Parts of Art

      It starts with several pieces of textured and variegated purple dried acrylic paint which have been peeled from the artist palette. They are layered, designed, embellished until it becomes a piece of wearable art from the palette.  They are adhered to a red violet painted strip  of soft leather and finished off with a silver toggle.  There are also vintage beads, clay, glass and handmade paper in the equation, all in delicious shades and tints of purple.  Finished length is 8”. What’s not to love?  For more information or to add this to your collection, go to my Etsy Store here . Enjoy!

       Once I spent a delightful afternoon visiting galleries in Asheville North Carolina. At one boutique gallery the owner told me about an artist whose whimsical sculptures I was enjoying. He said,  “She is an artist in her 80’s who has brought us her sculptures for several years. Her process is quite physical and labor intensive, requiring the help of younger assistants to lift the pieces in and out of the kiln and transport them to the gallery.”       When 2008 came along and its subsequent quashing of disposable income, she no longer could afford to pay her assistants. So what did she do? I don’t know, but somehow she figured out a way to continue to produce her work and bring it to the gallery. In fact, he told me with a smile, all she talks about when she brings in new work is “What she’s building next” and what her future pieces will be like. This woman is obviously persisting in spite of of her age, circumstances, the economy, or anything else that can potentially cause art

     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 it should have that harmonious balance. Really, you could frame th

Most of my jewelry pieces are simply harmonious blends of color, shape and texture, and I am proud of how each one is a little wearable work of art. There are a few pieces, however, that go beyond the simple elements of art and aim to express qualities that are spiritual. One of those pieces is this necklace, called Poured from within. In the gospels, Jesus Christ taught his disciples about the gift of holy spirit, which they would be receiving at some point in the future. He said in Luke 7:38, " He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." That was spoken about 2000 years ago, and since then, anyone who believes can receive the gift of holy spirit. That spirit within is like a river of living water, and when we operate the gift of holy spirit, it pours forth from within us. We are, at best, vessels of clay with earthly and finite bodies. The beautiful thing is that inside this clay vessel is this living, sparkli

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

I now have kits for those of you who would like to try your hand at making a pair of one of a kind Parts of Art earrings. The kits will be available soon on my online store, sandyartparts.etsy.com, or at my shows. Each kit contains an assortment of dried acrylic paint, papers, canvas, beads, and all the findings you will need. To see a video on how to make the earrings from the kit, simply paste this link into your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzS6_TMk30U Once you make a pair of earrings, if you email me a photo of them and you will receive credit to shop in my online store! I am looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with using all kinds of wonderful stuff from my studio. Enjoy!

One of my customers at a show picked out a necklace but wanted a few changes done to it. The day she picked it and tried it on, I once again got to witness what I call the "perfect marriage", where the piece is perfect for the woman.

Twenty years ago when I started cutting paint off of old palettes there was no such thing as internet. Not too many people were even using computers. It baffles my brain to think how much has changed since then. And now...I am so proud to say I have an online store. And a blog spot. And I can even send an email! I am more computer savvy than I ever dreamed possible.

This is a good question and I am so glad you asked. We are in the business of art, my husband and I. He does sparkling Florida landscape paintings and murals of Italian countryside. When he is done with a painting, he gives me his palette. Sometimes I come to my work table and there is a freshly pulled film of paint sitting there waiting. Heart, be still. Here is an example of David's art. So that's one place the paint comes from.

Many years ago I had a little store, about the size of a large walk in closet. In this store I sold hand painted clothing and art. I hand painted the clothing using acrylic paint. This type of paint is wonderful, bright and colorfast, BUT it dries quickly and once it does, it cannot be mixed back into paint. Ever. So, it dries on the palette and starts to layer. Occasionally I would peel the dried paint off the pallette and start afresh. One day I had just cleaned off my palette and had this glorious mess of schlokked paint that just beckoned to be upcycled into something. Right then, in walked two dear friends of mine, my minister and his wife. I held up the paint and said, "This is too pretty to throw away, but I don't know what to do with it. He said (Note: HE) "Well, you could always cut it up and make it into jewelry!" Oh, we got a good laugh out of it that day. Imagine, making paint into jewelry! But later I thought, wow, that idea could've been f