Thursday, September 25, 2008

COFFEE CANTATA



That which moves me to make art.
















Mochalatte--feshwater pearls, lampwork coffee bean beads, Noreena jasper pendant.


































Burma jade, Akoya pearls and Succor Creek jasper pendant.













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Wednesday, September 24, 2008








NEED ONE SAY MORE?

Sarah Palin tell Kaye Couric about the Country Firster,






COURIC: But he’s been in Congress for 26 years. He’s been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.
PALIN: He’s also known as the maverick, though. Taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he’s been talking about — the need to reform government.
COURIC: I’m just going to ask you one more time, not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation?
PALIN: I’ll try to findja some, and I’ll bring ‘em to ya.
YO MCCAIN!
I have to give your handlers credit--they are cunning, the rascals. What better way to save you from the shame of having your opponent mop the floor with you during a debate on foreign policy than to cancel it? Well, not just cancel it, but cancel it for the noblest reason--to help the American people. Yo McCain, I don't buy it. If you care so much about the American people how come you let the country get into this mess? You are the Country Firster right? By the way, what the hell does Country first mean? What is country if not its people? Did I hear you say people first? If you said so, to whom did you refer, the Keating Five, the lobbyists, the multimillionaires you are about to rescue with our tax dollars? I don't buy it. You chickened out, Vietnam hero that you won't let us forget that you are.
At first glance you seem to have painted Obama into a corner. Had he insisted on the debate you could have said that he was unpatriotic, right. Guess what, it takes more than trickery to stop somebody like Obama. It takes more than trickery to convince those of us who plan to vote for him that you are a better choice. So fib, run out on a fair fight, trot out the tragedy of 9/11 to gain our sympathy. It won't work. You and Caribou Barbie may win by trickery. It has happened before. You will never win my respect.

Thursday, September 18, 2008


Another day, another mezuzah case. Hard work, setting bits of old china in a curved surface. Soldering is not my favorite activity. There it is, the though, the project, nearly finished. There are rewards--someone close to my heart brings me lunch of roasted chicken, french bread and chocolate. Later in the evening, Junior arrives with truffles. We talk of Obama's relationship with George Clooney and Brzinsky. Will they influence his policy towards Israel? One of Junior's coworkers says that the US should not support Israel because it is a theocracy. Junior holds
her ground.
"Would Hamas be beter," she asks.
We talk about the tragedy of Palestinian people whose worst enemies are Islamic extremists . The latter andwar profiteers exploit the current state of affairs for personal gain. Yet some Americans say that "we should have more balance on the Middle East" to mean that Israel should not be helped in its struggle againts jihadists. How very simplistic. Peace is possible. It will happen when the Palestinians have a leader of Sadat's stature and vision. I hope to live to see it.

Works in Progress




Mezuzah cases still on the workbench.

Monday, September 15, 2008

"Rhodonite is a stone of grace and elegance. It decreases anxiety while increasing attention to detail. It works beneficially on the heart chakra, opening one to unconditional love and increased service to mankind. It is a stone of inner growth as well, and helps with self-love. It is also a calming stone, with energies used for easing anger." I got this information from a site maintained by a purveyor of crystals and jewelry. If she is correct, I made rhodonite necklace just in time, what what with the McPalin lies clogging the airwaves while the Lehman Brothers and Merrill
Lynch hit the skids. Alan Greenspan tells us, as if we did not know, that this the worst economy he has seen and the worst is yet to come. My heart chakra quails at the thought.
What are we to do, good folks? A friend from whom I had not heard for a couple of months, e-mails a recommendation for passion fruit caipirinhas. His is as probably as effective a prescription as the chakra stone lady's. But what is good antidote for lies? The Palin person claims she has been to Iraq and she has not; she says her son enlisted on 9/11 and he dud not; she does not know what the Bush doctrine is and keeps mum about Russia's invasion of Georgia. She quotes an arch-racist to bolster her image of upright citizen of a small town, but will not explain where in the sam hill did she get the notion that lying is a small town value. Was it
in the same place where she got the idea that rape victims should shell out or their rape kits?
It is all too bizarre. McCain lies about Obama and yet McCain calls himself an honorable man. Obama never advocated comprehensive sex education for kindergartener. MCCain knows that, but he thinks that it is honorable to lie and to spread disinformation. Is that the kind of leader we want? If so, I am going to consider petitioning the Canadian government for political asylum. rhodonite ain't gonna do it if these guys get elected. No, it will never happen. We,
the American people are not easily duped, are we? True, there is the matter of the weapons of mass destruction that never materialized, Saddam Hussein's purported participation in the 9/11
attack--our president's reason to invade Iraq--and the gazillion falsities we have allowed to go unchallenged for the past eight uears. But we have learnt from our mistakes, haven't we, haven't we? Say we have. Please.

