Feeling Sentimental...

I love teapots. All sorts of them. Old, new, fat, skinny, tall, short - it doesn't matter. I love the graceful lines of their spouts and the feelings they invoke inside me. Growing up, I used to drink tea with my Grandma. Actually, you couldn't really call it tea - mostly milk and sugar with a little Earl Grey mixed in. We would get our tea ready and Grandma would let me sit and drink it in her living room watching TV, and I would feel very grown up and special.

Grandma died a few years ago after nearly 10 years of progressive dementia at the age of 96. It was a strange emotional experience for me. I haven't lived in my hometown since I left for college nearly 30 years ago, and didn't get to see her very often. Yes, I got home to see my family at least once a year, but I didn't see Grandma on a regular basis like they did, and when I did get to see her, most of the time, she didn't recognize me. I guess in my mind, the woman I knew had passed on years before, and her actual death didn't seem as much as a loss to me as it might have otherwise.

A few months after her death as I was getting ready for a show, I finally grouted a teapot I'd glued the pieces to months before. I love how it turned out. I used old English china, along with a lot of other bits and pieces, and it turned out great. The black grout really showed off the bright colors of the beads and glass in the piece, and highlighted the broken china patterns beautifully.

Usually I get a chance to live with my pieces for a while before I sell them, but this time I needed to make sure I had enough mosaics to take with me, so I brought the teapot along. In reality, most of my mosaic sales from that type of show are for commissioned pieces, and I usually don't sell a whole lot of my higher-priced already-made pieces, so I was not expecting it to sell anyway.

Wouldn't you know it - the teapot sold right away. As I was packing it up to give to my customer, I was struck by a sadness that came out of nowhere. I had no idea what had caused it, and that bothered me a little. Later in the day it hit me - not only did I not get to spend time with this piece before selling it, but I realized that when I created it, it had been a love letter to Grandma. Finally I felt it - the loss of a wonderful, amazing woman who had given me a loving place to just be who I was, without apology or affectation, for my entire childhood. My heart filled with love and loss, and I finally grieved.

I miss Grandma, and at that moment I finally let myself feel that loss. I think I'll do another teapot - just for me this time - and have a cup of Earl Grey with milk and sugar now and again to remind me of her and the love she gave to me.

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This post originally appeared on this blog on May 2, 2008.

Countdown To Christmas

I've always wanted to make an advent calendar, and this year I've committed to making three - yes THREE - of them!  I want to share the first one with you today:

I've been itching to mosaic lately, and decided that this was a perfect project to break out (no pun intended) the red and green plates and get going.

First I found an 7" x 10" unfinished framed chalkboard at Woodworks, Ltd. and started gluing on the broken plate pieces.  For this type of project, I like the finished frame to look more chunky & rustic, and so I used larger pieces and let them hang over the sides of the wood.  I attached a teacup handle to use as a hook for hanging the chalk.

Next I grouted with an off-white color to further the rustic feeling of the finished piece, and then used a paint pen to write "Countdown To Christmas" on the top of the board, and do some doodling.

To incorporate the "Tis The Season" beads from Prima Beads, I coiled and flattened dark green artistic wire, carefully drilled holes through the grout, tapped in some nails and wound the wire ends around the nails after hanging the pre-made bead charms to the loops in the wire. 

For a final touch, I attached some beads to the ribbon holding the chalk as well:

I usually like to make my own charms, but these look great and saved me SO much time!  They come in a huge variety of colors and sizes, and are super-cute!

I am so happy with how the final piece came out.  Simple and sweet, and a great way to keep track of the days until Santa comes with your family!

While I was in the mosaic-ing mood, I made a couple of star ornaments using the same process:

Love these!!!

Come back to see more projects through the month using "Tis The Season" beads from Prima Beads

** Necessary Legal Stuff: I am honestly reviewing the products above which I have received free of charge from Prima Beads, and I have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to them.

Taking a Break...

Hi friends -

I recognize that I've been a little scarce in the blog-o-sphere lately, and wanted to check in.  I'm taking a bit of a break from blogging, but will return soon.  

In the meantime, here's a couple of pictures of what I've been working on over the past few weeks - any takers?:

"The Blues"
18" Mosaic Bamboo Plate

"Lily"
12" Mosaic Bamboo Plate

I would love to hear about your plans for the summer, so please leave me a comment and tell me all about them!

Grandma's Quilt: September Art Bead Scene and Love My Art Jewelry Monthly Challenges

"Grandma's Quilt"

Art Bead Scene Inspiration Artwork
"Housetop" by Lillie Mae Pettway

My grandmother is one of my most favorite people I was blessed to have in my life. She taught me so many things, and was an incredible influence on my character - on the woman I am today. I wrote about her in a blog post called "Teapots" (which you can read here) where I spoke about my childhood and the wonderful times I spent with her.

