Balance...

My husband can tell you I often walk around muttering something about 'getting my act together.' He laughs and asks, "Yeah? When is that going to happen?"

He and I both know -- in truth -- that I have my act very together. But it never feels like I do.

Which is why I am reminded of that old adage that "feelings aren't always a reliable guide to action." Instead, clear thinking, imagination and resourcefulness must guide the way.





 
I write about my life as a woman 'of a certain age,' as well as about my art and creativity and my connection to other artists, because I hope that my life can be a small example of a vital female life that adventures on, despite the responsibilities of raising children, being a wife, caring for elderly parents at the ends of their lives, and, finally, being a studio artist and owner of a small art business.


Always seeking balance in all of this, I bootstrap myself along, somehow finding the energy to reinvent myself not just once or twice, but instead hundreds of times, its seems. I try to not define this as 'failure.' I hang onto the consistency and continuity that is me, in whatever stage of life I find myself in.

Life is an adventure, and existence is a gift. However confusing or painful, however many times one seemingly must start again, it is worth it.

Tonight, as I write this, I am reminded of what my dear father-in-law believed and often said: "Take care of what is yours." I have been hearing that in my mind today. I find my breaths growing deeper. I find myself starting to discern, again, what it is that is mine, and what is not.

And I know, again, that when I fully inhabit what is mine, I feel alive and ideas become unbottled and start to flow. And balance returns.

These are new pieces... a Painting Jasper pendant, embossed craft brass tab earrings and hand-wrought bronze leaf earrings. All are available in my Etsy shop!

A Few New Pieces...

I've had the tiniest amount of time to make some new things, shoot their pics, list them in my Etsy shop, and bring them to this blog.

Earrings and pendants hold my interest these days. I know I'll move on to some other things once I've had my fill of making small statement pieces for the ears and neckline.


Embossed copper disk earrings dangle from handmade sterling silver earwires. Find them in my Etsy shop or in the scroll over on the right side of this blog page! 

I always have many more ideas than I can execute! So I was delighted one day recently when some of my drawings turned into finished pieces.


Blossom Jasper pendant set in fine silver onto patina'd copper, with sterling silver wirework.


I love freeform shapes and mottled surfaces. Jasper cabochons so often inspire me. 









My goal, when I design and fabricate, is to create modern 'relics.' I always imagine someone rifling through an old jewelry box or scuffing through fallen leaves and unearthing my pieces.

It hardly matters which. The metals and stones are of the earth and my design is usually organic. 



Oval green Imperial Jasper from Madagascar, set in fine silver onto oxidized bronze, with recycled sterling silver 'pebbles.' The cut of the stone is so formal, an oval, but its graphics are abstract. I cut the bronze backplate to resemble a peninsula of land with geographic features.


Here's the link to my whole Etsy shop!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CityRusticJewelry?ref=pr_shop_more 

Fun, Funky, Chic... another fashion collage!

I think that every artist/designer ultimately settles into a signature look and designs from a point of view.

I love mixing my botanical/urban jewelry with interesting clothing design. I see clothing as an interesting but discreet canvas upon which to wear art jewelry!

Jewelry featured here is from my exploration of botanical jewelry in bronze. The necklace is a collaboration of bronze/sterling metalsmithing and chain maille construction. I created the leaves and sent them to Australia, where Kelly Clitheroe of Maille Fantasy created the baeckea blossoms and other maille links and designed the necklace.

Minimalist, pitted bronze leaf earrings and a hand-knotted abalone chip bracelet complete this funky, elegant look. These can be worn by women of all ages, especially if they are young at heart and adventurous!

The clothing pieces I've selected for this collage are by the Australian company, TS14+. What I love about them is that they design clothing for rounder, curvier women, and do it well.

The shoes are by TS14+, also.

The jewelry is available in my Etsy shop!

The necklace:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/91081404/bronze-sterling-leaf-chain-maille

The earrings:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/100701277/minimalist-modern-bronze-leaf-earrings

The bracelet:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/101466398/abalone-mother-of-pearl-bracelet-thai

Maille Fantasy/Kelly Clitheroe on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/MailleFantasyJewellery?ref=ts

TS14+ on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ts14plus?ref=ts

City/Rustic Jewelry (Tana McLane) on Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/cityrustic.art?ref=tn_tnmn

In Context... how my work works with fashion

I love this dress and that handbag and those sandals and how my handcrafted jewelry goes so well with them!

I live in a place where it's hot in summer, and this combo is the perfect answer to our sultry season. Cool, comfortable and casually elegant.

The dress: Embroidered Renaissance Boho Sundress by HolyClothing.





The sandals: Black sole/lace with stone rings by Dikasa Shoes.

The handbag: The Sac Casual Classics Crossbody Bag


Pendant, earrings and stacking bangle bracelet are mine and are available in my Etsy shop, along with many more!

 http://www.etsy.com/shop/CityRusticJewelry?ref=pr_shop_more

Birds of a Feather... 3 puzzle-makers

I love combining things that look interesting or pretty together. I also love bringing friends I love together. Perhaps this is the old gallery owner or community activist in me.

