Cool Stuff: Sleeping Cat Netsuke

What is it? It's a Netsuke, a button-like thing that people in ancient Japan wore on their obi, or belt. Because kimono don't have pockets, they would have little bags or boxes that they would hang on these cute little "buttons". Some of them are very elaborate, some even pornographic (don't know where you would wear those, but whatever floats your boat.) Real netsuke are made of fancy wood or ivory, but this one is a replica made of plastic.

Why is it cool? Look at it! it's a big, round kitty! With a bow! I love things about cats, especially Japanese cats. This kitty is a japanese bobtail, which is kind of a symbol of Japan. This is extra-cool because it is a really good reproduction- it shows the skill of the artist who origionally carved it. He even put on darling paw-pads and his little curly tail!

Where did you get that? I found this cutie at the gift shop at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore. While you're there, go to the Asian Arts gallery to see real, antique netsuke, not to mention the gorgeous laquered boxes that once hung from them. If you're in Baltimore and you like ancient Japanese culture (or even if you're just an Otaku) it's a must see!

This just in! I Googled "Lacma" and "Netsuke" and found something incredible- the Los Angeles County Museam of Art's online Gallery! They have all sorts of great stuff to look at, with a huge collection of netsuke and prints. And, in the "Urban life in the Edo Period" collection, i found the origional version of this darling little netsuke.(don't tell the folks at the Museam website I posted that image...)

Suicune Ring

Suicune (diamond clarity ring)
silver- peirced, soldered antiqued w/ liver of sulpher)

often i have come to the theme of "Suicune", the spirit of the north wind. Based on a Pokemon that is the "embodiment of pure springs" who moves with the purifying north wind, this spirit cuts through illusion and removes disease and corruption. (think a laxative, only cold.)
I envisioned this ring as a protective amulet that protects its wearer from various...entities. When it came out all beat up (they told me not to use pliers. why didn't i listen? I had to find out for myself...) I wasn't upset- it looks like an ancient magic ring that has been through a lot.

Grand-Mother Star slide (Give me your heart)

Grand-Mother Star slide (Give me your heart)
heavy paper, tissue paper, stamped images, ink, watercolors, glitter ink

"Prana Spindle"

"Prana Spindle"
blown glass ornament, brass bells, lampwork glass bead, crystal beads, glass beads.

A rare double-topic! One of the coolest things I found I made into jewelry. I got the ornament i used as a pendant at Rennfest. That particular vendor focuses on Faerie dust pendants and wands, and this ornament is filled with golden glitter.
I envision Prana, or Chi, as beautiful sparkling gold dust. I probably got this image from the "His Dark Materials" series, where the mysterious magic that fills the air (but nobody can see) is golden dust. This is like a reliquary, life force itself trapped within a bottle like a genie.

Origami Pocket-Book

"Sigil Book"
folded paper, fake leather, metallic paper, aluminum, ink, sigils inside are mixed media.

unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the inside and the sigils within. I really just made them for fun, and some of them aren't that great. I found a great pattern for a little pocket-book in one of my bookmaking books (enough books for one sentance?) and i just simply added a cover to it.

Cool Stuff: Hope Pocket Heart

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all

What is it? A pewter heart, probably made in a mold, made out of the letters of the word "Hope".

Why is it cool? this tiny heart is part me and part Thomas Mann. There was no interaction, of course and the only thing i really did was add a plastic feather bead. I added the feather because it reminded me of a certain poem. I know i've written it down somewhere...

Where did you get it? The American Craft Council show. This is a "Pocket Heart", one of the little dewdads that Mann sells for cheap. Five for Fifteen bucks, baby!

Can I get one? Yep. here's a link to Mann's Catalog online! You'll find the Pocket Hearts in the Miscelanious section. Unfortunateley, you cant pick which ones you get- you have to wait for a show to pick through the little tray for about fifteen minutes (sorry Mom.)

Morrigan's Tooth

"Morrigan's Tooth"
laser cut plastic, copper, silver chain.

this is not the best picture of this object. Morrigan's tooth was the product of rage, frustration, and the nightmares i command. As an artist, i command many dreams, some of them not so pretty. But enough silliness.
Morrigan was (is?) the Celtic goddess of madness and war. She was the Queen of Nightmares, and ruled with fear. Morrigan would appear as a raven and feast on the dead of war. As Neil Gaiman says in his masterpiece "The Kindly Ones", "There will always be sacrifices to The Morrigan."
However, if you coould face your fears, you earned the respect of the Raven Queen. I imagined this as a badge of honour, given for facing your worst nightmares.

"Mary Moon" slide

"Mary Moon"
mulberry paper, metallic paper, glitter glue, stamped image, glass slides, metal frame.

There was this big fad a while back in Mixed Media circles (that have since degraded to "bad craft") that you made a little collage and put it between two slides. Held together with either solder or a metal frame, you could wear it as a pendant and carry around a bit of your art with you. I've never been big on the babies-with-clown-hats-and-wings thing, so i made my own kind of design.
One of the best things about this particular piece is what i did with the papers. I layered translucent mulberry paper on top of metallic origami paper, using a glaze to make the mulberry paper even more see-through. It makes a really cool, layered effect on the ocean part of the picture, and I've used the technique many times since.

