Handmade paper jewels

Some of what I've been working on recently: handmade paper jewels. This first one is cattail paper made by a friend of mine, augmented by silver leaf and linen thread.



And this pendant below is made from paper I made from a squash vine that I grew in my garden last year. Fiber, sterling silver leaf, and a bit of cotton thread.



It's a good example of how setting something aside for a while and then looking at it later with fresh eyes can give you time to get new perspective. The squash fiber was the first one I made, several months ago actually. This first batch of paper had not turned out very beautiful by most standards-- too fibery and very wobbly and warped and too delicate, it looked, to be honest, like a clump of dead grass. I was frustrated with the whole endeavor, and when I made this piece, my frustration colored my opinion of the result. I set it aside as a failure.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I decided to wear it. I fell in love with it and decided that I should definitely make more pieces using my handmade paper. Alas, I had thrown out what remained of my ill-fated squash fiber paper. But I have a cache of handmade papers I had made years ago, plus some samples my friend Kay had given me of her plant fiber papers. So I have something to play with while I learn about what sorts of Arizona plants will be good papermaking fodder.

Hello, Tucson!

We relocated! We're now planted in sunny (and hot) Tucson. Things are still very chaotic here, organization-wise, but I'm getting back in the studio and developing some new designs.

Having a bit of trouble with some of them, actually. A timely reminder for me that a good part of this thing I do is problem-solving. It's particularly a battle when my desire to use my favorite materials-- paper, resin, thread-- collides with the desiderata for wearable jewelry. Sometimes they don't look all that impressive, frankly. It's a problem, now-- How I can make it 'special' enough, yet still appropriate to the piece? The easy way out is to throw it on a chain and be done with it. And sometimes that works. Other times, not so much. And I have to risk facing the fact that I may have to set it aside or scrap it completely until I come up with an actual solution. It's particularly frustrating when the centerpiece is done and it's the details-- what you think of as the background architecture, the closure, the neckpiece-- that are the source of the trouble. When done well, they are harmonious with the focal point. But when the solution is wrong, they jump out at you.

I'm scanning the third letter now. This one is from my grandfather to my father. In 1943, Dad would have been 23. With no further comment:

"Dear Vernon: Why haven't you ans. my letter? I wrote some time ago...You may be busy but you can spare a few minutes. I am ok. (...) Everything is the same here."

The book of letters is coming along, slowly. I did the first section, sewed it up, and then didn't like how it laid when flat (namely, it didn't lay flat)-- learning the hard way a lesson in how to make nice folds so all the nested pages will line up right and act nice when folded. So now I'm going on to the second letter, trying a new layout, and hoping this one will be a keeper so I can get on with things (and redo the first section the new way, if it all works out). I'm hoping I don't get all the way to the end, ready to bind it up, and discover there's another technical issue I hadn't planned on that will require a major rethinking. But, if there is, there is-- such are the hazards when one teaches oneself something like bookbinding.

The first two letters are from my grandmother, Edith Taylor (originally Roberson). Here she is:

On we go

It's been a while. I'm still here. The following happened to contribute to my bloggerly neglect: 1. I forgot to renew my domain name and now it's gone, gone, gone, and that left me uncertain about what to do with this space if people can't find me as easily; 2. the business side of things has gone on hiatus as we prepare for a cross-country move this summer. Also, yes, there's a toddler in the picture now. But I'm still here, still thinking about and making things when I can. Lately my energy has been going into bookbinding. Lots of thinking, and some of the thinking is turning into doing. I have a collection of letters to my father from his family and friends, dating from the 1940s through the 1960s; I've decided to make them into a bound book. The letters are at points somewhat banal in tone; in that way, they're charmingly timeless. But still they tell a story-- a meandering story many of whose various plotlines go unresolved within the letters themselves. I haven't even sat down and read them all in order yet, but I hope it'll turn out to be an interesting project when all's said and done. There are 38 letters from the first period, 1943-1947. I'm planning to copy each letter and sew them to a larger page, with a stab-binding. The larger page in turn has two fold-outs, up and down like a letter itself. This packet will be bound into a concertina, I think. Each page with its included letter replication and fold outs is quite bulky; I think the concertina will be best, but I'm not certain. I'll post pictures as they become available.

Scrub oak leaf earrings

I remember these leaves from growing up in Florida-- the humble scrub oak, bent and twisted from the ocean breezes. I'll be adding a matching pendant soon, so stay tuned!

Redbud leaves

The redbud tree is easy to spot in early spring with its lovely soft purple blossoms. But in summer its leaves are beautiful, too-- heart-shaped with radiating veins. This new pendant celebrates the summer redbud!

Turning over new leaves...

