What I Have Been Working On

A few times a year I go on supply buying trips. I always manage to purchase something a bit quirky. Sometimes these things get used in work immediately and sometimes they sit, waiting for the perfect moment to inspire me. It was over a year ago that I purchased a few strands of bright colored skulls. I had NO idea what I was going to do with them. So they sat. Just a few weeks ago I went on a buying trip and picked up more skulls. These were tiny and as I love things in miniature, naturally I had to have them too.

When I got home, I pulled the ones out that I had bought the year prior and I laid them all on my desk and then went about my business. My thought was if I stared at them long enough, eventually I would figure out what to do with them. And then one day I did.

Though out college, little lithe bodies had found their way into my art work. I used them in a few paintings but by the time graduation rolled around I had sketch books full of them. I could just never seem to leave dance behind entirely.

My idea was always to use them in jewelry and somehow I only made that happen once. I decided to change that! I have been adding my old sketches to these funky skulls and have been having a blast in the studio ever since. I name each one because they really have their own personalities...well that and I am a freak.




https://www.etsy.com/listing/104158893/the-trapeze-artist-sterling-silver

https://www.etsy.com/listing/104158893/the-trapeze-artist-sterling-silver

https://www.etsy.com/listing/104312245/tiny-turquoise-skull-necklace-jewelry

All of these pieces are now available in my shop. At this rate, there will be plenty more, and soon!

"Awake My Soul"

The past couple weeks I have been walking around in a bit of a fog. There has just been so much going on, I just can not seem to get anything right. I have managed to ignore my calendar and the pile on my desk and the fact that I have no food in the house for too long now. I am feeling restless and it is time for me to channel that feeling.

I went to bed last night thinking "tomorrow I will get my shit together". Naturally I got a phone call at 9:30 this morning to ask where I was. Yes. I had a 9:00am meeting with some fellow artists that I completely spaced on. This is very unlike me. So not exactly a great start to my "get my shit together" week, but I am on high alert now.

I am here at my computer, catching up on e-mails, ordering, bookkeeping etc. My go to band,  Mumford and Sons, are softly serenading me "Awake My Soul". Yes please! So I am carrying that with me today, along with all the amazing things I have experienced in the last few weeks, family, friendships, honesty along with a few self discoveries.

She is a gorgeous mess of chaos, and you can see it in her eyes.

The Yettie Man Returns

I went to the airport yesterday to collect the husband after 3 months abroad. I picked myself up a Yettie instead.

Impressive beard wouldn't you say?

Instagram Love

Ok, I love instagram! I am jumping on that bandwagon and I am OK with that. I love capturing insignificant details and making them beautiful as they are to me anyway. Lord knows I get excited about the dumbest things. Now I can share them in a less obnoxious way then my typical bouncing, hand clapping and general verboseness.

Well I had a very pleasant surprise on Mother's Day. Several people who received my work as gifts took pictures of themselves wearing it and tagged me. I can not tell you how much fun that was for me. Keep them coming. My Instagram name is @heavenstobessie  as is my Twitter name....so please tag away!

One of the pictures I was tagged in happens to be one of my favorite pieces I have ever made. EVER. Below are a couple pictures I took of it before I sent it on its way. It was hard to say goodbye to it but it is like that sometimes. Some pieces are just extra special.

Self portraits

Until recently I was feeling stuck in the studio. I was in a phase where I wanted desperately to make something brand new. I started thinking back to the days of art school where it was much harder to get stuck because you always had a new assignment ahead of you. I decided to play the part of my own professor and give myself an assignment. I thought immediately of the self-portrait. Of course this has been assigned and tackled in almost every art class I have ever had but never once did I ever have to to a self portrait in metal, and definitely not in jewelry. As soon as I challenged myself with this new project the familiar internal dialog began. How would I go about this? What techniques would I utilize? Would this be something I did to simply fulfill the assignment or would this be something that I would hold dear? Something I would wear?


I decided immediately to write out my self portrait. No drawing, no sketching. Just the words that make up who I am. This is the full version I came up with.

"SELF PORTRAIT"


Former dancer who mourns the loss of movement and suffers terribly from wanderlust. fascinated by the sea, the capabilities of the human body and late night infomercials. Sings in the shower. In love with a Mr. fitzwilliam Darcy, so sure he smells of England and lavender. Obsessed with red hair dye, impractical shoes and the eternal quest for the perfect bra. Troubled sleeper yet still a morning person, though strong coffee is a necessity. Loves cucumbers, dogs, Elvis, archery, and kisses for no reason. Curses to much and drives too fast...always feeling late and always arriving 15 min early. Needs change for survival. Finds most things funny, feeling most particularly the real joys in life like running in the rain. Lives in sunglasses and with the hope that I will die unafraid.


Now, obviously this is impossible to wear around ones neck so editing was key. I found it tough to edit my life so I decided to break it apart instead, mixing the semi-serious with the totally ridiculous. These pieces may ring true for a lot of folks which I find so fun. Already I have sold one that said simply "unafraid" and I hope it makes her feel that way.


I found this project so interesting because it brought something to my attention that I can't believe I never noticed before. My whole creative life, I have used words in whatever it was I created. I wrote prolifically when I was younger and used it in everthing I did, whether it was a collaboration with another artist, or a multi media piece I was doing for fun. Even in dance I choreographed a whole piece set to nothing but my dancers reading my favorite childhood story and a poem I had written. How is it that I lost this over the years. Something that was so clearly important in everthing I did. This was a welcomed rediscovery for me.

What I really learned from this is sometimes you need to really stop and make something for yourself. Sometimes you need to be your own professor, you need to challenge yourself. You never know what can come out if it. Perhaps it will just clear your head. Perhaps it will make you fall in love with what you do all over again. Perhaps it will snowball into a new product line. The point is, there is nothing wrong with taking time to make art for yourself!!

"I love tall brown eyed men & nacho cheese"

-Sterling silver with gold plated accents