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.

the Walnut Locket Project (working title)

step 1: Concept: people will look at things they consider ugly or disfunctional and ignore them or look the other way. someone with a mental illness or physical deformity is shunned from society because they are considered damaged goods. however, these people can have very valuable things to contribute to society. though they're outside can be ugly, inside they are beautiful.

step 2: planning the process-this hasn't really worked out so well. first of all, the nuts are too hard for a x-acto knife to cut, so they just started to shatter. this actually fit into my idea, that shattered and broken looking people are just as important as good-looking people. so i started to look for easier (and less dangerous) ways to break the nuts. in the absence of a nutcracker, i threw a nut on the floor. it shattered quite niceley, despite making a mess. after that, i put a nut in a plastic bag and threw it, and that created the effect as well as contained the mess.
i took the pvc glue i wanted to use to tape the two halves together to reconstruct the nutshells, and let the two halves edjes remain ragged. i then glued the ribbon between the halves and let it dry.

step 3: expiriments to come-
i'm planning on trying out different ways of gilding the inside, including gluing in leaf and using a leafing marker. then, i'm going to try different finishing techniques for the outside of the shells, including ink, staining, and sanding. finally, i'll mix and match charms and crystals for the insides and maybe add text- from books, movies, or poems talking about the beauty inside.

hope that clarifies things.

Artist's Statement

All people are created equal. I have to believe this. I have to believe that we are all equally skilled, that if boring, unimaginative and unskilled people just tapped into their secret internal reservoir of magic then they could make art like me. Because the other half of me knows that's not true. That part of me knows that we are not created equal. It knows that I am both more and less than the average woman. Small talk confounds me, conversation terrifies me, I never know whether I'm doing the right thing, tormented by doubt. Though I can pull these images out of my heart with the flick of my wrist, I can barely look another human being in the face. And nobody wants avoidance. That's why I keep looking for this mythical place where everyone is as creative as me. Where people are inspired by the same thing as me. Because if I'm different, I'm not equal. And all people are created equal. They're all worth the same.

Goddess Flexagon

A flexagon is a folded paper contraption that folds again and again, displaying four sides in turn. this one features the four elemental mother goddesses as mentioned in the Multiflorate Rose.
(watercolor paper, ink, watercolors)

Yemoya

Kali Ma

Zoe

Gaia

Womb of the World

Womb of the World
(carved basswood, watercolor, acrylics)
made in carving class, fall 2008