Tuesday, April 29, 2008

on your feet

well, after my last blog, i have received a few emails from debby (jamie's mom) about feet & shoes, and i also discovered a shoe blog! debby today sent me these funny pics of shoes.



i also did some shoe browsing online. i found a neat pair of shoes. they are Prada, which means they are for rich people, only. here they are. ha! those of you who know me well know that i love some shoes. especially discount shoes.i finished my 2nd moss ball necklace. love it. i sent it to quirk already. it is bad ass. you just can't beat that moss, can you?

front:
back:



my new stone carving tool is here! it arrived tonight. i will set it up tomorrow. last night as i was unable to sleep (again) i came up with some really good ideas for using the stones. i need a color wheel to work them out; the thing i don't get it...where does the white go on the color wheel? i am psyched, people, about my work...and i will share any successes when/if they occur.



just wanted to get these few pics out there. funny! fun!

fermelange, mera dosti!

Saturday, April 26, 2008

bound

i am reading a book called Snow Flower and the Secret Fan which my friend Kristen Query gave me. It is about a chinese girl who has had her feet bound, her relationships and life. so i looked up some images of footbinding which are shocking. and gross. i have pair of shoes for bound feet that i bought in NYC's chinatown several years go. they are weird, yet beautiful with their embroidery. it is a fun thing for me to ask people what they think the shoes are...and when i tell them what they are, people don't believe me. believe, my friends. this was one crazy & sick thing they did in china. 1 out of 10 young girls died from footbinding back in the day. it was a terrible thing. and i have heard that the cleft in the foot was used, for...umm...men's pleasure. can you freaking imagine???? (nasty, dirty men!)




this is the necklace i was telling you about. i am very excited about it, though it has some technical difficulties i have to figure out. you can't tell what they are from this picture, but i will have to deal with that on monday. i am thrilled with the possibilities of future necklaces or brooches or whatever with this design. i love the color and am excited to do more with other stones. these are peridot. natural, uncut arizona peridot, faceted peridot, and a large lab-grown peridot in the center.


i received my 500 carats of red cubic zirconia today that i ordered from ebay. it is much smaller than i imagines, and i plan on weighing it on monday on the carat scale. i like the color very much. i am excited to cut it up and start some random faceting and see how it goes. i hope to achieve some sparkle with some funky facets, but since i have never done it i will just have to experiment. my new tool hasn't even come yet!



i worked some more in the yard today. i went to reem's creek nursery and bought a peach tree, since i had to buy 2 pear trees to cross pollinate and we don't have the room or the desire to have 2 pears. plus, i like peaches better. i also planted a shit ton of seeds in addition to the plantlets on the hill out back. now i will leave it alone and see what grows. i'll show you another pic in a month and we can all see the difference. hopefully, it will be amazing and satisfying. i'm very proud of the steps i dug in!



we noticed tonight that there is a bird's nest on the light for our back porch. the nest was there last year, but no one ever came to it. this year, we have a robin family living in it, which is exciting. too bad that it is too high for us to peek in!


the last book i read was one of my top favorites in a long time. it is called The Time Traveler's Wife. I bawled my eyes out at the end of this book. the characterization was fantastic. also, it made me think about my life and the people i love in my life. i felt so deeply while reading this book. furthermore, the author made you work to understand the time sequence of the narrative, and even though i was aware the whole time that i had to work to understand, the more i read, the more it became worth the work. i highly recommend this book.



that's about it for now. i hope everyone is having a great weekend doing fun stuff.

hugs

Thursday, April 24, 2008

not too muc

not too much going on, but some things. i spent the day yesterday going to a nursery with my parents to buy some plants. we had a nice time together! i then came home and dug and dug and weeded and planted. jamie mowed today...the yard is gonna look good. for now, it looks a little leggy, but it will fill out. pics of that coming soon.


kate, claire, and i went shopping tonight out at the dillard's that is now the big discount shop-o-rama. then we ate at papa's and beer, a mexican joint that was delicious. i especially liked the bean dip that came with the chips. as claire, said, "i'm sure it has lard in it!" all you have to do is see my swelling stomach right now and you would think about lard! we looked at more plants over at k-mart while we waited for our table. nice to hang out with the girls!



i've been able to make a bunch of new work for Obsidian Gallery out in tucson. i didn't think i had time, but i made time,and i am super glad. i really like this work, it is different for me, and also will be good for them to have work unlike other galleries. i hope they like it too!







