(Almost) Everyday Earrings

Like that pair of jeans or sandals that fit and feel just right, we all have a favorite pair of earrings. A pair that seems to have adapted itself to our lifestyle. They're always right where we left them, never put away, always within easy reach, waiting to be put on just before we walk out the door. And if we forget them, it's ... What am I missing? My purse? My keys? Phone? Oh ... I didn't finish dressing! I don't have my earrings on! My ears are naked!

Enamel Black Bar Earrings

 Like lost puppies that arrive uninvited and unannounced; they insinuate themselves into our lives, only to become indispensable identifiers of our mood and style and personality.

So I began thinking about how a piece of jewelry could assume such a role in one's persona. It's not just one thing. Like all good things in life, music, art ... wine, earrings must appeal to a variety of pleasurable and virtuous instincts.

1)  Color. They had to be neutral - but with the ability to accent and stand out. Only black can do that for me; against any shade or color of fabric, under any tone and style of hair.

2) Shape. They must fit my facial shape and offer balance and proportion to my neck.

3) Comfort. So comfortable ... like a ring, remembered only in its absence.

4) Style. Ambiguity is the magical ingredient here: both casual and dressy. Or maybe they'll look dressy with a casual top and vise versa. Never ostentatious, never like we're trying too hard. Simplicity, like that favorite pair of jeans or sandals.

Long Black Bar Earrings

My go-to pair of earrings are these (enamel black bar earrings) elegant and unassuming, sleek and slender bolts of black lightning that accompany me (almost) everywhere I go. They are my trademark, my signature earrings when I am in public ....

Earring Allergies and my Solution

One of the unexpected scourges of growing older has been learning to deal with earring allergies. It finally came to the point that I gave up wearing earrings for extended periods of time. Inevitably my piercings closed. This has been especially maddening because the most popular pieces of jewelry that I design have always been the earrings - sold through my Etsy site to customers all over the globe who seem to delight in collecting these low cost accessories and matching them to special pieces in their wardrobe. Why should I deny myself this pleasure? I decided to investigate further.

Just as I suspected! Lurking out there, often not showing up until middle age, is something known as "contact allergic dermatitis", waiting to spoil our delight in wearing jewelry. You would expect this from certain foods, flowers, and pharmaceuticals. But metals? After a quick web search of the topic I learned to spell met-allergy.

It turns out that certain metallic elements are reactive, meaning that some of the electrons in its electron cloud are willing to swap orbits with other free electrons in their vicinity. It is what we call oxidation or tarnishing. The primary culprit is nickel, which is often used to alloy sterling, stainless steel and even some gold-filled metals. Most people never have a problem with this process. Their bodies accept it. But some of our metabolisms try to reject or isolate or defend against the offending electrons. At this point, I already knew more than I wanted or needed to know about the chemistry. What I needed was to find a pure, natural, non-reactive element that is free of things like nickel and lead - and hopefully, something less expensive than platinum! Enter Niobium!

Number 41 on the periodic table, used by Edison as filaments in his electric light bulb, adapted for use by NASA in space vehicles, Niobium has a storied history. It is strong, malleable, and 'half-hard' to shape - like sterling (and unlike pure gold and silver, which are termed 'dead soft'). But what interests us is: hypoallergenic. Also interesting to the jewelry artist is that Niobium can be electrolytically anodized into flashy colors like blue, green, purple and even pink!

Hopefully I've (re)pierced my ears for the last time. I wouldn't think of offering Niobium ear wires to a customer until I had proven to myself that they are satisfactory in every way. After weeks of self-experimentation, I am satisfied. Because Niobium can't be soldered to create post earrings, I am now shaping Niobium wire into several types of ear wires. Here is a peek at some french wires, kidney hoops and even some coil shaped posts. It will be interesting to know how many other women my age are looking for a wire that does not make war on our ear lobes.

