Beyond the Surface

A lot has happened in 10 months. Too much to report in any detail so I`ll try to summarize.

I`m like the tortoise. I move slow and steady. Some people might think I`m not moving...not progressing, but that`s just what it looks like on the outside of me. On the inside there is a flurry of ideas, of revelations, of memories, of growth spurts. So many and so much that it`s very hard to contain myself. Most days I feel like I am running in 40 different directions at once. So this winter I decided to work on resolving this inner turmoil. I started doing yoga to calm my mind which lead to greater focus which lead to me researching and becoming involved in art therapy which has lead to Intuitive Painting. Which has lead me full-circle back to creating more meaningful...more personal art journal pages.

Creating commercial art had caused me to stray from my own personal life purpose. I had fallen into the trap of always being aware of the end game. Always thinking "Will someone like this?" "Will it sell?" Getting caught up in this thinking was squeezing out my creativity. It was never my intention to create under those circumstances so it was time to realign myself with my original intentions. "Create only what I feel moved to create" and then if I feel like selling whatever I've made, add a price tag to it and take it to the markets with me.

That's the new vow I've made to myself. Create only what I feel moved to create. That, and I promised myself that I'd take some online classes that I've wanted to take for quite awhile. I'm currently taking Effy Wild's Moonshine class, and when registration reopens I want to take GulfSprites 30 Pages. After that I'd like to take Dion Dior's Mandala class, Flora Bowley's Bloom True, and Jen Louden's Teach Now.

And, as if self revelations were not enough, I also bought some new gadgets to help me create online classes which I will be slowly developing for release this coming fall/winter.
  Ronnie is a mixed-media artist, instructor and jewelry designer at RadianTrace Atelier

Singing My Soul's Song

The summer markets have started. I have been very busy preparing for them, and now I've been very busy making pieces during the week to replenish my stock for the weekends. Beaded anklets seem to be one of my best sellers this year alongside my number one seller...sterling silver wire wrapped rings. This year I have three new series. Two completed, and one still in the planning stages. The first new item are two part gift sets. They consist of handcrafted cards (and journals) with sentimental sayings, and handstamped jewelry with inspirational words. They are selling very well. Much better than I had hoped considering the price point is much higher than my other items. I've also been getting custom orders for them. The second series consists of bracelets, necklaces, and earrings made of polymer clay with romantic text imprinted in the clay.  The third new series is still in the planning stages because I'm waiting for one of the components to arrive. I have registered trademarks for all 3 of the new series. They will be professionally packaged and shipped to several boutiques in Chilliwack, Vancouver, Kelowna and Whistler.  After many months of struggling to come to terms with my illnesses I came to the realization that I really am an artist. I process my feelings through creative expression. In light of this revelation I decided to take myself seriously as an artist and do whatever I needed to do to get greater exposure for my products. When everything has been finalized legally I will share photos, and the product names of my new series. Until then I'm hesistant to post anything online. Ronnie is the jewelry designer at RadianTrace Jewelry

My Studio - Come On In

This is where designing, sawing, piercing, stamping and filing takes place. Look at my adorable new swivel vise! The wood boxes store sterling silver sheet and precut ring shanks. My tumbler sit on top of the black metal shelving. The white plastic drawers beneath my bench hold sterling wire, copper sheet, design stamps and letter sets plus a whole bunch of other goodies.



Middle of my bench. Texturing, hammering, and drilling station.



Soldering station. This is where the magic happens folks!



This is my beading table, but when I'm working on metalsmithed pieces this area is where I do all the finishing work such as setting stones, and final hand polishing. This is also where I sketch my designs. I call this table my 'Inspiration Station' because I have pictures on the wall that inspire me. I also have a rock collection in a bowl, and I take out a different rock everyday and set it on the table for me to look at throughout the day. Those two cabinets are filled with cabochons and sterling silver findings. Various cabachons get pet several times a day.

Notice the little 'Dream' carving? I also have a framed picture with the word 'Believe' that my girlfriend Pat gave me for christmas. Those two words are what keep me moving forward. No matter whatever else is going on in my life...deep inside at my core I am always dreaming and believing in my dreams. I hope you're believing in your dreams too.

Ronnie is the jewelry designer at RadianTrace Jewelry. She's also the graphic artist at Mable's Makings, and the author of Ronnie Unplugged.

Creativity Re-Ignited

I've been feeling much better lately. Thyroid levels are at the high end of 'normal' which means I'm not shakey anymore and my heart rate has stablized. Feeling better allows me to be active and creative again.

I'm taking a second metalsmithing class on Tuesday evenings. The last class is on March 29th. My own studio is now fully equipped and up and running. I've been working on my class projects at home inbetween classes.

As you all can guess I've been buying cabochons to make metalsmithed pieces. Well, I received this gorgeous picasso jasper cab that reminds me of a Monet painting. To me it looks like a field of wild flowers. Notice the pretty mauves, greens, yellows and browns. So, it's being made into a ring with a floral patterned band, and I'm calling it 'Monet' Ignore the surrounding silver. I was just checking to see if the bezel would fit.



The bezel is now soldered together and then soldered onto the back plate, and the back plate has been cut away, and then filed flush to the bezel wire. It's now a perfectly smooth bezel cup ready to have the band soldered on and then it will go in the tumbler, then the stone will be set in the bezel, then I'll oxidize the whole piece in Liver of Sulphur...then the final stages will be lightly buffing off the LOS from the high spots which will leave a dark color in the recesses of the floral patterned ring band to help bring out the details.

