There are only 8 more – you know you are curious…

Jenny Davies-Reazor ( that’s me!)
 

Bloom and Grow – Suburban Girl Design Team Spring Challenge

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Good Morning! I am pleased to welcome you to the Spring edition of Suburban Girl Studio’s Design Team Hop and Reveal. I was thrilled when Diana asked me to be on her design team. She and I totally hit it off, and have so much in common – including the fact that we make ceramic pendants, charms… So why be on her team? Her work is lovely, and totally different from my own. What a creative  ‘shot in the arm” to be sent lovelies in the mail and get to make jewelry with them! And to be in a sisterhood – the Design Team…I know – all you bead/jewelry colleagues out there know of what I speak. Had to put it in context for the Muggles. So this is what I unwrapped from the postman…

It arrives...

Uh – pink? orange? Not Jenny colors. Excellent. Like I said – not like my work… And look at the gorgeous lampwork bead! A challenge bonus from Jan – from Molten Mayhem and fellow design team member…Going to think on this a bit…

The plan

OK – thought it over, sketched it out as I always do. My personal challenge was to use metal. Metal smithing was one of my two areas of concentaration in art school. (With painting the other) But teaching art full time, living in rental apartments right after college – not a torch friendly lifestyle. I am thrilled with the new equipment available in the metals world and glad to have a chance to dive back in…Sorry, I digress. I decided to tab set the flower in copper and use the words “Bloom and grow” on the border. ( I use text frequently in my work) And dont miss those glass headpins from Sue at Sue Beads. They were very inspirational in the design plan…

raw materials

The cast of characters; Jan’s bead, Czech glass leaves and flowers, assorted silks and suedes…

Fit and finish

Ready, set, go! To me the antiqued copper gives an earthiness and grounds the vibrancy of the glaze color. 

clasps?

There it is! Set ceramic flower with a frenzy of floral inspired goodness hanging below. The flower centers are the SueBeads glass head pins – just the right color pop and size. It is long, and there is a lot going on visually so I decided to keep the rest simple. Those clasps? No, thank you. I made them to correspond with the piece – but wont need them now. Worth a try…

first option second try

chain?   winner!

Top row: I tried wide silk, and thin suede. Nope. 

Bottom: Chain – yuck. Need a green element. The winner – fairy silk from Marsha Neal Studios!

put it on.

(Sorry for the wet hair/just out of the shower shot. Had to take the picture minus dog hair…)

I would wear this short, with a v-neck. Thats my style. But with the silk you could wear it long as well. What do you think? I would love to hear from you before you click away to visit my bead sisters on the design team… Thanks for stopping by!

Diana Ptaszynski http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com/

Jenny Davies-Reazor http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog

Kristen Stevens http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com/

Jan Onipenco http://moltenmayhem.typepad.com/

Marla James http://marlasmudmoments.blogspot.com/

Sandra Basara Miller http://www.sandra5461.blogspot.com/

Michelle Buettner http://misheldesigns.blogspot.com/


A dream-y collaboration…

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Last December I received notification for a show called TWOgether, a collaborative exhibit. Held at the Center for Creative Arts in Yorklyn, DE – the call was for a pair of works by 2 artists. I immediately thought of Betsy, my partner in crime, and many artistic undertakings. (We have had multiple exhibits of our show Imago Dea – envisioning the feminine divine.) So we sat at her kitchen table after the holidays and brainstormed. Until now we have always exhibited collages. Betsy’s are digital, using her photographs among myriad other items, textures, locations… She exhibits them as stunning giclee prints. Mine are paper, fabric, glue, paint… more traditional style collages. This time I wanted to do a mixed media piece, bring to life ideas I had been sketching. And I had to deal with surgery and recovery. So I sketched this to show her my basic assemblage idea…

working sketch

(The moon was to illustrate that some image would be framed by the vintage Mother-of-pearl buckle…. Thats were we left it. For Betsy to take the threads of an idea, and a handful of found objects I presented to her as my potential materials. And run with it. And run she did!

Betsy's "Oceana"

Ooh – the textures, nacre of shell, ripples of water, sand… The colors. That ammonite – which she scanned from my original. Oh! This is going to be good. 

filigree links

Sterling and copper links echo the sea foam shapes. The sterling is actually the positive and negative of the same curl. 

WIP dreams

River rock and enameled copper for color. The same ammonite – tab set in copper. And putting it all TWOgether…

Detritus of dreams

Words from her poem (included in the print) under mica, framed by the MOP buckle. The layers are micro-bolted, and riveted. 

dreams detail

I couldnt be more pleased with how it came out! The show is opening tomorrow, with a reception on Friday the 10th from 6-8pm. If you are in the area, please stop by! It will be on exhibit until the 24th. 

 

 

Share the love…donations and a give away!

