Art From The Heart

Jewelry with "heart"

2011-09-01T08:29:00.001-04:00

One of the items I'm featuring this Fall...completely handmade using riveted copper and sterling. Are you familiar with the book Guess How Much I Love You by Sam Mcbratney? If not, that is the source of the saying, "I love you to the moon and back...". See more exclusive designs at Art From The Heart
                    May - December: open 7 days a week
                    Jan - Feb: open Friday and Saturday only
                    March: open Thursday through Saturday
                    April: open Monday through Saturday

Nestled in the Mountains

2010-10-31T10:52:00.000-04:00

This past week was the height of autumn color in the valleys, so on my way to the Gallery I saw the perfect shot of Black Mountain. Pictures speak louder than words about what a heavenly spot this is. I've drawn an arrow to identify the location of Art From The Heart! Come visit!

Just a pinch!

2010-10-01T07:00:00.001-04:00

I met fellow crafter friend Dennis at a craft show many years ago. I discovered he liked Indian food as much as I did! Anyway, fast forward about ten years and Dennis and his wife are still making beautiful, functional pottery including these sweet little 3 inch tall "pinched pots". Microwave and dishwasher safe, they are a great size for salad dressings, syrup, melted butter, milk for coffee, toothpicks, and can serve equally well as a little vase for flowers. They have "pinched in" indentations so that people like to hold them. I try to always have a nice selection of these to choose from in the Gallery. Come and get em!

The lull before the Christmas season

2010-09-30T07:00:00.003-04:00

I am thankful for the talent of local & regional artisans with whom I work. It is always a pleasure to introduce new work. Please choose American craftsmanship wherever you shop this season.

Judy modelling one of her original pouch purses in red velvet (with cell phone pocket inside).

Needle Felting by local Christina Serra

Handpainted Trivets

Jewelnomics

2010-09-29T07:00:00.001-04:00

So where do I work in a 400 sq ft space and still have adequate area to create a wonderful Gallery? Right here behind a little checkout station! Supplies stay nicely hidden behind pretty cloth front cabinets with Ikea shelving turned into a jeweler's bench. There's always a way with will.

The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn...Emerson

2010-09-29T06:50:00.001-04:00

Tigers Eye Acorn Necklace

Spoken by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and handmade by me.

Also, an always classic sold sterling silver acorn in 3-dimension

And this Fall, I'm showing Jody Funk's clay jewelry in the Gallery:

Thinking Christmas already

2010-09-28T08:00:00.001-04:00

Who doesn't appreciate the addition of a fresh flower in the home? Whether a gardener or not, there is always just a little something pretty to be brought in from outside. That's what makes these beautiful Ikebana vases so wonderful as presents...like a complementary frame makes a painting so much more...so does the perfect vase for the simplest floral sprig of hydrangea, Christmas holly or single poinsettia. Come vist the Gallery to see the full selection.

These aren't your earcuffs from the 70's

2010-09-27T16:02:00.001-04:00

for your many requests to show earcuff options, contact me by email (shown below) for pricing.

An option that goes with anything!

shown made with tigers eye, they can also be made with amethyst or turquoise stones

This is a great choice for someone who wears gold and silver together

Beautiful pearls incorporated into earcuffs can be casual or dressy when worn together with drop or post pearl earrings.

DIRECTIONS FOR PUTTING ON EARCUFFS

CONTACT: dee@deejewelry.com

Pottery Jeito

2010-09-27T14:40:00.000-04:00

I recently read Eat, Pray, Love. There's a part in the book where the author muses over what single word would describe a city, herself, a friend etc. Keeping with that theme, there's a Portuguese word I've loved since 1979 when I lived in

Brazil

called JEITO. It's difficult to capture the full meaning of the word in English (which is part of why I love the word) but it means something or somebody that has a "way about them" that just flows, that mystifies, that creates magic, that comes easily, that others want. So I dedicate my word JEITO to Asheville KPhillip's pottery whose work I've sought for my Gallery since I opened. I am in love with his pottery and he is one nice fellow with a lovely family. His background and love of printmaking shows through in his unique pottery.

