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You know how you get those amazing insights and brilliant ideas in the shower? Well this morning it hit me … how do people with really long fingernails clean the little hidey parts of their ears? I’m telling you, it must be tricky and potentially painful.
Okay, so I’m getting a bit punchy. But closing in on the ‘making’ part. Here’s what I’ve got so far ……
so far
The theme for this batch of new work has been resurrecting old designs and interpreting them in new ways. That’s what’s happening with the bones – now combined with jumbo pearls – I drilled the holes bigger to fit on nylon cord and the steel springs. Then I revised another necklace style and came up with the folded tab components in the middle. I REALLY love these. My goal has been to take the same components and use them in at least a couple different designs, to have a variety of price points, streamline and drop the super high end work.
I still haven’t decided how I’m going to use all of the little pile of gemstone links in the upper left hand corner, but thy’re just so beautiful. Very pleased that none of the gems were heat treated, hence none of them lost their color. I sent back all that topaz I bought in May and replaced it with this – my GL&W haul from last week ……….
gemstone booty
So many beautiful, sparkly things!
Well, that’s it for now. I just had to take a wee break, get some lunch and let ya’ll see how much I’ve accomplished – I’m quite proud!
Blessings sweet ones,
kvk
I’ve really been enjoying the discourse over my last couple of posts. Such good fun …
But my business has gotten busy and I’ve got a daunting task ahead. I just got my samples back from the reps and, here comes the tricky part, I have to weed out slow moving samples, finish designing and then make new work, photograph everything and plug into a new catalog – print and CD formats – and have everything packed to ship back to Portland by August 3rd. I’m working very hard on not freaking out. I thought the San Francisco show was later in August. It’s the second weekend and I have to stay very focused for the next week.
The challenge there, Dave’s aunt passed away suddenly last weekend. She lived just down the road a bit and his Dad and all the rest of that side of the family has begun its influx. Memorial services will be next weekend. So, I’m really concerned that I need to have everything done by Friday, really really trying not to panic.
So, this post is necessarily brief and not near as much fun as the last couple. But that’s the life of this solo artist/entrepreneur/alchemist. I know first hand that time can expand when needed … I need some big-time expansion.
Wish me luck………..
blessings,
kvk
Gotta say, that last post certainly generated some good conversations. No mindless chatter here!
So much can happen in just a few days.
Being present, being here now while growing a successful business – today it seems like a no-brainer. There are steps that I want to follow (not should or must), a plan to move ahead, new work to design and create and marketing avenues to explore. Maybe part of the problem is semantics; maybe the word should be steps rather than goals. Goal implies completion. I don’t want to be done, I just want to be moving forward – a process, a gentle unfolding journey. I’d like my progress to be intentional and thoughtful.
So here’s my idea – approach my business as I would a walking meditation. I’m being present with each step and there’s movement forward. My business evolves – a natural process, not forced or strangled by my need for control.
That feels right. That feels doable.
One small thing that has helped me along the way is my own talisman. Lately I’ve been making adjustments and adding things. I recently added the chakra pendant – it has a small ruby in the place of the heart chakra – a reminder to stay heart-centered. My current ‘blessing’ is “transformation through absolute truth”. A good one, but I think it’s time for a new one – not sure what.
kvk talisman
I have to say, I am encouraged with my new business model. It’s probably just new to me, but that’s the whole point. This is my journey, my process – I am waking up. I can admire another’s progress, be encouraged and inspired by their writings and accomplishments. But I follow a solo path and must blaze my own trail. That path, that trail leads to the light that shines from within … to my heart center. From that place I can move out and forward.
Onward.
with love, gratitude and many blessings,
kvk
I’ve been pondering the evolution of this blog. It started out as ‘waking up’ and followed many months of intense introspection, spiritual exploration and, well, waking up. My banner was bright, expansive, ever so hopeful.
My work was evolving – I had my ’spiritual coming out’ party at AOT via my Talismans For Fellow Travelers series – now that was intense! I’m not used to crying at gallery openings. At that same time, we had decided to leave Port Townsend and move back to North Carolina – huge. So then there was the chronicling of that transition and it’s been transition ever since. This image really looks like how we’ve felt since last November – off into the abyss.
