| A mini-blog of what is new at ZuZu...what inspires....thoughts inception: April 2011 |
Sunday, June 7, 2015
This year, I have changed my plans and will attend Bead Fest Philadelphia in August, combining
that with a visit to my sister and her husband. Most of the teachers from the Milwaukee show will
be offering classes in Phillie, and so this seems a more logical plan. I have already booked
myself into 3 or 4 metal-working classes, with a two-day concentration in stone-setting and
making box clasps, taught by the incomparable Richard Salley.
Between now and then, I have about 15 shows, between 1 to 3 days each...so I will be a busy
gal! As my husband likes to say: "get hammering!"
I had one of my busiest years ever as a musician, and one of my most challenging. It brings me
great joy to sing, but the end of the concert season (which for me was yesterday) brings with it a
time of needed rest for one side of my creative self. Creating jewelry is an innerly quiet work for
me; a completely different kind of focus. I am still building on techniques learned last year, so my
inspiration is juiced and ready to go! Tomorrow is a day for experimenting and seeing where my
sketches lead me!
The Pantone 2015 Color of the Year: Marsala. Yuck!! Sorry, but earthy red wine makes me
think of bad carpets and dried blood. (Definitely too many reruns of Criminal Minds during my late
nights!) I think we need a little more vibrancy this summer, but there are some gorgeous garnets
that may fit the bill.... As usual, I am drawn to beachy blues and greens....neon apatite, topazes in
all blue shades, aquamarine...and delicious Tahitian pearls. I purchased some lovely strands
and gorgeous stones recently at the International Gem Show. What a pleasure it will be to work
with them, combining them with shiny or brushed sterling...or with a patina - an oxidized finish.
And... I have some wonderful stones to set in rings, earrings, pins and more! Rubellite
Tourmaline cabochons top that list, as well as some pretty Peridot....and clear Swiss Blue
Topazes.
I will check in again soon with a follow-up report! Until then....enjoy this beautiful spring!
Saturday, June 14, 2014
I just returned from my yearly trek to Milwaukee, having taken five courses to further my skills in
metal work. This time, I learned (with instructor/designer Kieu Pham Gray) about creating
backless silver bezels for any type of stone or sea glass, where you want the light to shine
through to enhance the beauty of the piece. Last summer's trip to Maine yielded many lovely
shapes and colors of natural sea glass which will be so pretty and wearable using this
technique. I also worked again with Anne Mitchell, a wonderful silver artist whose designs are
fairly industrial in nature...but I like them, despite my more feminine predilections. We worked on
bracelet designs in silver...forming cuffs, adding bands and rivets...creating movable parts with
rivets...streamlining chain formation. I also dabbled in metal clay once again. It is such a flexible
and versatile medium. You can form pieces just as you would with clay, pressing designs and
patterns into the surface...cutting out unique shapes....adding stones that will sustain the heat of
kiln or torch-firing. Since I don't plan on buying a kiln any time soon (for which my husband is
very happy!), I was eager to see that the torch firing actually works. The pure or fine silver is
suspended in a clay medium which burns away leaving only the created piece. You can click
here for an informational video on metal clay.
Part of that class was about a Korean technique called Keum-boo, in which you apply gold leaf to
another metal surface (fine silver). It is a marvelous way to add metallic play to a piece,
combining silver and gold... I did love that.
So, this season, I am planning to have pieces incorporating these new techniques! Color of the
season: Orchid and its close relatives. I do love lavender and have some incredible new
cabochons (Lavender Holly Chalcedony) from the amazing lapidary artist Gary Wilson. They
look like pure light embedded in milky purple. I better get busy! I Hope to see you at a show this
season! Happy Summer!
