Art Walk

I wanted to blog but didn't have a topic...until I flipped my calendar page to February and there was this amazing orange glass work by Chihuly & I knew I had to blog about art...so let's take a little art walk.

Our weather today in the San Francisco bay area is ridiculously beautiful at 75 degrees. I keep seeing stories in the paper about Kentucky, Missouri and many other states suffering through ice storms, making our completely unexpected summer weather here even more unbelievable. So to all those of you saying "grrrr...." here is a huge burst of fresh, warm & breezy sea air....whooooosh!" (there's a bunch a love in that whoosh as well.)


Our first art window featues Dale Chihuly's Cadmium Orange with Blue Lips...stunning. My calendar has a photo of a different angle and it looks like a completely different piece of art. I particularly love the range of light to deep orange trimmed by that blue which is nearly purple. Great way to start the art walk.

"And now for something completely different!" You MUST visit Claudia Lynch's website to experience this Corset Shoe and many others. She produces fabulous art prints of the most clever shoes with stories to go with them in a mood Mickey Spillane created in his mystery detective stories.

The story for this shoe starts out with "I' already spent days boning up on her case" (...bones...corsets, get it?). Another favorite is a checkered boot with a story that starts with "I knew all about her checkered past". You just haven't seen anything like her clever work, please visit her by clicking her name above.

And now, a natural work of art, Marilyn Monroe. I can't say much more than I just feel good when I see her beauty in a photograph. My nephew is a fan as well and I found him the

best book for Christmas by an early and close friend of Marilyn's who took many photos when she was still Norma Jeane...and yes, he says, there was originally an "e" at the end of Norma Jean....and that gives you a clue as to the intimacy of their relationship.

I finish with two prints from Kees van Citters, a Dutch painter I discovered at the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts a few years back. His large canvasses with brilliant colors, many against black backdrops, are just out of this world.

I mean, LOOK at the stretch he captures in these two dancers...amazing! This concludes our art walk, but I want to tell you I will be featured on the Hot Rocks Glass Jewelry blog in March. The exposure will be much appreciated.

And I'm adding a Hearts theme to my RockerJewlz jewelry line that already features Cupcakes. I thorougly enjoyed
mixing these two together for some of my Valentine jewelry and decided to have heart pieces year round (as well as cupcakes) since there is such a wide variety of components.

Pink heart jewelry will be the most prominent. And Hearts are also now a theme in my MomsArt shop as well. Thank you for joining me on this Sunday art walk...hope you enjoyed losing yourself in some beauty for a while.

Stoned Birds & Paris

A couple of entries ago I promised to talk about Paris and Stoned Birds. My dad attempted to find a home exchange situation so that we could visit Paris for a few weeks in trade for his place in California.

A couple of people responded but no deals ever came through. Now, who knows why it didn't happen. It was such a great idea as it would mean we'd only have to scrounge up airfare and fun money. I don't even count food allowance 'cuz we gotta eat no matter where we are!

So in place of Paris we've just been having other fun like visiting the Chihuly exhibit (see August 23rd blog entry) in San Francisco, munching warm dinners al fresco during sunset at our favorite winery and soon to attend San Francisco's Fleet Week. So we are surely making up for our lack of European escapades but there is
always hope and as someone said in a movie, "there's always Paris!".

I'm just hooked on Payton Jett's glass work talent. I mention her in every blog but it's because she keeps life fresh by accepting new challenges.

I nabbed several of her glass birds recently and 3 of them ended up in my Stoned Birds necklace, thusly named due to only stones being used in this piece...no other materials.



Originally I had a sterling clasp, but then decided to use either glass or stone for the clasp, so it awaits that final component before I list it in my Etsy shop.

Another awesome group of lampwork glass beads is this acorn set from Cassie Donlen. I just had to hold these beauties for a while before I could let them go.





I kept the set simple, just adding chunky bumpy Bali
silver to reflect the bead bumps. This photo captures their awesome shiny iridescent quality. The colors are chocolate and caramel, but when you get them in brighter light, you discover the faint plum iridescence in the chocolate and the hint of gold in the caramel.

Simply spectacular.

I close with a shot of my most fun
design this week, the Royal Opera Necklace. I've been dying to work with these handcrafted felt balls I got on Etsy and Sigaliot's polymer squares from Israel.

The colors and designs are so yummy. I connected them all with various sizes of round and oval sterling silver rings, some smooth, and others oval. A big crescent moon from the Karen Hill Tribe is the focal point.

