#beadkeepers

I made this video to explain why I need your vote to win the Martha Stewart American Made contest.  I really want to support the arts community in South Florida, and this contest will help me do that.  I need your votes to win, so please watch, and consider voting for me.  THANKS!

February was a blur...hence the title. For the past seven years, my good friend and wonderful artist Gisela Pferdekamper and I have joined forces to hold a wildlife art show benefiting the good works of the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation. This show, aptly called "Wild Things" began as a small, word of mouth event featuring a few of our local arts friends, showing works inspired by nature, held in Gisela's converted barn/studio. Our first year attracted about 100 folks and raised a few hundred dollars for RSCF. Fast-forward to 2013 and the show featured 18 artists from around the country and attracted over 350 guests, raising several THOUSAND dollars for RSCF! We done good! Each year the show gets bigger and better, yet still retains a "down home" appeal we are so proud of. Gisela's barn/studio is an ecclectic, wonderful space, tucked off a dirt road in the wilds of Loxahatchee, surrounded by a lush garden landscape, wandering albino peacocks, and a molluccan cockatoo named Pepitta greeting you as you come in. Gisela and I are so proud of this show and the fact that we hold it each year with a budget of around $500.00 (thank Heaven for our volunteers, friends and sponsors!).  

  This year's show was a BLAST. Great art, music, food (thank you International Polo Club and Wanderers Club Wellington), and more. Please visit our Flickr page for pics of the event. Planning and preparing for the show pretty much obsesses me for the bulk of January, and recovering (my word for "accounting") takes me through to the middle of February. When it's all over I heave a sigh of relief and immediately begin imagining next year's show. I'm a glutton for punishment! < />

In the meantime, I am so thrilled to be showing at the Copper Frog Gallery in New Jersey. Just sent them a box full of goodies, soon to hit their shelves. I hope they like the selection, and look forward to joining the CFG family. One of my favorite jewelry designers, Staci Klinger Smith also shows there, so neat to have my work alongside hers....I anxiously await reviews....

I also just sent a box to Plum Gallery in St. Augustine, one of my favorite spots on the planet. Karen Sheridan has created such a wonderful space on Avilla Street, right in historic downtown. The gallery is gorgeous, full of light and filled with wonderful works, including Karen's beautiful Key West inspired paintings. I am always looking for any excuse to visit St. Augustine...I may just have to head North to see what she thinks of the new work I just sent her...

Working on new designs as well--exploring steel wire bundles and color. I'm experimenting with Gisela using steel wire, glaze, and clay. Her kiln is loaded and I can't wait to see if my ideas worked or not. Will keep you posted, the firing is today. I've posted a couple pictures here of the first rings I've made featuring the wire bundles. The rusted steel wire ring is my favorite. I love rust, and steel rusts beautifully. Add MaryAnn Carroll's enamel copper discs and you get a gorgeous ring. The other ring is aluminum, with blue enamel steel bundle and a copper enamel accent. More to come.....

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  Finally, a ring I made right after this month's rather explosive celestial events. This "Asteroid" ring is created from a lump of black quartz druzy I set in sterling silver and brass, wth 14k gold nugget accents. I love this...very fun to wear and full of sparkle and mystery.

I'm fiddling with the layout of the blog (obviously).  I've changed it a gazillion times in the past few days and still haven't really hit on a look I'm in love with.  Layouts are important to us "Artsy" types, and I can't seem to get this one quite right.  The cookie-cutter templates that come with Blogger aren't doing it for me, and creating my own is frustrating me to DEATH!  I'm trying to tie the blog to the overall look of my website (www.beadkeepers.com), hence the stripes.  The skull image is from my house.  One of my favorite skulls--a horse skull that I coated with copper paint and patina.  I'm going to leave this for a bit...see if it "grows" on me.

I have been happily busy lately, both with my work at the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation and with my jewelry designing.  RSCF is in full baby mode, with young marmosets and antelope everywhere.  Not so good for the parrots this year--we had such a mild winter that the birds never got the "trigger" to breed that changing seasons provide.  No cold weather, just too warm all year.  So, we have NO FERTILE EGGS this year, for the first time in over 8 years.  In a way this is a good thing--our colony of red-browed Amazon parrots (the rarest Brazillian Amazon parrot) is at capacity and we are in the midst of creating a new program with organizations in Brazil and the United States to better manage the species in captivity.  In reality, we need this year's freedom to move animals and build new enclosures without handfeeding babies every 90 minutes.

And, selfishly, this works for me 'cause for the first time in FOREVER I can work in my studio more!  I've been obsessed with geodes and druzy lately, creating rings, bracelets and pendants using druzy, geodes and agate slices.  I get them from my favorite supply website, Objects and Elements.  The mini-geodes are so cool, great for rings.  I've also fallen in love with leather again, working with a great leather buckle cuff by Tandy.  The agate slices look fantastic set on leather, I hold them in place with disks of metal (brass, copper, aluminum, silver).  Simple, and shows the stone so nicely!!!  All cold-connected with micro screws.  I am cold-connecting everything these days--I'm going to have to re-aquaint myself with my torch soon so I don't forget how it works!  I did solder the little bronze baby to the setting for the carnelian druzy ring, so I'm not completely helpless yet...

I've been really blessed to work with some wonderful galleries and designers this year.  Lady Sibylla in Blue Ridge, GA is fantastic, run by super-woman Mary LeRoy.  She's been so supportive of my work, gobbling up all my new designs.  Plum Gallery in St. Augustine, run by the lovely Karen Sheridan, is also showcasing my work with great success.  I thank both for supporting me!!  Between these two and my local galleries, Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery (with Joyce Brown at the helm), and the Palm Beach Cultural Council Gallery (where I show my sculptural, non-jewelry works) I am happy to say I am well represented all around!!! 

AND, I'm working with Nunn Design as part of their 2012 Innovation Team.  Becky Nunn has been beyond generous and supportive.  I was just featured in their blog, showcasing two of my ring designs using Nunn's ornate ring blanks.  Yes, I am a busy gal and I love it!!!  I must say that my art keeps me sane.  I know many of my artist friends say the same, but I really feel that if I did not have this outlet in my life I would go crazy.  So much tragedy and sadness in the world today...expressing myself artistically gives me peace and joy, and recharges my brain every day.  That, and working and living with some of the planet's most amazing animals keeps me grounded.  I am thankful, to say the least....

As of this weekend, my jewelry designs will be available at Plum Gallery in St. Augustine!  This lovely little art haven is tucked away on Aviles Street, run by Karen Sheridan and Maribel Angel.  I discovered it on my last visit to St. Augustine a few weeks ago. 

I am so excited to be a part of this Gallery full of amazing art.  They have "First Friday Art Walks" from 5 - 9 PM, a great way to spend a Friday evening wandering St. Augustine and visiting the many ecclectic galleries all over town.  AND, don't miss "Sangria Sundays" from 2 - 4 PM--pretty self explanatory!