Enamel Earrings on Niobium Ear Wires

Shimmery Spring Jewelry in Enamel Lusters

Enamel Cross Earrings in Shimmering Blue

Jewelry makers naturally keep an eye on the latest styles and color trends. So I've noticed that this year's spring fashions have been dominated by iridescent fabrics and high-wattage metallics. These lovely shimmering pastel textiles reminded me of a group of unique mica based pigments - Carefree Lusters - that I had purchased from Thompson Enamel a few years ago. After seeing the samples in the middle of a Thompson's catalogue I just couldn't resist ordering them, knowing that someday they would be ideal for a special project.

Metallic Aqua Enamel Teardrop Earrings

Back then, I had played with the lusters for a few days, but never had that "Ah ha!" moment...  until I saw this spring's fashions begin to appear on travel shows, commercials and in fashion magazines. So I retrieved the lusters from storage and began to experiment anew, making samples and recording the results at different firing times and temperatures. Soon, I felt comfortable enough to fire the lusters on actual enameled components and was ready to begin creating some new jewelry pieces to complement this spring's styles and colors.

Tiny Metallic Rose Gold Enamel Earrings

For those of you who may be interested in the techniques involved in working with Thompson Luster Enamels, I will offer a few of the discoveries that I made through trial and error in developing my own procedures.

• Firing temperature is calculated according to the base enamel.
• I had success firing at approximately 60 degrees below the normal firing temperature of the base enamel.
• More is better. Any excess of unfused luster can easily be wiped or washed away after firing; but using an insufficient amount of luster can result in a rough surface.
• Always start with a smooth, level surface that extends completely to the edges.

As with any new enameling technique, one should experiment, make samples, and become comfortable before using it on something special. Enjoy! I did!

Custom Color Palette

A few weeks ago my sister-in-law, Shari, admired an enamel disc bracelet that I had made in sky and sea tones to sell in my Etsy shop. She asked me if I would be able to make a similar one for her. I knew what that challenge would involve. You see, back in the 80's Shari "had her colors done". For some time now she hasn't shopped for clothing or accessories without her palette of custom color swatches in hand.

For Shari, adding to her wardrobe is a process of determining which colors coordinate with her skin tone, hair, eye colors, and with each other. She is an "autumn", so she wears "jewel tones" as recommended by her colorist. Of course, one of the benefits of using her 'color set' of swatches is that she is able to assure that each purchase will coordinate across her entire existing wardrobe.

Now, you'd think that submitting oneself to a pre-determined and defined 'set' of colors would confine one's choices into a kind of prismatic prison. Instead, I found it actually liberating to sort across Shari's palette of recommended hues and tones. In the end, the real difficulty was to limit the choices down to only the 6 or 7 to be included in the bracelet. We finally decided on rusty brown, caramel, turquoise, purple, dark green, blue and dark red.

The enamel artist has one advantage over jewelers and beaders. Like painters, we own the colors of our canvas. We blend them, and fuse them, and create new ones when necessary, to achieve singular effects that are limited only by our imagination. And now I've noticed that, like in the 1980's, there is evolving a new interest in color, stimulated by the internet. It ranges from the "chip it" applications available at the paint manufacturer's websites, to Pinterest boards that focus on the nuances of color palettes, and color planning websites that focus on interior and exterior decorating.

Expect to read more here in the future as I begin to explore this new (to me) discipline of coordinating colors to personality and lifestyle.

Artistic Inspiration

Enamel earrings inspired by the color of Bradford Pear leaves.

In “Colorful Colorado” nature imposes herself on our senses throughout the year. We are blessed with a kaleidoscope of continuous change and vitality. We watch nearly in awe as our mountains and our prairie transition from season to season, from arid to lush, lifeless to effervescent, in an endless story of birth and resurrection. But for those of us lucky enough to possess one in our yard, of all of nature’s showpieces and specimens, none surpasses the majestic Bradford Pear in her display of colors and natural hues.

In the spring our Bradford Pear explodes into a massive tuft of cotton candy, urgently demanding our attention before an errant breeze can scatter her blossoms across the lawn like driven snow. Summer’s warmth brings forth her foliage, so dense that it conceals the space it occupies, affording a canopy of shade to the lawn, nesting spaces for birds, and refuge for squirrels.  When fall arrives, the pear expends the energy that she has hoarded throughout the summer. It is as if her leaves attempt to re-bloom, as she becomes a palette for a thousand shades of yellow, burning into orange, then crimson, then copper. Then finally, exhausted and spent, her leaves take flight with the first winter blast, to reveal the silhouette of her limbs in a pointillist sea of tiny sugar pears that remain to sustain her resident birds and squirrels throughout the winter.