Originally intended to be opera length, it didn't quite get there, but almost at 34 inches...enough so that even with a beehive hairdo, this easily slips over your head so there is no need for a clasp. Come on over to Etsy and see the complete necklace.

Finishing up a wonderful week of vacation with my husband. We started with one goal and that was to visit his parents. We ended up seeing nearly the entire family which was a great surprise and celebrated several birthdays in one shot. On the spur of the moment, we headed over to my dad's since it was just a couple of hours away.

It was wonderful to introduce my husband to our little secret spot at a country winery that leaves it's beautiful padded wrought iron chairs and tables outside after hours. Seated on a small hill overlooking hundreds of acres of vineyards and mountains, we took a warm dinner to munch while the sun was setting. A few cigars and drinks later, we began to count the stars one by one and await the new moon.

Now THAT's a vacation and a great surprise to add to our travels.

**UPDATE: October 16th: I listed "Stoned Birds" choker mentioned in the post above. You can view it by clicking Etsy.

Punkies and pinkies

Punkies are in season...that's what I call lampwork glass pumpkins. These earrings are up for sale at RockerJewlz on Etsy and feature Lezlie Belanger's torch work. The punkie set below is from Payton Jett that I'm working with right now. Check back to see what they become. The update from "My 1ooth post" on August 19th is that the bird jewelry mentioned is awaiting one final piece...a custom glass toggle clasp!


I love how the necklace turned out...it has 3 glass birds in it and no silver so it just ripped my heart to add a sterling clasp. I used only stones and glass in the makeup so in a flash of brilliance from an artist, I am going to try a handmade glass toggle clasp that is soon on its way to me. I'll be sure to update you when I receive it and place it on its new home.


Visited Target store yesterday and the end caps feature pink goodies for breast cancer awareness. Whomever is heading marketing for this campaign has really stepped it up the past couple of years. I mean, when Dyson announced a pink vacuum cleaner, I thought how could anyone top THAT???

I need to replace my Brita water pitcher. Brita and Vitapur each have pink ones...wow, that would be wild, but I highly doubt it's appropriate in a household with me and 2 men!

So I might have to steer towards the pink garden tool set as I KNOW they won't be using them OR doing the gardening. Ha ha. Oh, I didn't say "Chihuly" yet today, so there you go. Gotta get those bloggers here, you know.

I'm getting bolder in ordering larger quantities of bead and component supplies. I just got a big batch of Bali sterling toggle clasps for all the cupcake beads that are being made for me so it feels good to trust that it's not just a big bill facing me, but greater sales.

So with that, I invite you to visit me at www.RockerJewlz.com and www.RockerJewlz.Etsy.com for your jewelry viewing pleasure.

When next you return, my goal is to talk about Paris and Stoned Birds...did I get your attention?

Locked and loaded

Do you recognize these beads? They were featured in my blog entry titled "I know I know" from August 13th.

Well, they have been transformed into a full 3 piece set of jewelry titled Treasure based on the focal that reminds me of a find in a treasure chest. It's chock full of color...thanks to my friend telling me to get more light flowing through it for better photographs!

I'm finishing the photography today and should list this on Etsy by tomorrow so be sure to visit me there to see the end result. I'm still surprised at the range of depth and color from light to dark that all work together. Quite spectacular, or "delicious" my friend tells me.

So I'm beginning to think that with all the traffic that has come to this blog since I posted my previous entry regarding Chihuly that I should just say Chihuly in every other post as that seems to be what gets people here! 42 visitors in one day...uh...people, from 5 a day to 42...that's quite a jump!

Hey, locked and loaded...moving on from the jewelry world and into our real little world of every day life I have to share something with you that just blew my mind. How many of you know that on foil and plastic wrap boxes there is a little lock on each end to keep the product from rolling out of the box???

I did NOT know this...neither did my sis when I asked her and I just couldn't beLIEVE it! I've included close-up shots for you and have to say that "press" as instructed just doesn't work: you have to get in there with a knife to slice two sides of the tab to get it to pressing state....so simple and unbelievable that it's been there all this time.

I mean, come on, who hasn't had a roll slip out and onto the floor. Now, what's the rule on THAT? 2 second rule? 5 second rule?

So it just goes to show you that you never know what you'll learn when you visit this blog. Gosh I'm just full of important knowledge...LOL.

Okay, gang, I want to hear your comments. I should take a poll on this box lock situation just to see how many of you were in the dark with me!

