Moving

Hello -

It's been a long while since I last posted here.  It occurred to me that I should let you all know that I've moved my website and my blog to a new platform.  I'm on Squarespace now.  You can find me here:  https://mybrownwren.com/blog/.

It is my hope to blog more frequently, adding some free how-to type content for jewelry makers, and to share more about me.  I don't usually share too much about me personally, but I think it's important to let you know why I have long spans between posts.  Like most artists, I am always in a state of flux about my work - how I feel about it and whether I am worthy enough to call myself an artist.  I may not be the best artist, but I try my best - most of the time.  I am making a commitment to myself to do a little art everyday, whether I feel up to it or not.

Last year, I had hand surgery to repair a trigger thumb and to release a tendon that was causing weakness in my right pointer finger.  I had an amazing surgeon who really got what was going on - in more ways than one.  You see, ever since I was a little girl, I have always been super flexible.  I never thought much about it.  But, with the help of this amazing and wonderful surgeon, I have been putting the pieces together about why I am the way I am.  Let me explain...

I have a very sensitive system.  I have had anxiety and depression my whole life.  Until I met my hand surgeon, I had no idea it was part of a complex syndrome that also causes me to be quite flexible.  It's called Ehlers Danlos.  I have the hypermobility type, which makes my joints super flexible.  The laxity in my joints causes me to experience periods of tremendous pain.

As I learn more about Ehlers Danlos and the associated disorders, I have discovered that I need to be very careful with my diet and fluid intake.  When I am careful, I tend to have less pain, sleep better and feel more energetic.  When I'm not taking the best care of myself, I go through periods of horrible insomnia and excrutiating anxiety, which consequently makes me very depressed.

As I learn more about myself and how this disorder affects me, I am learning to accept where I'm at.  I've also discovered that drawing and painting help me to feel more calm.  So, I've been spending more time these days in my home studio painting sweet little house paintings and drawing lots of tiny houses, birds, flowers and bugs.  I will be sharing them with you through my process of discovering me.  It's a good place to be!

Advanced Sgraffito Technique Tutorial Released

Fifteen information packed pages of images and tips on how to make advanced, multi-colored designs in enamel with liquid porcelain, opaque and transparent enamel powders.  Find it in my Etsy shop today.

Advanced Sgraffito Techniques

I am working on an advanced sgraffito techniques tutorial that will cover combining liquid enamel with opaque and transparent enamels to achieve more complex designs and colorways.  Here are a few examples of the things that we will cover:

The tutorial is due to be released in my Etsy store towards the end of the week.  Stay tuned...

New Jewelry Tutorials Available on my Etsy Shop

I've made a commitment to create more tutorials this year.  I recently created a video tutorial on riveting enamel.  In this tutorial I show several examples of heat rivets and cold rivets directly up against enamel and with a metal disc between the enamel and the rivet.  Riveting enamel is simple and easy with just a little practice!

My latest tutorial, Designs on Enamel, takes enamel to new heights with decals and direct image transfers.  Take your original artwork, print it on a special decal paper or print directly on a copy machine or laser printer to see your designs become permanently adhered to the enamel surface.  It's so cool! The image above on my riveting enamel video has been decorated with a decal.  The images below are both decals and direct image transfers.

My next tutorial, that I'm working on right now, is on Sgraffito Enamel Techniques in Enamel.  It should be complete in the next few days.  Check back later if you are interested.

Art Jewelry Adventure Retreat Sales Begin Today!

Join me and 18 other teachers for this super cool event!  Retreat sales begin today.  If you register today, I'll send you one of my jewelry making tutorials for FREE!  This is where the fun begins!  Register Here!

I am teaching a class on how to make a pair of torch fired enamel earrings.  We will go through all of the steps to make the orange earrings in the picture below.  You can use these techniques to create your own version and post them online in the forums.

What's New at My Brown Wren

What's new?  Tons and not much, all at the same time...

Back in April I made the decision to go back to full-time employment as an optician.  It was a difficult decision, but it's necessary for right now.  It's been great working with people again.  I was beginning to feel pretty isolated - even in the group studio setting at Blueschool Arts.  The down side is that I don't get to my studio as much as I would like, and getting ready for a show can be pretty exhausting after working a full day.  It's almost been 5 months since I made the transition.  I'm hoping to find some balance now that the Studio Tour is over and we've gotten our taxes out of the way. 

Now, I'm working on a super fun project that I think will change the future of how I teach my classes.  I can't tell you much of anything about it yet.  It's TOP SECRET.  Sign up for my newsletter to be the first to know about this really cool project that I'm embarking on.

For now, I leave you with some pics of the fun pieces I created for the studio tour this year...

Commissions

Some people don't like commissions.  They take a lot of extra time.  It's a lot of work...  I like them.  I get to explore ideas that I wouldn't necessarily think about without the input of another.  It's a wonderful opportunity to collaborate.  So much comes from a commission piece.  Relationships are built, new ideas are explored, old ideas are given voice.  It's so much fun!

For a very long time, I've been wanting to create a cedar frond pedant.  I've looked at the cedars on our property for mold making possibilities, but nothing ever worked out.  With the start of a new commission, I ventured off my property.  Yea!  I found an amazing cedar shrub at my new studio that was perfect for this project, and perfect for future projects.

I've learned new techniques with this commission project and past commissions.  It's so exciting to be given the opportunity to play and get paid for it.  Some might say that we aren't paid enough for commissions, but the skills learned from a commission are forever.  What price can you put on that?

Here are some views of the items I created with my experiments for this commission...

I am so happy with the work that has come out of this commission.  I feel like I have gained so much as a result!

Enamel Decal Examples

Today, in addition to getting packed for a show tomorrow, I finished those enamel decal pendants.  Here are a couple shots.  They came out great.

Inspiration from New Friends

Recently, I received a phone call from a woman in the midwest.  She had been to our lovely island this past March and met 5 other women who shared a similar interest.  They are all writers.  They stayed at a very special place called Hedgebrook.  It's a wonderful little retreat center for writers.  I don't know much more about their story, except for a common desire of theirs.

The woman that called said they wanted to commemorate their time at Hedgebrook with an organic charm necklace.  My wheels immediately started spinning as she told me more about what they were looking for.  They wanted a charm with cedar or pine, an oyster or scallop shell and a charm with the word "WISH" on it.  After several back and forth emails with examples, I decided to make a few samples.

I've been wanting to make a charm with cedar on it for a long time, but the cedar boughs on the trees that surround my home are too big for a charm.  With a pair of scissors in hand, I set out from my studio to see what I could find there.  Fortunately, there are a pair of cedar shrubs that flank the studio entrance.  They are a bit different than the trees that grow wild here, in that the size and spacing of the "needles" is smaller and tighter.  It was an exciting find!

I set out to make a couple of silicon molds and cast a few pieces in silver.  It was so much fun to create these samples.  I also put together a bead cap for a little pearl.  It was an additional idea that they had after we started conversing.  I have a picture of the three samples that were sent to the group.

 

I don't usually make samples for a custom order, but I am so glad I did this time.  I love each of the charms and decided that the WISH charm/necklace was going to be mine - at least for a time.  I wore it to our First Saturday Artwalk at Whidbey Art Gallery last night and three of the gals from the Hedgebrook retreat were there.  They loved it!  It's so rewarding to see and idea become a reality and have it please the intended receiver!  Thank you Sheroes of Hedgebrook!