"Mary Moon" slide back
stamped images, pigment chalk.

much of the base of the Mary character in my artwork is based on a poem by T. S. Eliot, my favorite poet. Through his words I realized the spirit of this Goddess, who has become very important to me. The full text is Here, but some of the most influential bits of it are as follows:

Who walked between the violet and the violet
Who walked between
The various ranks of varied green
Going in white and blue, in Mary's colour,
Talking of trivial things
In ignorance and knowledge of eternal dolour
Who moved among the others as they walked,
Who then made strong the fountains and made fresh the springs

Made cool the dry rock and made firm the sand
In blue of larkspur, blue of Mary's colour,
Sovegna vos

Here are the years that walk between, bearing
Away the fiddles and the flutes, restoring
One who moves in the time between sleep and waking, wearing

White light folded, sheathing about her, folded.
The new years walk, restoring
Through a bright cloud of tears, the years, restoring
With a new verse the ancient rhyme. Redeem
The time. Redeem
The unread vision in the higher dream
While jewelled unicorns draw by the gilded hearse.

The silent sister veiled in white and blue
Between the yews, behind the garden god,
Whose flute is breathless, bent her head and signed but spoke no word

But the fountain sprang up and the bird sang down
Redeem the time, redeem the dream
The token of the word unheard, unspoken

Till the wind shake a thousand whispers from the yew

And after this our exile

...

Will the veiled sister pray for
Those who walk in darkness, who chose thee and oppose thee,
Those who are torn on the horn between season and season, time and time, between
Hour and hour, word and word, power and power, those who wait
In darkness? Will the veiled sister pray
For children at the gate
Who will not go away and cannot pray:
Pray for those who chose and oppose

O my people, what have I done unto thee.

Will the veiled sister between the slender
Yew trees pray for those who offend her
And are terrified and cannot surrender
And affirm before the world and deny between the rocks
In the last desert before the last blue rocks
The desert in the garden the garden in the desert
Of drouth, spitting from the mouth the withered apple-seed.

O my people.

...

Although I do not hope to turn again
Although I do not hope
Although I do not hope to turn

Wavering between the profit and the loss
In this brief transit where the dreams cross
The dreamcrossed twilight between birth and dying
(Bless me father) though I do not wish to wish these things
From the wide window towards the granite shore
The white sails still fly seaward, seaward flying
Unbroken wings

And the lost heart stiffens and rejoices
In the lost lilac and the lost sea voices
And the weak spirit quickens to rebel
For the bent golden-rod and the lost sea smell
Quickens to recover
The cry of quail and the whirling plover
And the blind eye creates
The empty forms between the ivory gates
And smell renews the salt savour of the sandy earth This is the time of tension between dying and birth The place of solitude where three dreams cross Between blue rocks But when the voices shaken from the yew-tree drift away Let the other yew be shaken and reply.

Blessed sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated

And let my cry come unto Thee.

and that is a secret between us.

Cool Stuff: Arthur Hash's Pink Chainsaw pin

What is it? This pin is made from laser-cut pink plastic. Arthur Hash is famous for making simple silhouettes of dangerous objects out of pink plastic.

Why is it cool? I could say something about feminine empowerment here, but come on, it's a pink chainsaw. How awesome is that walking contradiction? And i so do love a walking contradiction.

Where did you get it? At the American Craft Council show in Baltimore. It' s a great time, with some fun stuff. Hash was on lunch break, but his lady friend was happy to chat with me.

Can I get one? Sure! Arthur Hash has a shop right here on Etsy, but it doesn't have much. You just have to wait for the next Craft Council Show. In the meantime check out his homepage Here. It might crash your computer, though.


Extra opinion: Arthur Hash actually came to talk at my college. I found his playful attitude to art refreshing- he's made jewelry out of coffee stains, bubbles, and the omnipresent silhouettes (he was out of the pink machine guns :( ) It was a nice break from the way to serious people that were in my sculpture class that particular semester.

Cool Stuff: Gold Plated Hazel Nut

WHAT?! that's right. It's a hazel nut, plated with pure gold. It is one of my prized possesions.

but...WHY? well...when i bought it, i was a kid. It's gold, you know, and it's so very pretty.

Where did you find such a useless thing? I bought this around ten years ago at the Longwood Gardens gift shop. Going there and seeing the Christmas show in the greenhouse is quickly becoming a family tradition, which i love-i get depressed easily, and going to a greenhouse full of cool plants (they have a killer orchid collection, and the rainforest is not to be missed) sustains my mood for a little while longer.

Can you still buy them? Not that I want one...: Nope. despite having cool stuff like preserved flower jewelry and seeds from the garden, the gift shop no longer sells Gold-Plated nuts.

Cool Stuff: Glass Vessel Pendant

What is it?: a pretty pink glass vase that has a leaf-like handle. This makes it look like the world's cutest pitcher plant.

Why is it cool? well, it's only sort of cool- it looks nice, but I'm afraid to wear it-it might break! So it just hangs with my necklace collection where i can bask in it's cuteness.