The Bradford Pear leaves us not only with memories of her grandeur, but also with artistic inspiration. If only to capture one single moment of her glorious transition - into jewelry! I waited breathlessly for the radiance of the kiln to subside, and for the glow of the enamel to “fit” itself into its final glaze, to know if I had been able to replicate that instant when she “bloomed” her final golden farewell to this season. 

This pair of dangle earrings holds true to the promise of enamel jewelry for its beautiful color and gorgeous, glossy finish.

Unique Jewelry Findings

Enamel Earring Findings

        One of the most rewarding aspects of art is when one’s work acquires an entirely new dimension when placed in the hands of a fellow artist. Let me explain:

          I describe my own designs as inspired by the art deco and nouveau periods in modern art. The notion of beauty and uniqueness combined with functionality has always been my goal. So I was flattered when a fellow Etsy seller, after seeing some of my dangle earrings, contacted me to inquire if I would consider creating enamel findings that other jewelers could combine with their own designs. Imagine my delight when I realized that Soleil of Sunrise Treasures creates beautiful and colorful bohemian and southwest motif jewelry.

          Who would pass up such an adventure into new shapes and colors? No longer was I creating entirely from my own internal design library, but relying on another artist to interpret and finish the work using her own artistic notions. Please take a peek at Soleil’s first pair of chandelier earrings made from my enamel earring components!

Chandelier Earrings by OxArtJewelry

         

 It has been such fun (like watching your children in the staring role in the school play!) that I have decided to open a new section in OxArtJewelry to offer an assortment of unique jewelry findings and components to other jewelry artists. With a little help from our friends, the artist can indeed explore new dimensions. 

Mixed Metal Jewelry Collection

Ox Art Jewelry Mixed Metals Collection

When we formulate our thoughts, we reach into our vocabulary to find the right words to give them context, meaning and nuance. In the same way, the artist uses tools like color, texture, line and shape to communicate her ideas.

But how do you express, artistically, notions like simplicity? Effortlessness? Versatility? Or timelessness? These are the kinds of things the modern woman wants to express in her lifestyle – so different from the ornate, over-embellished, and sometimes gaudy designs of the past.

So I gave myself a challenge, to produce a new collection while keeping certain words in mind. Modern. Simple. Fresh. Sleek. Versatile. They seem to demand neutrality in color, clean lines, natural finishes, and uncomplicated, aesthetic shapes.

The result is my Mixed Metal Jewelry Collection. I think of it as a clean, easy and modern style. It seeks to both define and to streamline that lifestyle in constant motion without attracting undue attention to itself.

