survey says

Since I've still been studying rather than making (unless, of course, you count making flash cards), here are some of the 52 objects on my plate for this week's Survey of Decorative Arts II midterm...

I am (crosses fingers) feeling pretty optimistic about this one!  And next week is spring break!!!

as promised...

...here's Alice's bead, based by my clay bits.  Cool, no?

treasured

Wow, one of my pieces has been included in another treasury!  Selected by fishstikks, this one includes my Shifting Expectations pendant.  It's been a good day!

OWLS

Just got word that the lovely lasses of the Etsy Off the Wall Ladies Street Team (a.k.a. OWLS) included my necklace, The Littlest Owl (top right), on their blog today, along with some other great owl-themed pieces. Check it out here.

finding your voice

So my friend and studio-mate, Alice, is participating in an online workshop for glass bead makers called "Finding Your Voice."  For this week's assignment, they were asked to have a friend make five "simple but not basic" shapes, from which they would then choose two to conjoin and render in one color of glass.  Alice asked me to partner with her on this, and it was really fun!   

I opted to use terra cotta, rather than Sculpey for two reasons, first: I happened to have some under my desk (really, you never know what you'll find in here) and neither Alice nor I could find our Sculpey, and second: I actually really miss working with clay.  Those who know me well are probably groaning at this point, recalling my lengthy tirades last year about my frustration with wheel-throwing ("all it does is make a circle"), but remember, I really liked the sculptural possibilities of hand-building.  So, anyway, here they are my quick shapes (and yes, ever the over-achiever, I made six):

And here are the two she chose, stuck together: 

Alice's version is in the kiln, which I'm resisting the urge to open.  Pics to come soon...

read, write, study, repeat

It's midterm time. Figured I'd post the topic of the paper I'm currently writing (or would be writing if I wasn't so busy with self-indulgent blog posts... I swear, I'm just taking a break). This stunning French late-19th Century glass vase was designed by Eugene Rousseau and manufactured by Appert Freres. It's currently in the collection of the Walters Art Museum.

Oh, and I should also be continuing to study be these, among others, for my 17th and 18th Century Costume midterm Thursday:

It's going to be a long week...

at last, progress

Despite being even more distracted than usual by anything and everything in my path, I actually have managed to make a a few things lately.  These earrings are my new favorites; so much so that I kept a pair for myself and have been wearing them almost daily.  They're part of a new line that can be made available for wholesale order to retailers. Since I like to use vintage materials, it's always a challenge to find components in quantity.  

Below are a few pics of other new pieces that will soon be added to my etsy shop.  I'll likely retake some once the snow melts, for some reason, they're really grainy.  I've also been reshooting older work, relisting, and trying create a more cohesive look in the shop. There's still work to be done, but check it out and tell me what you think so far.

mmm... crafty

                                     metalwork by Jessica Benzaquen, Jika James

Just a little teaser of my favorite work from today's visit to the American Craft Council show.  I have to say, it almost makes me wish I still worked in metal.  More thoughts on all things show-related later... I'm still digesting.