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I believe in sharing the love, in supporting causes I am committed to, and to helping out where I can. I dont have pockets lined with gold, and often my ‘help’ is a donation of artwork. This past week on Friday I had a chance to donate to two organizations/causes that I support wholeheartedly. 

The first is the DCCA – The Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts. It is an amazing exhibit space, and houses many local artists studios. They are committed to supporting the arts and upcoming artists. I have friends who work, and exhibit there. Every year they have a fundraiser auction: “Small Art/Big Auction. Donated works are small in scale; this year the size requirement was 12” square. Want a peek? I decided with the advice of my friend Sara T. to think outside the box…

DCCA necklace

“Siren’s Song” – starfish in mother of pearl with resin, river rock, carved netsuke, pearls, aquamarine, sterling, kyanite.  I think it will definitely get attention and be a great conversation piece. The auction is October 29th, you can se the details here…

 

Then I headed over to Playtime Doggy Daycare. After a few chats with the staff regarding their fundraising efforts – which included home made baked dog treats… I decided to make a necklace, or two. They are going to hold a raffle for a local dog rescue. I wish I could give money to all the dog rescues, and homes to a hundred adorable strays. But we have our hands full with our two rescued dogs: 

Oscar

Oscar – (Canaan Dog) aka Cutest dog ever, Noodle, Oscar Moo-Moo (Thats from Playtime!)

Zoey

Zoey (Belgain Malinois) aka Crazy. (Her one and only true nickmane)

So my donation, you ask? I couldn’t decide – so I made two: 

dog donations

The first is a vintage stamp advocating humane treatment. I do not know the date, but it was a $.05 value. It is collaged in a copper bezel under resin and paired with citrine and carnelian. The second is hand stamped copper, and enamel on copper. Both are 18″ long on copper chain. If you are interested – you can buy tickets to win, and donate to a worthy cause… just contact Playtime Doggy Daycare!

So in the spirit of giving – let me get to the details of the give away! I am doing a new style of necklace, focusing on words. Your inspiration, your word of power, your mantra. And I want your ideas… I will give away 2 necklaces in this style: (copper ball chain, 18″, 1 gemstone dangle, stamped word in copper.)

dog tag words

What do you have to do? Leave a comment here with your name and your word/short phrase. OR leave a comment on my Facebook “The Art of Jennifer Davies-Reazor” business page. I will pull the winners the morning of Friday the 14th. Check back Friday to see if you are the winner! Why Friday, you ask? Because that is my air date on HGTV’s “That’s Clever“!!! I will select 1 random winner, and one winner whose word I really like. Yup. My contest. My rules. (With FaerieCon coming up I am looking for words/phrases that are particularly magical, fantasy…but that is NOT a requirement.) Excelelnt. See you Friday!

 

You can never have too many earrings. Earring Swap reveal…

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Good morning – are you ready for the earring swap? Well, go get a coffee or brew some tea. If you are in the mood for Bead Soup – it is still simmering, here.)

A few weeks ago my friend Diana of Suburban Girl Studio organized an earring swap. I wear jeans and tees to the studio most days, so this is great…You can never have too many earrings!And featurign artist beads/ Even better! I was thrilled my partner was Diana herself! She does lovely raku components. 

Here is what arrived. Happy Day!

Ear swap pkg

There they are! Dramatic, yet gypsy boho as well, which is very me. I can see them dressed up with a little black dress, and adding some spark to a mundane tee and jeans outfit. They are super long for me, and very light; a good thing. I think the crystals are a great partner for Diana’s raku pieces – shell/spirals that I adore. I will confess I had seen similar pieces in her Etsy shop and loved them!

earring reveal!

I love that they dangle below my hair. Great visibility. (Well – did you want my whole face, or the earrings? I figured – earrings!)

my earrings!

And what did I send her? I will give you a hint…

earring mania

I call that earring mania – I was getting ready for Art on the Ave in Alexandria. You will have to tune in to her blog to see what else I added to my ceramic charms to complete her custom pieces! Take a look at the other offerings, and leave comments! We love that! And thanks to Diana! This was fun, pure fun, and I was thrilled to be a part of it!

 

Jenny Davies-Reazor  http://www.jdaviesreazor.com (thats me…)
Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp  http://www.skyejewels.blogspot.com
 

 

The goddess and the lunar hare

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Faux Bone – just what the name implies, a relatively new material, related to PVA plastic, yet non toxic and high quality. It was launched on the market by Robert Dancik, and I have had it on the workbench for months! Wanting to try shaping, sanding, carving, impressing, staining… this versatile material. So here is the first attempt: 

Faux bone goddess

The ceramic oval on the left is my goddess/poppet. To me She is the self, the soul, the creative muse, the feminine divine. Her shape is inspired by Cycladic idols and other ancient sculpture. I wanted to see her in faux ivory of a sort. The copper acts as a structural base for the piece, the dark rich patina of the copper setting off the subtle tones in the FB. From a design sense it serves as a halo, and allows holes at hands (for attachment to a necklace) and feet ( gemstone dangle, of course!)

