The Most Genteel Battlecry in the History of Bowdlerism

So here’s what I’ve gotten finished in the last few days. I have several other pieces I am working on for very lovely people which I will hopefully get done (or near done) this week. At least enough to get some more pictures up.

Mermaid — Water colour by Warwickk Goble (who rocks my socks)
I think the pearls are called “peacock”… I don’t know. They’re freshwater pearls dyed to a particular colour that I think it kinda pretty. Also, there’s a lot of swarovski crystal in this. Mmm…. crystals. Basically, I wanted it to look a bit like a sunken treasure chest with all the pealrs and jewels just sorta hanging out. Yeah. I think I achieved my goal on this.

Absinthe — advertisement by somebody (who also rocks my socks)
This is very different from anything else I’ve done before, mostly because I didn’t bead the entire thing. Jackie wanted understated, and understated I think is what she got. I’m rather pleased with it. If I’d had more time and money, I would have used real amber, but the glass is a pretty colour anyway and looks right.

Somehow last night, I stumbled on several vintage absinthe ads.

As I understand it, good absinthe tastes something like liquorice, which I hate, so I probably would not like it ever.

On the other hand, I love the ads for it.

I heart the ads for it.

I heart the colours.

I heart the red heads.

Then I found these turn of the century watercolours while searching for etchings of my favorite fairy tale characters.

I heart fairy tales.

Have I ever mentioned that I also heart mermaids?

I heart mermaids.

So here, for your enjoyment and/or criticism, are some hazy photos of pendants which will eventually be part of necklaces.

So today at work I was hit–literally–with a brilliant idea.

It was kinda like in Field of Dreams when the voice starts talking to that Waterworld guy and he’s like, “Ooo… I never thought of it like that. Thanks disembodied voice!”

 Actually, I think I only saw that movie once and I thought it was stupid and didn’t pay any attention to it, and really, when I think about it, this was nothing like that movie because it involved neither disembodied voices nor baseball in any way, shape or form.

It went a lot more like this: I was sitting at my desk, planning events like crazy, when this idea came up on my right and slapped me in the face.

I’m not kidding.

 Anyway, the idea was: make your own molds.

Now, usually I can do this just fine by not cleaning the shower out for a week, but this is a little different.

See, I’ve been wrestling with how to make pendants that don’t involve studio space and small kilns and things that generally will make a large mess/burn my house down. It’s harder than one would think.

But then I thought, what about regular modeling clay?… I mean, it kinda sucks to make jewelry out of. But, and this is the most important part O Best Beloved, if I made a mold of the shape I wanted in that crappy clay and filled it with epoxy, I would get the shape I want and avoid having to use crappy clay for a base or, indeed, burning my house down.

 Since my parents are coming to visit this weekend, this is probably not the time to start experimenting (since my workshop is my living room), but anyway, just to give anyone who cares an idea of what I’m up to.

 Yeah.

I would like to think there is something deeply thoughful and philosophical about the fact that I take great joy in taking things from the past and putting them inside broken watches (Time — he’s waiting in the wings).

But more likely it’s just me being weird.

Photos for the enjoyment (or non-enjoyment, if you want to be that way) of all.

The printing quality on this isnt great, but I like the graininess of this imags, and it seems to work. I particularly like the expression on her face. And the shape of the watch reminds me a bit of stained glass… and since this painting is chucky-jam full of religious significance, it seemed fitting.

I think the lady is supposed to represent Eve and Temptation and The Reason Men Screw Up and It’s All the Fault of the Feminine Sex… but I like to think that she’s listening to him hit on her and her expression says, “Yeah, right. 10 inches? And I’m the Queen of Sheba.”

 I found this interesting site (Granddad’s Erotica) which has a lot of Victorian/turn of the century erotic images. And I thought to myself, “Who doesn’t like vintage nipples?” This is, obviously, on of the tamer images. I really like the look on her face (although the rest of her ain’t too shabby either).

Also, she reminds me of Maggie Gyllenhaal.

This is probably my favorite da Vinci piece, which is odd, since it’s just a sketch. I prefer it to the finished work.

I like this image of Leda because she’s got a rather more seductive air about her and maybe looks a little like Medusa. I would like to think that this Leda gave Zeus a run for his money.

This is one of the ones I’m still unsure of. Obviously, the printing quality isn’t very good, which makes me sad. She’ll probably remain a work-in-progress until such a time as my printing abilities improve.

This will probably remain unfinished for a while. She’s very pale and hard to distinguish, and I don’t think I can make the image turn out any better until I get another printer. It is also one of the smallest pieces I’ve worked on so far, so it’s really hard to find something that works. Anyway, I heart this painting.

One more unfinished piece for the same reasons stated above: she’s hard to see at a distance. If you don’t know what it is, it’s even harder to figure it out. So I need a better image. I like the way this piece looks otherwise, but no epoxy for it for now.

Olympia also looks a little like my friend Leah, except that instead of being a famous Parisian prostitute, Leah is a librarian in Chicago.

OK, so I promise this is the last Manet piece you’ll see for a while. But come on, she’s great. I used a ready-made jewelry frame that you’re supposed to put photos in of your children or dog and then decorate with pink swarovski crystals. She’s not my child or my dog, but she reminds me a little of my niece Emily and also maybe a little of me but really only because of the hair colour.

I can be a little vain if I want.

Anyway, I heart the idiosyncracies of this painting. I once spent an entire winter day in my parents’ house writing a paper on it. Oddly enough, it is one of my happiest memories.

Another Victorian nudie girl. I will say this, the Victorians appeared to have a fondness for heaving bosoms.

Well some of them did. Oscar Wilde probably not to much.

These picture frame ones will probably be worked into a whole necklace or bracelet later, as I’ve found that it is hard to make pendants out of these.

I include this photo to give you an idea of the scale I’m working with. Kinda small, see?

One of the hardest parts about using old watches for pendants is that you have to keep the images inside them rather small. So what I’ve found is that you have to have a very specific focus for the image inside, otherwise it gets all muddy and people squint at it and say things like, “Oh… that’s the Sistine Chapel Ceiling, is it?”

My latest idea is to use some of my favorite pieces of art as the images inside these watches. If I had more talent, I would paint or draw my own, but I don’t, so we’ll just leave it at that. I have to steal other people’s work. But I think it works out, as a piece of jewelry.

Specifically, faces.

I really enjoy faces for this. I tried a few pieces last night, and it worked out rather well, I think. I used the above da Vinci sketch of Leda for the first piece (pictures to follow soon) which eventually was used for this:

Eventually, when/if I obtain a better printer, I’ll be able to use more colourful images. For now, black & white seems to work out best. Line drawings and some photos. I did manage to successfully use this image as well:

And what I wanted from this painting was the look on her face…

which is priceless.

Other images I plan to use:

But you gotta check out the ermine’s face…

(I love him)

This is my first post before I go to the 10th circle of hell known as the Harry Potter Release Party.

Honestly, right now, I really, really, really want to hit J.K. Rowling. Preferrably with one of her books.