Dundee Gallery Omaha . . .

I am being featured this weekend at the Dundee Gallery in Omaha for their Artist is In summer event Saturdays and I've finished a boxload of new pieces. This should be a fun day at the Gallery and if you live in the vicinity of Omaha, come see me!

http://dundeegallery.com

Amanda's ring . . .

Amanda loves Lapis Lazuli - her grandmother used to own and wear a lot of it and after her passing, the jewelry got distributed and Amanda has none of it. So she's asked me to make a few pieces for her to remind her of her granny.

I've had the stone for a while and just hadn't been inspired by a nice design. I could always set it simply and plain but I wanted to make something special and 'granny-like'. The last piece I made for her was a Lapis necklace with scalloped bezel and scalloped edges and a heart cut out on the back.

This needed to be sweet but not saccarine, granny but modern and I think I hit the right balance. The doubled ring shank gives this a curly, girly feel offsetting the cupped flowers on the other side and, of course, all metal. I really need to do more bezel-setting as this was challenging, took some planning and thought and was all day engrossing and enjoyable at once.

Love this. Hearts to Amanda.

Wednesday . . .

Not exactly a Wordless Wednesday . . .

Mama Deer brought the younguns by for a midnight snack of every Route 66 Red and Buttered Popcorn Yellow daylily last night.

We need to talk or there's gonna be trouble.

Wordless Wednesday . . .

Kearney Art in the Park . . .

A marvelous weekend and a fantastic show in Kearney, Nebraska! Wow - who knew someplace smack in the middle of corn and soybeans could have such an active artist community? This one day event draws about 110 artists from all sorts of media and is so well juried that even those of us in the jewelry biz weren't competing, the work varied so widely.

I've been pleased with my set up, too, as it has evolved from stuff just laid out on the table to a more cohesive flow with old wooded advertising boxes displayed with silk runners in colors that accent the jewelry. Softer looks for the softer chalcedony colors I'm using in my work. It's working much better now.

Sales were up - people were buying. Weather was mid 80s. Wind was light. Live music was fantastic and not overpowering at all, as can sometimes happen at outdoor things. If all shows could be this good (or I could at least predict?), I'd be doing many, many more but I so much want to do this one again! Happy girl. Life is good.

Summer web . . .

This is that time of year we've been looking forward to since there was two feet of snow covering everything. Remember? We never saw any bare earth until March? And we swore we would never complain about the heat if it would only get above freezing for one day and we wouldn't be struggling with winter coats and muddy shoes? Well, here it is exactly one half of a year from January, humidity apparent on the tiny cobwebs in the early mornings and we're not complaining. This is the day.