I had been in serious steamroller mode for so very long. My tendency had been to formulate a goal, set my intention and just motor right along until I arrived at said goal. It all started after watching ‘The Secret’ (whenever that came out?), buying not one, but two copies – one with Esther Hicks, one without – and basically inundating my brain with that process. I had the DVD running in my studio, playing over and over and over for days into weeks. I put up vision boards, was manifesting my heart’s desire left and right, straight on up to selling our house in less than one week (the week the stock market crashed) and moving across the country and landing in Asheville.
But now, things are different. Not that I’m bringing awful things into my life, but the ‘flow’ is not really flowing quite like it was. It feels more like mud or glop or goo. The other day I pulled out my old vision boards – all of them completely irrelevant to my life right now. Aha, I thought, make new vision boards! But this is where I am and all I can think of is – basically nothing ……….
How’s that for strange? I’m an artist for god’s sake! How can I have blank walls in my studio? Why can’t I come up with anything to put on my vision boards or some sort of inspirational something? Weird, just plain weird.
So here I am – I think it’s time to plug The Secret back in. Interesting thing, I am inspired to work. I can FEEL there’s been a shift, maybe the mud is starting to thin. I’m making jewelry and putting things on Etsy and getting ready to send work out to AOT and I got a nice order from the reps and the August wholesale shows are coming up and I need to make new jewelry samples and new catalogs and all that entails. I just don’t have an ‘ultimate’ goal. A goal for where I want my work to go or how I want my business to grow. The Secret has several great visuals for being in this position. The gist of them all – just take the first step, then the next … you don’t need to know HOW it will all work out, just keep moving and follow your heart and it will take you where you need to be. Joseph Campbell said it best, “follow your bliss.” Which reminds me of Geoffrey Rush in Shakespeare in Love – how’s this all going to work out? … “I don’t know, it’s a mystery.”
Things I know for sure …
Walter’s got a belly like a watermelon.
bellies and bijoux
Nina and I descended into the depths of mutual hatred and emerged better friends than before – did I say this before … the ‘phoenix sisters’.
nina's bijoux
My life is incredibly blessed. This morning’s breakfast table illustrates the day to day joy that is returning to my life.
friday morning
So I continue to move through the fog. Even though I can’t see specifically where I’m going, I know I’m on a good path. The right path for this time and this place. How’s this all going to turn out? I don’t know, it’s a mystery.
blessings,
kvk
Welllll, best laid plans and all that ………..
I’ve got bones necklaces and bracelets and four different versions of my fine silver coin necklace and three or four more pairs of hoops all finished and ready for pictures. Actually, I’ve taken pictures of most of the work. But here it is after 9 o’clock and I’m just now starting to photoshop the images. I’ll be out of the studio tomorrow – I’ve got some special jewelry for a special person that’s getting special, personal delivery. So it looks like it will be Thursday before the work gets posted on Etsy. I also found another promising on-line handmade site called Supermarket that I’ll be checking out.
I’ve also got a bunch of the steel elements almost ready for finishing. Like Lynne was saying, the steel was looking fine! It’s even more fine now and will be really fine when done.
Here’s the fruits of my efforts over the last week or so ….
a week's work
And a couple of better images of two finished pieces. Here’s a variation from my ‘regular’ bones necklace – I really love the bones with beach glass. This one’s 18″. It’s been such a long time since I’ve made these on a regular basis. I still love the look of the bones and still love making them. That’s a good thing.
bones with beach glass
And here’s a variation on my fine silver coin necklace. Over the years, I’ve only done a couple of these with pebbles. They’re longer, usually in the 24 – 36″ range. This one’s 26″. The pebble I found for this necklace is just perfect – kind of kidney shaped, very thin and flat – from one of my walks on the beach in Port Townsend.
coins with beach pebble
One thing I learned the hard way with these necklaces – they have to be stitched with a double strand of the silk. I also learned today, a fan blowing right on me is not advisable when working with this much thread. Messy, messy, pain in the neck. So I had to do without the fan. There’s also several steps to drilling the pebbles – drilling the hole, widening it, rounding the edge and then flattening it out – I want to be sure the pebble doesn’t wear through the silk.