Garlic Keeper

To Everything There Is A Season

2010-06-23T21:27:00.000-04:00

What’s amazing to me about Barbara Gerber is that she grew up in New York City yet has the greatest sensitivity to the nuanced details of the tiniest leaves, petals and bits of garden flora she cleverly assembles into card messages of hope, joy, and encouragement.

Using dried flora, her creative eye reveals an iris as a dress, petals become faces, a pansy bud is a hat, weeds are dancers…

a bleeding heart becomes the bodice to a dress & and countless more enchanting ways she has "painted" with her garden's bounty.

Barbara now lives in North Carolina where she employs a lovely gingko tree and all assortment of flowers, leaves, weeds, seeds and stems from her garden to create her original, copyrighted artwork that she reproduces into cards.

I’m very happy that she came into the Gallery to introduce herself. Her distinctive work is in a league of its own. Come by to admire the selection for yourself if you are in the area.

Classic Woodie and Gallery shot

2010-06-16T19:04:00.000-04:00

What are the chances of this classic Woodie car parking in just the perfect spot near my Gallery in Black Mountain, NC...and me having my digital camera handy to get a photo while the parking place in front of the Gallery was empty?!!! This was better than seeing a double rainbow. Check out the surfboard and the license plate which reads "REALWOOD". Does anyone know the year of this model?

Faded rick rack

2010-06-16T10:49:00.000-04:00

I don’t have a lot of photos from childhood so when I received this picture by computer today…I keep looking for something…but I’m not sure how I’ll recognize it. The effort reminds me of Highlights Magazine hidden pictures. Where is the camouflaged predictor of coming sorrows, spouses, new diseases, cures, computers, Internet, a black President, more than 3 TV channels, and…please please…answers to my spiritual grail? There we were in our 1960’s rick rack unaware of God’s brush strokes toward tomorrow, still on the edge of innocence and open to adventure. Did things go wrong or did things go right? Is there a hidden door drawn here, newly exposed as game play continues and trees fade to gray, that I only need to land on to enter? I’m hoping so, I’m definitely ready for some fun and more clues.

Making Peace with the Evil Eye

2010-06-15T09:59:00.001-04:00

After working on a project for a lot of this past year, I found out it isn’t going forward yesterday. Wow. Ouch. You kidding me? Unfair. Unjust. Deep. It’s so easy to get stuck in a victim mindset. Sometimes it’s the oddest things that remind me to just deal with the moment and let it go afterwards, and yesterday it was a relative’s cat. This old cat is alive to whatever new possibilities present themselves to it…whether it’s a new lap, moved furniture, moving feather…and never seems to withhold enjoyment from herself while fuming over why the kitty litter was moved for the 1000th time & other such humanoid injustices placed upon her. Yep, I’m moving the cat carvings at the gallery into direct view of my workbench. So far, I notice I’m getting very very sleeeeepy. I like that better than being resentful.

Artful Reverence

2010-06-14T07:51:00.000-04:00

With all of the jewelry I have made over the past 29 years…for me to carry jewelry work in the Gallery made by someone else says that there is something absolutely extraordinary to me about the design and execution. I couldn't resist sharing these. You know how a certain pillow on the couch perks up the rest of the furniture? That’s the case with these exquisitely detailed 18 kt hydrangea blossom rings on textured earthy sterling bands in my Gallery. A tiny diamond accents the delicate single hydrangea flower. They are so precious I want to eat them. Entirely made by hand, these rings can be ordered in any size & easily shipped. Delivery is generally around 2-3 weeks. As with all things from the Gallery, they can be mailed.

Owls and the rest of the story...

2010-06-13T09:09:00.001-04:00

The best normal job I ever had was a seasonal position with the National Park Service in the early 1980s. One evening, for reasons I no longer recall, I was walking along the park lake and a man was sitting with a flashlight. He said he was watching baby owls learning to fly. For an hour I shared in their silent flights from branch to branch… miniature owls I’d never seen before. Years later I learned they were Saw-whet owls (Aegolius acadicus) which are native to North America.