I'm thinking of keeping this ring in honor of it being my first completely solo project made from start to finish in my own studio.

Ronnie is the jewelry designer at RadianTrace Jewelry. She's also the graphic artist at Mable's Makings, and the author of Ronnie Unplugged.

Metalsmithing 101 - Class Six

My second project was a Spinner Ring. Sparkly isn't it. Spinners should come with a warning! I'm addicted to spinning the inner rings! I actually completed this ring at home during the week before class. For the sixth class I began my Mom's Charoite & Amethyst pendant. I got as far as soldering both the large oval and the small round bezel settings onto the backing sheet for the two stones.

I'm a bit stumped as to how I will proceed. The oval shifted when the flux was heating. The flux is a thick gooey paste that tends go on in globs and then it bubbles up when heating and moves small pieces so this has happened to me twice now (on both projects). When I work solo in my studio I'm going to water down my flux more to try and gain control over this problem.

Anyhow, it is what it is. Now I have an oval bezel that isn't properly aligned with the round bezel sitting above it. I might try to make the piece look more organic by cutting notches and curves along the backing sheet in hopes that the oval might not appear so crooked.

I'll take a photo tomorrow and show you what I mean. I plan on working on it this week and then soldering the bail in class next Tuesday then moving onto my ammolite pendant.

Ronnie is the jewelry designer at RadianTrace Jewelry. She's also the graphic artist at Mable's Makings, and the author of Ronnie Unplugged.

I Enjoy Thinking

In fact, I enjoy thinking so much that occasionally I have to remind myself that actualizing thoughts and dreams into reality requires some leg work. As in, it's nice to dream and sketch layouts for my studio, but I am going to have to get off my butt at some point and actually move some boxes and sort through everything before I can make any changes. So yeah, that's what I told myself last night while sitting on the porch last night sipping decaf looking at the sky and dreaming about how my studio is going to look by the end of this month.

Ronnie is the jewelry designer at RadianTrace Jewelry. She's also the graphic artist at Mable's Makings, and the author of Ronnie Unplugged.

Pantone Fall Colors 2010

I don't usually follow seasonal color trends when I make jewelry. I order most of my supplies from the US and it often takes 3 weeks for shipments to arrive at my doorstep here in Canada. So, following trends isn't practical for my situation. For this Autumn most of my pieces are in shades of brown and golden colors with a few pieces including green as in my 'Enchanted Forest' themed pieces. And, of course, turquoise. My turquoise pieces ALWAYS sell well no matter what time of year I offer them.

My first solo piece I plan to make in my studio when I get my own torch at the end of November will be a turquoise pendant for my daughter. It's her 30th birthday on December 4th. The cab color fits into the Lagoon blue color scheme from Pantone. It will be embellished with 'water' elements which will further fit into the Lagoon theme. =) Here's the turquoise cabs I'll select her's from:



Ronnie is the jewelry designer at RadianTrace Jewelry. She's also the graphic artist at Mable's Makings, and the author of Ronnie Unplugged.

Trying Not To Sweat The Small Stuff

I had a little rethink about the issues surrounding my previous post and decided to take my own advice. Whenever one of my children is having a challenging time dealing with a "life doesn't always go your way" issue I ask them if there is anything they think they can actually DO about the problem. Sometimes the answer is simply "No." Sometimes we can't really do anything about a problem except change the way we react to it.

That might seem like a passive thing to do, but once you accept the 'do nothing' approach things start to shift inside. To me that's action. It's movement toward a better understanding of what's important. What's important to me is learning, and expressing creativity. The process of creative expression is healing. So, I'm going to continue to learn, and create.

Later this morning when the daylight arrives I'll take a picture of my pretty little piece of ammolite and show you =)

Ronnie is the jewelry designer at RadianTrace Jewelry. She's also the graphic artist at Mable's Makings, and the author of Ronnie Unplugged.

Site Updates - One Step at a Time

Website design is not my strongest skill, but by putting one foot in front of the other Whimsy Within is progressing along slow and steady. I'm actually starting to enjoy doing the coding. I think I've finally figured out a way to add an order form that won't be too terribly complicated for buyers. I had to think like an 'artist' to come up with the idea so "nana nana boo boo" to all my 'technically wired' web design friends. Maintaining the order form will require a great deal of vigilance on my part, but that's what I get paid for so no biggie.

Off topic....I went shopping yesterday and scored a tripod for my camera, a new battery charger, and some cool little ear buds so I can drown out my roomie's TV when I'm working online.

And also off topic.....I plan on doing a regular series of posts called 'Blue Soup With Stars' in honor of an old online friend named Magali who had an MSN community named Blue Soup With Stars. Magali is the main reason why I stayed online 10 years ago instead of giving up and unplugging my computer forever. Were it not for her kind words and encouragement I never would have gone on to discover that I'm actually talented at drawing graphics. If there wasn't any graphics, there would never have been any jewelry. In other words...she inspired me, and encouraged me to explore my creativity, and push myself beyond my boundaries.

So the 'Blue Soup With Stars' series will be about taking risks...exploring creativity....trying new things. And I will show my process here on my blog. I don't know whatever happened to Magali, but I've never forgotten the impact she had on me. Thank you kind lady.

(P.S. I think it's serrendipity that 'Soup' will be in the title of my series. Just like how 'Soup' is in Lori Anderson's 'Cup of Bead Soup' series about the same topic.)

You Are Worth The Time

The Winner of the Follow Your Dreams Give Away is Giggles. Congratulations, and thank you for participating.