Also – an update on the bamboo thread I wanted to use. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before … anyway. The bamboo has virtually no strength … I can break it easily just by pulling with both hands. It’s only 2-ply and not tightly wound. No where near as strong as the silk – not even close. I think I’ll be able to use it if I braid several strands, but it’s a no-go for the stitched series. Bummer.
That’s all for now. It’s almost 10 and it’s pumpkin time for this little designer.
If anyone’s waiting to see more of what’s in the works, be sure to check back Thursday for sure. Thanks for visiting!
Blessings,
kvk
This morning’s good things ……
Sinead O’Connor’s vocals on What Your Soul Sings – can’t get enough.
Ginger tea update – put a bunch of sliced lemon in a 32 oz mason jar, pour in ginger tea with a splash of maple syrup, shake vigorously – et voila, ginger lemonade. YUM! Still working on getting off of caffeine and this is helping enormously.
The phone’s turned off, music is soaring, incense is wafting, the hammer’s flying and the torch is flaring, the silk is weaving in and out of beautiful beach pebbles and silver coins.
Lovely.
with gratitude and blessings,
kvk
This will be me being very productive and being quick like a bunny with this post …
It’s so nice to be in production mode. However, this little computer is right in front of my worktable and calls to me throughout the day. Little pings when I’ve got a new email, a song on my current Pandora station that needs a thumbs up or, more importantly, an immediate thumbs down – how did THAT get in there? Then I’ll get sidetracked … I’ll think of something I want to look up or a site I’d been thinking about and want to see what’s new or a blog that I haven’t visited in a while and want to get caught up. Very sneeky this little computer, very seductive, very addictive.
Henceforth, I’m making a effort to exercise restraint and not go cruising after this. Not an easy thing to do!
What’s in the works at the moment will be an Etsy first. I’m working on some fine silver PMC coin necklaces (there’s bronze versions there, but never silver). The double strand version of this necklace was the centerfold of San Francisco MOMA’s holiday flier a couple years ago. There’ll be at least a couple and at least one with a beach pebble. It’s such a great piece and looks amazing on. Coin necklaces – one of the few things I continue to love making – I can get pretty bored with too much repetition. Of course production and repetition is the basis of my livelihood, so it’s important for me to stay excited by my work.
a bunch of bones and coins
The other pieces are my bones. I’ve been making these for at least 6 or 7 years and have never tired of them. They’re still fun to make – I still love the volcanic rock texture and the little rolled edges – and they’re still fun to assemble in all sorts of permutations. I’ll be doing some of them on the stainless steel spring bracelets – the first batch were snapped up almost immediately – and I’ll be doing at least 1 or 2 necklaces that fall into the ‘gender neutral’ category. They’re 21″ and work as either a necklace or bracelet.
I’m getting ready to drill the forged steel pieces. I had to stop working on them until I got fresh drill bits. I’ve got lots of ideas for things to do with these elements. I can’t wait to see how they turn out – always a surprise! There’ll also be more hoop earrings, smaller ones – 1 1/2″ diameter and jumbo – 3 1/2″ diameter.
The goal is to have things posted to Etsy on Monday. Wish me luck!
Okay Kathy – step away from the computer … step away NOW!
sending gratitude and blessings,
kvk
This from Ignore Everybody – “There’s no correlation between creativity and equipment ownership. None. Zilch. Nada.”
I’m liking this very much – probably ’cause I’m usually low on the equipment accumulation spectrum. It always pleases me to haul out my well worn PMC tool kit caked with 12 years worth of glop and dust and hand oils and plain old dirt … you see, it’s never been washed. Can’t do it, for some reason I just can’t do it. The tools are pretty much the original ones with a few from my even older pottery days. Okay, so I do have a new kiln, but that was a necessity. I think that’s one of the things I love most about PMC, very few tools required – nothing fancy and the more rustic and off the wall the better.
So here’s some of my favorite things … the seriously crunchy tool kit, scads of little dishes collected through the years full of bits of this’ and thats , my old volcanic rock fragment found in the Moab desert, surface texture now wearing thin, my desktop shrine guarding and watching and blessing.
props or not
No props here, just the absolute minimum necessities. A good model for life in general. Of course, unlike my tool kit, life in general occasionally needs a bath.
yours in silliness
kvk
I was just thinking about different styles of designing and constructing jewelry, comparing how I work to how some of my friends work.