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Winter has seemed long this year, with many changes and transitions accompanying it. My mind
has been busy with thoughts of color and texture, focused primarily on the spot in Down East
Maine where I go for R & R in the summer. Steely grey skies on stormy summer days; black
basalt pebbles on a sandy beach; soft, frosted pieces of glass kissed by years of rolling stones
and waves; deep green pines swaying in the afternoon sun; an ocean's worth of shades of
blue.... The official Pantone color of the year is Emerald Green. But I hardly see it anywhere, in
contrast to last year's ubiquitous Tangerine Tango. I am registered for my new classes in
Milwaukee and have made many rings with bezel-set stones since last June's first foray into that
technique... There will be pictures of the cuff-links online soon, also with bezel-set stones. I was
not able to keep them long enough to photograph! I am hoping to be wise for these next two
weeks as my schools enjoy their spring breaks... If I start the new line now, perhaps I can avoid
the inevitable mid-May crunch! Applications are mostly completed and soon the new shows for
the 2013 season will be listed! And today...I saw the brave green tips of several crocus plants
peeking out from the earth. Spring is coming!!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Having just returned from the fabulous Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee, I am loaded with
gorgeous stones and pearls as well as fresh, new ideas and skills. My most exciting moment was
the completion of my first fabricated, bezel-set cabochon ring. OMG!! My teacher, Janet
Alexander, took a picture of me wearing it, so I guess she was pleased with the outcome, too. Or
maybe I was just so crazily excited it made for a memorable photo! More than anything, the skills
learned in that class have opened up an entirely new avenue of creativity for me. What a fine
teacher Janet is... http://www.janetalexander.net/ She has online tutorials as well. Milwaukee is
yearly pilgrimage for me, exploring a world of colors, textures, tools, handwork, fire, and strength
- stretching my abilities in what might by many be deemed a shallow endeavor: creating beautiful
things and then selling them. I love the intensely creative aspects of my work, whether singing or
soldering! The selling, the marketing... they are necessary 'evils'!
Today, I received an email from a friend who is walking the path, or Camino, of Santiago de
Compostela in Spain. It is a physically challenging and deeply enlightening true pilgrimage made
by thousands of walkers each year, and my friend's descriptions of his experiences as he makes
his way across the miles is inspiring, to say the least. Reading his words made me feel that little
twinge of shallowness that is the sensitive capitalist's (oxymoron?) lot. We all find intense beauty
and spiritual fulfillment in different places and ways. For me, waking to the jumbled lilt of multiple
birdsongs is a daily reminder of the simple perfection of nature.
Saturday, May 13, 2012
A year has passed! As I put together this year's list of shows for ZuZu's Petals, I find I am
plunged once again into the life jewelry-making. Everywhere I go I am seeing THE spring color
combination assault the eye with a vengeance: pink and orange, in all their shades, but primarily
the most brilliant. With the neons having made a temporary resurgence on the fashion scene,
the pink and orange union is a pleasant landing spot for my sensibilities. In my mind's eye I see
cherry & strawberry quartz briolettes dancing on a silver chain with various shapes and shades of
carnelian. Last year I had used hot pink quartz and fiery orange carnelian together in earrings,
just because I enjoyed how the colors played together. Who knew that would be the 'in thing' this
year? ! There are many new venues on my list for 2012. Gloucester Waterfront Festival, shows
in New Hampshire, and shows with East Coast Craft Shows (on the Cape). Long-time promoter,
L & R Productions who owned many of the Cape shows has retired and Castleberry Fairs have
taken up the banner. We will see how that goes... My favorite summer show in Manchester by
the Sea is taking a year off from production. Two other regular shows, in Beverly and
Newburyport, are taking place when life calls me to other duties - weddings, celebration of a
rather big birthday, etc. It is a good opportunity to venture beyond the norm. So this is just a
brief welcome back to the world of ZuZu for me... More soon on new design ideas, new
gemstones and new classes for 2012. Happy Spring!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
May Day! May Day! This week new designs will go into production. My pencil sketches give no
hint of my color combinations, but I am weaving webs of jewels and pearls onto hand-wrought
circlets and ovals in fine silver. These will become pendants for necklaces and focal points for
bracelets, and perhaps small ones will function well as earrings. I guiltily succumbed and
watched the Royal Wedding yesterday. What pomp! ...Some wonderful music and delicious
gowns on gorgeous bodies. Hats were much more prominent than jewels, and the palate of
colors was a real mix, from ivory to nude (hot this season) to cobalt to pale grey-blue. The
queen wore yellow, but I think she was the only one. I will have to decide on my color path soon.
My first show is May 28, at a new indoor venue - the Independent Designer's Market in Harvard
Square. I am excited about that! Cambridge is trendy and artsy and smart.... I hope we will be a
good match!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Easter has passed and now begins the inevitable tumble towards true summer. But early on that
Sunday morning, as I drove alongside the Charles River, I saw, against a backdrop of steely gray
skies, deep-hued cherry blossoms - gorgeously vivid and rich. It never ceases to entice my eye
when that pre-storm sky appears. Colors seem to attain an unparalleled level of saturation in a
manner that almost takes the breath away. Today was also such a day. And, in a country where
enormous weather systems and tornadoes ripped across southern states and lives, Boston had
only thunder, lightning and a soaking rain. The deep gray sky served as an artist's canvas to the
brush strokes of preternaturally spring-green leaves. It was a perfect, ephemeral shade of green
- cool and memorable in what will soon be the sticky humidity of July. It was a color affirming life
in the face of all the seemingly distant turmoil and tragedy. Life thrived here as though the day
were normal. Only the daffodils, their trumpet blossoms heavy with rain, bowed their heads.
