I haven't blogged in about a month, and I should be grading and but just can't bring myself to even start. So I'll say I'm taking my lunch break and blog instead!
I'm going to blather on today about Gaea Cannady and her WONDERFUL ceramic pendants and beads. I adore her work, every time she posts new sets on Etsy I drool and drool and invariably order something, even if I already have about six of her pendants at home waiting to be used (like I do now). Her pieces are so detailed and rich in color, and I'm drawn to her nature-driven pieces and her more earthy colored glazes. Gaea herself recently called me The Queen of Earthy on my FB page, which made me feel SO good (and blush a deep red) and if I am that, its all thanks to the inspiration of her pendants and beads. I'm drawn to her more mellow, earthy colors, like those seen in the pictures here, calm aquas, pale blues, serene greens and sedate browns. I also recently made a necklace (one of the ones I just sold) with a brighter cream and green pendant that I got as part of some destash sets I got from Gaea Exchange on Etsy, and even though the pendant was brighter, the color palette I ended up using with it was still earthy, just with a lighter edge to it with cream beads and silk.
I just sold two pieces that have Gaea pieces in them, (the ones shown here) and I've made at least two more lately that I'm keeping (one being the bee above and the other the heart at the top of this blog). I want to keep all the pieces I make from her pieces, and I seem to be able to ALWAYS instantly create a necklace with her pieces, no matter what they are - her work just speaks to me. I've said that before about other artists, but lately its so true with her work. And its not just her work, its also about Gaea the person. She answers my convos immediately, mails out my orders in record time, ALWAYS comments about the necklaces I post with her work in them (and others), and is just so sweet and generous in everything. She always sends a little extra with my orders - I ordered two destash sets from her about a month ago, which were huge bargains already as they were discontinued styles, and the dear woman still sent me extra goodies! I passed on some of those in a swap I recently did, and am about to pass on a couple more to a woman I've met on Facebook from Belgium. I'm happy to share this amazing work of this wonderful woman with as many folks as I can - either through my jewelry or through swaps. I'm already looking forward to my next purchase from her!
I feel like I'm creatively in a bit of a rut lately. I am continually drawn to the same color palette lately - an aqua color with some variation on brown tones. The necklace below typifies this - a lovely medium brown pendant paired with variations on brown and aqua colored beads. Its lovely - to me - but not outside my comfort zone. And just why or how has that palette become my comfort zone? I've never felt compelled to stick with one palette and yet time and time again lately this is the palette I end up with. I'm also not sure why I'm bothered by this. But I am. So after I finished my bee necklace (which I'm keeping and actually wearing right now!) I looked at the lovely bronze butterfly pendant I had sitting on my table from Lesley Watt at Thea Too. I've had this piece for weeks now and just couldn't seem to come up with a design to go with it. Probably because it is a metal pendant and not ceramic, and didn't quite fit my current color palette rut! But as I looked at it and at the beads sitting on my table, inspiration struck! Its an amazing pendant and calls to mind a big field of wildflowers. I had just received some lovely lampwork glass beads from Pam Ferrari in a pale greyish purple tone. Once I saw those, the lepidolite squares jumped off the table at me and said "use me too." And yes, there's still the brown - but look at the vibrant teal color !!! Ah, I've successfully veered out of that creative rut...feel better now...
