Parts of Art

     The weekend before Thanksgiving I participated in the Eau Gallie Art Fair in Melbourne, Florida. What a great experience that was! It was my last show for the season and I finished with a bang! So, it’s wrap for 2019.  Once again I had the privilege of meeting the women that I made the pieces for. Here are some of them:  She was on the hunt for something fun and festive, not too much, not too little, something that would show up against her hair and bring on the razzle dazzle.  She made an immediate connection with this piece, dubbed femme du bois- woman of the woods.  Her husband convinced her to try it on,    and as soon as she did there was this great sparkle.  This woman is clearly a lover of color and this pair of orange dangles spoke to her.  I have to admit sometimes I wonder- who would ever wear this? And then she comes along, and WOW! They were definitely made for her!  ...

  It was 2001 and I was participating in a juried art show in DelRay Beach, Florida. I had stepped away from my booth for a few minutes, and when I came back was surprised to see a woman in my booth. With her face about five inches from the displayed jewelry pieces,  she was closely inspecting them!  Undaunted, I greeted her and then started in on the usual explanation of my work. I peel the dried paint from the palette and transform it into jewelry. After a moment of listening, she said, “I can tell they’re made from paint, because I make paint.”             At first I wasn’t sure I had heard her correctly. Up to now, I had never met anyone who makes paint!  But then she introduced herself to me: she was Barbara Golden. Okay, Barbara Golden of Golden Paints?!?! OMG! I had a celebrity in my booth, at least a celebrity in my world! I mean, Golden Paints was only the biggest name in professional artist acrylics!  ...

To my loyal followers and future fans, here is where you can find me in the coming weeks.  After surviving strong wind gusts and damp chilly air in Palmer Park last weekend, I am happy to report that my booth as well as my inventory is intact and ready to do it again! I hope to see you soon at one of these venues:  May 20th          Brick Street Market, Zionsville IN June 3 & 4        Butchertown Art Fair, Louisville KY June 17 &18     Talbot Street Art Fair, Indianapolis (waitlist) July 7 -9           Art in the Park, Ft Wayne In  July 29 & 30      Glenview Art Fair, Glenview IL August 11-13     Salt Fork Art Festival (waitlist) Sept. 16 &17     Park Forest Art Fair, Park Forest, IL  Sept. 22- 24       Funky Ferndale, Ferndale, MI Oct. 7               Monument Circ...

Custard. It's one of the Pantone colors of the year. It's also a warm and creamy comfort food. So here's what I've been cooking up in my studio.  Meet Tribal Custard: I know, I know, tribal and custard don't really go together. I mean one is primitive and edgy and the other is a creamy warm comfort food.  Until now. Tribal meets custard.  I started with a thick variegated chunk of dried acrylic paint. I peeled it off the palette, and then it wanted to be embellished and adorned. So I cut it into slices and arranged them in a harmonious order. Then I added beads of copper, clay and wood. "Just as the name implies, PANTONE 13-0720 Custard is a delicious and delectable yellow.  Sweet and sunny, Custard is a cheering tone that brings thoughts of pleasant relaxation and comfort food. Engaging with its soft and mellow warmth and full of good feelings, subtle Custard has an affable and easy disposition." Leatrice Ei...

Last October I shared how our art studio was going through some renovations.  Okay, renovation is putting it lightly. Half of our studio was missing a floor and it was a large mud hole for weeks. My husband did most of the work itself, between work projects. I was pretty concerned about whether we would have it done before winter. Especially because our sole source of heat is a woodstove and there was no floor to put under the stove and therefore no heat.  You can see the "before pictures" here.  We finally opened and enjoyed our first bottle of wine in front of the wood stove in our new and improved country art studio on a cold night in mid December.                                                   In the mornings the studio has wonderful light.  David has recently decided to return to his passion of l...

     Start with an oval of blue violet paint that has dried on the artists palette. Adhere it to artist canvas that has been painted some lovely color.    Add two smaller ovals, one on each side. Similar shape and color tend to give a design visual harmony.    Add two small squares to make a pattern. Same colors but different shapes; we are seeking the balance between monotony (boring!)  and discord (Yuk!)    Switch the squares and ovals around. Either way works. It's up to you. Don't worry. Really. The design police are not out to get you.     Start adding beads. Oops, I forgot to tell you you would need some beads. And some silver wire and a couple other tools. Hey this is not a tutorial, its a demonstration of artistic harmony.    So what we're after is the right blend of same but different. Similar color and texture, different sizes and shapes. At every step...

1.  Agreement in feeling or opinion; accord:  live in harmony. 2.  A pleasing combination of elements in a whole:  color harmony; the order and harmony of the universe. The Free dictionary.com So I am looking for harmony-in thought, in art, in music, in my relationships, in life.  The thing about harmony is that even if all the elements are different and seem to be unrelated, it only takes one similarity to harmonize them all.  This photo is of the booth I set up when I participate in fine art shows. My goal is to have a very streamlined and uncluttered look, one that simply says one thing: art to wear. The colors and lines are a pleasing combination of elements.  If you take a look at my former booth from my blog archives, I think you will see that there is more harmony now. What do you think? 

You are invited to come visit me in my booth at any of these fine shows: February 4 Winter Garden market, Orlando February 5 Lake Eola market, Orlando February 11 Winter Garden market, Orlando February 12 Lake Eola market, Orlando February 18 & 19 100 Artists Show, St. Petersburg February 25 & 26 Delray Beach March 3 & 4 Cocoa Village Craft Show March 10 Riverside Art Market, Jacksonville March 17 Riverside Art Market, Jacksonville March 31 & April 1 St. Pete Beach When you go to any one of these markets, look for my colorful and funky booth. Believe me, it is one of a kind, just like the jewelry! And it is positively full of new stuff!! If you simply cannot make it to any of my shows, but still MUST have a Parts of Art jewelry piece, there's still a way!! Go to sandyartparts.etsy.com and you will see right there on the screen before you all kinds of tantalizing choices. Once you make your selection and go to pay for it, type in ARTPARTS111 where it says "enter...

In my on going adventure of finding beads I acquired a beautiful conglomerate of what I think is jasper. Not being an expert on gems, I am simply attracted to the colors and textures of stones and love the process of combining them with parts of art. This piece lived in my jewelry bead box for at least a year, waiting its turn for how it would be used. Then along came some beautiful double drilled jasper squares with hues of olive and sepia. I then found a delicious slice of acrylic paint with visual layers of spotted and marbled tans, dark chocolate brown, and pastel baby blue. It all came together with some gray pearl and clay beads. It made its debut on my Etsy store as the Natural Beauty necklace. It sat for four months, waiting patiently for its owner to find it. But no one came forward to call Natural beauty their favorite. When it came time to renew its time on Etsy, I pulled it out to re- photo it. Then it sat on my work table for a few days in the bundle of...