At IU the first time you cut your self in a metalsmithing class they tell you, “Now you’re a metalsmith!”  I have had more cute than I can count over the years, but I also picked up a few scars along the way.  In my advanced class while I was using the flex shaft to grind a sharp edge off a vase my hand slipped and I got a rather bad friction burn at the base of my right thumb.  I am very proud of this scar because every time I see it it reminds me of my passion for metalsmithing and all the hard work I have put into it and I how much I love it.

I know this seems like a strange topic but its something I have been thinking about for a while and I thought I would share.  Thats all for now!

I know its been forever…again. I was really busy with school, moving, jewelry projects, and health problems in April and May and so its been a long time since I posted. I have decided to try to live by my art this summer, and so far even though I have gotten a lot of great feedback its been a rough road.

My newest jewelry obsession has been making what I call Branch Pendants out of semi precious stone and twisted sterling silver wire. I have had a great response from customers about these and I absolutely love making them!Due to some health problems that I am resolving right now I was not able to go to Italy. I should be there right now, but instead am back in my beautiful home town near Nashville, Indiana. I’m living in the large studio on my mother’s property and trying to fix a nice place for my self to be an artist in the next few months. My goal is to do a lot of painting and make a lot of jewelry this summer which I can leave here to be sold (hopefully) by shops I’m trying to arrange now. If you own a shop owner then let me know and I will send you my info

Since I’m not going to Italy my boyfriend and I are going to spend a week in Paris on the way to Cairo in August. I’m SO excited! When I was about 11 years old a friend of my mom’s backpacked around France and I decided that I was going to do the same after I graduated high school. That didn’t work out and so I’m looking forward to finally seeing a small part of France. Also our favorite movie is Moulin Rouge and we are going to go take a look at the out side (cuz its really ridiculously expensive to get into it). I also cant wait to see the Victory statue at the Louvre! When I was a freshman I took a class on ancient art and absolutely fell in love with this Greek statue. There is something so incredibly beautiful and touching about this headless statue that it has stayed in my memory all these years.

A few weeks ago I participated in the annual paint out at the T. C. Steel State Memorial and I greatly enjoyed it! Being as busy as I was last semester I had not painted in months and it was great to get back into it. T. C. Steel was an artist who was an Impressionist in the early part of the last century and fell in love with the beautiful scenery of Brown County. He eventually made his home here and was followed by other gifted and well known artists of his time there by founding the artist colony which I now call home. Unfortunately I ran out of time to finish my painting but I had SO much fun I cant wait to get back into painting again!

Also next weekend (June 6-7) I will be in an art fair at the Fig Tree Gallery and Coffee Shop.  (click on the link to get directions and such) I hope to see some of you there!

I know Im a little late on this but I just came across this video that I had to share! It shows 8 ways to reuse a 2 liter soda bottle…I am especially impressed with the one that reduces the water used in the tank of the toilet. So check it out!

Also I found this handy list of 50 things to do to save help save the earth…like wash your clothes in warm or cold water to save energy on heating water.  I like #17 in particular.

I know…I know…its been to long…

But to make up for my lack of posting I have lots of things to talk about, unfortunately I have a ton I have to get done in the next two weeks include move so it will be short!

First, as I mentioned before, this semester all the metals students made a piece of jewelry to represent a faculty member in the school of fine arts. I chose the wonderful Yara Culver as my faculty member and made a pair of earrings about her work and life.

Every semester a Canvas magazine is published with art work and is distributed around the state and I have two pieces of my work in the current issue. My Leaves of Brown County and Grandmas Virgina Bluebells were selected so check that out!

Bill Clinton visited IU a few weeks ago and I was able to hear his speech about improving the economy. I had amazing seats and even though He was three hours late I enjoyed every minute of Bill’s speech. It was actually quite amazing I was totally exosted from standing in line and then waiting for hours and didnt expect to get much out of the speech, but as soon as he started talking I was hanging on his every word. To see some video clips of his speech click here or here.

I was in a women’s art show in Bloomington in the end of March that was alot of fun. I also had the luck of having my aunts in town at the time. My Aunt M’lou is a silversmith who first encuraged me to become a silversmith after seeing some of the jewelry I made out of my father’s copper scraps. My aunt Genny also makes beaded art and jewelry, which is mostly what I had in my booth.

Also I dont know if I have talked about this much here yet, but I have decided to take a semester off and am heading back to Cairo in the fall. I am in the process of trying to find a job so let me know if you have any ideas! My dream would be to work for Azza Fahmy but only time will tell what happens!

Thats all for now, I have to go try to get a paper done!

Hi again…its been longer than I wanted since Ive posed last but I have gotten the “plague” that is going around campus and have not felt like doing much.

First of all I wanted to share this link that was just sent to me with photos from the Field of Vision show we had here last fall.  Its fun to see the exhibit again as well as the opening.  I’m even in one of the pictures talking to Robert Banes!

One of the few things I have felt up to doing to making earrings!  I think I have made about 40 pair of earrings in the last few days, so that has been a lot of fun.  I’m going to be in a craft show at the Showers Building to benefit the women’s shelter here in Bloomington at the end of March.  (Ill post more details about that later.)  I’m going to be selling mostly earrings as well as (hopefully) some prints of my watercolors and maybe a few more things if I can think of them to try to raise money for my Venice trip.

Well thats all for now, as I said I have not done much in the last week or so and my life has not been very interesting.  Hope that if your here on campus you can avoid this nasty virus!

Ok so after staying up all night working on my Etsy store…I had to go back and correct some mistakes that my tired brain made. But now I can say that its up and running…with not great photos their what I have now.

Any way Etsy has these lovely buttons that link to my page…and your going to get my first one!

Hi again! I just finished listing several of my earrings on Etsy so visit my shop
and take a look! I will be adding more pieces soon, I have more ready to post but am to tired to do so tonight! Im really excited about going to Italy…but am freaking out about how to pay for it…so if you have any ideas please let me know! Ok well thats all for now…night night!

Well I just got an e-mail saying I got into the Venice program this summer!  I really want to do this and am very excited…now I just have to get the money together to pay for it!

When I was in the 6th grade we had a school trip to Chicago and I raised the money to go by selling hand drawn greeting cards.  This time Im going to be selling earrings.  So I will be posting pictures on Etsy tonight of some earrings I will be selling to raise money.  Please buy some earrings so I can go it Italy!

OK Ill admit it!  I am a huge Martha Stewart fan.  I check out her website every week or so for fun DIY/crafty ideas.  This one I love and since its about showing off jewelry I thought I would share it with you!  My favorite is the tree branch display which I have seen on other design websites and wanted to make, but there are several other fun ideas as well!  However I feel the need to warn that silver should be stored in sealed bags to help prevent tarnish.  Enjoy!

For those of you not in the silver loop…the price of silver just went up A LOT!  This makes me sad on many levels, but mostly because I have an awesome design for a head piece that requires a ton of silver…and now I ‘ know if I will be able to make it.  I have been wanting to do a more involved piece for a while now, and came up with a design and concept that I like but perhaps it is not to be.

On another note IU has this amazing program to study in Venice, Italy in the summer that I have applied to.   Unfortunately not very many people have applied and I have heard that this may be the last year they will do this wonderful program.  I hope that I get to do it!  I wont know for another few weeks if I got in or not, but the lack of applicants makes my chances  a lot better!  Then all I have to do is come up with a ton of money!

I found this pic online today…hope I get to see it in person!