Here's the space where I create. Let me take you for a tour.

Shown above is my jeweler's bench. It's where 90% of the work happens. Next to it is the soldering station with a fume extractor above the charcoal block. The table is an old sewing machine cabinet with ceramic tiles placed on top. My torch is next to it. Notice on the right my dvd and cd collection. I watch dvds on the portable player on the bench, while I'm doing the more mundane parts of the work.

The studio is divided in half - one side for design and paperwork - the other for tools and bench. The antique desk has been with me for most of my life. I wrote poetry on it when I was a teen. Now it is where I sketch design ideas. I gave up using it for decades when it was too small for a computer. Now I can slip my iPad into the shelf, so it's back in daily use. 

There's my muse up on the wall. He's a great reminder that if you follow your passion, the world will catch up to you sooner or later. I also have my pantograph engraver here and pegboards in antique frames to hang tools and wires.

I bought barely any new furniture for my studio. This antique dresser fits well beneath an extra kitchen island formica top. I use this area for cleaning, etching and other messy procedures.

When I'm sitting at my bench, I can spin around and use my rolling mill, dapping blocks or other hammering tools. They are on a little vintage school desk, which are perfect bases for workshop tools. The clear acrylic box can go into my bench so that dirty, dusty grinding is contained. There's an additonal desk for wax work or laptop work. 

As you can see, I have everything I need, in a small space. My next need is some bright paint on the walls along with some inspirational artwork. 

Do you have a picture of your workspace online? Please share! I'd love to see it.

Betrayed by a Beautiful Day...Never again to Love a September Sun..

This morning, while walking the beach I tried hard to think what to share on the blog today. Only bits of an unwritten poem came to me. 

But on returning home, I saw a message from my sweet (and beautiful and funny) sister-in-law, Ann Wason Moore. She is a writer at  Thrifty Fashionista, an Australian publication full of great fashion tips and reviews.

Today, she wrote a blog post, entitled Stars and Stripes, featuring my jewelry and her thoughts on this anniversary of September 11th. 

One of the positive things that I remember from 11 years ago, was the concern and support that came from all across the world. Thank you, Ann, for reminding me of that.

On the beach this morning, I could see the rising tower of Freedom, finally replacing the hole in the skyline, slowly repairing the hole in our hearts.

As some of you know, I'm a member of the TADA365 Art Jewelry Group.
Our website, www. TrueAddictsOfDailyArt.com was created to feature our group online exhibitions.

Entries for our third show are open through Tuesday, May 1st 2012.
Hurry and your work can be in it!

Romance: The Artist Defines the Word
Entries due May 1st - Show opening May 15th 2012 (changed from April)
Entry form (max 3 entries):
www.trueaddictsofdailyart.com/romanceshow.html

We accept all media that is in the form of adornment - from jewelry to masks, both wearable and conceptual.

To enter, all you have to do is
1 - join the Flickr group - tada365
www.flickr.com/groups/tada365
2 - upload up to two pictures of your work, plus artist statements, bios and links at
www.trueaddictsofdailyart.com/romanceshow.html
3.We invite you to come back to Flickr and share more photos and comments through the year.

We look forward to seeing your work.

TADA stands for True Addicts of Daily Art.
You can read about the history of the group here.
www.trueaddictsofdailyart.com/about-us.html

Here are links to our past two shows..
www.trueaddictsofdailyart.com/exhibit.html
www.trueaddictsofdailyart.com/january-2012-exhibit.html