Leaves Layering Necklace by Ox Art Jewelry

Nature's Paintbrush

January Colorado Sunset

A few Moments Earlier

"Mother Nature has taken out her paintbrush again..." I said to the person driving the car, as I pointed to the sunset and reached for my camera. "And what a beautiful palette!" Mindlessly, I said these things to that slavish reader of Discover Magazine, memorizer of scientific factoids, analyzer of natural phenomena, rejecter of all things mystical and magical: my husband. Without even pausing to consider the inevitable scientific explanations.
He did not disappoint.
"Nonsense." He said. "Colorado sunsets over the prairie are beautiful because the physics of sunlight works well here."
Told you.
"Of course," I humored him. "And everyone knows that the skies are redder at sunset than at sunrise because…" Here he would normally complete the sentence for me. He disappointed.
"… because," I labored on.… "…because of that train whistle effect? Don’t they call it red-shifting?" It made sense to me. You know, as the earth spins towards the sun in the morning and away in the evening?
"You mean the doppler effect?" Now he did not disappoint, completing my thought. "That only works with sound. Applying it to sunlight would contradict Einstein’s theory of relativity, which requires that light travel at a universally constant speed without regard to the motion of the observer."
Quickly, before my eyes could glaze over, I snapped another picture.
I flashed him an indulgent little smile, then plodded on. "Of course. Everyone knows that sunsets are caused by all that stuff in the atmosphere, aerosols, pollution, particles…" even though I sensed his lack of conviction, still I soldiered on. "… and because the air is warmer, and more humid in the evenings than in the early morning." Did I also mention that he is a stoic? I saw his head nodding slightly forward in a kind of grim determination not to disagree with any of my continuing observations. So I gave him my summation: "I just wanted to see if you were paying attention."
"Think rainbows," He offered. His patient inner professor had found its voice. "Think how, after a rain, the water droplets in the air scatter and bend sunlight into its various wavelengths like a prism, which our eyes interpret as color. When the sun is on the horizon its light must travel through many more miles of Earth’s atmosphere than when it is overhead. It scatters the shorter blue frequencies, causing the sky to appear blue, and leaves only the red for us to see on the horizon. And since, on the Great Plains, clouds almost always form in the west in the evening, they provide a dense canvas for…?"
I refused to help him out. I just wanted to hear him say it. I continued snapping photos, capturing every swirl of Mother Nature’s hand.

Instructions for DIY Jewelry Display

We spend a lifetime accumulating a collection of jewelry that defines our lifestyle. But, unlike the collection of clothes that hang in our closets, the necklaces, earrings, and bracelets that we have acquired are not disposable. We hang onto every pendant, ring, and pin, treasuring the memories they evoke. And they continue to reflect our moods, set the tone for an outing, or… or become invisible at the bottom of a drawer or inside a box on the vanity. Why not display them like the fine art and keepsakes that they are, I wondered?
A few years ago, when I ran a custom frame shop, I made a simple jewelry display for myself. I still use it and have since made many more at the request of family and friends. So here is a simple DIY project for anyone who would like to keep her jewelry collection at hand, and on display. They also make wonderful gifts.
Because I had beautiful framing materials at my disposal I chose a rich cherry molding to make a 16x20 frame. There are, of course, many choices of imported frames in the art and craft supply stores that carry ready-made frames in various sizes, shapes and styles. It will be easy to find one that will fit your wall, cabinetry, and color scheme.


At the hardware store, pick up nylon window screen and a piece of thin, stiff cardboard or plastic which will be cut into edging strips to hold the screen in place.  Or matboard works beautifully for the strip and can be purchased with the frame.

On a padded counter top, lay the frame on its face. Cut the screen material to overlap the frame about an inch on each side. Snug the screen to the inside of the frame using the strips to hold it in place and staple each side in place, as in the photo. Trim the remainder with a utility knife.  Attach a sawtooth hanger or eyelet and wire.

Earring wires hang nicely on the screen. For necklaces or bracelets, use ornament hooks, or make your own from 18 ga. wire (I used Artistic tinned copper wire) as seen in the 3rd photo.

Your favorite jewelry will be easily accessible for the woman on the go!

The Feedback of Art

Butterfly earrings by OxArtJewelry - Large, Medium, Small & Petite

We hear it every day in the world of commerce. " New and improved! You spoke; we listened. Designed with our customers in mind."

How can the artist compete in the commercial world, when we hold ourselves to higher, more personal standards? When our goal is quite the opposite of seeking mass appeal, or discovering the lowest common denominator in the creation of our works of art? These are not simply products that we are producing! They are adventures in abstraction, color, texture, space. They are personalized expressions of our passions and our sensibilities.

Several weeks ago I received a request from a lady who had admired a pair of earrings from the butterfly collection that I had listed on Etsy.  She thought they were gorgeous, and knew they would add luster to her jewelry selection. However, through experience, she had learned to never buy an earring that weighed more than 5 grams. She asked what these earrings weighed (they weighed in at 7 grams), and if they exceeded her limit, would I be able to make her a similar pair within her constraints?

Years ago I had abandoned commission painting of portraits and murals precisely because I never liked the idea of creating art that needed to conform to the expectations of others.  Still, this request offered a different kind of challenge: wearable art must be - before all other considerations - wearable.