Cycladic idol  Nile Goddess (Left: Cycladic Idol, app. 2500 BCE. Right: Nile Goddess, app 3500 BCE)

I was happy with how she turned out, although I am still considering giving her breasts… I turned my focus next to me second favorite of my ceramic pendants – the lunar hare. The  hare is a bit of a totem animal for me, and I am greatly inspired by the many myths of the moon hare. From so many cultures, so diverse, yet illustrating a commonality…

Lunar hare

The crescent on the right – is polymer clay. I was baking some other pieces for the Blue Hen and I made a few crescents to test. While i like the sculptural possibilities – this one is too bulky. I think Faux bone will work best here, too. Other things in progress: 

Copper and nickel silver windows/ frames. Images are sandwiched under mica, tube rivets, stamped words… This was a direct inspiration from Melissa Manley – and although she wasn’t the first to ever use this technique – it is only proper, and respectful to give credit. (Her work is amazing, and I am happy to have studied with her, and to call her a friend. ) The piece on the far left: “Such stuff as dreams are made on…” quoted from “The Tempest” – houses an image of Miranda from a painting by my favorite, John Williams Waterhouse. 

copper frames pendants

The piece on the right is a bit different. It is carved wood, housing a collage. The collage is set in a plastic lens and resin. The front image is an Irish stamp, copper, and the word ‘Journey’. The back: 

MM bird back

It is an idea I am experimenting with – crating sculptural frames for collage/lens. My text, as always, is from 200+ year old books. It is a meditation of sorts, to thumb through the yellowing pages, eyes flitting and darting, until the right words present themselves to me. Words I would not have chosen; phrases I would not have composed…

I would love to hear your thoughts, out there in the ether. Do you have a personal talisman? A totem animal? 

 

Cerrridwen, Taliesin…and a Blue Hen?

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Blue Hen plywood

It all started with the hen, the blue hen to be exact. The City of Newark, DE is having a fundraiser – in the style of the decorated animal sculptures you have seen – I am sure – in many cities across the country. As the state bird is the Blue Hen… artists have been given a plywood silhouette, app. 30″ tall. Out birds will be auctioned off in September, and will be displayed (inside) at various businesses in town, and on Main St. The previous picture shows the earliest stages, after carving up my bird, to create a niche inside. Then she was covered in paper – from the Encyclopedia Britannica, or course. And yes, I used the article on “Poultry farming”. 

Blue Hen paper

I knew right away I wanted to create a shrine in the body of the hen. Shrines are my most personal, expressive medium. Although the chicken is not a totem animal I use symbolically in my work, I wanted to challenge myself to make a “real” piece, not just a fundraiser donation. I had committed my name, my time, and energy to this venture, and I wanted it to be true to my body of work… So the only mythic reference to a chicken in Western myth that came to my mind – was the myth of Cerridwen. She is the Keeper of the Cauldron – in which She brews inspiration. She is the Goddess of rebirth, transformation, inspiration. She is a creatrix, a mother, a wise woman… In the classic myth regarding her: She brews an elixir for her son, hiring the boy Gwion to stir the cauldron. After a year and a day – the mythic measure of time for an arduous task – the potion splashes Gwion’s thumb. He sucks it, to cool the burn and receives all the wisdom, knowledge therein. Greatly displeased – Cerridwen pursues Gwion to punish him. The chase takes on epic proportions as they shape shift through many animal forms, each pair representing an element. These animal pairings will be shown on the hen itself…

sawing animals

hound and hare

otter and salmon

songbird and raptor

The greyhound and the hare. The otter and the salmon. The hawk and the songbird. But where does the hen come in? After three transformations, as the chase continues, Gwion turns himself into a grain of wheat. Cerridwen as a hen, simply eats the grain. In nine months, She gives birth to Taliesin – who is to become the greatest bard of all time. Rebirth, inspiration, transformation… 

Hen nearly complete

The niche will hold a small clay tile of Taliesin – whose name translates as “Radiant Brow” referencing the ‘fire in the head’ of divine inspiration and enlightenment. It seemed fitting to have him incubating there. I plan to include the text of the myth with the piece. I know that many will find it more in depth than they prefer. But I feel that keeping the inspiration pure and not simplifying the concept of the work is honest, and a homage to Cerridwen herself. The overall color palette is natural and harmonious, very earthy. I hope it finds an appreciative audience when it goes out into the world in September, and does its part to raise funds for the Newark Arts Alliance.   Please feel free to comment and tell me your thoughts!

( I will add new pix as the work progresses!)