Friday, April 15, 2011
I have been thinking about having a blog for a while, and while this isn't truly the correct format, it
is a place where I can write thoughts and share ideas with anyone who might have interest, or
perhaps just with myself. The new season of shows is upon me and I always draw inspiration
from SPRING - which took its time but has finally made its grand entrance. The colors, the light,
the air...they all inspire me, but also auditory elements, like bird songs...clear, varied and silvery.
Ooh...segue of sorts into metals! My excitement last year with a new endeavor: metal-smithing,
led me to classes and books on fusing fine silver. I spent much of the summer in my hot kitchen
sub-studio (a nearby source of water was quite important to me!), with one and sometimes two
torches in hand, creating, experimenting, feeling, observing. That moment when the metal
reaches the right temperature and fuses into a new form that I (most of the time!) control is full of
emotion for me. As humans, we manipulate and use things from the earth every day, but this is
different. It isn't a power trip at all - more like true awe. And it is a bit intimidating as well. Fire,
tools, quenching bowls, burnishers, tumblers, hammers... they are all a part of my daily
repertoire now when I design. The only downside is that silver prices have sky-rocketed, recently
doubling what was already insanely inflated two months ago. From what I read, it's not about
limited supplies (there's lots of silver out there, which is why it has always been a great material
with which to work). The hike in price is about greedy folks trading silver on the market and
forcing a false sense of increased value. It is all imaginary! And yet, jewelers pay more for
materials and are forced to pass those prices onto their customers. Many have started to use
base metals as a (hopefully) temporary solution. I am not fond of brass or copper jewelry, so... I
will continue with sterling and fine silver. AND...gemstones & pearls! I cannot wait for my trip to
the Bead & Button trade show in early June... I have described it as Costco for jewelers'
supplies, running the gamut from seed beads to gorgeous precious gemstones. I will take a
couple of classes while there as well - including one on stone-setting. Today, however, it is time
to work.
This year, I have changed my plans and will attend Bead Fest Philadelphia in August, combining
that with a visit to my sister and her husband. Most of the teachers from the Milwaukee show will
be offering classes in Phillie, and so this seems a more logical plan. I have already booked
myself into 3 or 4 metal-working classes, with a two-day concentration in stone-setting and
making box clasps, taught by the incomparable Richard Salley.
Between now and then, I have about 15 shows, between 1 to 3 days each...so I will be a busy
gal! As my husband likes to say: "get hammering!"
I had one of my busiest years ever as a musician, and one of my most challenging. It brings me
great joy to sing, but the end of the concert season (which for me was yesterday) brings with it a
time of needed rest for one side of my creative self. Creating jewelry is an innerly quiet work for
me; a completely different kind of focus. I am still building on techniques learned last year, so my
inspiration is juiced and ready to go! Tomorrow is a day for experimenting and seeing where my
sketches lead me!
The Pantone 2015 Color of the Year: Marsala. Yuck!! Sorry, but earthy red wine makes me
think of bad carpets and dried blood. (Definitely too many reruns of Criminal Minds during my late
nights!) I think we need a little more vibrancy this summer, but there are some gorgeous garnets
that may fit the bill.... As usual, I am drawn to beachy blues and greens....neon apatite, topazes in
all blue shades, aquamarine...and delicious Tahitian pearls. I purchased some lovely strands
and gorgeous stones recently at the International Gem Show. What a pleasure it will be to work
with them, combining them with shiny or brushed sterling...or with a patina - an oxidized finish.
And... I have some wonderful stones to set in rings, earrings, pins and more! Rubellite
Tourmaline cabochons top that list, as well as some pretty Peridot....and clear Swiss Blue
Topazes.
I will check in again soon with a follow-up report! Until then....enjoy this beautiful spring!
