San DIego is on fire

Here is a shot of the sun at 3:30 this afternoon.

Ok, I know, it is a lot about the fire, but, have you seen the news?

I have, I live here, I have been in all of the areas affected, and I still cannot comprehend the extensiveness of it.

I sit here in the safe cocoon of my home and try desperately to fathom what 500,000 people displaced means. I think I count as one of that number, as we were given a voluntary evacuation notice yesterday, that wasn't lifted until earlier tonight.

I stare out at the post apocalyptic skies and the ash covered ground and realize those ashes may have once been something important to another human being. How does one deal with that realization?

As I try to not fear for my home and my safe place, I know that a huge number of people, people I may know, may have passed on the street, shared dinner at a restaurant with, are without their own safe place tonight. They may not know until days from now if they even still have a home.

The winds, fueled by the desert winds called the Santa Anas, are hot and dry and fast. I have said before it is literally like walking out into a huge blow dryer. They seem to have slowed down today, regardless, you are looking at miles and miles of brush and palm trees that haven't seen moisture in weeks.

Because of this, there are firefighters that haven't stopped working for over 40 hours. 40 hours!?! I am not talking 40 hours of hanging out at home either, this is hot, dangerous and physically challenging. I want to go volunteer to give them hugs or back rubs or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Those of you who know me, know I have some sort of reverse fetish about touching people I don't know, I HATE IT. I am in awe of their ability to think beyond themselves and go into heat and smoke and danger for a complete stranger.

But do you realize these men and women are going into burning homes and taking pictures and mementos out and putting them on the lawn in an attempt to save something for the family whose home was destroyed?

There are hundreds of families that will go home to nothing but a pile of rubble, and find a stack of family pictures that they didn't have time to grab on the way out, on their lawn.

What about this; out of over 100,000 acres burned, less than 1000 structures have been destroyed. That includes barns, garages and commercial buildings. This amazes me, someone is doing something right.

I go outside for only a few minutes at a time, the air is hard to breathe and the sky is unsettling. That once comforting campfire smell has taken on a new memory for me, and it can no longer be comforting, as I know it is not just wood, but homes and lives that I smell burning.

When it is not you that is affected it is really hard to quantify the news reports. I am scared, but how would I feel if I was one of those people that had to leave at 4am in the pitch black with no electricity and embers landing on their cars on the way out of the neighborhood.

reflecting on Heritage

reflecting on Heritage, originally uploaded by ignisdesigns.

Aged Celtic knots etched into copper then enameled in blue and green.

entry for the October EJA giveaway contest.

Every few months, the Eclectic Jewelry Artisans hold a jewelry design competition with a theme. Our theme this time is "Reflection" and this is my entry.

To vote for my earrings, please visit:
www.EclecticJewelryArtisans.com

Click on Mailing List and enter your choice for the best "Reflection" in the note. (IgnisDesigns)

***When you vote, you will be entered into our free giveaway drawing!!!***

Leaves! leaves! Leaves!

I have been fascinated by these leaves for some time now, I finally got some at the last gem show. Then my mother picked up Alaskan Cottonwood and Aspen while she was in Alaska this summer. I love how each one is different, just look!

The first ones I made for my sister's wedding, it was a Faerie theme, so each bridesmaid had a leaf necklace. Then came the 24k gold Aspen leaf with aventurine and carnelian. Next was a Sterling Silver evergreen leaf with Thai silver and several different semi precious stones, then was the Copper evergreen leaf with some handmade lampwork beads I made in ivory, turquoise and silver, mixed with goldstone and turquiose, lastly a gunmetal oak leaf with picaso marbel and rose quartz. I simply love them.

Unfortunately there are people out there selling "dipped" leaves that are not actually dipped leaves but made using the lost wax technique. While I still believe they are beautiful, some leaves I bough on ebay recently are NOT real dipped leaves. I wish people were more honest. There is no way to really tell when you are looking at the skeleton leaves, but the solid leaves have a void in them from where the real leaf was and you can usually feel it when pressing on both sides of the leaf. If it is completely solid all the way through, you do not have a real dipped leaf, you just have a very pretty cast leaf.

The Great Revealing! The "Del Mar" Series

Drum Roll Please!!!!

So when three different artists are given the same materials to work with, how similar do you think they'll be? If you guessed not at all, you are right.

In my collaboration with Cindy Gimbrone aka the Lampwork Diva, which I do feel she has earned as a title by creating her gorgeous spiral beads... and Laura Bracken of Bracken Designs, no title but that doesn't mean she isn't a designer/ multi-tasker extraordinaire.

Here are my final pieces, I have titled them Del Mar, Of the Sea. I made a necklace a pair of earrings and a chunky bracelet.


























Cindy's piece is stunningly simple, Laura's is very intricate. Follow the links to their blogs above to see.

In my previous post you will see the gorgeous lampwork beads that Cindy sent included were some of her spirals that can be found on her website
I included 3 different enamels 2 circles and one rectangle I have similar pieces available in my etsy shop

The Great Revealing! Part II

Here are some extra images of me modeling the lovely pieces:

Collaboration! What happens when artists get together?

I am finishing up a collaboration project with two other artists, Cindy Gimbrone andLaura Bracken,we will all three be working with beads from Cindy and Enamels byME! The final pieces will be posted tomorrow.

In the mean time, here is a sneak peek at the beads we all started with.

Let me tell you about my very first artist collaboration project.

I had a rough start with collaborating as an artist. I remember being in probably 1st grade, maybe kindergarten, and having my very first art collaboration. Being from the Sesame Street generation, my FAVORITE word was co-operation. So when my teacher told us we'd be co operating during our art project I was very excited.

Then it began...

We were to draw snowmen. We sat at a circle of tables and each had our own colors and paper. She had us draw the head of the snowman...

Then pass the paper to the child next to us...

HOLD ON JUST ONE MINUTE!!!! I had plans for that snowman, I got the special color of blue to draw his coat. I was not happy, but I still wanted to do this co operating thing.. so I stayed quiet.

Then we drew the body on the snowman head we got from the kid before us. The kid before me wasn't so good at circles, so I had to be a little creative to make the body look right...

Then pass the paper to the child next to us...

NOT AGAIN!!! I had just spent a bunch of time on that one... This time, I was not able to keep quiet. As most people who know first graders I went from quiet to hissy fit.. no in between.

I was NOT going to share my work with other kids and I definitely did not want other kids touching my work. I felt betrayed by my teacher, betrayed by the kids next to me and betrayed by Sesame Street. This co operating thing was NOT fun.

After learning the hard lessons from Mrs Seeweepegaham, lets see how well I do this time. :)