Yes, hi! I'm still here! And still creating jewelry, although I admit that my daughter (5 months old now!) occupies much of my time. Not as much time for blogging now anyway, that's for sure.

Tomorrow I'll be at Arts Fair on the Square in Bloomington, 10-6. Come out and see my latest creations, like this necklace....

My favorite one thus far-- here I used a mix of Sorang Sompeng letters and Roman letters, with a few tonal diacritics thrown in for spice.

Another of my experiments with unusual scripts. This one is Sorang Sompeng, a script developed to write Sora, a language of central India. I think it has a whimsical quality to it, what with all the little loops and all. That said, not sure this piece uses it to its full potential. I like the second grouping of letters best-- they've got a sense of movement and fun that's missing from the first grouping. I'll be playing with this script more in the future....

Hello, all! I'm back! Not that I've gone anywhere-- I've just been...busy. But now I'm getting back to my creative work and hope to be able to share new things on a regular basis once again!

For Christmas, the philosopher got me a comprehensive tome all about the writing systems of the world. "Writing Systems of the World", I believe is the title. I had no idea there were so many! And so diverse! I immediately began concocting plans to use some of these in my work...the challenging question being, how? I don't know the languages most of them were devised to record, and many of the existing passages written in them are, well, not what I'd necessarily choose to feature in a calligraphy piece. A bit boring, frankly, and of limited interest to non-historians. Not art-inspiring, in a word.

So I began to work with the idea of using an abstraction of text, rather than a real text-- I don't know if you have the experience of trying read something in a dream, but when you try to focus on the letters, they're just a meaningless jumble. I have this dream often-- the most interesting, illuminating book, but I can't make out what it says! Unusual scripts would be excellent for this, I thought-- I can just use the form of text (nonsense letter jumbles, chosen for their visual appeal) in conjunction with layout and color to convey an idea, a mood, to evoke what the letters would say if they said anything at all. Dream-like and evocative.

I quickly found that this was at least as challenging as doing calligraphy based around a quote or poem. The letterforms and layout really have to stand on their own. What I mean is, sometimes when I do a piece, I find myself willing to evaluate the final product more kindly if I really like the quote. It's a weakness. Anyway, that can't happen here.

I've done a few pieces along these lines now, with mixed success. Here's the first of them. Actually, this one does say something, as the example text given in the book was from a folktale and I rather liked it. "Once there was a story, once upon a time", repeated 2 1/2 times. The script is Lontara, for Buginese, an Indonesian language. I'm very pleased with how this one turned out.

new work!

I'm overjoyed to announce that on January 12th we welcomed our daughter into the world!

Photo by Shannon Zahnle Wenger.

Regularly scheduled artistic activities will resume shortly. Between feedings.

Still here!

The philosopher pointed out yesterday that it's been nearly a month since my last update. Oh dear! So I'm popping in to reassure you that I am indeed still here. I have been on a bit of a hiatus, you see, because my first baby is due sort of any time now, and between the holidays and getting the house ready for its newest inhabitant, my studio has been in a state of disruption and nothing new has been made since I sent out my last Christmas orders. My mind, in short, has been on other things. Rest assured that I'll be back at it as soon as possible. In the meantime, have a happy new year and try to stay warm!

State of the Arts Gallery

I'm pleased to announce that my work is now available at State of the Arts Gallery in Olympia, Washington.

New items at Wandering Turtle!

I just delivered a fresh batch of goodies to the Wandering Turtle-- lots of earrings in all styles, from dyed paper and mosaic to wabi-sabi leaf earrings. Get 'em while the gettin's good! (I'm talking to you, Hoosiers!)

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)

...and now for something completely different. Hand-embossing is the brave new frontier I'm exploring lately. This piece involved several layers of embossing on creamy Arches text. The title, of course, is a reference to the ee cummings poem....

River of Fire card

No text on this one, just the beautiful serendipitous design. Sometimes words aren't needed.

Etsy store up and running again

Ok, I've officially resurrected my Etsy store to carry my new greeting cards, some original 2d works, and other papery goodness as-yet-unimagined. There's not much there just yet, but I'll be adding things at a reasonably steady pace, so do check in from time to time.

A. A. Milne card

Other than Winnie The Pooh, I hadn't read much Milne. He wrote all sorts of other things, you know, in particular mysteries. I recently began perusing the works of his available on Project Gutenberg, and came across a collection of essays-- some whimsical, some serious, all written in his characteristic style-- called "If I May". The quote featured on this card originates there, in a narrative piece written in the second person plural about luring a friend away from work to go on a day-long springtime walkabout through the countryside.

Of course, there are many times when one may wish to leave the road. Sometimes all one requires is a little encouragement.