Pendant

Here is a necklace I put togather while gearing up for the holiday markets I did this past season. I wanted to take my flowers and do something different with them. I used a perforated disc as the base for combining different already made flowers and a sparkly vintage crystal into one sculptural pendant. The main flower is mad with Czech 3cuts and they just catch the light so beautifully. The black really shines. More pendants to come in the future.

Bummer

Well on friday I received my rejection postcard from the Lyndon House Arts Center 35th Juried Exhibition. I admit I felt a bit bummed out that one of my pieces didn't make it in. I really thought that my acrylic/poetry/3-d flowers was worthy of exhibition.

Of course here in Athens there are lots of very talented artists and one can never guess exactly what the judge will be loooking for. However, I have in the past often wondered what made certain pieces gain entrance into events like these. With art being such a subjective field it is possible to have a classic masterpiece passed over for something more post-modern abstraction. Not that I'm trying ti imply my works were masterpieces, I just happen to think they were very nice.

Also, beads and beadwork sort of get a bad rap in the fine art world. They are considered more of a craft instead of a fine art although if you haven't seen her work to affirm the fine artiness of beads check out beadwork artist Liza Lou and her amazing airstream sculpture.

Last time I was part of this show I had one piece accepted and one rejected and then a local gallery hosted a refuse show. So, hoping for that second chance. I'll keep you posted.

Rings galore

This past holiday season I spent a lot of time creating new items for all of the markets. As part of this process I went a little wild with sculptural rings. So, for your viewing pleasure, a parade of rings!

Lyndon House 35th Exhibition

So a few years ago when we lived here in Athens I entered into the Lyndon House juried exhibition. At that time I had one piece that was accepted in and it was really cool. So the time has come again for the exhibition and I figured why not try again.

So I whipped up two pieces that I thought were beautiful examples of my current work and brought them over last week as entries. Here is one of them I've entitled "refelction with hope for tomorrow.

This piece in 3d and the flowers come of of the canvas. The canvas is covered with an acrylic wash as well as an original poem.

Cross your fingers for me. I find out next week if either of my pieces made it in.

Lapidary Layne

I just want to put a shout out for local (to Athens, GA) lapidary artisit Marie Ash. I went to her with an old beat up setting and custom request. Marie made this old forgotten family ring look like a million bucks. She cut this piece of labradorite so that it looks delicately bespeckled and magical set in this ring. I simply love it and think it's amazing what a well cut stone can do for a lackluster old setting.



Her works can be found periodically around town in Athens and sometimes she attends local craft markets such as the Indie Craftstravaganza.

Marie has been working with precious and semi precious stones and perfecting her craft since Ive known her. She creates beautiful pieces using her lapidary and metalwork skills. Her cabochans are fantastic and her facet cut stones are sparkling.

Marie is a familiar face in Athens and can be found at times up in Speakeasy. She's available for custom jobs and if you like what you see you can contact her at marielayne00@yahoo.com.

Evolving

So I have been working on some design elemets that will be used to create a one of a kind bridal bouquet to be used by my dear friend next summer. I started with just the lily which was the main flower she has requested. So far I have only made one lily sample but I plan to create 2 more using two different shades of orange that are different from the one I already made. Then I added the purple and white iris element to give height and a new shape and to bring in the lavendar color element she requested. Last night I was up late playing with ideas for little white flowers to fill in. I used the general shape of Dutch Stock and sort of created my own little blooms.

I am feeling pleased with the direction these flowers are taking. I love that in a vase or held in hand these flower elements do what I want, they flow into each other. Even if these particular lements don't work for the bride to be, I think they are wonderful.

New Shops and more flowers

Well, the new year, 2010, is now upon us in full force. The first week is in swing and I am gearing up for new projects and new places to hock my wares.

To start the year off right I have one new shop where you can see my newest brooches on display (and for sale) as well as some of my snap clips. It's a great little "garden boutique" called Fresh. Fresh is run by two lovely sisters, Jeanne Miller and Diana Montgomery and I am thrilled to be a part of their featured artists.

Fresh is located in downtown Hot Springs, AR at 231 A Central Ave. For those of you familiar with Hot Springs you can find Fresh on the same block as the Arlington Hotel. They offer a diverse line of garden inspired art, great gifts for the gardener in your life as well as fresh flower bouquets and arrangements.

I've also been continuing to work on ideas for my girl Anna's summer nuptials. Here's a sample iris created last night to show her. It looks nice with the tiger lily sample I finished a few weeks ago. She's still working on figuring out exaclty what she wants and so I am just coming up with ideas that I think are pretty and might work well together.

Off to watch the snow falling softly outside.