From Happy to Exuberant! Inspired by Rocky Neck's Call

This week I was notified that three of my pieces were juried into the virtual Rocky Neck Show called “Exuberance: The Marvelous Art of Craft.” When I first saw the call to artists, I was intrigued by the description which read “This is a Juried Members show that highlights artistry in craft in traditional media as well as the more offbeat, innovative or peculiar. Emphasizing a sense of curiosity and wonder, the show aims to surprise viewers with inventive materials, techniques and surfaces. ” While I had created several interesting pieces that I hoped would qualify, I also had a very unusual find in my studio that really needed to be crafted to meet the goals of this show. Finally after looking at this found piece of metal, a marine gasket, I began to see what could become of it by melding my most unusual shapes of sea glass with this incredibly, perfectly patina(d) found object. I loved jumping into this with no expectations, but just the thrill of seizing on a chance to delight the viewer. The final result was “The Happy Gasket.” I am equally thrilled that the Purse Pendant and Assemblage made it into the show. The Purse Pendant is part of series that popped into my head as part of my love of wearable art. We love purses and in my sea glass collection, I had many curved pieces that reminded me of purse handles. That was the starting point to design around these unusual shapes. Assemblage actually started as a purse pendant, but it worked better as as design in it’s own right. These three are all statement pieces for just the right fashionista or lover of Wearable Art. I invite you to join this incredibly colorful exhibit and support Rocky Neck’s creative endeavors. I would also like to thank Claire Sanford who is an accomplished fine jewelry artist and crafts person as well as champion of the arts. I knew it would be amazing as soon as I saw that she was involved. What an honor! (Click on the image below to see all three in a slide show)