In order to reduce the weight of these earrings to 5 grams I would need to trim the pieces by 29% in some combination of size and thickness of enamel.  I had never taken the time to really understand the ratio of copper to glass.  Would I be able to cut the weight 30% by cutting the size 30%?  I discovered it’s not that simple.  After considerable experimentation I now offer 4 sizes in my ‘butterfly series’ with the ‘small’ weighing in at 5 grams and the ‘petite’ version under 5 grams.

I can truly say my lighter versions were “designed with the customer in mind” without feeling like I have compromised my artistic perrogatives.

On the Origins of Innovation... and Art

A recent study suggests that innovation consists of five separate processes: associating, questioning, observing, networking and experimenting. Sounds reasonable enough. But what about art? Is it the same process as innovation?

Let’s do a thought experiment. We know that the mind has tremendous powers of logic, coupled with the ability to synthesize diverse concepts. Given a sequence of numbers 2… 4… 6… it predicts 8. Given the knowledge that protons and neutrons pair up to make atoms, the mind can easily extrapolate all the elements in the periodic table. Nothing artistic here.

But when the mind is afforded knowledge about evolution and genetics and the role of DNA, using all of its powers of reason and logic, it is unable to predict the existence of kangaroos. Why? Because kangaroos and giraffes are accidents of nature, produced by unpredictable mutations.

As it turns out, nature wields her artistic brush with her eyes closed.  She relies on happy accidents in order to innovate. Does the creation of art require a similar unpredictable serendipity?

Anyone who has ever worked in watercolor knows that we often rely on similar “happy accidents” for interest and texture in an under-painting, a sky or the foreground.  We flood the paper with colors letting the water and paint do its own mixing.  A “bloom” is created when a wet stroke is placed alongside a nearly dry area.  Pigments, water and watercolor paper must cooperate with the artist’s inspiration for art to happen.  Have you ever finished a piece and wondered “how did I do that”?

On a Personal Note...

Tarabino Inn, Trinidad, Colorado

One of our favorite places on this planet is Trinidad, Colorado, just as the leaves of autumn begin to show on the mountain slopes. In this historical mining town, we gather each year with three other couples that we knew in the springtime of our lives. Before we went our separate ways we all lived in Wiley, Colorado, a sleepy little village of 400 or so farmers, ranchers, and migrant workers (that would be US, as we have all long since moved on to other climes and endeavors.)
     Our reunions have moved well beyond the endless reminiscing about the past. We are not any kind of sequel to “The Big Chill” or “The Four Seasons.” Instead, we savor the moment, and the earthy, lush, piedmont of Trinidad. We simply enjoy one another as we spend a weekend yard saleing, antiqueing, and boutiqueing. Or sampling the home made breads, goat cheeses, and locally grown produce at the farmer’s market.
     The consensus of our group is that Rino’s Italian Restaurant, located in a magnificent old Methodist Church, is Colorado’s only 5 ½ star restaurant. The half star is awarded to the owner, Frank Cordoba, for the live musical entertainment ranging from Elvis to Italian arias. (Reservations highly recommended.)
     We plan ahead each year and select interesting accommodations, which have ranged from a former bordello above Blackjack’s saloon, to the historic Tarabino House, now a bed and breakfast. The three story mansion, built by Italian immigrants cum retail magnates, lends its own story of elegant fragility as we renew relationships that would tarnish if neglected.

The Music of Metals...

Enameled Copper Breastplate by OxOriginalArtJewelry

Every material I have ever worked with seems to have its own way of expressing its inner beauty, much the same way every individual on earth has inner beauty waiting to be discovered. Or the way sounds can be transformed into music, with patience and experimentation.

As I became more familiar with pure copper in my jewelry work, shining it to reveal its inner brilliance, treating or aging it in solutions, heating with a torch or firing it in the kiln, I began to listen to its music. Each piece reveals itself in a rainbow of color as it oxidates and self-patinates throughout the jewelry making process.

