Saturday Style: Scary Version

Vampire Bat Necklace by MCStoneworks on Etsy

Crisp mornings, advertisements featuring cuddly sweaters, and yellow school buses herald the approaching change of seasons. This is a beautiful time of year in the Northeastern United States. Soon our trees will be bright with shades from gold to scarlet, asters will be blooming and the smell of wood fires will once again become part of our environment. All of these things signal to me that Halloween is near. Halloween is one of my favorite Holidays. It brings out the silly child in me. I love the decorations, the costumes and of course the treats!

Dia de los Muertos dress by ChaoticCouture

Consider this romantic Day of the Dead costume.by ChaoticCouture22 on Etsy. It's amazing pearl encrusted bodice gives it a sugar skull appearance that is enhanced by the designers use of burnt edges. You will be the most beautiful ghoul at the party.

It even comes with a burned red rose bouquet and black lace mantilla style veil decorated with more red roses of course.

Handmade leather mask by Ken Osborne

Take a look at this handcrafted leather mask in fabulous flame colors by Etsy seller kennosborne.  Each of their masks is a unique work of wearable art and will make a most mysterious statement. 


Kennosborne represents a husband (Ken) and wife (Becky) team of artists whose favorite materials include "anything we can get our hands on."

Skeleton arm warmers by LadyLotus

Wear "dem bones" on the outside with these funky arm warmers/fingerless gloves by LadyLotus.  These arm warmers are made from recycled T shirt fabric, projects that didn't turn out the way the Lady wanted them to.  What a great use of material!


Jewelry is a delightful way to add a little scary to your otherwise sedate work attire.  
Vampire bats in black, antiqued brass and verdigris roost in the shop of MCStoneworks on etsy.  Michelle offers an entire verdigris collection that has a dark and mysterious air.
Marvin the Marvelous mummy resides at Fireball Beads by Islandgirl on etsy. He has friends there too. I found tiny ghost beads and a beautiful black cat there too.


Scary or funky, sexy or bold costumes are a delightful way to celebrate the season. 

Marvin the Marvelous Mummy

Who are you going to be for Halloween this year?

Interview With the Artist: JewelryArtbyDawn

Dawn of JewelryArtByDawn is currently the only member among the thousands of Starving Jewelry Artist members (7,123 and counting) who...paints. And wahoo! Does she ever!! Here's an example of her work: we collaborated on a competition on the Starving Jewelry Artist forum, taking second place in the use of color. All the beads you see were painted by Dawn. The Blue Tiger butterfly bead is just 3/4 of an inch and is perfect in every detail.





So, let's start with an obvious question: how and why did you start painting? Who influenced you? Who - My mom. She is an extremely talented artist. As far back as I can remember she was always sketching, drawing and painting. To keep me and my sister out of her hair while she was creating, she'd set us up with pencils, crayons, water colors and paper. Eventually, as we got older she encouraged us to play with her oil paints.

Sounds like she instilled her love of art in you.

Do you have any special memory of when you were little? I don't remember it, but one day she was soaking some brushes in turpentine and at the age of two I toddled into the room and drank the entire contents of the glass. My mom thinks I thought it was milk. I started screaming which led to a trip to the emergency room to have my stomach pumped...fun, fun, fun - not! Anyway, that experience didn't deter me from wanting to paint, but it made my mother much more careful about leaving dangerous chemicals out that a toddler might decide to sample!

How did you get to where you are now? I went through a very long spell of not painting anything during the 80's and 90's because I was too wrapped up in my career. Sixteen years later I realized I'd had it with climbing the career ladder and the overall rat race of the city and hubby and I sold our house and moved to the mountains. It wasn't much later that I found myself wanting to paint again and I did, but it didn't feel quite right. I tried watercolors and pastels, but those weren't doing it for me either. A few years later I was bitten by the jewelry bug and one day it struck me that perhaps I could paint miniatures as pendants for the necklaces I was making. Gave that a try and it was a perfect fit. I have never felt so creatively fulfilled.

What or why do you keep painting? Why - Because I have to. It's the same to me as breathing oxygen or eating food; a part of me would shrivel up and wither away without it. The feeling I get when I look at a completed piece is like nothing else. I still go through spells when I don't feel like making things, but I know once those phases pass, the paintings and the jewelry making will be there waiting when I am ready. Those dry spells don't last long because I love making things so much that I can't stand to be away from my workbench for any length of time.

