What kinds of topics do you like to read about on an artist’s blog?

Do you prefer many small pictures or fewer larger ones? Or none at all?

Are you interested in uplifting stories? Articles about technique? About inspiration?

Would you be put off if I wrote about my other passion (astrophysics)?

What would it take to entice you to interact, that is to say, leave a comment (or two) here at my blog?

Thank you!

1. Straighten up and reorganize my studio, my bedroom, the kitchen, the dining room, my mother’s garage. No wait. Not that one. That would take a lot more time than I could possibly find.
2. Spend more time in the studio not counting the cleaning and reorganizing. Actually give myself more time to be creative. (This gets my vote for sure!)
3. Extra exercise time while not as satisfying as more studio time, certainly would be good for my health.
4. Sleep in. No, I’m not actually serious about this one. I’d much rather make good use of my time. There are quite a few business tasks I could, instead, finally catch up on.
5. Gardening. It’s a jungle out there. Really!

What would you do with the time you’d have if your computer was in the shop?

Ok, so furiously is too active a word for sweltering heat that makes one want to melt away. But this heat does seem to be aggravating a lot of people! This Wednesday blog post reminds us northern dwellers that Winter is driving snow and chilling the homes and streets of our neighbors far below the equator.

Punta Arenas, Chile Typical temperatures for this time of year are around freezing and much snowfall. Not surprising given that this is the world’s southernmost city. Even in the north it’s ski season (remember, the Andes always have their cap of snow).

Sydney, Australia Winter Festivals are the height of social activity including an Alpine festival by the sea in Bondi, going on now. And of course it’s ski season!

Cape Town, South Africa More wet then snowy so we’ll ignore this continent for now.

Various cities in Antarctica Surprisingly warm for the most part (above freezing if only just) except for McMurdo which has a temperature of minus 34 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday 18 July at 5:31 PM Eastern Time. However, it has clear skies while everyone else is suffering through rain or snow.

Find your own weather report here at the bbc weather page.

Ice Cream, Italian Ices, Sorbet, Gelato, etc I have recently discovered an ice cream substitute made with coconut milk. It’s fantastic. Sure ice cream is calorie heavy but don’t we deserve a treat?

Tepid Shower No way am I taking a cold shower! Sprinklers don’t have enough power and besides, that water is cold too! My sister has an above ground swimming pool. I might invite myself over there.

The Rockies, The Cordilleras, or a trip anywhere way up high in the mountains or otherwise ensconced in Winter.

Air Conditioning is a lot cheaper than a long distance flight and more effective than a fan (hand held or electric) but, boy, are those electric bills gonna be high!

Spicy Food for some reason that’s supposed to get the body to regulate its own internal cooling system. Hasn’t worked for me but maybe it will for you.

Water I don’t know how good this is at cooling off but given that the body does regulate itself via perspiration, we will be losing a lot of fluid and we really do need to keep ourselves hydrated. Cheers!

Sometimes, the box of old jewelry hides potential as well as dulled sparkle. Whatever keeps your find from being wearable or usable should serve to send you looking for cool ways to make these purchases serviceable once again. In the case of old jewelry, possibilities abound from cleaning and fixing to total transformations. You can see an examples of transformation on my Transform Page or watch a video explaining the transformation process process in more detail

“She’s so put together.” “I wish I had your sense of style.” I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t be pleased to get these compliments. If you want to be that person you can’t just follow the crowd or rely of fashion fads and trends set by others. If you are that person then you know what you like and how to dress and adorn yourself so that you confidently proclaim your individuality. You know your style and how to express it with the kind of grace and verve that garners attention and compliments – if not occasionally awe.

Your style is the book cover you present to the world. You really do have a style even if it’s inadvertent or accidental. Your style is the non-verbal presentation of who you are. If you don’t know or choose your own style, the danger is that someone else will choose for you and you end up looking like a million other people. You lose your unique identity.

Syllabus (of a sort)

Style vs style – Definitions and uses of the word, style.

Fashion Fads vs Fashion Trends – How to differentiate between these.

Determine Your Tastes to Define Your Style – Exercises that help you see and acknowledge and take control of your style.

Evolution – How external and internal influences cause your style to evolve.

Relationship Between Mood and Style How mood influences small. usually short term perturbations in your self-expression.

Quality and Style – Understanding quality as an important aspect of style.

Manage Your Style Yes, there are management aspects, and they can be fun and exciting!

Historical and Non-Standard fashions and styles – Influences of personal style on fashion make for some interesting independent fashion and style movements that occasionally also affect mainstream fashion.

These topics will be addressed in future posts. Do you have suggestions? Are there any fashion or style trends that you’d like to know more about? How do you define your personal style?

Name It might be derived from the name of the Roman goddess Juno. Or it might be derived from the latin word juniores meaning minors as in those not yet having reached the age of majority. In Old English this month is called Ærra Liða monaþ meaning “Before traveling Moon.” The letter þ is pronounced “th” as in the word “month.”

