The last two and a half weeks I have not been quite up to par. My stomach has been running the show, stealing my energy and causing some pain. I’ve been too long away from the studio and too long away from blogging.
I tend to lean into depression when I don’t feel well, especially when it goes on for more than a few days or when I can’t figure out the cause. I feel like some kind of slacker or lame ass who can’t get her act together. I try to work in the studio, but find it hard to focus. With plenty of work to catch up on I can’t figure out where to start or what to do first, so I judge myself harshly and decide I’ve done nothing.
That’s how I felt today and it’s time to draw my brakes and stop the downhill slide. I have not done nothing. I may not have finished the work I wanted to but I have been working on bits and pieces that I’m excited to pick up and use as soon as I can. Taking photos to put up on the blog helps.
Here are some leafy headpins I made last week with translucent polymer clay.
I used some of my down time to wrap a bunch of copper and silver-filled wire into small leaf shapes. I hammered them to flatten and harden the wire, making it a ready base for thin layers of translucent polymer.
I colored the translucent clay with alcohol ink and rolled out thin sheets to apply to the wire frames. I sandwiched microbeads between the sheets of clay for most of the leaves. It wasn’t until later that I thought about trying some waxed linen between the layers.
I’m pretty happy with the results, and I have a bunch of ideas that will “stem” from these.
Tomorrow won’t be a studio day for me as I’ll be off the island to get a CT scan to see if we can figure out what’s going on in my stomach. Yeah, it’s hard not to imagine dire things, but I’ll balance those thoughts with the thought that this could be nothing more than a weird reaction to stress.
Meanwhile, I’ll be thinking of plans for these leaves. Maybe I got more done last week than I thought.
Barbara S Fernald Jewelry 