I’ve been on a quest to diversify my jewelry inventory and add to my available collection. In this case, this has meant playing with bracelet designs.
It’s been fun to pick out beads and come up with different ideas.
Sometimes I play with the design several times before it feels right.
Jewelry design is such an intuitive process for me, and it’s so satisfying to see the finished products. I’m looking forward to making more!
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.
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.
Just a few of my recent works. I’ve been busy learning how to market myself on Facebook and Instagram while also consistently making new pieces. I’ve sold a few items on Etsy, too. I’m loving what I’m learning and realizing that it takes a lot of persistence and patience! I am determined to continue doing what I love and sharing it with others.
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.
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.
Seeking Spirit Designs 