Dionysus Earrings

A long time ago I discovered that I could string seed beads onto wire and wind them up into little bunches of grapes. I made a few pins and started on a necklace, but found that it was too likely to get caught on things. I recently realized that the twiggy earrings I've been making would also work well with the grape motif, and tried making a couple. I think they turned out pretty well, but you'd definitely have to keep all hair and clothing clear of the adorable little tendrils.

First Friday in the South End

Thanks to my amazing friends Marion and JB, I will be participating in First Friday next month in their studio space! First Friday is a monthly open studio event in the South End that also includes gallery openings and other fun stuff. I will be at the 450 Harrison Ave studio building in studio #223B, and I'll be showing mostly original map drawings and large-scale pop-up cities. I don't really show these pieces outside of exhibitions any more, and certainly not all together like this, so it will be a good opportunity to see the full spread of my current work.

Add this event to your Google Calendar -

Nighttime Map Experiments

Recently I've been trying to figure out how to make compelling nighttime maps. So far I haven't really been very pleased with any of them. I suspect that is because what interests me in drawing maps is the way people lay out their individual lives around geography, and when streetlights and headlights are the only visible features in the landscape, it becomes a lot less interesting in that regard. I still think cities at night are beautiful aesthetically, but that alone is not really enough to make them interesting.

I first started drawing lines of dots with a gold paint pen on black paper. Then I tried using gouache on a tiny paintbrush using the same technique:

The lines of dots start to look more like interlocking spiderwebs than the maps I usually draw. I tried doing one on lighter paper as well, using different colors for the city centers that melded as they got out towards the suburbs:

Then I tried covering a canvas with black paint and painting lines of gouache dots on that. I think this has some potential for interesting topography effects, but that would also make it harder to paint precisely:

So far I had been doing only lines of dots, which is the general aesthetic effect of aerial nighttime cityscapes, but pretty removed from the way I usually draw maps. So I tried using a similar technique with a metallic pen on black paper:

I like the effect (it's super shiny in real life!), but now it's farther from a realistic depiction of either day or night. 

I'm thinking of giving up on this project by now, but would love to know if anyone has any better ideas. Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Twiggy Floral Earrings

I started making these earrings as a slightly easier-to-wear alternative to my twiggy floral necklaces:

Recently I've been making more sparkly ones in the spirit of the snowy season. They've also gotten a little more elongated as I experiment with making them more twiggy and gnarled:

Unfortunately my stock is always fairly low, since they're very popular at craft fairs. I will have more at my next craft fair, which will be February 12th at the Burren in Davis Square. Stop by then to get inspired for Valentine's Day!

Vase

At my last craft fair at the Burren, I was exhibiting near a ceramicist and traded some earrings for a bud vase at the end of the day. It's so cute! I have in on my work desk right now, with a huge dendrobium orchid in it. It's nice to be able to have flowers at my desk, and the blue-green color is so pretty.

Silverware Ring

I decided to treat myself to an early Christmas present at the Harvard Square Holiday Crafts Fair one day after work last week. Last year my roommate got me a pair of spoon earrings from vendor Shine On, and I've been coveting their rings ever since, so when I ran into their stall I had to get one. It was hard to choose, but I found one with a lovely art nouveau design of a daffodil, which makes me think of spring.

Mini Crocheted Flower Earrings

I started making these little earrings at my last craft fair. I had been crocheting flowers out of embroidery floss and thought I'd try making them into earrings. The flowers sort of flop around, but I think that's part of what I like about them. I want to try making some with a whole array of flowers. They're really light, and unlike the twiggy earrings they're not likely to catch on anything.

I've been making a lot more things lately besides these, but as most of them are for Christmas presents you'll just have to wait til after the holiday to see them!

SLAM at the Burren

I took some photos at Saturday's craft fair in Davis Square. I had a whole lot of new things for sale!

Holiday map cards, crocheted flower earrings, twiggy earrings, crocheted flower pins...

My very Victorian earring/necklace display frame. I've been doing a lot of floral designs lately; the crocheted flower earrings are the most recent.

Hair accessories (clips and combs). Again, more florals!

I also had some brand new map posters, which were getting snapped up! I will be at SLAM again this coming Saturday (12-4pm) for my last holiday craft fair of the season, so please stop by if you're in the area.

Crocheted Flower Headbands

I've been on a bit of a knitting binge lately. First I made myself a truly enormous scarf, and then I made a hat for my friend (more on that one later). Recently I've been making decorative crocheted flowers. I originally intended to put them on knitted headbands/ear-warmers, but as they're a lot more fun and fast to make, I quickly had a lot of them. I made them by crocheting a circle and adding stitches to make a ruffled shape. I then crocheted embroidery floss in contrasting colors onto the edges to highlight the shape. I sewed buttons or beads into the center of the flowers, sewed them to pin backs or hairclips and attached them to headbands.

Massive Scarf

I found some wonderful yarn in New York when I was there at the end of September. Since then I have been working on a massive scarf project. I had fun working on it during an apple-picking trip at the beginning of October. With their deep reds and green-gold bloom, the apples were exactly the same color as the scarf!

The finished scarf is incredibly long and wide. Right now it's kind of excessively bulky, but I'm sure it will be really useful in the depths of winter!