And now for something completely different

This is a different kind of exploration.

I've made jewelry for many years, out of all kinds of materials, and gradually that turned into bigger and bigger pieces until I was making paintings and assemblages that I sometimes refer to as my "wall jewelry."

My best pieces tend to be the ones where I start by playing with the materials, instead of having an idea and then trying to find materials to realize it. I've become more and more interested in recycling and repurposing things I'd otherwise throw out: plastic spoons and forks, candy wrappers, old CD's and DVD's.

The cafeteria at my office has cardboard takeout trays made of thick rough recycled paper. It's very porous and sucks up paint like a sponge, but the texture makes interesting effects with glossy or metallic  finishes. Recently I tried soaking pieces in warm water after painting and then shaping them -- tricky because it's cheap paper and the layers have a tendency to fall apart -- and it gets a leathery look I like a lot.


This is a pendant I made by shaping the painted paper into tubes and gluing them together (the orange is actually nail polish) and then to a base of a painted paper circle I had left over from another project.


Because it's so lightweight it doesn't need a heavy bail. I made a clasp out of wire that can hook onto any chain or necklace, glued it to the back, and voila!