i also am participating in a show in northeast harbor, maine at the Shaw Gallery this summer. it is about pop culture and i have been "assigned" sex, relationships, body image, etc. here is a little preview of my "engagement ring". it measures about 1.5" in diameter. in other words, it is HUGE. but soso pretty and pink! more to come on this, as i am having a really fun time making fun of things! just wait til you see what i do with the britney spears musical key chain i got on ebay last week. whoa!



i hope tomorrow to finish a new spectacular prong set necklace. i am super psyched about it, people. it totally kicks ass, and when it is finished i will post a pic to see what you think. i certainly am having a good time working with stones. it has opened up a whole new world of structure in my work, and the colors and shapes sure are exciting and enticing!

i've been getting up really early (mostly because i have been sleeping like crap) but that has enabled me to get to the studio early and get alot done. it feels really good. i am in a serious work mode...whether it is being at home in the yard like yesterday, or in the studio like all the other days. fun stuff. i hate it when the work day is over, though i do love coming home to jamie.

fermelenge, mera dosta!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

long time

well, it's been awhile. i just haven't been much in the mood. but here i am, reporting on a few things that have occurred since we last spoke.

jamie and i went to san francisco a few weeks ago. it was fab. i taught a stone setting class for 2 days and had a day and a half in addition to hang out with jamie. the class was great, i think the students learned a lot, and i liked them very much. it was super fun to be around people of different cultures, as that doesn't happen much in asheville. this is suzanne pugh, the head of the metalsmithing program at city college of san fran, my friend who set this class up. suzanne rocks!
we stayed at a great hotel, the baldwin, right near china town. it cost $80 a night and was totally worth it. clean and basic, but centrally located and comfortable. you could even sneak up to the roof for a glass of wine and some views! we loved having dim sum on our 1st day there.


we went down to fisherman's wharf and did some touristy stuff. fun to see the water right there, including a view of alcatraz. there were some huge barges going by as well. they have such a presence...large ships are very odd, it is weird to think of them being out at sea in a huge storm where they might seem small.


we went to an old fashioned arcade down there at fisherman's wharf. it was free, and pretty neat-o. i liked the freakiness of the games and the oddness of them as well. we played a few, including the kissing game. please note where ours landed. you had to kiss in front of the machine and it would judge your kiss for you!





we also hung out with an old friend from warren wilson, jonathan riggs. it was good to see him, and good to see him doing well at his IT job in the video game industry.


the sea lions like to hang out down by the water. they were really fun to watch, and funny too! one old grandpa got real grumpy and loud and caused quite a commotion as he re-settled his large self in a new sleeping spot. they looked so sleek when wet, and so scruffy when dry!


i saw this cool sculpture atop a building downtown. i also noted that the top of the building looks a lot like the marriage of metal i used to make. pretty nifty!


these weird guys (1st photo) in the game arcade reminded me of this weird guy(2nd photo) i photographed in india in an old palace, the prag mahal, in bhuj. do you guys see the similarity as well? creepy! they were both encased in glass boxes, and seemed so out of place and strange.

jamie went to see the new rolling stones movie at the IMAX which he enjoyed, and he hung out with his friend and went to the haight ashbury area and did some shopping. we also ate french food, mexican food, a vietnamese sandwich, greek food...delicious!! it was a great trip!

in jewelry news, i have been featured in a magazine in taiwan, DFUN. i am not sure when it comes out, but it sure is exciting, as the layout looks so great! i am thrilled! my 1st magazine feature!
dammit, i cannot figure out how to save the color correctly since this came in pdf format. actually, there is no blue in the picture, it is a red stripe in the background and it looks killer! maybe later i can get it right but for now, here is the sample.

also, in the july issue of jewelry artist magazine, i will be featured in the up and coming jewelers article. i had an interview for this article way back when i was on my way to SNAG. i also have done a how-to project for this issue, which i turned in on friday. i am psyched about it! here is a pic of my project.


i also ordered my new lapidary tools tonight, so i can start carving and slicing stones. man, o man, am i excited about this puppy! i cannot wait to start some carving.! yee haw!
well, last but not least, i want to send out a happy birthday to my grandma, who turn 90 years old this week. can you believe it? we had a very nice party for her today, and a fun weekend with relatives in from NYC (my uncle victor) and ohio (uncle bob and aunt donna). also delightful to lay eyes on my sister in from knoxville with her brood as well. love all ya!

fermelenge!