daughter of the earth, wind and sky

this is a collar necklace created with a heart theme.  this one is in fine silver enameled with blue and green glass.  the mother earth is depicted as a pregnant figure reclining under the roots of the trees, with her arm curling up and around the sky.  the red heart at the base of the image is the incubating baby.  this is a show-stopping piece!

love is as ancient as the gods and the trees

this is a piece close to my heart.  i love the three metals in the same piece.  the body is a bronze model of a  worm-eaten piece of wood  inlaid with copper.  happy hapy february!

wing and a prayer in silver

 i love using pure silver for gifts of love.  it so expresses the purity of the sentiment!   

continuing with my heart theme for february, this was last bebruary's heart that i never posted.  i seem to get a little crazy this time of year while i'm gearing up to have plenty of new work for the annual Stutz Artists Open House, in april.  it makes me get off track, sometimes, forgetting the little things like posting.  this is the second version of a piece i designed for my sister.  it has the serenity prayer on the back...a prayer that has special significance for both of us.  she wears in on a 5mm wide silver neck ring on which it is stunning, if i do say so myself!

the original 'a wing and a prayer' pieces were bronze, and a little smaller.  the heat patina here shows up, here, very well.

heart of my heart

eacch year in febroary, i make at least one new heart piece. each new piece has been inspired by a gift of love.   this year i continued with the theme of heart defined by angel wings, which, to me have always meant transcendence, combined with the lotus flower, representing the heart chakra, the center, in the body, of joy and love.  after trying several diffferent things, i finally setteled on finishing these with a heat patina.  the copper reacts with heat from my torch with various colors ranging from intense blue through metallic greens, pinks, rose, and eventually black.  the results are sometimes unpredictable, and hard to photograph.  i said i'd keep you posted, here are the finished pieces, titled 'heart of my heart'.

heart of my heart

here's the heart/wing pendant with the lotus, after contructing it in copper clay and firing it.  the copper finish is lovely, but i have been experimenting in glass enamel finishes, and also heat patina.  glass enamel has proved problematic, i think because the piece is not of consistant thickness, and the design is raised.  i've had some nice results with the enamel, but not what i expected.  soldier on....i'll keep you posted!

new project for the month of love

new project, new month new year!  i'm working on a special project designed for a group of women to give to their yoga teachers.  i am so in love with gifts of love!  especially in february!  this is the design i came up with for them:  wing/heart shape for love and trancensence, and the lotus for the heart chakra.  it will be in copper, and probably enameled, and with a stone in the middle of the flower.  i'll keep you posted!