So I decided to allow one piece to sing its own melody entirely with its own voice. For this experiment I created a specimen in the shape of a breastplate, or bib, with lots of open surface, devoid of texture or embellishment, to allow the copper ample space for self-expression. I shined it to its natural glossy state, then applied a coat of protective transparent vitreous enamel to the edge, like a frame, and fired it to seal and preserve that edge. The results were stunning: the copper actually glowed beneath its protective glass blanket.

Each time I fired with subsequent coatings of transparent enamel, the unprotected areas oxidized, aged, and revealed their own patterns and characteristics. It painted itself. It expressed itself. It found its own voice, created its own music.

How often do we forget to listen for the harmony in the materials we work with?

Jewelry Giveaway

Aquariann, who blogs at "Art and Tree Chatter of Aquariann", is a talented colored-pencil artist who creates bookmarks, buttons, magnets and prints in fantasy motifs.  Her Etsy shop is full of unicorns, pirates, mermaids and fanciful winged creatures.  She posts beautiful photographs for Wordless Wednesdays and informative articles about subjects covering both art and the business of art. Aquariann also features great giveaways to promote the work of others that she lists in her extensive file of favorites.

Today aquariann is hosting a giveaway of a pair of my enameled leaf earrings!  If you'd like a chance to win, go to her blog (link below), look around and follow instructions.

Wednesday Window

I have always had a fascination with windows, those apertures that illuminate, our homes and our lives, and through which information is exchanged, and interaction made possible.

 These dormers appear to pop up out of the roof like a Muppet lifting the lid to peek out of his trash can. We never see trash cans in quite the same way after we know that Muppets live there; and the roof of this house gets a second glance now that we know it conceals living space.

Wednesday Window

I have always had a fascination with windows, those apertures that illuminate, our homes and our lives, and through which information is exchanged, and interaction made possible.. 

Willow Creek Park Caretaker's House

This depression-era sandstone construction, (the caretaker's house in Willow Creek Park) gets a dressed-up 12 pane window treatment at the base of the stairs leading to the roof top patio. Without the windows we wouldn't know if it was a cottage, or a castle.

Wednesday Window

I have always had a fascination with windows, those apertures that illuminate, our homes and our lives, and through which information is exchanged, and interaction made possible..

The artist uses every tool at his disposal to evoke memories and emotions from his viewers.  Look how the homeowner used his artistic skills and imagination to repurpose this bathroom window to make us want to wait around for the puppet show to begin, or for the princess to appear on the veranda.

Wednesday Window

I have always had a fascination with windows, those apertures that illuminate, our homes and our lives, and through which information is exchanged, and interaction made possible. 

Sometimes our man-made window portals are absorbed into nature.

Wednesday Window

I have always had a fascination with windows, those apertures that illuminate, our homes and our lives, and through which information is exchanged, and interaction made possible.

Some windows become cloudy and opaque, like eyes obscured by cataracts. Still, the world impinges, asserting itself onto the window. How like aging human faces these vacant eyes become!

Wednesday Window

I have always had a fascination with windows. They are to the home what the eyes are to the face - those apertures through which information passes, knowledge is acquired, and interaction made possible. Windows illuminate the home in the same way that ideas enlighten the mind. At night they shed their light and radiate their warmth into their environment.
Widows shape the face; they reveal the mood of the abode. We study people’s eyes to know if they are sincere, loving, and kind. In the same way, we can guess the mood inside a home by the state of its windows. Flower pots, sconces and dangling crystals welcome our eye to linger and observe. Torn curtains, broken panes, and ragged shutters warn us away. A happy window, painted and decorated, is an eye lined and tinted with shadow, its lashes and brows prepared to party. Unkempt windows show their despair.
Beginning with today’s posting, I will share each Wednesday a window from my collection. They have been gathered from Lamar and in my travels, as interesting mementos – the way we file away memories of faces throughout our lives. My windows help me to formulate artistic expressions of mood and context. I want my works of art to speak out and express themselves – to tell a story - as clearly as these windows reveal their own circumstances.

July at the Third Street Nest

It's all there: the summer flower baskets, patriotic ribbons and flag on a colonial porch. Now imagine this scene without the window, without the interactive portal transporting the festival inside and out. Wouldn't it lack the very life that the window breathes into the scene?