Flores immortalized...

I've been wanting one of  Carrie Tasman's pet portraits ever since I saw her work at Art in the High Desert about 4 years ago. Carrie's portfolio goes beyond pets, it's colorful and charming, a delight for the eye. Her pet portraits are all that, plus the pet!

Here is our lab, Flores. He sits in our den, with his favorite teddy on the couch. Two "photos", one of Lizzy who passed away several years ago, and shown at the river where she loved to swim, and Jay,  Flores' dad.  The blue hydrangeas in the vase, grow all around our house. The view out the window is our backyard and a shed built by my husband, who was the recipient of this painting. Happy birthday, Bruce! 

I can't resist showing off just a few of Carrie's portraits. Check out lot's more here.

one of my favs. I bet he chases that Frisbee for hours on end...

thank you Carrie!

brooch-a-week continues

Having just completed brooch #7 in my quest to meet etsymetal's challenge of 1 brooch a week for the year, I feel like I've gotten into the groove, and the ideas seem to stay at least a week ahead of me. So far so good! Here are brooches 4-7...

#4   rhyolite, hessonite garnet, sterling, 14kt gold

#5  17+ ct amethyst, sterling, 22kt,18kt,14kt gold

#6  ocean jasper, .24ct rose cut diamond, sterling,18kt, 14kt gold

#7 sterling silver, 14kt gold

 I'm glad for this challenge, I had forgotten how much I really love making brooches. #8 is on the drawing board!

From a different perspective

I feel really grateful to have work that I love, and can't wait to get to every morning. My daily work seems so familiar and normal, nothing glamorous, in fact, downright dirty! When Deanna Piowaty asked to interview me for her online arts magazine, Combustus, I thought, what could I possibly have to say that people would find interesting? Well, Deanna crafted a beautiful piece out of our interview, and I got to see my work from the perspective of an outside observer which was quite wonderful!

This is the interview for those interested, and I urge you to peruse more of Combustus, you won't be disappointed, I promise!

This is brooch #3 in the etsymetal brooch-a-week challenge. I thought I'd just slip this in, and as I'm currently working on brooch #7, I'll post that along with 4, 5, and 6 in my next post!