(Please) Forget to Wash Your Hands

I'm sure we all heard this at least once during our childhood: "don't forget to wash your hands". As a tomboy and serial creek-hopper, I probably heard that at least once a day. My grubby little paws were always busy and exploring---catching crawdads for the boys who were afraid of getting pinched (come on, guys!), playing on the swingset, picking bouquets of flowers for mom, netting butterflies in the garden, romping through the woods behind our house. 

We assume that dirt and the accumulation of "stuff" is a bad thing. Now, to be fair, in many cases, it is. Germs are not fun. Smelly stuff is not fun. Grody stuff is not fun. However, when it comes to dirty beads with a history, I'm all for it. 

When I'm at a show or am trolling Etsy for new components and I see a strand of beads that have grime, I usually pounce. And once I get them on my bench, the thought of WASHING the beads to remove that beautiful patina of time...well, it never even enters my mind. Some people prefer their beads and jewelry to be new, pristine, shiny, and spotless. That's fine, no problem with that. But there's also something very sterile about it to me.  


Take, for example, the collections of old antique beads found in my earrings for today. Just look at the macro shot on those babies! Pitted, caked with decades and centuries of grime---people rolling the beads around in their hands, wearing them, treasuring them, trading them for goods. Different cultures, different continents, different purposes. In other words, these beads have LIVED. They've outlived generations of humans. And they live on today in their current incarnation as earrings. If that doesn't get your juices flowing as an artist, then I don't know what will.

These earrings feature lime green ancient glass beads, clear "dogon" glass beads, and pale robin's egg blue amazonite stone beads---all from Africa. I added in small vintage wood beads and little bead caps to complete each quintet. The wirework is all hand-wrapped steel, because you know how much I love organic gnarled vining forms. Hooped, lightweight, and fluid.

Happy Wednesday...and have fun getting dirty!

Nikki 
LoveRoot on Etsy

Beauty in the Eyes

 
Isn't it the truth? It's old-timey, cliche, and overused, but the saying that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder will always hold water. One of the incredible things about humans beings is that we all have different ideas of what beauty is---what pleases us, makes us smile, stays in our mind long after the initial vision is gone. 

No one version of beauty will ever trump. How boring would it be if everyone looked the same, anyways? Diversity: it's necessary on a biological level as well as a "keeping your interest" level. 

 


While I tend to mix media with abandon in my jewelry, I like to think that my pieces still share a common aesthetic thread: primitive organics. My version of beauty pays homage to forms occurring in nature---however abstract, however old, however futuresque. I love to mix sprawling organic forms with manmade art beads or vintage bits from the past. 

Today's pair of earrings is no exception. Two segments of copper have been beaten, twisted, and oxidized so that they resemble branches or vines. I strung each hoop with a single vivid otherworldly lampwork glass Basha bead. The dichotomy between the gnarled twisted copper and the striking flash of the beads just makes my neurotransmitters go crazy...in the best way possible. 

So if you've been bored with mainstream ideas of beauty and have always wanted to explore different aesthetics, go ahead and take the plunge---you'll be surprised how many people from your tribe are out there. 

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki 
LoveRoot on Etsy

A Twisted Gesture

So have any of you ever taken an art class where the instructor had you do gesture drawings? Quick "first impression" line drawings that are less about accuracy and more about getting a feel for shapes, perspectives, and movement. They can almost be called a scribble or a doodle...capturing a macro idea in a short period of time, usually in about 30 seconds.


Well, the birth of my playfully named "twisted root" earring series is loosely grounded in this idea. Take textured copper wire, beat and twist it to hell, and then solder it into conceptual shapes. Do it quick and hot without a focus on perfection and more of an emphasis on instinct. The end results are deliciously primitive, organic, and wickedly pagan. I've had so much fun the past few months playing with this concept. I find it allows for a completely different kind of freedom from the traditional beaded approach. 

This particular pair has been set aside (read: hoarded for myself). The shape was inspired by the "devil's nests" from the TV series "True Detective". Yes, I'm a dork. But I just couldn't stop thinking about those dark mysterious beautiful little bundles.

It's fun to explore chaos in design. It can produce surprising results :) 

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy