SoWA winter market, new ideas and insomnia.

it is obvious that flip-flopping is a political thing.

at least as we grow closer to the season of elections and such. 

unfortunately, i am currently in its throes. 

there is a show tomorrow at the SOWA winter market. 

i am expected to attend as a vendor. 

it is like going to summer camp and the reunions that everyone has that first week. 

i adore many of the other vendors that will be at the show. 

i met several for the first time last time i participated. 

they are awe inspiring artists in every sense of the word awe. 

they use materials, colors, shapes, and personality... just as any artist should. 

with vigor and effort and obvious love. 

the down side is that i am unable to sleep. 

not an unfamiliar issue as you all must know. 

so i have decided to not try to for a bit. 

usually, when i fall asleep, i do so in the format of on my side. 

i most often awaken just as i dropped into dreamy unconsciousness. 

it is a non turning experience that i learned how to do, when i was pregnant with my first child. 

that was decades ago now. 

so when i toss and rotate on a spit like a suckling pig, it is time to try anything else. 

today was a day spent in the basement. 

i am unaware when i am down there. 

all that i see are my flowers and the many, many combinations of colors and shapes that can be stacked. 

i try to keep to a limited palette of colors to simplify things. 

it is simply impossible. 

MOTHER NATURE 

is my guide. 

the things i see are of course manipulations of vintage metal forms that in my mental eye, 

are available out in the world to see by naturalists. 

i studied biology, but it was mostly a jumping off point.

madness and interpretation have taken hold. 

it is nothing that i am able to really rein in with myself.. as often as i may try. 

many stern conversations have been played in my head. 

most have been for naught. 

just can't seem to do it. 

i remember being all kinds of hyped up for a show last summer. 

it was not a hugely successful one, financially. 

it allowed me to flesh out a couple of ideas that i was sorta noodling around with. 

rarely do i have much time to simply bounce ideas off of other artistic people. 

and so it was done. 

i bounced a lot. 

one of my ideas, was to make a leather cuff with a flower on it. 

just a flower. 

only one. 

hmmm. 

never happened. 

i was trying to emulate another style of bracelet i had recently started to make. 

that style, was a fabrication to use up all sorts of end pieces of vintage enamel chains. 

i made a few and it turned out that they were like popcorn. 

they were fun to wear and i could make use of a lot of left over pieces. 

so i made them. 

they are chains with a toggle closure that is hitched to a nice flower... 

put into a form that might allow one to close the bracelet without the aid of trained parlor maids. 

a self closer. 

this is often a deal breaker when you talk about jewelry. 

my idea for another kind of bracelet held that closure idea firmly in its grasp. 

it was that cuff issue. 

i wanted to use some snaps. 

i figure everyone can get snaps done perhaps a little simpler than a toggle or lobster clasp. 

it bears notice, that snaps on things only work

IF YOU HAVE THEM TO INSTALL!

i went on a search mission. 

i bought rivets, clothing snaps, silver colored snaps, golden colored ones. 

all sorts of sizes and weights too. 

and i amassed a small inventory of the little suckers. 

and i lost them every time i needed them. 

each kind has been replaced more than once. 

my organizational challenges are simply overwhelming me. 

after cleaning up and sorting and putting some things away,,, 

i found my collection of snaps. 

yesterday ...  finally. 

my daughter and i struck a bargain. 

any time i need to keep track of something that is that important to me, 

i should tell her where i am putting it. 

her memory is still sharp as a tack. 

as my own can barely hold anything anymore. 

youth. 

never underestimate its fabulousness. 

so i finally got my spit together and tried to make a cuff with a snap closure. 

as you may see, i was successful. 

the snap was installed. 

the flower was applied. 

the happy dance was danced. 

and as expected, there was a few more than one flower in the experiment. 

shocking. right?

here it is flat out. 

here again in the round.

round...

round... again.

the prototypes were drawn in what is a remarkably useful new(to me)tool. 

the sketchbook. 

i have heard its virtues extolled over time, but never took advantage of them. 

pretty foolish in hindsight. 

i am nothing if not a little compulsive, 

so i made three more cuffs. 

those were on a 'tooled' brown leather base. 

there needs to be some refinement and perhaps some further developments with the style. 

they will have to wait for the upcoming weeks. 

along with some other "little ideas" that have been erupting. 

so not only am i a little more than nudgy about going to a show in a few hours, 

but i am also excited to show off these new pieces. 

in addition to the fresh springy cuffs, 

there are several new necklaces too. 

perhaps, weather and light will permit me to snag some quick photos of those when morning returns. 

for now, i think i got some of this out of my system, 

and will make another pass at sleeping for a couple of hours. 

most people enjoy this part of their days. 

i worry that i worry too much and i have too many ideas that will escape if i don't jot them down. 

thanks for letting me vent a little. 

xoxo.

w.