Monthly Archives: July 2021

1″ x 2″, glass and metal beads, watch parts

There have been a lot of us in the house this week, and it’s been cozy.  We found two birds’ nests that fell out of trees in the last few weeks and the kids have set them up as “bird hotels” in our yard, so for them there’s the promise of more visitors as the days go by.  I like the idea that the more crowded it gets, the more nestled and protected we all feel. This pendant nestles one ring (watch backs and watch gears) inside another, with a cozy, protected gem in the middle and egg-like beads all around.

1″ x 1.5″, plastic tiles

This week has been full of re-use.  Community mosaic sessions with imperfect tiles from Artaic, a clothing up-cycling session to make pillows at Swap It, and installing the cutlery data sculpture “1,659” at its first location.  In honor of the week of upcycling, this pendant is made from the plastic tiles from a craft kit that the kids were ready to throw out. These little squares and rectangles have moved on to smaller and better things!

1″ x 1.5″, stone and polymer clay Our neighbors down the street are putting in a whole yard of beautiful plants, including an amazing array of succulents.  It reminded me that we’ve been on a family quest for indoor succulents all year, since they’re almost un-killable, they’re beautiful and they have wonderfully funny names.  Even though my pendants are meant to be studies for larger mosaics, this one went the other way.  It’s a tiny version of a larger mosaic that I made a few months ago. Both use amazing polymer clay succulents made by a local Somerville artist (you can find her on instagram @theatomicgarden). Even if it’s not real, I like the idea of carrying a tiny garden around my neck.

1″ diameter, glass and ink

It’s been raining and raining, which makes our baby plants really happy, but leaves me a bit melancholy.  The water is pooling and swirling and being beautiful as long as it stays out of our house and garage.  I had a chance to play with alcohol inks last week for the first time, and saw that they can make amazing watery swirls. I’ve been experimenting with them on different surfaces and testing ways to seal them.  So between the rain and my tests, this week you get to see not a mosaic pendant, but a pendant made from alcohol ink on a white glass nugget sealed with resin.  It looks to me like one of the many puddles along my street.  

1″ x1″, glass and found objects

I taught a mixed media mosaics class at Snow Farm earlier this week and put together a couple of pendants as we played with Apoxie Sculpt and all of the bits and pieces that I had brought along.  The stained glass that I used for the background reminded me of the night sky, and the central stone is a ring from a gumball machine that I flattened and cut. A few days ago I came from Snow Farm to Taconic State Park, where the stormy skies have actually been as dazzling as the stained glass in the pendant. So this week’s pendant is a nod to the beauty of the Cosmos.   I’ve given it a name that implies it’s the first in a series because I have a funny feeling there will be more.