My m.o. is to make a whole lot of components – sometimes I have a plan in mind, sometimes no. Most of the time I do have an overall theme or feel I want to express. Then the process begins. Metal clay components takes at least a couple of days – making, firing, tumbling, patina, more tumbling. With the forged elements I’m working on right now, I’m cutting wire, forging, pairing and assembling, drilling and more assembling.
After that I gather the assorted bits and pieces that are calling to me at that moment … maybe faceted gems or raw diamonds that are soldered onto delicate links, maybe I’ll drill beach pebbles and glass, maybe I’ll drill bigger holes in jumbo luminous pearls. A rush of excitement hits me as I gaze on my assembled materials and ponder my direction, ideas swirling and coalescing. Then I sit down and begin to compose … maybe it’s more like improvisation. This is my music, my dance, my poetry.
At my best, the work flows from a place deep inside. A place I know intimately, but a place that can be fleeting and elusive. It’s the well, the source, the heart. Tapping into that place is not a given. It remains a mystery and when I’m fully engaged and mining that source, it is pure heaven. The challenge is to stay engaged throughout the process, from start to finish.
The inevitable starting and stopping and starting again is always a test. My shortcut to getting hooked back into the process is music. I listen to different kinds of music depending on the type of work I’m doing and have a bunch of Pandora stations programmed accordingly. When I’m deep in the zone, the phone’s turned off and I don’t want any distractions, I’ve got my John Abercrombie/Fred Frith ambient station going. Forging and soldering is, these days, all Fever Ray. Stitching and knotting silk calls for something meditative with an eastern groove, that’s Angel Tears or Lumenis. If I’m feeling stressed or trying to calm down, Shadowfax and Michael Hedges usually do the trick. When I’m just in a good mood and looking for something lively, I turn to Cinematic Orchestra, Django Rheinhardt or Zero 7.
I’m not sure where I was headed with this. Guess it’s just something I was thinking about while taking a bit of a break – an interesting exercise and just another part of the process.
with gratitude and blessings,
kvk
The shopping cart project is not inspiring me – at all. In fact the last couple of days have been dreadful roller coaster rides. Yesterday – well, lets just say that I’m very happy it’s now ‘yesterday’. By the end of the day things were turning around. I decided to postpone the website/shopping cart makeover project and just make jewelry for a bit. Finally after several bouts of careening up and down and the conversations in between, Dave said, “Just leave the other stuff alone for now. Do what you do best, make beautiful jewelry.”
So I went back into the workroom and noticed some scanned images of the forged steel jewelry I made late last summer. I love that work and it sold out almost immediately at AOT. I’ve been sort of avoiding the steel, but it’s a very seductive material – it has such warmth, but with an industrial edge that I love. So I got to thinking, my shoulder’s been doing just fine – no problem after making a half dozen pairs of hoops. So I got out my spool of bailing wire (Home Depot is one of my favorite places to buy jewelry making supplies) and started cutting and whacking and, glory be … didn’t those little components look just fine?
I’m thinking I’ll work on a bunch of different things. I can fire PMC onto the steel wire – it looks amazing. I’ve made bangle bracelets and rings that way. Then there’s the link necklaces and bracelets and earrings. I use PMC beads and discs and linen wrap accents. Industrial organic – a favorite combination. I’ve also got a special order for a stack of bones bracelets – not sure why I don’t just keep these on hand. They’re just so classic.
So I survived yesterday, primarily with frequent conversations with Dave and frequent emails with Nina. I am so very blessed to have them both in my life. They yanked me out of the depths and I am enormously grateful. To have that itch to create and the spark of an idea or two or six – it’s the air I breathe, my reason for being – and it’s back.
July 4th breakfast
Today could have been spent working on nudging these sparks into flames, but I followed my horoscope and spent most of the day outside working in the yard with Dave. A lovely day that started off with a beautiful walk and yummy breakfast and then eased on into a peaceful, fulfilling afternoon. We’ll finish it off, being the home-bodies that we are, with a splurge … take-out Chinese and a DVD.
WOO HOO! Par-ty on dudes and dudettes!
Happy and safe 4th!
love gratitude and blessings,
kvk