ALL THAT JASPER













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Rhodonite and onyx necklace, 22" long, sterling silver clasp. U$ 100













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Agate and freshwater pearl earrings with sterling silver hooks. U$ 35



Fancy jasper and green fluorite necklace with ribbon jasper pendant, sterling clasp. Length is 20" U$ 85












Sunday, September 14, 2008





A good day's work means three pair of fabricated earrings and three beaded necklaces. Then one takes pictures, posts them, copies and pastes BUT ME buttons et voila, one is in business. Maybe. The economy being what it is, jewelry is not uppermost in the mind od the average West Virginian. If a visit to the grocery store is an indication of the state of the union, why, it is grim. Last Friday,during the two hours it took to do our stocking up for the entire month, we saw one shopper smile. This predominance of frowns is new to our area. We are pretty laid back, resilient folks in West Virginia, so what is going on?
There is something missing these days. It is as if the hope Barack Obama talks about is in abeyance. How could it not when all one hears from the McCain-Palin camp is lies and the worst kind of ad hominem attacks on the opposition? Nowhere do MCain-Palin handlers mention what they are going to do about, say. the price of chicken, which risen dramatically since the cost of fuel went up.
Grocery shopping is about survival, but is also about comfort and celebration. One buys food because one must, but often one also buys it with the idea of enjoying a good meal, of sharing it with one's family and one's neighbors, and with the hope pf celebrating a holiday, a birthday, an anniversary. Hopeful shoppers chitchat, smile, tell jokes. Unhappy shoppers brood and in West Virginia we have much to brood about. We are a gun and God state. That is, the majority of us vote out of fear that a liberal Democrat will take away our Bibles and our guns. The rest of vote for liberal Democrats or not at all. At the moment we seem to brood collectively about the lack of direction in our leadership. Though the gun and God crowd will not admit it, we all a bit scared about our uncertain future. Sarah Palin's lies do not comfort any of us when we get to the checkout counter.

NEW NECKLACES

Hematite and crystal necklace with a Swarowsky and sterling silver pendant, sterling silver findings.



Freshwater pearls, carved wood beads and mother of pearl square beads, sterling silver findings.



Conglomerate jasper mother od peatl neclace with sterling silver findings.











Muscovite and poppy jasper necklace, 20" long, sterling silver clasp, matching earrings. U$ 100











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Mango yellow and green manik manik necklace, 22" long, matching earrings. U$ 65



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Nephrite and Hidden Valley jasper necklace, 20" long, sterling silver clasp. U$ 80











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Grey Botswana agate, cranberry colored freshwater pearls, necklace, 20" long, garnets and Apache jasper pendant. Matching earrings. U$ 120



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Freshwater pearls, smoky quarts and crazy lace agate necklace, 20" long, sterling silver clasp, matching earrings. U$ 120



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Saturday, September 13, 2008

THE MEZUZA CASE
Three days fabricating this baby, hammering the top and giving the silver tube a sandblasted texture. Then I got the joy of soldering the bead and gallery wire. The next one will be a little more colorful. I am getting me some patterned brass and toying with dreams of mokume gane. Ah, for an Anne Choi bead--something Talmudic, a pomegranate and a dove, perhaps a date tree? Must make my own.

Why are there no glass blowers making beads with Hebrew characters? It is a mystery.

NEW JUDAICA


Pocket-sized sterling silver mezuzah case accented with copper and an amethyst cabochon,
Sterling silver mezuzah case accented with jade bead and cabochon.
Sterlinf silver mezuzah case accented with a shard of porcelain excavated from a historic Shepherdstown, WV garden.


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Mezuzah case, hand fabricated from sterling silver, ornamented with a rose quartz nugget and a handmade pomegranate bead. Length is 10 centimeters.


















Thursday, September 11, 2008

YUMMY PEAPODS




Fabricated from sterling silver, embellished with freshwater pearls, these peapods look good enough to eat. Photo above shows earrings with lever back hooks but they can also be ordered as a pendant or a pin. U$ 35 for the pair.











Wednesday, September 10, 2008

20" necklace made with 8 mm and 4mm onyx beads, accented with three faux cinnabar beads. Sterling silver clasp. U$ 85