Knitting Dragonflies

  Devine Designs Jewelry Her jewelry is one of a kind and perfect for a gift! Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/devinedesignsjewelry Blog http://www.devinedesignsjewelry.blogspot.com/ Facebook http://www.facebook.com/DevineDesignsJewelry Below is from her Bio: Having always been crafty, and like working with my hands, I have made swimwear and dancer’s costumes in a previous “life”. Creativity runs in my family, as my mother does ceramics and crochets; my uncle is a woodworker. I am a mostly self-taught wire and cold forge metal jewelry artist. I have studied under local artist, Stacy Perry, as well as, learning from books and video tutorials. Other jewelry artists and instructors that I have learned from include, Sharilyn Miller and Lisa Niven Kelly, who are considered among the best wire jewelry artists. I try to take metal to the extreme; by bending and twisting to create unique designs. I use lots of wire to make twists, coils, and spirals that I add to my work. I strive t

In an effort to loosen up my paintings and brush strokes I became interested in the ancient Sumi-e Japanese (I have also seen it called Chinese) painting. Sumi_e roughly translates as ink painting It is an art form that strives to distill the essence of an object or scene in the fewest possible strokes. A few carefully placed broad strokes that fade off abruptly, a few thin lines and a dot, and a bird is clearly called into being on the paper. Sumi-e is sometimes confused with calligraphy, because the tools used are the same. Calligraphy is the graceful, artistic representation of written characters, using ink and brush, while sumi-e is painting a scene or object. In the West, sumi-e is often called Chinese Brush Painting , although it has been a major art form in Japan and Korea as well. To paint with ink requires the use of the Four Treasures . This refers to the must-haves of sumi-e: an ink stone , an ink stick , a brush , and the appropriate kind of paper . The ink stone is a

Sketch was made with standard office markers, while sitting in my back yard. I’ve been working on my computer for the last couple of weeks! It progressively got worse to the point I took it to the Geek Squad. I finally decided on reinstalling Windows myself and seeing if I could “make it work”, saving the repair money to put toward a new computer if necessary. I can say I’ve learned a lot, and am now trying to decide if I need a larger C drive, (cheap and I think I can install it), or keep going until it dies. Hummmmm, close to Christmas and I just bought a new refrigerator! Bottom freezer and I love it! On the knitting front, I’m knitting with Collinette Point Five yarn, a bulky, thick and thin yarn. I must say, I hate knitting with it, but like how it looks when it is done. I’m in the process of making a top down pattern from Knitty Fall 2010 , I love the pattern. It is one of the patterns that was love at first sight for me. Don’t you love it when that happens? Still spinning m