As a designer, my jewelry work is mostly biographical on some level or another…often with connected stories to something or someone. Mostly these stories go untold.

Last year, after keeping my park service hat in it’s original cardboard box for more than 25 years, I decided to start the half hearted effort to declutter our house. The hat had traveled with me from North Carolina to Georgia, California, Virginia, and then back to North Carolina and it was time to say goodbye to that youthful longing. It sold on ebay for four times what I paid for it…the original receipt was with it. I like to imagine it in some museum-like diorama depicting the NPS before the strangling budget cuts of the past twenty five years.

That's the rest of the story Paul Harvey. By the way, I miss you.

Some things just resonate.

2010-06-12T08:23:00.000-04:00

Susan lives over the mountain and down a hill in North Carolina. Since my first shop, I have shown her watercolor work. What I want to tell you is that not only is her work lovely and inspired…she and her husband Clay are wonderful, caring people…as her work would lead you to Believe. Susan creates 5 x7 prints that fit in standard frames that are very popular in the Gallery given the number of religious conference center visitors that surround the town of Black Mountain . This is how I wish I could paint!

Who knew ceiling tiles could be this beautiful!

2010-06-11T11:32:00.001-04:00

I met Linda at a Wildflower Art and Craft Show where we were both exhibitors. Surrounded by her wildflower artwork, it gave her an air of femininity and grace. A few years later when I opened my current location, I asked if I could represent her work in the Gallery, and she was delighted. I love that she paints on distressed metal ceiling tiles that serve as frames. The simple but elegant paintings depict lady’s slippers, jack in the pulpit, trillium, ferns, hydrangea and poppy blossoms…all hard to find in artwork. They are well suited for displaying in pairs or trios…her work is affordable for those who appreciate original paintings without an exorbitant price tag. I know, I bought one years ago. A sampling of current offerings are pictured.

Love You Forever

2010-06-10T08:16:00.002-04:00

When my son was little, my good friend Ellen gave me this little paperback, Love You Forever, about a mother’s enduring love for her child. I could hardly read it, even today, without a tear. There is something so sentimental, so achingly true about the eternal connection between a Mother and a child that author Robert Munsch captured perfectly in this tender book. With permission by the author, and inspired by a customer’s request, I designed this sterling silver charm with Munsch’s famous lines:

I’ll love you forever

I’ll like you for always

as long as I’m living

my baby you’ll be.

for more details, see Dee Sharp Jewelry website.

Interesting Characters...first of series

2010-06-10T07:32:00.000-04:00

Interesting Characters…
that’s who Keith is. Keith is a North Carolina potter and a man who beats to his own drum. I think he communicates best in glazes…luxurious floating glazes he calls “ocean” and “fire” that remind me of far away times and places like Krakatoa, Vesuvius, or Sumatra. If I’m buying a teapot, a mug, a vase…I want to hear a story about the pot. With Keith’s work, it speaks for itself. Teamugs, coffee mugs, teapots, teabag holders, coasters, mini vases, vases, lotion bottles, & bath cups.

It's raining Nests

2010-06-09T10:24:00.001-04:00

If there is one thing I have a fascination with…it’s nests. As I was anticipating opening the Gallery, I even toyed with the idea of naming it “An Artisan Nest”. But “Nest” doesn’t have a great deal to do with my own jewelry work so I’ve stored away the idea for now. It was quite a serendipitous day when knitter extraordinaire Vicki walked in and left her card saying that she had chosen my little Gallery as the simpatico place to share her nests in a retail setting. Glee is a good word to describe my reaction to the photos of her work. Knitted with at least 50 types of yarn, they also sport bits of ribbon, paper, plastic shred, beads, and other exotic finds to “feather” her nests. My oh my they bring joy to the heart. Like a mother bird to her precious nests...she found the Gallery that will tend to them well. There is a generosity in her heart that is more about sharing her creativity than selling so Vicki prices her work so that people who are drawn to them will be able to afford this truly unique and completely handcrafted work of art. The Gallery price is $44 and shipping is $8.50 for a total of $52.50 should you want to order one of the "Sissies". Every nest is unique, she doesn’t make a lot of them, so first come first served.

