Tag: leaf

Leaf love… March’s theme

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Life. Growth. Fertility. Hope. Renewal. Revival. Beginnings.

Please see my Leaf collection at Unsplash for photo credits. https://unsplash.com/collections/sz5A91S_BTE/leaf%2C-leaves

What could herald Spring better than the first green shoots of leaves? The snowdrops and daffodils vibrant Kelly green emerging from the woodland floor of grays and browns… The apple green slivers visible as trees send forth buds, premonitions of the unfurling to come…

Green leaves resonate to me as Hope, Growth, Life, Fertility. The arrival of Spring. The newness and freshness, and rejuvenation of the land. Infinite beginnings.

Image credits: https://unsplash.com/collections/sz5A91S_BTE/leaf%2C-leaves

Houseplants are relatively new to me – a new undertaking since the Covid lockdowns that I have maintained, keeping my little ones green and healthy. I love the depth and freshness they bring to a space. And I love leaves. The myriad shapes, colors, textures. The serrates edges, the satin waxy glow, the fuzzy furriness… So this month my theme is leaves. I am not well versed in plants at all – and dont know the correct names for leaf structures, growth patterns… I look at the leaves with an artist’s eye and see shape, form, pattern, color, texture. SO that will be my approach this month. Not even really diving into folklore, can you believe it?

An assortment of leaf shapes

Is tropical more to your liking?

I think of William Morris designs when I think of leaves and foliage. The British artist and designer was at the fore of the Arts and Crafts Movement. A member of the Pre-Rapaelite Brotherhood, he began his career as a painter. In later years he abandoned that in favor of decorative arts. He worked in textiles, wallpapers, and the like; designing exquisite floral and foliage patterns. Shown here are Acanthus Leaves and Willow. He is truly one of my style icons!

On a different note, in a different style, but equally influential to me – Henri Matisse. I have always been drawn to his paintings; where realistic space is given up in favor of color and pattern. But his cut outs! In context: he was elderly, unwell and bed ridden. His assistants painted paper to his color specifications, and he commenced “drawing with scissors”. These cut outs are bold, lyrical, and so expressive!

There are SO MANY ideas swirling around in my head now – I look forward to these leaves budding in the outdoors as the ideas are sparking in my creative mind! Please stay tuned on my You Tube channel for these art journal pages as they unfold during the month of March!

Autumn – the reveal for Suburban Girl Design Team

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 I love Fall. It truly is my favorite season. The crisp zing in the air, the colors, leaves… So when Diana sent us our stoneware leaf for the Suburban Girl design team, I was thrilled. My thoughts were on leaves – as I was working with Kristen’s beaded leaf for the AJE team…and I wanted this to stand out and be unique, different…

Fall focal

The quote is from Peter Mulvey – “… and the leaves were telling secrets to the wind.” The copper was a scrap, already reminiscent of a leaf, tweaked a bit with the jeweler’s saw. I liked the way it hung, and allowed the heavier leaf to balance the enameled acorn. ( Thank you Carol Myers!)

Clasp!

The lovely copper clasp from fellow team mate Michelle! 

SBGDT fall

The whole necklace: seed pod beads, tiger’s eye in yellow and red, wood jasper… finished with seed beads and chain. 

chain detail

Hand stamped copper links: “Change”- since this season heralds the change of the year into the fallow reflective period of the winter. So much change around us – from leaves, to routines, to weather… And I liked the shapes balancing the lozenges of the tiger’s eye opposite. 

Beauty shot

I loved working with this pendant of Diana’s! It was a pleasure! Thanks for stopping by – let me leave you with a question before you visit my fellow team members’ blogs – What is your favorite aspect of Autumn? 

Diana Ptaszynski http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com/
Kristen Stevens http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com/
Jan Onipenco http://moltenmayhem.typepad.com/
Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp http://skyejewels.blogspot.com/
Sandra Basara Miller http://www.sandra5461.blogspot.com/
Michelle Buettner http://misheldesigns.blogspot.com/

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!