Saturday, June 14, 2014
I just returned from my yearly trek to Milwaukee, having taken five courses to further my skills in
metal work. This time, I learned (with instructor/designer Kieu Pham Gray) about creating
backless silver bezels for any type of stone or sea glass, where you want the light to shine
through to enhance the beauty of the piece. Last summer's trip to Maine yielded many lovely
shapes and colors of natural sea glass which will be so pretty and wearable using this
technique. I also worked again with Anne Mitchell, a wonderful silver artist whose designs are
fairly industrial in nature...but I like them, despite my more feminine predilections. We worked on
bracelet designs in silver...forming cuffs, adding bands and rivets...creating movable parts with
rivets...streamlining chain formation. I also dabbled in metal clay once again. It is such a flexible
and versatile medium. You can form pieces just as you would with clay, pressing designs and
patterns into the surface...cutting out unique shapes....adding stones that will sustain the heat of
kiln or torch-firing. Since I don't plan on buying a kiln any time soon (for which my husband is
very happy!), I was eager to see that the torch firing actually works. The pure or fine silver is
suspended in a clay medium which burns away leaving only the created piece. You can click
here for an informational video on metal clay.
Part of that class was about a Korean technique called Keum-boo, in which you apply gold leaf to
another metal surface (fine silver). It is a marvelous way to add metallic play to a piece,
combining silver and gold... I did love that.
So, this season, I am planning to have pieces incorporating these new techniques! Color of the
season: Orchid and its close relatives. I do love lavender and have some incredible new
cabochons (Lavender Holly Chalcedony) from the amazing lapidary artist Gary Wilson. They
look like pure light embedded in milky purple. I better get busy! I Hope to see you at a show this
season! Happy Summer!
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Winter has seemed long this year, with many changes and transitions accompanying it. My mind
has been busy with thoughts of color and texture, focused primarily on the spot in Down East
Maine where I go for R & R in the summer. Steely grey skies on stormy summer days; black
basalt pebbles on a sandy beach; soft, frosted pieces of glass kissed by years of rolling stones
and waves; deep green pines swaying in the afternoon sun; an ocean's worth of shades of
blue.... The official Pantone color of the year is Emerald Green. But I hardly see it anywhere, in
contrast to last year's ubiquitous Tangerine Tango. I am registered for my new classes in
Milwaukee and have made many rings with bezel-set stones since last June's first foray into that
technique... There will be pictures of the cuff-links online soon, also with bezel-set stones. I was
not able to keep them long enough to photograph! I am hoping to be wise for these next two
weeks as my schools enjoy their spring breaks... If I start the new line now, perhaps I can avoid
the inevitable mid-May crunch! Applications are mostly completed and soon the new shows for
the 2013 season will be listed! And today...I saw the brave green tips of several crocus plants
peeking out from the earth. Spring is coming!!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Having just returned from the fabulous Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee, I am loaded with
gorgeous stones and pearls as well as fresh, new ideas and skills. My most exciting moment was
the completion of my first fabricated, bezel-set cabochon ring. OMG!! My teacher, Janet
Alexander, took a picture of me wearing it, so I guess she was pleased with the outcome, too. Or
maybe I was just so crazily excited it made for a memorable photo! More than anything, the skills
learned in that class have opened up an entirely new avenue of creativity for me. What a fine
teacher Janet is... http://www.janetalexander.net/ She has online tutorials as well. Milwaukee is
yearly pilgrimage for me, exploring a world of colors, textures, tools, handwork, fire, and strength
- stretching my abilities in what might by many be deemed a shallow endeavor: creating beautiful
things and then selling them. I love the intensely creative aspects of my work, whether singing or
soldering! The selling, the marketing... they are necessary 'evils'!
Today, I received an email from a friend who is walking the path, or Camino, of Santiago de
Compostela in Spain. It is a physically challenging and deeply enlightening true pilgrimage made
by thousands of walkers each year, and my friend's descriptions of his experiences as he makes
his way across the miles is inspiring, to say the least. Reading his words made me feel that little
twinge of shallowness that is the sensitive capitalist's (oxymoron?) lot. We all find intense beauty
and spiritual fulfillment in different places and ways. For me, waking to the jumbled lilt of multiple
birdsongs is a daily reminder of the simple perfection of nature.
