Mother's Day pendants

Since I've heard that both my mom and my mother-in-law, have received their Mother's Day surprise packages, I can now share them with you!

Nurture thy Mind No.8 Pendant Necklace - Mother's Day - Jade

For my mother-in-law's pendant, I incorporated my favorite coastal plant to draw... jade. I also included my signature globes, orbs, honeycomb and those cute lil' spiderweb-like stitchings. The week before Mother's Day, her and I were chit-chatting on the phone. She was telling me how she is so appreciative of all the artwork I have done for her in the years past. I am so grateful to have such a supportive mother-in-law. The topic of my art was brought up because she was rearranging her sitting room. She had gathered all my artworks and decorated the room with them.  So when this petite artwork showed up in her mailbox, you can imagine her reaction. And discovering that it was just not art... but also jewelry!

And get a glimpse of the back!

I incorporated a vintage map of my "born n' raised" state, Nebraska and scattered some doodles. Off to the left you can see a snippet of the term family and it's definition from an antique pocket-sized dictionary.

Nurture thy Mind No.9 Pendant Necklace - Mother's Day - Pine

For my mom's pendant, I incorporated some sort of pine that I discovered on a trail on Germantown Road. I have yet to research it! I also included orbs, honeycomb and those cute lil' spiderweb-like stitchings too. Discovering this tree connected thoughts in my head of memories playing around the pine trees that my parents have in their backyard. When they planted them I was seven years old they were probably 4 feet or so... and now having quadrupled in size, they've long outgrown my height.

And No.9's backside...

This is ultimately my favorite back that I have ever. ever. done. To go into detail about this, would be like writing a book. This portion of Omaha has a lot of history, a lot of memories for my mom as well as for me. After using a definition in my mother-in-law's pendant, I fell in love with incorporating terms. So on my mom's pendant I incorporated a snippet of the word "together" and it's definition. I finished the back by stamping my birthdate at the very top, which happens to be tomorrow or in an hour, however you look at it. I'm very content with these two pieces. It's so tranquil that, through art, you can elaborate on these memories.

Number 7!

Happy Friday all!

Portlanders out there I hope you're out enjoying that big ball of fire in the sky! It sure has been awhile! I'm very anxious to enjoy it myself so I'm making this post very very short!

Nurture thy Mind No.7 Pendant Necklace - Cluster of Globes - purchase

I decided that I needed to make a pendant that a had a cluster of my signature drawn globes. Like I have said in the past these are symbolic for me... I'd like to think that they keep thoughts safe. It also includes a portion of an old map of an area I enjoyed bike riding with my mom when I was a child.

Have a lovely weekend all!

00014 of Standard Movement

After three attempts, my 14th work of the Standard Movement series, titled 00014 is finished! I am more than happy to share this bundle of joy with you on this sunny afternoon.

Bike riding down the Eastbank Esplanade, I discovered a magnificent Weeping Willow. A willow with catkins, might I add. These cylindrical flower clusters are why it took me three tries to make this artwork, I was being a lil' picky of how they were drawn on a page torn from a bookkeeping & accounting study guide, which was once in the hands of a lady named Ava. The drawn raindrops and globe-like orbs faintly blend onto the page.

Within this 5" x 7" filigree frame, on the bottom left-hand corner, I included a snippet of a 1980's Kansas City, Missouri map, once owned by my mother & father. On the top right I included a snippet of a fellow’s charming message that was written in a young lady’s 1976 yearbook, which is also prominent in my 13th work.

You can vaguely see catkins drawn on top of the yearbook signature. They hide around a torn piece of a black and white photograph. I plan on using more remnants of this photo in future pieces. A b&w photograph of what you ask?

It's of an elementary class, adhered pretty darn well to a piece of worn matte board, with no date present. I purchased this photograph along with some report cards from a flea market. I love the idea of using bits of something that was once together, that has created something historical visually, that once had an impact on more than one individual. I like to compare these bits to pixels, which I also love drawing with brown ink sporadically in my artwork.

I also worked in a piece from a hard cover book about astrology that's full of tables. One thing that I think is thrilling about using used books is that at one time in it's life it was owned by someone else and it had a particular purpose. Years later it's now having a new purpose, a purpose that it was not intended to be used. I love flipping open the cover of old books and finding the previous owners name and address written by their hand. I question if they are still alive; do they still live at this address; did they read this book all the way through; did they read this book more than once? I don't believe too many people write their name in their books in this day and age. In today's culture it seems that we go through so much information, that it's easier for us to do away with books after a short period of time. Websites like half.com and Amazon have encouraged this. I find this interesting.

I'll stop there with that thought, I could go on and on but I need to continue working on some graphic design projects! I hope everyone is enjoying their Friday. Also I hope you have a swell weekend and get around to doing something creative! I'm really giddy about tomorrow & Sunday, I'm going to be spending many hours working on a new batch of miniature artworks for new pendant necklaces! Weeeeeeeeeeee!