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 Walkthrough: Almost Finished

I'm nearing completion of this piece- it now has a name: "The Evening Star."

The first and second photos show the piece closed and open-

And here you can get a good detail view on the inside bottom and top-

I worked on the bottom much like the top, using black glass beads, and silver micro beads embedded under the resin, but I've also added very small pocket watch hands around the tintype. I also riveted a piece of weathered brass on top of the lid which I think looks much like the peephole windows on a (space) ship. In the last image, you can get a much better idea of how the micro beads are embedded. Next, its on to making the chain- I'm thinking of using these great black glass ring beads that I picked up this weekend at a flea market. We'll see.

-M

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

250 Regrets: An Update

No, no, not things that I woulda, shoulda, coulda have done- I'm talking about the other neckpiece that I was working on. I finally finished it- you can see the results below.

The chain is actually annealed stainless steel, and those are hand-formed antique clear glass beads that I think are a nice compliment to the pandant.

This puppy will hit my Etsy shop in the not too distant future (say about a week), I'm going to list about 10 or 12 pieces all at the same time (this piece included), that way there will at least be a little to look at. I'll let you know when everything is up- should be about the same time as the new website.

-M

A walkthrough part 3;

or progress, progress, progress; or resin is really fun stuff.

I'm continuing to move along with this piece at a pretty good pace (usually a good sign for me). The metal inner piece is now fastened over the man's face, and I've collaged "VOL. IV" inside behind the small lid (I just love old cotton press-type pages). Resin has been poured in the top half of the compact, and I don't know if you can tell, but I have embedded small silver microbeads across the surface, small black glass beads along the inside edge, and a carnival glass Art Deco gemstone near the man's eye. At certain angles, the microbeads catch the light just right and sparkle like small stars. I have also embedded a transparency of the orbit of the Earth over the man's face to further expand on the space, star, heavens theme.

Next, I started work on the bottom part; as you can see I've cut an opening into the lid, and I've collaged part of an old calendar and a tintype of a young lady into the bottom section.

Here is what that part will look like when in the bottom of the compact.

On the outside front of the case, I've riveted on a drawer pull ornament, and collaged an eye inside the opening. Around the ornament, I have added gold leaf to give some shine to the front of the piece, and I've started the "weathering" process on the whole of the outside.

Everything is continuing to come along nicely, by the next update, I should have the interior almost completely finished.

The beginnings of this piece can be found here.

The second part here.

-M

New Art on Etsy

Well, I just wouldn't be much of an artist or blogger if I didn't keep you up to date with ALL of the new art that I am doing- not just the jewelry. So, to that end, I would like to introduce you to two new pieces that are now making their first appearances on Etsy.

The first is called, "The Watchman"- it picks up right where my work left off at the end of last year- heading in a generally Steampunky Carnivalesque direction. Not sure how long this new direction will last, but with my life-long fascination with all things carnival, I doubt it will be ending anytime soon.

The second piece is called, "Dream of Flight." This is actually the second version of this piece, I did the first about 5 years when my Photoshoping skills were much more inept. I always felt like it was a good composition, and vowed that I would one day return to this piece when I had acquired more skill. This time around I'm particularly happy with the butterflies and their subtle shading, but as is often the case with Photoshop, I can still see plenty of flaws in this version, so there is always more to learn.

If you are interested in either of these pieces you can go here to find out more.

-M

P.S. For those of you who do not yet know about Etsy- ETSY.com is a wonderful website for all things handmade. Go, go now, you'll love it- I promise.

A walkthrough Part 2.

As you can see, some progress has been made-the photo of the man has been fastened in, and I have collaged thin paper over his eyes; I also decided to turn him at an angle as if he is gazing upwards (I'm beginning to think this piece might have something to do with the stars, space, or the heavens). The inner piece has not yet been fastened over him, but I wanted to give you an idea of what it will look like.

I haven't worked any on the inside bottom part yet, what you are seeing are where the rivets are connecting pieces for the chain and signature plate on the backside.

I do now have the outside (front and back) covered with paper. I chose this great 19th century German book paper that dates from around 1850. It has been working its way into a number of projects as of late.

The last photo for today is a better look at the back. I have attached the rings which will hold the chain, and I have attached the signature plate. It does feel odd signing a piece before I am finished with it, but when building these jewelry pieces, necessity often dictates that I have to sometimes create a piece with the steps out of order.

If you would like to catch this piece from its beginning you can start here.

-M

A walkthrough

I've started on this new piece (to go with the millions of others that are half-finished), and I thought it might be interesting to show to you how my thought process works as I'm making a new piece.

This is a vintage compact case from a local flea market which is about 3" in diameter, and a vintage cabinet card photo which has been cut to a round shape to fit on the upper inside panel of the case.

The other two parts fit into the compact in the upper and lower spaces, so the top piece will actually end up fitting over the photograph. As you can see, the outside of the compact is pretty rough, and I plan to cover it with some type of paper. As this will be a neck piece, I will also have to fashion some type of support on the back of the case that a chain can be fastened to. At this point, I haven't really thought any further ahead than the photograph of the man, and his placement in the case. I'll keep you updated as this piece progresses.

-M

Are You Kidding Me?

Remember how I posted about a week ago, and showed the nice view out of my studio, while talking about how I couldn't wait for spring to get here? If not here's the post- anyway, here's the lovely view out of my window this morning.

Now granted, I like snow as much as the next person, but I like it on Dec. 25, or Jan. 18, not on March 2. The crazy thing is, it actually is supposed to be 70 degrees by this weekend, which brings up another good point. If it is going to snow here in the South (something that doesn't happen often enough in my opinion), couldn't it at least stick around for a few days? As I'm writing this in the late afternoon, the snow is already almost completely gone in the courtyard. Woohoo! Let's go make a muddy grassman!

-M

The sorting has begun

in earnest. Having neglected EandO for far too long we have finally begun to seriously sort and organize, and price things for listing.

For those of you who may not know, my wife and I have a vintage and antique supplies store we operate on Etsy called Ephemera and Object, or Eand O for short. We literally have 1000s of things to put up, and the process will officially begin tomorrow. The first offerings will be some vintage jewelry lots, some photos, and vintage book pages-plus whatever else I can grab within reach.

Happy hunting- if there is anything in particular you are looking for, just yell at me.

-M