Monday's Muse: The creative heart

A couple of weeks ago, on a whirlwind trip to Raleigh, I found myself killing time in Artspace, a museum-ish gallery of "studio" apartments. (Studio in parenthesis owing to the fact that these artists are actually renting tiny apartments for their studios.)

Because it's open to any artist that wants to join, I was amazed to see a wide variety of artists working in paints, ceramics, textiles, and yes, even jewelry.

But I think the thing that struck me as most interesting was how the art of the artist reflected their space (or maybe vice-versa).

For example, the cleanest space in the building was a modern artist who painted on the floor. His little corner room had a sofa and one table holding all of his paint and that was it. The rest was open space where he could lay down a canvas and just start to work.

Others had some pretty crammed spaces, artists who worked in found materials with bits and pieces piled high along the walls of their studio. Their work was also a collage type conglomeration of bits and pieces. But, regardless of what the space looked like, each artist had one, a place where their heart could move and roam designing and creating what they wished.

Fatima's Necklace -

My idea was to use Tila beads to create a row of embroidery.

I was so surprised when they lined up perfectly around the focal like little rays from the sun.

I'm fortunate to have the same thing, a little desk on the inside where I can put together beads and a corner of an outside garage where the hammering of metal won't disturb the sleepers.

African Turquoise Pendant -
I wanted to take a little piece of bead embroidery and turn it into a

statement necklace without over-beading it. Shannon's chunky metal pendant was just the thing.

But lately, I've been feeling a little crowded, a little cramped. My little shop is full right now, more so than it has been in a long time. Each piece representing an idea a little movement of the heart towards a color or a shape or an inspiration and each piece well-loved by me for being so different from the first piece or for being so like the thing that inspired it.

A Heavy Load Necklace-

This one comes with a story.

But, I'm ready to give them homes. I want them to be loved by someone else as much as I have. I want them to become the little splash of color that cheers someone else's heart. (I can't be the only person who picks jewelry first and then finds something to match.)

Flamenco Fan Pendant-

This was actually one of my first little metal experiments.

I sawed a copper washer in two and used it as the base for this tiny little fan.

So I'm extending an offer to you that I haven't extended in a while, and while I've talked to you before about pricing and setting value to your work, I feel that right now, I need the space and the cleanliness that a fresh shop will bring. 

So, for three days, I'm offering 25% off of jewelry purchases in my shop. 

Use this code:

ACHEERFULHEART 

When you purchase, let me know if it's for your heart or for someone else's, I can send their surprise right to their front door wrapped in a ribbon and packaged with a little cheer.

I hope your week is off to a wonderful start.