Virtue Adrift

Finally after much hubbub and delay (all related to my BIG NEWS of course), I can show how VIRTUE/ADRIFT turned out.

I complimented the main pendent part of the piece with a annealed stainless steel chain that has been accented with an antique brass keyhole and and Art Deco gemstone glass button. The clasp for the piece is made from a pair of antique sewing scissors. I will not even begin to take credit for the originality of that idea; the first person I ever saw use it was Keith Lo Bue, and I thought it was a wonderful way to create a practical clasp with an unexpected object. You can see more of Keith’s fabulous work at: http://www.lobue-art.com/.

Hopefully from the close-up you can see some of the weathering I have done; I am a big believer that patinas should match in a piece- it gives a piece a much more professional finished look.

As with all of my jewelry, I wanted this to be a practical piece that could actually be worn, and while I wouldn’t necessarily say that it is an “everyday” piece of wear and tear jewelry, it would be great for those times when you’re looking to make a statement. Subtle it isn’t.

This piece, along with 250 regrets, The Evening Star, and several others will probably go live on Etsy in the next day or two (unless my BIG NEWS slows things- nope, I still can’t tell you what it is yet…). I’ll be sure to let you know as soon as these are up.

-M

The Evening Star

It is amazing how, as an artist, when I am working on a piece I come to realize that I am often working on both the conscious level and relative subconscious levels simultaneously. That can truly be said for this piece, “The Evening Star.”

The evening star as we know it most often refers to the planet Venus, which consequently is named after the roman goddess of love. Upon closer examination of this piece, I noticed that I was employing references to both without making a deliberate effort to do so.

The repetitive use of both the shape and the actual letter “V” not only helps to move the eye around the piece, but it also reinforces the piece’s name.

I noticed that the calendar piece I collaged into the bottom has the word, “Virgin” typed onto it, but the number “2″ is also clearly visible, and Venus is the 2nd planet from our sun.

If all parts of the piece are opened, the section that contains the words, “The Evening Star” is in the middle position or position 2 which again corresponds with Venus’s location in our solar system. I think the love references are fairly obvious with use of the photos.

It would be great if I could say that all of these elements were intentional, but they weren’t, and yet if they weren’t there, I don’t think the piece would be nearly as successful.

I did end up choosing to use the antique black glass beads in the chain along with stainless steel, and I think these two add a nice visual balance to the piece.

Oh well, its onto another starting tomorrow.

-M

The beginning of this piece can be found here.

A Great Fleamarket Day

Every now and again, just maybe, you get lucky. Because I go to so many fleamarkets, I know that it doesn't happen often. But today was one of those days. Not only did I run into some great antiquing friends who I haven't seen in several years, but I found a lot of great items to use in my work, and great stuff that I will also be offering in my shop of vintage supplies.

Goodies, goodies, and more goodies-

Keep an eye peeled for things to begin going up sometime next week.

-M