Dawn recently opened her ArtFire shop, JewelryArtByDawn. Here are a few examples of her work:





Your Artfire shop, JewelryArtByDawn also contains copper work. What made you turn in that direction? Once I started making jewelry, I found the wire work I was seeing made by others endlessly fascinating and I wanted to give it a try. What I realized is that while I enjoyed working with wire, I'm not a natural at it and I've worked really hard to get to where I am now. I try to balance painting pendants and beads with wire work. Sometimes all I want to do is paint and other times the wire is calling me and it becomes my main choice.
Because it was inexpensive, I used copper for practice. It would have been insane to use silver as I needed a lot of practice! As I became more adept with wire, I also realized that I loved the color of copper. It's beautiful shiny, amazingly rich looking when oxidized and I've yet to find a color that isn't enhanced when paired with copper. These days, it's my "go to" choice, although I have a small stash of silver set aside for the rare piece that tells me silver would be a better fit - something that doesn't happen very often. If the price of silver were to drop below copper, copper would still be my first choice of metals as I love everything about copper.


Here's an example of Dawn's copper work:


Dawn, thankyou for answering all my questions. So, everyone, go to Dawn's ArtFire shop, JewelryArtByDawn to see more of her lovely work.

Welcome New Members

The Starving Artists Team is growing.  We have new members and a new selling venue. 

First, the venue - Many members of the Starving Artists Team have shops on Etsy.com, an on-line marketplace where people can purchase handmade goods directly from the artisans who make them.  But Etsy is not the only such marketplace.  At Artfire.com you can also find a variety of beautiful handmade goods being sold by independent artisans.  Many members of the Starving Artists Team also have shops on Artfire.com.

Starting today, the handmade items you see featured here will be items that are available for sale either on Artfire or on Etsy.  Some members have shops on Etsy, some on Artfire and some on both venues.  But regardless of venue, everything you see is handmade by independent artisans who design and fabricate their items and who share a little bit of themselves in each piece.
   

Now, let's meet some new members.

Jeanne, from J3 Jewelry, lives in sunny Florida.  She uses a variety of techniques, including bead weaving and wire wrapping and she works with many different materials, including glass beads, Swarovski crystal, semi-precious stones, copper, sterling silver and gold-filled wire. 

I love her Viking Weave Copper Bangle.  The combination of the faux opal effect on the focal and the gorgeous patina on the copper makes me think of a long abandonned treasure that has recently been rediscovered. 

Viking Weave Copper Bangle by J3 Jewelry

Dawn, from Jewelry Art by Dawn, lives in the mountains of California.  Dawn has spent a lifetime drawing and painting and her skill at painting miniatures is often incorporated into her pieces of jewelry.  Copper is Dawn's metal of choice and she often turns copper wire into a variety of fanciful shapes. 

I love Dawn's Copper Hoop Earrings with Turquoise.  Turquoise is one of my favorite colours, and paired with copper, as it is here, I think it really pops.  I love the shape of these earrings, and the little spiral at the top.  They look like they would be fun to wear. 


Copper Hoop Earrings with Turquoise by Jewelry Art by Dawn


Ava, from Ava Designs, also lives in California.  Her journey into making jewelry began 17 years ago with seed beads.  Today Ava's designs showcase her wire wrapping skills.  She uses sterling silver and gold-filled wire which she combines with semi-precious stones, crystals and Murano beads.

Isn't this Blue Pietersite Pendant gorgeous?  The stone is drool-worthy and Ava's wrapping showcases it beautifully.  This elegant piece is one that any woman would be proud to wear.   


Blue Pietersite Pendant by Ava Designs


Vanessa, from Paintin by Faith, lives in Oklahoma.  She works mostly with copper and sterling silver and loves working with a torch to create pieces of art that showcase her style. 

These Hearts in Bloom Earrings are so sweet.  They make me smile and feel good.  The lines are clean and simple.  I love the contrast between the copper and silver - it makes for a pair of earrings that really catch your eye.

Hearts in Bloom Earrings by Paintin by Faith

Welcome to these new members of the Starving Artists Team.  We are so exicited to have you join us and look forward to seeing more of your work.


Featuring artisan handmade creations by the Starving Artists jewelry team. SATeam members create handcrafted jewelry and beads. More information about our team and its current shop owner members can be found at SATEAM.etsy.com and here on Artfire.