Here, I've created a mini-collage with the works of two of my great art jewelry compatriots, Kelly Clitheroe and Sharri Moroshok.

Kelly owns Maille Fantasy and lives and works in Geelong, Australia. I've collaborated with her on our Eucalyptus Leaf/Baeckea Blossom Necklace in the past.

Sharri owns The Beaded Bead and lives and works in Tallahassee, FL, USA. She and I owned Humidity Gallery together and have also collaborated on many jewelry designs in the past.

Kelly's "Lepidoptera Earrings" demonstrate how chain maille jewelry can experience flights of fancy and become sculptural elements, hanging in space like tiny mobiles. Sharri's "Sea Anemone" beaded bead demonstrates how multiple gemstone beads can be woven into a single, complex jewel. My "Copper Assemblage" is a fold-formed copper blossom pendant which demonstrates the knitting together of individual fold-formed parts into a single sculptural element.

We all love creating complex forms that seem simple when you first encounter them, but reveal the complicated little parts and processes they are comprised of, upon closer inspection.  Nothing makes us happier than solving puzzles on our way to making wearable art.


Kelly's Facebook fan page:      https://www.facebook.com/MailleFantasyJewellery

Sharri's Facebook fan page:    https://www.facebook.com/TheBeadedBead

My Facebook fan page:          https://www.facebook.com/cityrustic.art

Featured Friend: Debbie Fang's whimsical work!

I adore the works of Debbie Fang, whose innovations in metals, stones and pearls never cease to amaze.

She lives in Hong Kong, a land where many of the world's great gemstones are faceted and drilled and made ready for market.

Her playful eye and skillful hands produce colorful, rustic and delightful pieces. Debbie's fun-loving personality shines in everything she does.

Her botanical forms derive from the stones themselves. In a clever version of wire-wrapping, she creates stone blossoms by surrounding a larger central gemstone with smaller stones. This pair sees larger faceted labradorites surrounded by rough diamonds.

She makes blossom earrings in different stone combinations, too.

I love these hoop earrings, encrusted with pretty gemstone rondelles! These, and all of her works here, are available in her Etsy shop, Crysallis Creations:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CrysallisCreations?ref=seller_info

Occasionally, her works are large and complex, revealing the daring wirewrapper and designer she is.

This piece features a large, carved piece of Lavender Jadeite captured in sterling wire. It also features Moss Aquamarine and Watermelon Tourmaline. It's approx. 4.75" from top to bottom and comes with an adjustable chain.

This is its listing in her shop:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/60063956/indentation-necklace-lavender-jadeit

She repeats her stone flower motif in charms sometimes. This lovely orange blossom adorns a sterling silver chain anklet.

Its central stone is a faceted Citrine. Surrounding it are smaller faceted Orange Sapphires!

One day Debbie posted that she'd created 'light bulb earrings.' I had to see what she meant and, sure enough, she had!

The 'light bulb' itself is clear Rock Crystal Quartz and multiple faceted gemstones are captured in the mesh cap. The metal is oxidized sterling. You can read more details:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/87096998/floating-gemstone-caged-earrings-made-to

Debbie is moving in a new direction. She has begun her 'drawn line series,' and these Shooting Star Earrings are a great example!

Featuring Rainbow Moonstones and Blue Topaz, these earrings express light, movement and the love of life that is the signature of this wonderful artist.

She also has a Facebook fan page, Crysallis Creations Jewelry:
https://www.facebook.com/CrysallisCreations

Circle Game... Some Recent Bracelets!

Lately, I've been on a bracelet kick. Bangles, cuffs, hand-knotted and hand-linked. And I've been listing them in my Etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CityRusticJewelry?section_id=10064978


This one mixes textured copper stock with forging and wirewrapping, with a subtle trapezoid caged in the wrapping.

Bangles are always popular, and I love to make them funky. So I add bits of embellishment to classic forms.

This patterened sterling bangle has a bit of copper wirewrapping.

Stacking bangles are fun to add to a growing collection, or can be worn alone.

This one is a slender textured copper bracelet with a hand-forged blossom made with recycled sterling. The blossom's face is stamped with my chasing tools.

This one has a sister with a recycled bronze blossom, which you can see in the Etsy link (above).

I've long worked with hand-knotted stone beads. Though I've been disciplining myself to just work in metals recently, a large portion of my work has been rustic compositions and beadwork.

This is an abalone chip bracelet hand-knotted like the finest pearls. One of its dangles is a heart-shaped slice of abalone and the other is a seashell-shaped Thai Hill Tribe sterling bead.

I also love wire bending and linking elements together in this way.

This bracelet is a little collection of interesting labradorite beads in different shapes and hues and finishes.  Some are faceted.

I used sterling wire and twisted-wire jumprings to link the stones together, and a wrapped dangle to finish this piece.

I also love asymmetrical, eclectic work and had a lot of fun creating this bracelet.











And the final bracelet I want to share with you today is actually a cuff!

Made with copper stock textured on my rolling mill, it's adorned with a sterling silver dish that was also textured on my rolling mill.

The copper remains malleable enough that you can squeeze it a bit to form a good fit to your wrist.




All of these bracelets are currently in my Etsy shop and I hope you'll visit there to see all the details!