A Happy Storefront

2010-06-08T20:20:00.000-04:00

For five years I had a large shop called Recollections...a two story 1905 historic house built by Biltmore Estate junior architect Richard Sharp Smith. It was located near the Biltmore Estate. Those five years were a blur of continuous work and stress that left me with almost no time to do creative work. It was an unhappy time for me though financially it was successful. I was very glad to sell the business to return to jewelry design work. After three years I decided to try another attempt at a store and wanted a small vacant space in Black Mountain that I had been visualizing for a long time. I opened in May of 2009 and it is exactly what I want in a Gallery. While a larger space would be financially advantageous in order to carry more selection, I am currently happy in my little space and place. As a friend recently told me, “It is so you”.

Perfectly Beautiful, Perfectly Handmade

2010-06-04T22:30:00.000-04:00

One of the joys of having my own gallery is finding and being surrounded by art and particularly craftwork that I find simply wonderful. Barbara Chadwick is one of those creative people who find a way to blend whimsy, beauty, and charm into one of a kind porcelain birdhouses. If I had had one of these as a child, I would have created a whole imaginary life inside. As an adult, they just make me happy to be around. If you are in the Black Mountain area, come visit and see what selections I have to offer.

Staying Present

2010-06-04T09:53:00.000-04:00

Staying Present means so much to me this year. It's about continuing with my effort to make a living at my own Gallery rather than travel to craft shows. It's about staying in the moment so that my mind doesn't get carried into areas of fear, judgement, or worry. It means continuing to be a parent when times are tough. It means continuing to grow in my relationship as a daughter and as a daughter caring for a mother. It means showing up if I'm trying to actualize my visions. It means appreciating things right now rather than when this, that , or the other is done. For me, at this midlife point, life has condensed into two significant (to me) steps. Staying Present was the first step that's taken every ounce of my focus these past couple of years to recognize how far I've come and how far I have yet to go. Now I'm on to step two...transforming what isn't great about my present into peace.

"Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God" Matthew 5:9.

Roses From a Brother

2009-03-27T07:05:00.004-04:00

Roses From A Brother

This has been an interesting week. My mother had a half brother that she never met. My Grandfather remarried late in life and a child from that marriage was adopted by a new father when the child was very young. All connection was lost, including the child's last name. The first year I got on the Internet I started searching for this uncle...my mother's only sibling. My mother was nervous about finding him since her relationship with her father had been difficult so she didn't encourage me. That was in 1993. Since then, I've searched every few months through google and also sites where lost relatives try to find each other.

During my most recent search, I found something that made me stop dead in my tracks. A photo of my grandfather was posted on an ancestry site. Time stopped for a few shocked minutes because the only surviving people who would have access to a photo of him are my mother and her half brother. I knew I had finally found him. It took some more digging but within hours I was talking on the telephone to this phantom figure I'd been chasing for 16 years. And shortly after that, he and my Mother (his half sister) were talking to one another...two days before my Mother's 79th birthday. They have been emailing and talking non stop since. The roses in the picture were sent as a birthday tribute to my mother by her brother...symbolizing the family he has now found.

I'm not sure how to express it exactly, but there is something just a little sad in their connecting...now I have no one to search for.

Relax...God is in charge

2009-03-21T10:38:00.003-04:00

The daily reminder I made into a pendant ...

Elegant Jewelry Coup d'etat

2009-03-21T10:14:00.008-04:00

ELEGANT COUP D'ETAT

The most elegant teapot in the world is Shelley's Dainty ...a long awaited find of a lifetime.

...inspired the coup d'etat of my Shelley jewelry series.

with those same sweet polka dots, the lid opens and is fully 3 dimensional. I'm proud of this one.