Where did you get it? I got this at a stall at the Maryland Renaissance Festival- one of the three craft festivals i have to go to (the Holy Trinity is Rennfest in the fall, Faeriefest in the spring, and now Artscape in the summer) and yes, i do dress up.

Can I get one? i think so. I can't remember what the name of the exact vendor was, and there are a lot of glassblowers on the Rennfest site and not all of them have websites. Just go to Rennfest! You WILL find something you like!

Cool stuff: Butterfly Reversible Pendant

What is it?: it's a darling little silver and aluminum pendant. Custom colored just for me!

What's so cool about it?: it's reversible and made out of recycled aluminum. Reverible, you say?
BEHOLD!

Now it's a Red Butterfly pendant!

Where did you get that?!: This was made by mannmadedesigns (yes, all one word, all lower case) i found their stall at Artscape, and had to have one. The sweet artist, Jimmy Mann, asked if i wanted custom colors. You know me (or maybe you don't.) I can never decide on a color. So, i picked my two colors and ten minutes later i had my custom pendant- he stamped my custom peice of recycled aluminum while I waited.

Where can I get one!!!: Right here, on mannmadedesigns Etsy page:
http://www.mannmadedesigns.com/

hope you like the new feature!

Koru- in praise of Shrinky Dinks

"Koru Pendant"
shrink plastic, stamped image, pigment chalk

that's right, you read correctly. Nothing is more fun than shrink plastic. You stamp a big image on it, rub on some pale powder (it'll get darker as it shrinks), cut it out, and then heat it with a heat gun. Giggling insanely as it shrink to a quarter of it's size is optional. This is something i made to test out the process, a green spiral like the Koru (a Maori symbol for the unfurling fern, or birth and discovery)

Isolation- Prototype

"Isolation"
endless book: index card, ink.

a journal-type book, i wanted to make a book one night and just started writing. The poem has no beginning or end, and is meant to be read in person (take THAT technology!) I made it to explain how bored, isolated and depressed i can get, and how it was that bad this summer.

Text from this page:

Endings, I said to myself,
as the clock turned to Midnight.
Tomorrow is a beginning.
Now is an ending.
But things never seem to end anymore.
They just seem to stretch on endlessly,
one day is much like the other.

I feel like I'm in a foreign country,
and don't know the language.
You were born, and you die some day.
That's all i know.
That's all anybody knows.
You speak, your lips move,
But i hear nothing.
I am listening to something far away.


No clouds are in the sky.
I sit and watch the bubbles
meander slowly up the glass of ginger ale.
I've nothing to say.
Only a lonely Jay calls out.
All else is silent.


I tried to keep a diary,
but nothing seems to happen
worth writing about.
I'm just here.
I fear being here forever,
but I also fear the future,
when i won't be here
anymore.

now...can you guess what order i wrote them in?

Goddess Necklace

"Goddess Necklace"
nuts, carved horn, ceramic, clear quartz, cowrie shell, agate, pearl, and hematite, on waxed cord.

each of the pendants on this tribal style necklace represents one of the elements- the horn feather is for air, the ceramic bead is for fire, the shell for water, and the agate for earth. The clear quartz represents the All-Mother.

Hatchling Neclace

"Hatchling Necklace"
white quartz bead, metal findings, quail feather, silk cord.

this necklace is made to celebrate birth and potential. As soon as i saw the roughly egg-shaped stone beads at my local craft store, using one as a pendant crystallized in my mind. The feather came as a later idea.

Crystal Do-deca-hedron

Swarovski crystals, glass beads, nylon fishing line.

i found a pattern to make this super-sparkly Do-Deca-Hedron (twenty sided geometric figure) in a bead shop in Virginia. The ancient greeks aligned each of the old elements with a solid shape made of all the same shape- the Five Platonic solids. the Dodecahedron is made up of pentagons, and it represents the fith element, Spirit.

Heart Chakra Amulet

"Heart Chakra Amulet"
glass beads, glass pearls, "new jade" cabochon, adventurine beads on a plastic felt base.

i made this necklace as an amulet for the Heart chakra. This particular energy center is associated with two different colors: green and pink. i used a brick-stitch technique i found in a magazine to trim the cabochon.

Ocean Amulet

"Ocean Amulet"
felted wool, cowrie shell, needle felted whale, naturally smoothed pebble with stamped image, crocheted wool strap, ceramic bead.

i made this amulet pouch to honor the ocean in it's masculine and feminine forms- the nurturing, feminine side is represented by a cowrie shell, the challenging, masculine side by the white whale. The stamped image is a combination of the elemental symbol of water and the symbol of Neptune.
the bead sewed on the outside of the pouch i bought at a craft show in Bethany. The artist that made the bead made it from a mold she created from a fossil shell.

Beach Cuff

"Beach Cuff"
wool and nylon blend yarn, crocheted, cowrie shell.

i made this pretty cuff while i was at the beach. I found it emotionally healing to be by the sea, so close to nature. Until Jeff's friends showed up and the whole beach house was filled with CHAOS! Fortunately, the town of Bethany is so peaceful, maybe some day i will live there.