Jennifer Merchant: Corian™ Carver. Big Hot Red Corian Bracelet - a new signature piece

There are many competing philosophies of jewelry acquisition, and I have variously subscribed to:

• More is more, which worked because relatively inexpensive silver has matched my hair for 30 years;
• Why buy costume jewelry when you can have "real?" -- a tip of the hat to the late and much-missed Lester Tarlow; and,
• Have a signature piece.

The "Signature Piece" plan has simplified my life: one set of earrings (30 years old), one long string of pearls and fluorite that I knotted on silk (making a pearl knot is my one and only jewelry skill), and one silver ring.

Thanks to Jennifer Merchant, I have a new signature piece. Jen carved this bracelet out of the Corian™ color "Hot" and added black crystals, which require very careful carving out so as to set them perfectly.  In honor of this piece of amazing RED jewelry, I have joined the Red Hat Society.

If you love Bakelite, you will love carved Corian™ -- I promise.

Thank you, Jennifer.

Glenda the Gecko Diva -- a new nanoscape Small Friend

Glenda the Gecko Diva dropped by my studio today to pose for "G" in the Small Friends Alphabet.  Unlike most Small Friends, who are willing to cooperate and eager to take direction, Glenda posed by draping herself across the canvas, with part of one foot and half her tail off the page. In another incarnation, she would have called for hair and makeup. A Diva to the core.  

Although it was in the mid-80's outside, she is visiting Minnesota for just a few more weeks. She has heard rumors of our chilly winters, and minus 20 is just not her favorite temperature.   She winters in South Florida. 

Learn more about Glenda's from wikipedia.

Jennifer Merchant: Corian™ Carver. Problem Solver.

Corian™ has been widely used for years for countertops and other kitchen and bathroom accessories. It is less well-known as a medium for jewelry (more on that later).  Jen Merchant is a Corian™ carver whose skill and artistry solved one my my most intractable problems.

Several years ago, one of two knobs for my bathroom light and fan broke almost in half.  It was usable (barely) and only slightly annoying.  Seeking a replacement, I visited visiting multiple hardware stores and a scoured a gaggle of websites. No luck.

A few months ago, the half became a totally unusable third of a knob and I started to use the remaining good one for both the light and the fan. Very annoying.

Fortunately, I met Jen Merchant, one of the other artists at a benefit for the Wings of Refuge Foundation.  I bought one of her plexiglass bracelets, and shortly thereafter, commissioned a shockingly red carved Corian™ bracelet in a color called "Hot." Jen will set black crystals into it.

After admiring her jewelry, my brain kicked into gear and I asked if she would take up the Knob Challenge. She did a spectacular job, as you can see. The new knob has a much nicer shape than the original, and in one of many Corian™ neutrals, it looks great in the bathroom. My first comment: "Jewelry for the wall!"

Whether you are interested in jewelry for your ears, wrist or for your cabinets or walls, visit with Jennifer Merchant -- a great problem-solver.

Fractured Glass Meets Kaleidoscopes: Day 11. The End.

It took 11 days to paint 39 "Fractured Glass Bubbles."  I used new colors, and, in three of the bubbles, worked out a new approach to painting Fractured Glass -- painting all of the lines in one color, and then filling in the spaces.

I took all of the blog photos with my Palm PRE.  This afternoon "Fractured Glass Bubbles" will have its professional digital image taken.

Fractured Glass Meets Kaleidoscopes: Days 9 and 10 ...getting very near the end

Getting very near the end...  As I bounce between focusing on the choosing the shapes' colors and enhancing tiny lines, I wonder what I've painted...a lucky lady's jewel box, a box of holiday decorations, molecules through an electron microscope, a box of marbles (do kids play with marbles anymore?)...

End of Day 9

End of Day 10

Fractured Glass Meets Kaleidoscopes: Day 8 (with a respectful tour of origami)

When Wet Paint in St. Paul has a sidewalk sale, I do my best to get there. Last year I snagged my easel; this morning I found a treasure trove of Schmincke Horadam watercolor tubes, and some beautiful watercolor paper. Waiting to pay, I saw some origami papers and kits, and began to think about how many triangles I saw in their designs. Might there be a kinship between origami and Fractured Glass?

It took no time at all to find Robert J. Lang and his breathtakingly origami masterpieces on the web. A physicist and engineer, Lang has been doing origami for 40 years, and he is one of the pioneers of the cross-disciplinary work between origami and math.  Yesterday, I admitted to being inspired  by solid geometry. Today I am inspired by origami, which takes a one-dimensional piece of paper and goes straight to three dimensions.


Peter's Snowflake, is part of Robert J. Lang's collection of Geometrics & Tesselations. 
At the end of the eighth day, the finish line was in sight.  On the morning of the ninth day, I have a flock of new colors in hand...

Fractured Glass Meets Kaleidoscopes: Day 7

Day 7:  7 blank bubbles to go. 

We spent a lot of time with triangles in 9th grade Geometry, including the unforgettable Pythagorean Theorem Project for which we had to create 50 word problems, do the drawings, and then write out the math IN INK with no mistakes.  Our teacher was a terror, or rather, she was a stickler for accuracy that was even then decidedly old fashioned.

9th grade grumpiness aside, my favorite math that year (and forever), was Solid Geometry, whose mathematical purpose of measuring the volume of solid spaces has never come up in conversation. While I don't recall the mathematical properties,  I love the shapes.  This lovely Small Stellated Dodecahedron has been used in art, and its celebration of the triangle makes it very dear to me.