My Little Visions

Something New...

I haven't had the chance to go on any photo excursions lately, so I thought I'd play with images of my Grandma as a teenager in Germany.  I scanned an 85 year-old photograph and cropped her face really close.  This domino pendant perfectly captures my Grandma's somewhat playful personality.  I know she's laughing from Heaven, rolling her eyes, and telling all the relatives and angels up there, "Ach, Anna Marie!  That girl always was such a funny child."

Indie Quarter Feature

Here's a link to the Indie Quarter blog... they've featured my "stuff" today and wrote some really nice things!

http://www.indiequarter.com/blog/2008/06/17/little-visions/

A run in the park

My husband and my brother recently ran a 5K in Forest Park, and thank goodness I always carry my little digital in my purse.  It was 6 am and a thick fog covered the lowlands.  I snapped pictures as I hurried toward the start line.  I wanted to see Greg and Pete begin the race, but I also wanted to soak in the beauty of the landscape as the sun slowly burned off the fog.

Sometimes happiness just comes...

Good things have been happening lately.  Tara, owner of The Fat Cat, just added to my happy day by featuring "Queen Anne's Lace" on her blog, One Part Whimsy.  ... And last week I was the featured jewelry artist on Cyndi Lavin's Jewelry and Beading blog. 

Happiness comes and happiness goes, but joy of the heart is what matters the most.  (Ain't I a good philosophiser!)

I finally wrote my Artist Statement! Here it is...

I take pictures because I feel that the beauty of our world is seldom seen, particularly when it comes to the little things.  I want to help open people’s eyes to the glories that surround us, whether it be a clump of dandelions peeking from a sidewalk crack, the crisscrossing shadows of a street sign, a lonely tombstone, or a maple branch adorned with autumn.  I shrink my images and make jewelry and other small creations from them because I’ve found that little things, fragments of God’s beauty that I can hold and carry with me, are more precious to me than many of the larger things of life. 

The act of creating brings me great peace, and to share my artistic vision with others makes me happy.  I’ve learned to persist in experimenting with different techniques and mediums, and I’ve made some mistakes.  My little failures have taught me perseverance and that sometimes it’s just not supposed to work.  They’ve opened up room for new opportunities and more possibilities and have strengthened my ingenuity and expanded my imagination.  When I find a process that works well, I practice till I get as close to perfect as I can. 

I work with photo transfer, decoupage, and resin techniques on bamboo tiles, bone beads, glass gems, dominoes, and even bottlecaps.  This variety of methods and mediums works well with my urban, nature, and religious photographs.  The smallness of my pieces invites people to look closely and hopefully reveals to them the fleeting beauty and often-missed details of our world.   We all have our own perceptions and perspectives, our own little visions.  Photography and jewelry art are the means through which I share mine.

This'll Dazzle Ya!

Queen Anne's Lace made it to Etsy's front page...

                                                                                   

I visited Etsy yesterday, and there was my photograph of Queen Anne's Lace right on the front page!  It really made my day.  I haven't had any of my work on Etsy's front page in a long time.  I guess listing items every few days really does get you noticed. 

I feel a little bad sometimes because many people have sold hundreds and even thousands of items.  And I've only sold 12!  (And three of them were bracelets made by my cousin, Susan!)  But, each day is a new beginning, thank goodness!  I'll just start where I am and continue to do my best. 

One of my favorite quotes is "The smallest deed is greater than the grandest intention."  I don't know who wrote it, but it speaks to me.  I've had a copy of it taped to my refrigerator for many, many years.  So, I'm starting small and continuing small.  Small is where I want to be right now. 

My Voice

I haven't yet found my blog's voice.  I've been looking for him, but he just hasn't appeared.  I'm not going to look anymore.  I'm just going to write.  And, joy of joys (quite literally!), I'm going to read more.  That brings me life, too.  Walking on Water - Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L'Engle is my chosen first.  "To paint a picture or to write a story or to compose a song is an incarnational activity."  We are all co-creators with God.  I will not refuse that honor. 

I've been too busy doing...  I'm slowing down, as I write this, and will be more reflective; I will simply be.  (Doing just wears me down.  Being, on the other hand, gives me so much more life.)

I realize society doesn't value "being."  We must produce to be worthwhile.  I'm sitting here watching my cat.  Moose is entranced by a wrinkled up sheet of paper he found while dumpster-diving in my craft room trash can.  I wish I could be like that, more fully alive in the moment.  To spend even five minutes contemplating life, or a wadded up ball of paper, is an absolute gift.  It's freely given by God, and I'm telling God right now, "I accept."  I vow to not waste life away. 

Enough rambling.  I'm going to stare out the window, into the gray, with my Moose.

"Indie Valentine - I'm in, Baby!!"

Come see (and buy) lots of beautiful things at Indie Valentine, the "only craft show where crafters can lash out against the commercialized corporate travesty that is Valentine’s Day by showing our love of craft!"  There'll be drinks and music and tons of crafts (including mine!)  The department store style arts & crafts fair will be February 2 from 7-10 pm at Cooperella, a children's cafe and boutique in Maplewood.  Have a heart -- support St. Louis' independent crafters!!

Little Visions of Beautiful Saints!

I made these bamboo tile pendants for my friend's daughters.  They depict the girls' favorite saints, St. Maria Goretti and Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha .  Both necklaces were my first attempts at working with bamboo tiles, and I've got to say, it's as addictive as domino art!