Verdant Skull Brooch in progress

I know, I know... I've been a very bad blogger. I apologize and hope to do better in the coming months. At the very least I'm hoping to provide more in progress photos and visual insights into my design process, so there will be some more images to enjoy. I recently joined the current decade by purchasing an iPhone (the photos it takes are much better than the ones my iPod Touch generated) so that means it will be easier to document new creations before taking the more official, polished photographs for the Etsy listings.

Case in point is a design of a Verdant Skull cameo for a new series of brooches influenced by esoteric and occult imagery.Since the brooches will be relatively small (at a certain point large brooches become too awkward to be functional brooches, in my opinion), it also gives me the opportunity to use up some scrap leather from other projects. I try to always be cognizant that leather was once part of a living being and I don't want to be wasteful. I did some preliminary sketches which were not to scale in a notebook before drafting the design, but the photo below shows the progress from a pencil sketch at the appropriate size, the pattern which I use to transfer the design to leather, and the actual design realized in leather. I recently acquired a new friend for the studio, a Razortip SK pyrography tool, and this is the first time I've combined pyrography with the leather carving I typically do. Now that I have an idea as to what it can do, the possibilities are making me a bit delirious (in a good way)!

What I'm really loving about this brooch series is the prospect of combining leather with various other media. I have some weird fondness for sewing things by hand that I'll get to indulge since I'm going to be layering the leather cameos with felt, lace, trims, etc. Some bead embroidery may also be in the forecast for these. Below you can see the progress made on assembling the actual brooch. I've layered the leather over some vintage lace which I tea-stained, striped trim, and a velvety millinery leaf. I sewed a lovely patina-ed brass key charm below the cameo and added an eyelet so I could dangle a turquoise nugget from the bottom.

I want these brooches to resemble some antique, intricate medals I have seen and I'm really pleased with how this particular one turned out. What the above photo doesn't show is that I've tried to lend a more aged look to the fabric by staining the edges with a sepia-toned ink. I attempted to take some better photos today, so hopefully it won't be long until this piece is listed on Etsy.

Although my time is still divided between a full-time job, an internship, and my various other hobbies and interests, things are slowly falling into place for me and that means I have more motivation and energy to make things.

Truth be told, I've also been holding out a bit on listing some new items until I figured out a new logo and identity for this endeavor. My work has changed so much since I first starting making jewelry several years ago, and I've outgrown my old branding. There were some items I did not want to present until I had something new to replace it. I think I've finally hammered out a design I'm pleased with although I still need to do some additional work before finalizing a new business card, etc. but I feel more comfortable posting those items.

I wanted to share the second version of my Peacock Feather cuff bracelet as an opportunity to discuss reserved listings. I had just carved and tooled the leather portion of this cuff when someone contacted me to ask about the previous version I had made. The timing worked out perfectly. I finished the cuff and listed it on reserve for her, and hopefully she's wearing it right now :)

While I'm not taking custom orders at this time, if there is an in progress piece shown here that hasn't yet been posted on Etsy which catches your eye, I'm willing to temporarily reserve it for you once it is listed for sale. Please contact me via email or Etsy conversation to discuss this option. Reserves of this kind are on a first come, first serve basis and if you do not purchase the item within the specified time period, I will remove the reserve so potentially anyone can purchase it.

A Songbird Taking Wing

I've been slowly easing myself back into making things after a considerable lull. Several months ago I carved this little songbird pendant and I just started to stain it yesterday evening. I thought you might like to see how it has progressed so far. The photos were taken with my iPod touch in artificial light, so the quality isn't the greatest.

I generally tend to layer my leather dyes, working from light to dark, building up the colors for a richer tone. In the image below, the lightest stain I currently have, Canyon Tan, has been applied to sketch in the bird's markings.

In the second image, I've added black to define the eye and I've layered two darker browns over parts of the initial stain to bring out some of the patterns in the plumage.

I'm tempted to leave it like this as the tone-on-tone dyes over the natural color of the leather is really appealing, but as with the previous songbirds (Sparrow & Finch) I'll be adding some acrylic to add more dimension and color. This little birdie is another sparrow, and her markings are a melding of those of the Chipping and Song Sparrow species.

Not So Frida

I started work on what I hoped would be my pièce de résistance for the upcoming craft show: a bib-style, intricately-tooled statement necklace featuring a portrait of a notable Mexican artist whose life and work I find intriguing. Although I'm well-versed in drawing the human face, this is only my second attempt at carving and tooling a semi-realistic one in leather (I would consider my first attempt to be the La Catrina necklace). I thought it was going fairly well but when I started on the painting stage I realized that the likeness was only rather vague at best. The jawline should be more square, the arc of the eyebrows is off, the nose is too broad, etc. The image itself is turning out well, but not if I expect people to immediately recognize it as a portrait of a particular person.

I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. Unless you're drawing a caricature, achieving a likeness is an exercise in subtlety. Even a small shift in the contours of the features or a minor, unintentional change that affects the proportions throws it all off. When designing and creating a piece like this in leather, there are so many stages from the original sketch to the finished piece that sometimes things get lost in translation.

(1) First is the pencil sketch which is then inked to determine the final lines (2). Then I take tracing film and trace the drawing onto it (3) to make the re-usable pattern. From here, the pattern is transferred to the cased leather with a stylus (4) after which it is carved with the swivel-knife (5) and then tooled (6).

Normally a slight change from drawing to tooled piece isn't a big deal. It happens all the time so even if I use the same pattern on multiple occasions, each version is bound to be one-of-a-kind, but in this case accuracy is vital to a likeness and I lost it along the way.

I was really saddened by the lack of likeness and I almost abandoned the project. My boyfriend said that I should just continue with it and disregard the original plan: be content with a necklace featuring a vignette of a regal Mayan woman. What do you think?

A Craft Show in My Future

I've signed up to participate in the 42nd Annual Gallery of the Arts, an art & craft show which takes place along Main Street in Sellersville, PA. This year it will be held on Sunday, September 19th from noon until 5pm.

I used to display my work at this show as a "Junior Artist" so it seems fitting that my first art show in more than a decade should be this event. I've been considering getting involved in local shows for a while now and this one seems like a great opportunity to get my feet wet again. I believe Quakertown and Perkasie also hold similar events so if this one goes well maybe those shows are also in my future.

It's months away, but I've already started building some inventory to take to the show. The photo above shows some current pieces on my workbench: components for a bracelet, two necklaces, and two sets of earrings. I've also rediscovered some older beaded necklaces I'm planning to bring, and I'm definitely going to be bringing prints of my artwork as well. There's so much work to do, I hope I can get enough done. My Etsy shop may be a little bare while I'm preparing for the show, but I also hope to still be adding items there if I can.

Lotus Blossom in progress

This is a quick photo of another Lotus Blossom cuff bracelet that is currently on my work table. Unlike the first version which was in shades of black & grey, this one is in luminous sunset (or sunrise) colors of pale reds, oranges, and yellows. All of the coloration was done with successive layers of dyes which are translucent and absorb into the leather which gives this lotus beautiful depth that is hard to capture in the photograph.

It hasn't quite been completed yet as you can see, but it should be done soon for placement in my Etsy shop.

She might appear angelic now....

These are two leather pendants on which I'm currently working. I hope to get them completed for Hallowe'en/Samhain/Dia de los Muertos as they have an elegant chthonian theme (although the pendant in progress on the table has more of a creepy-cute look) in keeping with the holiday. The figure in the central pendant looks benign and angelic now, but I have other plans for her!