Saturday, May 13, 2012
A year has passed! As I put together this year's list of shows for ZuZu's Petals, I find I am
plunged once again into the life jewelry-making. Everywhere I go I am seeing THE spring color
combination assault the eye with a vengeance: pink and orange, in all their shades, but primarily
the most brilliant. With the neons having made a temporary resurgence on the fashion scene,
the pink and orange union is a pleasant landing spot for my sensibilities. In my mind's eye I see
cherry & strawberry quartz briolettes dancing on a silver chain with various shapes and shades of
carnelian. Last year I had used hot pink quartz and fiery orange carnelian together in earrings,
just because I enjoyed how the colors played together. Who knew that would be the 'in thing' this
year? ! There are many new venues on my list for 2012. Gloucester Waterfront Festival, shows
in New Hampshire, and shows with East Coast Craft Shows (on the Cape). Long-time promoter,
L & R Productions who owned many of the Cape shows has retired and Castleberry Fairs have
taken up the banner. We will see how that goes... My favorite summer show in Manchester by
the Sea is taking a year off from production. Two other regular shows, in Beverly and
Newburyport, are taking place when life calls me to other duties - weddings, celebration of a
rather big birthday, etc. It is a good opportunity to venture beyond the norm. So this is just a
brief welcome back to the world of ZuZu for me... More soon on new design ideas, new
gemstones and new classes for 2012. Happy Spring!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
May Day! May Day! This week new designs will go into production. My pencil sketches give no
hint of my color combinations, but I am weaving webs of jewels and pearls onto hand-wrought
circlets and ovals in fine silver. These will become pendants for necklaces and focal points for
bracelets, and perhaps small ones will function well as earrings. I guiltily succumbed and
watched the Royal Wedding yesterday. What pomp! ...Some wonderful music and delicious
gowns on gorgeous bodies. Hats were much more prominent than jewels, and the palate of
colors was a real mix, from ivory to nude (hot this season) to cobalt to pale grey-blue. The
queen wore yellow, but I think she was the only one. I will have to decide on my color path soon.
My first show is May 28, at a new indoor venue - the Independent Designer's Market in Harvard
Square. I am excited about that! Cambridge is trendy and artsy and smart.... I hope we will be a
good match!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Easter has passed and now begins the inevitable tumble towards true summer. But early on that
Sunday morning, as I drove alongside the Charles River, I saw, against a backdrop of steely gray
skies, deep-hued cherry blossoms - gorgeously vivid and rich. It never ceases to entice my eye
when that pre-storm sky appears. Colors seem to attain an unparalleled level of saturation in a
manner that almost takes the breath away. Today was also such a day. And, in a country where
enormous weather systems and tornadoes ripped across southern states and lives, Boston had
only thunder, lightning and a soaking rain. The deep gray sky served as an artist's canvas to the
brush strokes of preternaturally spring-green leaves. It was a perfect, ephemeral shade of green
- cool and memorable in what will soon be the sticky humidity of July. It was a color affirming life
in the face of all the seemingly distant turmoil and tragedy. Life thrived here as though the day
were normal. Only the daffodils, their trumpet blossoms heavy with rain, bowed their heads.
Friday, April 15, 2011
I have been thinking about having a blog for a while, and while this isn't truly the correct format, it
is a place where I can write thoughts and share ideas with anyone who might have interest, or
perhaps just with myself. The new season of shows is upon me and I always draw inspiration
from SPRING - which took its time but has finally made its grand entrance. The colors, the light,
the air...they all inspire me, but also auditory elements, like bird songs...clear, varied and silvery.
Ooh...segue of sorts into metals! My excitement last year with a new endeavor: metal-smithing,
led me to classes and books on fusing fine silver. I spent much of the summer in my hot kitchen
sub-studio (a nearby source of water was quite important to me!), with one and sometimes two
torches in hand, creating, experimenting, feeling, observing. That moment when the metal
reaches the right temperature and fuses into a new form that I (most of the time!) control is full of
emotion for me. As humans, we manipulate and use things from the earth every day, but this is
different. It isn't a power trip at all - more like true awe. And it is a bit intimidating as well. Fire,
tools, quenching bowls, burnishers, tumblers, hammers... they are all a part of my daily
repertoire now when I design. The only downside is that silver prices have sky-rocketed, recently
doubling what was already insanely inflated two months ago. From what I read, it's not about
limited supplies (there's lots of silver out there, which is why it has always been a great material
with which to work). The hike in price is about greedy folks trading silver on the market and
forcing a false sense of increased value. It is all imaginary! And yet, jewelers pay more for
materials and are forced to pass those prices onto their customers. Many have started to use
base metals as a (hopefully) temporary solution. I am not fond of brass or copper jewelry, so... I
will continue with sterling and fine silver. AND...gemstones & pearls! I cannot wait for my trip to
the Bead & Button trade show in early June... I have described it as Costco for jewelers'
supplies, running the gamut from seed beads to gorgeous precious gemstones. I will take a
couple of classes while there as well - including one on stone-setting. Today, however, it is time
to work.
