FOX & CLOVER

My goodness, upon arriving home from my post-Christmas vacation, I discovered that my domain name had expired and that my website was no longer in existence. After a few moments of panic and several emails to my domain host, I got it all back in order.

It reminded me that I need to spend more good time on my website in 2010, since lots of exciting things are going on in the studio.

More news very soon…

This blog has been quiet recently, but I’ve been busy in my studio. One of the items I’ve been inventing this fall is fine enameled glass art. I’m using kiln-fired glass painting techniques on clear glass, then riveting the pieces to wood panels. I’m so excited by this!

My first goal in developing my new art is to use sustainable, reclaimed materials — all the glass and wood is salvaged. My second goal is to develop an iconography that celebrates nature and explores the tension between wilderness and civilization.

Here’s my first finished work:

Now that I’ve got my blog up and running again, I must mention Craftland in Providence, Rhode Island. It’s a great new boutique featuring independent craft, including my own Fox & Clover necklaces. Even more intriguing is that Craftland is the creation of well-known illustrator and artist, Jen Corace. I enjoy her work, so I was thrilled when she asked me to contribute work to her new shop.

So this inaugurates Fox & Clover’s re-entry into the world boutiques-and-gallerie-selling, which has been on hiatus since I moved to Seattle ten months ago. I’m excited to start in such a promising new shop. If you’re in the area, go check it out.

I’ve been quiet on my blog recently because I have been immersed in my studio, experimenting with new enameling techniques and design. The result is my new Chinoiserie Sauvage dishware line. I have adopted a more antiquated painterly technique, essentially like porcelain painting, in classic delft blue and white. Like all my work, I create this with glass enamels that are fired on in the kiln at 1300 degrees.

This series of dishware combines antique decorative style with modern images of flora, fauna, objects and ornamentation. Each plate is a unique combination of imagery – no two plates are alike.

I’m happy to introduce it in my shop this week.

Fox & Clover is switching to WordPress today. Expect a bit of disarray for the next two or three days as I try to remember how to set these things up. Messy!

Then we should be back to normal. Stay tuned….

Marco and I just got back from 2 1/2 weeks of visiting friends and family in France, but I’m jumping right back into work because this weekend is the urban craft uprising! Come one, come all and see Seattle’s best indie craft fair. Full of modern design and handmade innovation, it’s the best!

My work will be on display there, with my recycled glass lace necklaces, natural world dishware and maybe some wood panel paintings if we’re lucky. Come say hello!

For info, click here.

For readers in Seattle, come on down to the Ballard art walk this saturday.

In addition to all the great galleries & boutiques, you must stop in to Vain Hair Salon (Ballard’s best hip little hair salon), where you will find my jewelry featured as artist of the month! Vain is located at 5401 Ballard Ave NW.

All my best designs are there, and a few new ones too. If you don’t catch them during the art walk, my work will be there until the end of June. Many thanks to Vain Salon.

Second, starting this weekend, June 14th, my work will again be a part of the lovely online Poppytalk Handmade Shop. Every time I look at their shop I marvel at how lucky I am to be a part of it. The work on there is gorgeous. I am endlessly wooed by the creativity and craftsmanship of my peers.

This is a screenshot from the March Poppytalk Handmade Shop. See my shop? 2nd row left.

I’m trying out a new idea: necklaces of bows and knots. This is the first one. I call it my London Bow Necklace. I’d say it’s girlie-modern. You can find it in my shop.

Today’s new design – my frida lace necklace. I like this one a lot! If you like it too, you can find it in my shop.

enamel color samples
a broken ceramic soapdish that I’m remaking in glass for a client
an inchworm mini-bowl with one paint color applied and drying
some of my finished dishes
a paper template for a mini bowl
an unfinished glass mosaic on a reclaimed window

I wanted to blog about this new item in my shop, but it’s already sold out! I’ll put the photos up anyway because I like this design a lot. A few weeks back I promised a design based on inch worms, and here’s what came out — my set of two inch worm mini-bowls in mustard yellow, eggshell blue and two shades of gray.

I was inspired by gothic architectural detail this week. This is a swishy two-part necklace named after Chartres cathedral, the quintessential gothic cathedral. It’s now available in my etsy shop.

I’ve long been a fan of the design blog Modish. So it was a great honor to get a message Modish author Jena saying she’s featuring my work in her blog today! Thank you so much for noticing my work!

A few other blogs have also featured my work recently and deserve big thank yous too, including The Laquered Peacock, Grey Likes Weddings, Poodlebreath & The Long Thread. As you well know already, it’s such a help to us independent crafters to have people pass on a good word when they like our work. Thank you!!

A few posts ago I mentioned that I was had seen a BBC video showing narwhals in the wild, and was inspired to make a narwhal design. Here is the result. I’m quite fond of it — it’s my first design with multicolored ornamentation.

If you like it, you can purchase it in my shop.