When I saw this month's challenges for Art Bead Scene and for Love My Art Jewelry, I knew that I would be combining them into one piece called "Grandma's Quilt". She was the person who taught me to sew and to embroider. I'm not very good at all at either, but she was patient and persistent, and I loved the stories she would tell me as we sat together at the sewing machine or with our projects on our laps.

Her mother used to knit, and made the quilt squares these pictures were taken on that my grandmother crocheted together into a quilt. I've had it for my whole life, and someday I will pass it on to my grandchildren and tell them about the remarkable woman who gave it to me.

Glass Mosaic Micro-Mosaic Focal:  Molly Alexander

Lampwork Beads: Blue Seraphim

Vintage buttons, beads, etc.

To see more of the Art Bead Scene entries, you can go to their Flickr group here and read more about the inspiration artwork here.

To see more of the Love My Art Jewelry Art Spark entries, you can go to their Flickr group here and read more about this month's challenge here.

New Ornaments Listed...

Just a quick post to let you know that I have listed this year's onaments in my Etsy store - enjoy!

New Pendants...

I've been wanting to combine my mosaics and jewelry for a while now, and here are samples of what I've come up with. I want to put some of them on necklaces, but I'm not sure exactly what to use...possibly silk ribbon for a couple (any suggestions?). Anyway, here you go (the pictures aren't great, but you get the general idea...):

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New Ornaments for Etsy...

Just a quick post to show off my new ornaments that I just put up on Etsy - enjoy!

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Farmer's Market & Pumpkin Festival

Just a quick note to invite any and all of you who are in the Phoenix area to come on out to our Estrella Mountain Ranch Farmer's Market (10 - 2) and Pumpkin Festival (12 - 6). The link for all the info is here. I know we are a ways south and west of Phoenix, but it is well worth the drive! I'll have a booth at the Farmer's Market and I would love to see you there! I'll be selling this piece, along with a ton of new "stuff":




















:-) Molly





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Why Hope?

With the delivery of my mosaic piece, my contact from the Breast Cancer Awareness group asked me if I could send her information on what inspired me to use the design I chose for this piece. After thinking about how to put it into words, I came up with this:

"As soon as I was asked to donate a piece for this event, I instantly knew what the theme for it would be: HOPE. But how to depict the essence of hope when it is an emotion coming from the very core of the human condition?

Hope itself is the sure belief that something better is coming. As simple as that definition sounds, it implies that to have hope, there must be suffering or despair to overcome. It requires the one who is suffering to make a choice between despairing in today’s pain and grief and hoping for the better day that is coming.

I heard a story the other day that inspired the design of this piece:

While walking in the park, a child came upon a cocoon that obviously had a butterfly struggling to get out. The child felt sorry for the butterfly, and helped it to break free from the cocoon. As she watched the newly freed butterfly, expecting it to take flight, she noticed that its wings were not strong enough to lift itself off of the branch. You see, the butterfly’s ability to fly comes from the strength that is built during the struggle to free itself from the cocoon.

Just as it is true with the butterfly, it is also true for people: without the struggle, we cannot grow stronger. We cannot always choose the condition of our adversities, but we can choose to engage in the struggle. In doing so, we sustain hope in the knowledge that we will emerge stronger than we were when we began.

HOPE is what gives us the strength to fly."

Finished Mosaic and Other Stuff...

Well, I have finally finished the mosaic for the Breast Cancer Awareness fundraiser - whew! I am really pleased with how it turned out, and I am excited to get it over to them.

In other news, first I must say thank you to a terrific artist, Catherine Witherell (HappyDayArt!) who gave me the "Brilliant Weblog" award! What a lovely way to start my day! Now I get to pass on the love to 7 other fellow bloggers of my choice, so here they are:

• Beth Bricker (Vintage Sweets) - jewelry artist
• Blenda Tyvoll (Blendastudio) - love her color-saturated paintings
• Carolyn Mallin (Fanciful Expressions) - jewelry and mixed-media artist
• Deborah Truesdell (A Little Art Room In Back) - jewelry and mixed-media artist and teacher
• Diane Cook (Rosa & Josie's) - jewelry, mixed-media and photography artist
• Michelle Legler (Mosaic Cottage) - mosaic artist and gardener extraordinaire
• Beth Quinn (Beth Quinn Designs) - jewelry and mixed-media artist

The Rules:

1. Put the "Brilliant Weblog" logo on your blog
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Add links to those blogs on yours
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs
   

So there it is - go and check out these very talented artists!

Summer Jewelry Challenge: Project #8

Between waiting for layers to dry on the mosaic project I am working on, I decided to work on the 8th project in Deryn Mentock's Summer Jewelry Challenge: "Silver Watch Bracelet". My version, however, does not include a watch, as I didn't have any on hand. Instead, I used found objects, etched copper and one of my fused glass cabochons. The result is a very eclectic bracelet with a lot of eyelets and patina.

