A Jeweler's Journal

Welcome

>>> — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 23:53:03 +0000

ABOUT ART AND WRITING

• After earning a Masters degree in Fine Arts from the University of California, I spent several years creating and exhibiting both functional and sculptural ceramics. Following the hiatus in my work that resulted from a major relocation, I found myself returning to an earlier love of making jewelry. I eventually began training as a bench jeweler, and have never looked back. I have also been a writer for as long as I can remember, first of philosophical musings and occasional poems, and eventually of a book, The Transformation Journal, which came out of my experiences as a Hypnotherapist, yoga teacher and long-time meditator.

• The Jeweler’s Journal entwines the different threads of my pursuits in art and writing. It is both a place for me to work out my ideas and a virtual studio where I can share with visitors the process of creating my jewelry designs.

The development of my ideas and designs are chronicled, along with photographs, in the “Work In Progress“ entries excerpted below.

Enjoy ♥

Alexa

WORK IN PROGRESS: Cocoons

>>> — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 23:28:41 +0000

I am currently exploring two different directions in my work. I continue to create designs that are driven by my love of geometry and an ongoing conversation between elegance and whimsy. The newest direction in my work is thematic and is based on forms that suggest cocoons as a visual metaphor for relationships. I am making a series of pendant/necklaces and brooches that incorporate these forms. Each “cocoon” is built-for-two; two pearls or semi-precious stones nestle inside. I incorporate the simple geometry of an outlined circle or square into each piece to serve both as a counterpoint to the organic form and texture of the “cocoon”, but also as an abstract symbol representing those qualities of relationships, like privacy, safety, and security, that support the potential of relationships as containers for growth. When I am working on these pieces I feel different. I have the sense of creating something primal that touches a very deep place in me.

Cocoon For Two, Brooch Cocoon For Two, Pendant

WORK IN PROGRESS: Squiggling in a New Direction

>>> — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:40:48 +0000

August 12, 2009

• The undulating line I call a squiggle has been popping up in my work for so many years, it is about time I gave it a voice. Some of its earliest appearances were in clay shortly after I completed my M.F.A. with a major in ceramics. I still have an example of it from that period on the wall of my jewelry studio. You can see two large glazed porcelain black squiggles on the wall behind me in the photo on my website. A squiggle speaks to me of spontaneity, of playfulness, of movement and dance. It is the expressive gesture of a hand, the path of a bird in flight, the bounce of a ball.

• When I worked in clay it took a long time to loosen up with a brush enough to paint a spontaneous calligraphic flourish on a glaze. Once I was able to do that, the gesture that produces a squiggle became my signature on letters and the outside of envelopes and showed up in handmade greeting cards. So, it was not a surprise that the first piece of jewelry that I made in my first jewelry class was embellished with a squiggle. And, it has been reappearing ever since, most recently in an unfinished pendant on my workbench and a just finished pair of earrings.

• Here are the earrings. In the domed circle and the corrugated surface I see a full moon reflected on a rippled lake, and in the squiggle I see the movement of a bird in flight breaking the stillness. I am excited about the new direction the squiggle has taken. •

Earrings, Sterling silver / corrugated, soldered, riveted / matte and polished surfaces / 5/8" x 1 1/4" x 3/8"

WORK IN PROGRESS: Dancing Earrings, Upward Movement

>>> — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:09:16 +0000

7/1 DANCING EARRINGS • • • • • • •

• I have been developing a series of pieces that are expressive of a central theme in my life – motion, more specifically, movement that is playful, joyous and multi-directional. I begin every day with wild, spontaneous movement to world music with a strong drum beat to guide my feet, my arms, my body. Observing, you would call it dance. I think of it as an extension of walking to the rhythm of a heart beat. With every beat I return to my connection with earth. Unlike yoga or other forms of dance that I have done, I am never suspended above the ground, either by jumping or leaping or holding a pose. ♥(Under the Browse by Subject link, choose “Dance Music” for a list of my favorite world beat C.D.s for dancing.)

• So, I am watching as my current work in jewelry explores similar territory, playful movement. However, because this series of pieces is so far all earrings, I get to play with suspension. In a way it is like reversing gravity. The technical challenges of creating movement, especially in more than one direction, are somewhat daunting. However, I am persevering because the results delight me. These are like miniature kinetic sculptures. Here is the series so far: ↓ ↓ ↓ I welcome your comments.

Swinging Squiggle with Enamel & Corrugation: The beginnings of movement. The squiggle swings side to side.

Arrow with Squiggle #2: I am finally getting the playful multi-directional movement I want. The earring swings on the ear wire, the corrugated panel swings forward and back and the squiggle swings side to side.

7/ 7 UPWARD MOVEMENT • • • • • • •

• As I continued to refine this series of earrings, it dawned on me why I had based an exploration of dance movement on an upward pointing arrow. It seems that whenever we pick up a newspaper or turn on the radio or TV or have a conversation with a colleague we hear about all the downward movement … in the stock market, in the economy, in the real estate market, in consumer spending, in consumer optimism. In the midst of all this, probably thanks to the influences of my Mother and the years of yoga and meditation, I have remained steady and, yes, optimistic. And I realized that my upward pointing arrows are an expression of this attitude, combining movement with the symbol for “upward”.

• I have finally been able to bring all the elements together. Here is the evolution from the original designs in which the arrow head and the shaft of the arrow were cut out separately and the squiggle made from a wire, to a design with a squiggle that was cut out and mounted with a stone, and then to the last design with a corrugated arrow cut out as one piece and oxidized black. It also has a cut out squiggle that incorporates a stone.

: “Moving Up”: The corrugated panel swings forward and back. Each squiggle swings side to side, and is set with an aventurine cabochon.

Favorite Music for Dancing

>>> — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:06:23 +0000

All of these have great rhythms for moving your body:

Feet in The Soil by James Asher

African Percussions For Trance by Guem

Maya by Habib Koite

Planet Drum by Mickey Hart & friends