By the way, the day AFTER we visited the (I'll say it again:) Chihuly exhibit there was a gigantic 3 day concert in Golden Gate Park called Outside Lands...just below the museum we had visited. I didn't find out about it until its first day was completed. I don't know how I missed that when checking the area activities to decide what day to visit Chihuly. I only knew that I didn't want to go into San Francisco on a Friday or into a weekend....and this is why!

I feel so Chihuly

The Dale Chihuly blown glass exhibit at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco was a marvel. Left is the Macchia Forest, and below, the chandelier room. There were 11 rooms in all. Black walls and ceilings and dark floors were the perfect dramatic backdrop for the beautifully illuminated glass.

I spent most of my time in these 2 rooms. This may sound crazy, but the red chandelier? I wanted to consume it like liquid so it could become part of me. I know that sounds completely bizarre but that is how I felt...isn't art strange! The color of it, the striations in the glass tubes, the power of it...just wanted it to be part of me. No art has made me feel that before. These photos are from Chihuly's website and you can see more photos of this particular installation and others at www.Chihuly.com.

I didn't bother taking a camera and was surprised that snapping pics was acceptable as long as no flash was used. I spied one woman's photo on her camera and with just the lighting in the room against all that black, her shots turned out well, but I figure, hey, I'll just buy the book with the professional shots.

The Art of Chihuly book features this particular exhibit and was for sale at $45 which isn't bad but I told my son I knew I could get it for less online and I did. As soon as I got home, I searched and found a hardback copy still in shrink wrap for only $23 plus $4 for shipping...such a deal. Now I can relive the beauty and emotions whenever I wish.

My dad drove up from the central coast to join me and my son at the museum and he treated us to lunch afterwards in the museum cafe which featured all fresh food, cold & hot, and the prices weren't bad at all. We ate outside in the garden area.

The weather was overcast and wonderfully cool, just right for tee-shirt attire. It was fun to watch birds, from little Brewer's blackbirds to pigeons to one big seagull, munch on whatever lunch bits people dropped, be it on purpose or accidental. From our seats we could see the odd, multi-storied domes of the nearly finished construction of the new Steinhart Aquarium.

The domes are dotted with small round windows or solar panels maybe, and the rest is covered with what looks like moss. In the newspaper today an article stated this quote:"it is supported by recycled steel, insulated with recycled blue jeans and topped with a living roof." Interesting photos can be found here: Steinhart Aquarium.

Well, I highly recommend you visit the Chihuly site above to see if he's going to be near you any time soon. It's something not to be missed!

Can you say Chihuly?

Okay, so Chihuly (chi as in chick...chi-hoo-lee) is Dale Chihuly the amazing glass blower. Yes, gang, these photos are of glass art!

He no longer works the glass due to one blinded eye & an arm injury, but he directs his team to make his vivid dreams become spectacular realities...and his work is just across the bay from me in San Francisco...I'm so excited I'll be able to see his work on display for a mere $15 at the DeYoung!


It's kind of funny because these 2 photos were taken of displays he installed at Kew Botanical Gardens outside of London, England...just a couple of years after I visited London! So I never saw them but knew nothing of him at the time anyway, so I'm much happier about seeing them now that I've seen awesome work on his website (click his name above) and a t.v. documentary.

Since I live in a world of glass beads, I find his pieces breathtaking as he has glass blown into ridiculously simple or intensely detailed objects. You should see him freely tossing the bobbing balls (left) into the water as if they couldn't break...eeek! I had to laugh recently when "Frasier Crane" on "Frasier" yelled at his father (who nearly knocked over the Chihuly bowl on display in Frasier's apartment)..."don't hit the Chihuly!" Imagine what panic he would have felt seeing these glass bobs tossed!

On a different vein, although the bay area was surrounded on all four sides at one point by very distant wildfires, we still had heavy, smoky air for several days that blotted the blinding rays of the sun with a kind of gray haze that reduced the view of the sun to a deep orange cutout in the sky. Rather an end-of-the-world feel. What a sigh of relief it was to see patches of blue sky return!

I'll be playing Auntie to my godson next week and won't have much access to the internet or my beads, so my business goal is to get my icky taxes reported and to sketch and draw quite a bit so I can get rolling on listing drawings on www.MomsArt.etsy.com along with prints of my son's and my mom's drawings as well. What are the subjects? Hmmmm...welllll okay, just a hint...anatomy and botany...nope, that's all you get and you'll just have to savor the sweet ache of anticipation until then!

I'll be shipping jewelry and craft supplies Monday, July 7th and then again around July 16th.

Until then, ta.