I'm practically monastic these days, as I grind through the last two weeks of pre-show production.
And yet, life keeps offering me fun opportunities to socialize or do just about anything else but work in my studio. I have to be really disciplined with myself right now.
Awhile back, I made a piece similar to this pendant, on the left. I kept the pattern pieces I made, always intending to recreate it, in large measure. But no two things I make are ever exactly alike. By happenstance and by intention.
I call this 'Dancer II.' I think its leaves and stem are balletic. It's a piece that makes me smile.
I love the mystery of this particular druzy stone. More like titanium than amethyst, it is, nevertheless, deep purple. And I love the juxtaposition of rolling mill texture with hammered texture with layered pieces of metal. It just pleases me.
I also had fun making these brushed-sterling squiggle earrings. I'll be making more playful earrings soon.
The bead at the bottom of these are vintage glass. Mostly gray, but with a bit of aqua in them. I love neutrals and earthy tones, with just a hint of sparkle.
Sometimes I disappear from the world of blogging and listing things in my Etsy shop. Especially when I jury into multiple regional art shows and have to produce at least two booths' worth of handmade jewelry.
That's what's happening in my life right now.
In just about a month, I'll have packed and priced all my available jewelry, my art show tent and my whole booth display and head up to Acworth, GA, for their two-day art festival. Acworth is just north of Marietta and Kennesaw Mountain on the NW side of Atlanta.
Then I'll be home less than 10 days before doing it all again in Birmingham, AL. So I've been keeping my nose to the grindstone and burning the midnight oil and becoming a very dull girl by doing the 'all work and no play' bit.
However, I did take an evening off recently to kick up my heels. And today I ate St. Paddy's Day dinner with my family at 'the club.' And finished my taxes tonight.
Now I'm eager to return to my studio and move many of my projects forward. I figure that if I make most of the next month 'studio time,' I'll reach my production goals. Which will satisfy me no end. And I hope to turn a profit this season so I can keep bringing the world my ideas of fun and funky and elegant jewelry.
This can never be a hobby! I'm not rich enough for it to be so. Someone in my position wears at least a dozen business hats, from purchasing agent to designer to factory worker to bookkeeper to janitor to shipping department to sales clerk to sometimes trendsetter. These interesting Trapezoid Fan Necklaces take about two entire work days for me to produce. Because they are necklaces with five pendants on them. No two of the trapezoids, or the necklaces, are alike. I even link them together in different ways!
I'll arrive at my shows with at least five of these. I have to make some other things, too!
The display area in my studio is set up like my show booth. It's exciting to see my pedestals fill with new pieces.
I do hope to list some of them in my Etsy shop before too long.
You can also check with my Facebook fan page to see what's new. If you see something you simply must have, feel free to contact me there.
You can find my fan page here: https://www.facebook.com/cityrustic.art?ref=hl
And there are plenty of nice things in my Etsy shop, even if I'm too busy to list more right now! Just look to the 'slide show' on the right side of my blog page for works currently in my shop.
Seen here are my three newest Trapezoid Fan Necklaces! The top one is with turquoise, silver and copper, linked with hand-forged sterling rings. The middle one is with Picasso stone, sterling and copper. And the bottom one is with labradorite, sterling and copper, linked with wavy sterling links. The tiny specs you may see in the stones is from overhead lights in my studio and not flaws in the stones.
And here's a peek at what my studio looks like these days, as I fill my pedestals with new works! (I share my studio with the quilt artist Valerie Goodwin, whose workspace can be seen beyond my display.)
