Recent news – August 2015

August 7, 2015August 7, 2015 ~ Seeking Spirit Designs ~ 1 Comment

I’m slowly easing into the rhythm of daily life after a weeklong Nia intensive training in Santa Fe. Nia, a form of dance fitness, is one of my other passions and expressive outlets. I am now a Nia White Belt, which is the first level of certification for anyone who wants to teach or wants a greater depth of understanding of the principles and practice. I am so grateful for my experience there – it was both healing and enriching. I’m also feeling really inspired, and I already see that leaking into my creative life.

I brought a few of my jewelry pieces with me to the training and ended up selling three things. I now have learned to bring more items at similar events in the future, and also to have a good stock of business cards with me at all times. One of my classmates is a successful jewelry designer and I hope to connect with her more soon.

I’ve been working on updating my website! If you have a chance, please look at it and tell me what you think. I’ve been working with a friend on online marketing and she suggested that I work on making the home page more visual. In any case, I had fun playing with the images.

I signed up for a craft fair in September, and I’ve been looking at the possibility of selling some of my pieces on consignment at local shops.

I also submitted both poetry and art for consideration for the 2017 We’Moon calendar and datebook. I’m excited for more opportunities like this – no matter what the outcome, it’s good practice and exposure.

Also, I got proofs of my oracle cards! I made the originals with pencil, pen, and watercolor two years ago as part of a project. Since then, I have digitized them in Photoshop. I’m still working on editing and rewriting the card descriptions, but hope to have them ready and available to sell at some point soon!

Illustrations of Words

July 20, 2015July 20, 2015 ~ Seeking Spirit Designs ~ Leave a comment

Lately, I’ve been enjoying illustrating words. For myself, I find them encouraging. I also love the painting process, of putting my brush to paper, deepening the shades of color, finding my own balance between abstract and expressionistic.

So far, I have painted these words: (click for full size images)

What other words would you like to see? What inspires you?

Update and Sale on Etsy

July 16, 2015July 16, 2015 ~ Seeking Spirit Designs ~ Leave a comment

I have a weeklong Nia (dance fitness) intensive training starting on July 25. I’m nervous and excited. Dance is another one of my creative outlets, and it also is great exercise. In the meantime, from today through July 23, I’m having a sale on Etsy – 15% off with the coupon code NEWFOLLOW. I just added a few new items to my shop, too. www.etsy.com/shop/seekingspiritdesigns.

Also, I’m looking into printing some of my drawings and two-dimensional art pieces to make them into cards and larger prints. I just ordered one set (for proof purposes) of my oracle cards and should get them next week. Exciting times!

Seeking Spirit, Seeking Art

June 15, 2015 ~ Seeking Spirit Designs ~ Leave a comment

One year ago, I felt like I had lost my spirit and my sense of Spirit. I had worked so hard to find her before, and it was as if she had slipped through my fingers again. I was in a deep depression and often felt like darkness was encroaching.

As the months went by, I searched and found spirit in small moments: through moments in nature, through dance, through painting, through wrapping wire around stones. The frequency of those moments grew, fed by my desire to build a new life for myself. It was new, and at the same time, it had its roots in my childhood, when my artroom was my main playground. I decided that it was time to truly commit to my art. It was time to follow the path that I had hesitated to take time after time, thinking that I should perhaps pursue something else.

Now, a year later, I have more moments of discovery. My life is a process of seeking and finding my own spirit, and the greater Spirit around me. Art is, and has always been, a part of my life. Life is art. I seek, I lead, I create, and I follow.

My jewelry making journey

June 7, 2015June 7, 2015 ~ Seeking Spirit Designs ~ Leave a comment

When I was in late elementary school through middle school, my father dated an artist – a potter, to be specific. She made everything from teapots to bowls to rattles, all with a fanciful and semi-Southwestern flair.

I always got the feeling that she didn’t know what to do with me as an adolescent. However, she did know what to do with me as an artist.

Her studio was an artist’s playground. Of course, she had clay. She also had the materials for stained glass, jewelry making, collage, and much more. I could spend hours there creating. She also showed and taught me some things: how to make a bowl from a mold. How to solder stain glass together. How to make earrings with beads and headpins.

Of the techniques she taught me, jewelry making stuck with me most. I made several pairs of earrings and put them up for sale at my dad’s yoga studio. While it would be years before I would return to the basic wirewrapping techniques, they somehow stayed with me. Years, later, my boyfriend’s mother gave me a wirewrapped pendant. I loved it and wondered if I could make something like it. She gave me some copper wire to experiment with.

I didn’t until I held a piece of blue kyanite in my hand, a stone that my mentor told me would be good for psychic protection. “Are you going to wire wrap that?” She asked. I resolved to try, and used the copper wire to wrap the piece, complete with a spiral in the center. And that was my more recent beginning with playing with wire and stones.

I wrapped a few stones after that, and then resolved to really learn and refine my techniques this past fall. I took classes. I spent hours experimenting and practicing, and discovered what worked for me.

Agate Pendant I made after taking a class in February

Now, I have my own materials and a solid collection of stones. I am still learning and playing. Sometimes, I have a design in mind. At other times, the wire and stones speak to me and turn into something that surprises me.

Sometimes, I think about when I started making jewelry, how exciting and rewarding it was to create a finished piece. And honestly, it still is. It’s often the activities that I enjoyed when I was younger that suit me best now as an adult.

Quartz and Copper Pendant from March 2015

Someday, I hope to have my own studio, full of all kinds of arts and craft supplies. There, perhaps I will teach someone else a technique, and this will inspire them to create for years to come.

I’ve been working up to this…

June 5, 2015 ~ Seeking Spirit Designs ~ Leave a comment

First arts & crafts fair!

May 10, 2015May 10, 2015 ~ Seeking Spirit Designs ~ Leave a comment

My first arts & craft fair yesterday was unfortunately interrupted by the weather, intense gusts of wind that threatened to topple over my entire display. Also, it was unseasonably cold for Albuquerque in May.

However, I did it! I learned so much about how to prepare and what to expect. I made a few sales, too. I met other vendors and make some good connections. I need to practice setting up the table and display – I didn’t anticipate the amount of time it would take.

I’ve had fun gathering my display items together – I found a few pieces at yard sales, one at a discount store, and I gathered the branches from a local park. I’ve been enjoying looking at objects in a different way and imagining how I can repurpose them. I absolutely love the dish that I used to show off my rings:

While it was disappointing to have the fair end so abruptly, I’m really grateful to now have a solid inventory of jewelry. It’s been good for me to get into the rhythm of creating. I’m looking forward to future craft fairs – and hopefully, if they’re outside, the weather will cooperate.