Solstice Month In the Northern Hemisphere this month marks the Summer Solstice while in the Southern Hemisphere it is the Winter Solstice. I’m still getting used to warmer weather, but those of you south of the equator are quite possibly antsy for Spring.

Flower and Stone SymbolsJune is represented by roses and the gemstones pearl (not actually a stone, however), moonstone, and Alexandrite.

In any case the Greco-Roman fertility festival was initially replaced by a Catholic holiday which has since become a mostly secular holiday celebrating more than just romantic love. Indeed it has become the habit that children exchange tiny cards exhorting the recipient to “be my friend.” Gifts get passed back and forth between people who share strong emotional attachments of all kinds. It is a holiday for lovers but also a holiday to celebrate friendship.

You can make this year’s Valentine’s Day especially memorable with an especially memorable gift; something that is unique in the world or in some way shows just how special the recipient is to you. Since jewelry is the one most traditional of gifts I am going to begin by introducing you to jewelry that is far from common or ordinary, created by artists whose work is exemplary and extraordinary.

Bracelet: Something pink and red and wonderfully frilly:

This lovely work of art was created by MaryLou using the Oglala bead weaving stitch. You can find this bracelt in her Etsy shop, Time2cre8.

Necklace and Earring set: This set features a Cherry quartz faceted pendant and sparkling crystal bicones. I used a very lacy variation of the Ruth’s Twist spiral bead weaving technique.

This set is available from my Etsy shop, Silver Dragon Creations by Patricia C Vener on Etsy.

Brooch: Silver is one of the most dramatic jewelry elements and this brooch by Wired Elements demonstrates this beautifully.

Visit the shop, Wired Elements on Etsy to purchase this and see more of this artist’s work.

One good way to shop is to look for local artists and artisans. Spread the love at home and buy from the talented people in your area. You will likely find everything from jewelry to pottery, furniture, toys, chocolates and maybe even locally roasted coffees. Etsy offers a search by location option and if you don’t see what you want, you can quickly expand your search parameters.

In the interests of my reality check, I am not going to delve into all of them, but rather I’ve decided to turn the spotlight on one of the traditional stones: Lapis lazuli

I first encountered the name of the stone “lapis lazuli” when I was a young girl reading a book wherein one of the characters was described as having an expensive lapis lazuli bracelet. Lapis is especially interesting as it is a gem quality rock rather than a mineral as it is a combination of several different minerals (as is, for example, granite). These include lazurite, a somewhat rare and costly deep blue mineral, pyrite, (also known as “fool’s gold), calcite, and occasionally other trace minerals. Calcite is not so well valued and the more calcite there is in a sample the lower the value of that sample. Chemically it is Sodium Calcium Aluminum Silicate Sulfur Sulfate. What a mouthful!

It is also quite beautiful, a rich dark blue sprinkled with spots of deep metallic bronze-gold and streaked with white. Mineral Atlas (see reference 2, below) offers several lovely images of this rock such as this one,

Lapis Lazuli has been continuously mined for about 6000 at Kokcha, a remote mountain valley in Afghanistan. Back then it was exported to Egypt and Iraq where it was used in acrvings, jewelry and ground up to be used as a cosmetic pigment. Later, it was used in Europe in jewelry and in the making of the color ultramarine in artists’ oil paints. Presently, besides Kokcha, lapis is mined in Chile, US, Canada, Siberia and Pakistan, although the highest quality stone remains that of the original source.

Here is one example of works created by artists in ancient Egypt (see reference 4) :

I suppose it is no surprise to anyone that I am inspired by these ancients’ sense of beauty of adornment…

References
1. Lazurite or Lapis, Amethyst Gallery’s Mineral Galleries

2. Theo Kloprogge, Vibrational Spectroscopy and Photo Atlas of Minerals Queensland University of Technology

3. Lapis Lazuli, Facts, Lore, History, Myths and Pictures, Bernadine Fine Art Jewelry

4. Jewellery of Ancient Egypt, All About Gemstones

Hand Faceted Pink Tourmaline Disks

Elbaites are found with micas, feldspars, quartz and other gemstones such as beryls, garnets, topaz and, of course, other tourmalines. Here in Connecticut where all these minerals are found, I have myself collected lots of tourmaline even if it generally hasn’t been the beautiful pink varieties. Actually, the tourmaline most commonly found in Connecticut is schorl, a black tourmaline with beautiful striations that run up the elongated barrel of the crystals.

Shorl, in fact, was the original name used until around the early 1700s when a Sinhalese word, turamali, (or possibly tóramalli which iapparently is carnelian) was mangled and introduced in its stead.

Finally, I want to leave you with this pretty image of a pendant I made using a faceted briolette of pink tourmaline and sterling and fine silvers.

Silver and Pink Tourmaline Pendant by Patricia C Vener

References
1 Elbaite Amethyest Galleries’, Mineral Gallery, Amethyst Galleries’ Mineral Gallery

2. Webster’s Online Dictionary, Webster’s Online Dictionary

3. Wiktionary entry Tourmaline, Tourmaline