It's gettin' hot in here!

Sometimes, you just have to make a little oven (especially if you only have one torch to work with!)

Friday Finds: David Neale

I just spent the better part of an hour 'researching' about David Neale, a goldsmith in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. I regularly read CLOG, a blog by Craft Victoria, and their post on Neale caught my attention today.


Educated initially through an apprenticeship through a local goldsmith, but more formally at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Neale creates a variety of jewelery and objects. What I like about his work is the graphic quality of it. Whether the object itself is inspired by nature or animals or something else, much of the time it has been given a layer of paint, a different color, or texture, and that bit of color really breaks it out of the norm and grabs my attention.

In addition to the jewels he creates, I love the personality behind the artist...or what personality I can derive from his blog. It is definitely worth a read (or a few). My favorite story so far is how he started apprenticing with a local goldsmith when he was about 17. I hope you enjoy...


David Neale is showing work currently at Metalab in Sydney (Surry Hills), and has a great interview on Metalab's blog as well.

Process Shots

What do these two objects have in common?

They're both part of the lockets I am creating for an exhibition...

I have a thing for dying flowers...

....I don't like them to be dying in my home, per se, but there can be something really beautiful about them. They way they change colors and textures, the different shapes they take on. There is something serene in their transformation.

A wonderful few days....

After being rained in for the past four months, the Portland area was blessed with some sun over the weekend. Dave and I took full advantage, too! I am going to be his assistant at a wedding this coming weekend, so I wanted to get used to his Canon 30D that I'll be using. We went for a few walks, and rejoiced with a barbeque Sunday night. It was....fabulous!

Some very sweet girls up the street own this well-made lemonade stand...



Apparently the pedestrians frequenting Mt. Tabor often carry popsicles...




Mmmm...mango and chicken sausage, potatoes, and summer squash. All finished off with an orange juice lemonade mixture...

New Necklaces....

Ocean Jasper Necklace with Tourmaline



The Dalles Mountain Buttercup Necklace


I finished up a couple of new necklaces today and wanted to share with you....

I will soon be listing some pearl earrings to go with The Dalles Mountain Buttercup Necklace and I hope to start another charm necklace soon. For now, I need to start on some exhibition pieces involving my dreams...

You can find these beauties and others in my Etsy Shop!

Friday Finds

I've introduced Arthur Hash on here before....

Well, he is up to some new tricks with hydraulic presses and enamel. I absolutely love his new work and am not only impressed, but insanely jealous of his access to a laser cutter which can cut out dies like butter for him (as opposed to sitting and hacking one out with a spiral blade and saw, leaving a curly plastic mess). I am not quite as technology-inclined as Hash is, but I love seeing the new way in which he is using these techniques. His fabrication is always gorgeous and well-executed.

Head over to Arthur Hash's blog to find out more!!!

New Work!!!

The Dalles Mountain Buttercup Earrings


The Dalles Mountain Buttercup Earrings (with Patina)


Branching Montia Earrings


Branching Montia Earrings

I have been working on a new production line in the past couple months, and wanted to share with you a couple new pieces. These are fairly time consuming to make, at least to start. This new production line revolves around representations of endangered plant species. I am starting local and concentrating on endangered plants in the Northwestern U.S., and will eventually expand my coverage. It requires hours of research, sketching, refining, scanning images into the computer, more refining, resizing (I try to match the size of the actual plant), printing....etc. etc. etc.

With all that work, I am really excited about these first couple of pieces. So far, they are only earrings, but I fully intend to expand into necklaces as well, and perhaps bracelets if the design allows for it.

Today, I was able to do some more drawings and those will hopefully be transformed into new jewelry soon, as well!

I am also doing research into organizations that help with habitat restoration so that I can donate proceeds from future sales.

Oldies but goodies...

Flower Earrings (with Patina)



Flower Earrings


Blossom Earrings


You can find all of these in my Etsy Shop!