In addition to the bracelet, I wanted to share some pictures of the progress I am making on the mosaic. The piece is 18" in diameter, and features what will be a very colorful butterfly. Surrounding the butterfly will be clear broken and grouted glass covering decoupaged definitions of the word "hope". I have decoupaged the definitions down, sealed the paper and then antiqued those areas to add some visual interest. Right now, I am letting the decoupage medium and sealant cure for a couple of days to ensure it has a tight seal before I start gluing on the glass.

So...back to work - I'm going to start with the colored glass this evening!

Summer Jewelry Challenge Project #7

Here is my version of project #7: "Woven Windows Pin" from Deryn Mentocks Summer Jewelry Challenge. I decided to do a pendant instead of the pin, and I think at some point I might do some matching earrings. I ended up sealing the actual woven part of the pendant with a triple-thick glossy glaze, as the paper I wove in between the copper strips needed to have a little more support and structure so it didn't come apart. I think the gloss adds another dimension to the layers, and makes it a little more interesting.

I'm going to have to slow down a bit as I was commissioned to design and construct a mosaic piece for our local Breast Cancer awareness organization's auction to raise money for the upcoming 3-day/60-mile walk. I am going to design a piece centered around the word "hope", as I believe that hope combined with faith is what helps women become survivors of this disease.

Teapots...

I love teapots. All sorts of them. Old, new, fat, skinny, tall, short - it doesn't matter. I love the graceful lines of their spouts and the feelings they invoke inside me. Growing up, I used to drink tea with my Grandma. Actually, you couldn't really call it tea - mostly milk and sugar with a little Earl Grey mixed in. We would get our tea ready and Grandma would let me sit and drink it in her living room watching TV, and I would feel very grown up and special.


Grandma died this past January, after nearly 10 years of progressive dementia at the age of 96. It was a strange emotional experience for me. I haven't lived in my hometown since I left for college nearly 22 years ago, and didn't get to see her very often. Yes, I got home to see my family at least once a year, but I didn't see Grandma on a regular basis like they did, and when I did get to see her, most of the time, she didn't recognize me. I guess in my mind, the woman I knew had passed on years ago, and her actual death didn't seem as much as a loss to me as it might have otherwise.

Last week as I was getting ready for a show, I finally grouted a teapot I'd glued the pieces to months ago. I love how it turned out. I used old English china, along with a lot of other "stuff", and it turned out great. The black grout really showed off the bright colors of the beads and glass in the piece, and highlighted the broken china patterns beautifully.

Usually I get a chance to "live with" my pieces for a while before I sell them, but this time I needed to make sure I had enough mosaics to take with me, so I brought the teapot along. In reality, most of my sales from this type of show are for commissioned pieces, and I usually don't sell a whole lot of my higher-priced already-made pieces, so I was not expecting it to sell anyway.

Wouldn't you know it - the teapot sold right away. As I was packing it up to give to my client, I was struck by a sadness that came out of nowhere. I had no idea what had caused it, and that bothered me a little. Later in the day, I called my mom just to check in. As I was telling her about the show, it hit me - not only did I not get to spend time with this piece before selling it, but I realized that, when I created it, it had been a love letter to Grandma. Finally I felt it - the loss of a wonderful, amazing woman who had given me a safe and loving place to just be who I was, without apology or affectation, for my entire childhood. My heart filled with love and loss, and I finally grieved.

I miss Grandma, and I have finally let myself feel that loss. I think I'll do another teapot - just for me this time - and have a cup of Earl Grey with milk and sugar now and again to remind me of her and the love she gave to me.

Thoughts on glass...

I am fascinated with glass and its remarkable, perfect, reflective surface. It can be clear or colorful - any color really. It is everywhere I look, reflecting impulses of light - versions of reality depending on where I am standing. A powerful yet fragile surface that, left on its own, can stand for a while, eventually revealing every chip and scratch, slowly growing tendrils that inevitably shatter the whole into tiny unrecognizable pieces. What is left is a pile of something that used to be beautiful, but is now considered by many to be unworthy and disposable. Each little piece has razor-sharp edges that will injure any who try to pick it up without protection.

Putting the pieces back together to recreate the whole as it was is impossible. Pieces will always be missing. Only by taking the pieces and rearranging them into something new can the possibility of being whole again be considered. Even then, it cannot stand on its own – it will need something to fill in the cracks – something to surround each piece, giving it stability and structural integrity.

Only when the pieces of glass are carefully arranged and glued down in a new way – a new creation – can the piece be completed. Filling in the spaces around the pieces with grout gives the artwork structure, unity and purpose. The transformation is remarkable. The artwork is not complete with the glass or grout alone. Only with the one relying on the other is the new creation possible.