Shelley Cream Pitcher

2009-03-20T11:57:00.005-04:00

Captivated by Shelley

After I completed my Shelley teacup, one day I thought it would be so cute if I had a series of Shelley Dainty China-inspired jewelry pieces so the second piece I made was the rosebud creamer. Here it is in real life.

And here is my rendition in sterling silver as a charm/pendant...so cute! There are little flowers around it. I'll post the TEAPOT in a couple of days...THAT took a lot of time.

My Favorite Teacup - Shelley Dainty Rosebud

2009-03-19T11:38:00.009-04:00

The Shelley Dainty Teacup

My absolute favorite teacup are those made by Shelley in the Dainty shape. I am just fascinated with the delicacy, beauty, and perfect weight of these teacups for drinking tea. I own the Rosebud pattern one: Nothing is more fun than making jewelry of something I love. So my favorite cup inspired one of my favorite handmade designs: this sterling Shelley cup and saucer with the characteristic fluting so special in a Dainty piece.

There's a little flower inside the teacup too.

Serendipity

2009-03-10T07:17:00.007-04:00

Serendipity
I love the unexpected symbiotic steps I take in life that put me into the direct path of a stranger...bumping into each other, pausing, then continuing on...to find my original path has diverged in some small way toward a clearing filled with dawning sunshine.

Now THAT'S recycling

2009-02-15T07:40:00.006-05:00

Now THIS is recycling...

Considering the economy and desire to live more greenly, some of the following recycling ideas are interesting reading (to see the full text, visit http://victoriandecorating.blogspot.com/2007/02/victorian-home-perhaps-not-quite-what.html ).
The Victorians were great believers in waste not want not, they saved and reused everything. Sheets were expected to last 5 to 7 years, when they were worn down the center, you cut them in half and stitched the 2 outside edges together and used them some more. Later they would be used as dust covers, after that they would be torn up into strips for bandages or given to the poor. In Britain after 1875, refuse removalbecame an obligation of the city. Before that you had to handle it on your own. Anything paper could be burned in the kitchen stove, but clean paper was re-used. Some of it was cut up and used for toilet paper, which did not become commercially available till some time after the invention of the flush toilet. Paper was also recycled to make ‘spills’ which were long strips of twisted paper used to light fires.There were many street traders who went door to door buying used items.This was true in every major city and town. Paper was bought by paper mills and manufacturers of paper mache furniture and ornaments. Dealers bought iron, metal, wood, lead, and old bottles. Old textiles and bones were bought by the rag and bone man who sold these things to paper mills, glue, gelatin, match, toothpick and fertilizer manufacturers.Any kitchen waste that could not be re-used or burned in the stove was dumped into a bucket. A thrifty cook had very little to throw out. The contents of the bucket was called “wash”. A washman came regularly to buy it, it was then sold as “hog-wash”, or pig swill. There was a big demand for it. Many working people in London kept pigs in their back yard to make extra money. An unscrupulous cook could tell her employer that she needed money to pay the man to take the wash away, then collect from the wash man too.Fish heads were used to make soup, the water vegetables were cooked in was used to make gravy, as were plate scrapings and unfinished wine. Tea leaves were rinsed and scattered over carpets to help collect the dust when sweeping, then burned in the stove. Leftover tea was used to wash windows. In the US, cities had garbage removal. In Boston, during the 1870's there were 2 collections a week in winter and 3 a week in summer. New York City had regular trash collection by the mid 1800's. Trash was deposited in garbage boxes or ash barrels, and on windy days refuse would go flying down the streets.

Before refrigeration the best they could do in a city house was to use a cool cellar or a tiled room with a north facing wall. In the countryside you had the springhouse or a storage cellar of some kind. There were many ways to try to extend the shelf life of food. It was recommended that you check your meat regularly, and powder it with ginger or pepper against flies. Charcoal was also used to help keep it fresh and remove any bad odors. Scalded milk stayed drinkable for more hours than fresh. To keep it for several days you’d add grated horse radish to it. Eggs could be boiled and packed in sawdust and kept for 3 months.

Imagine doing all this yourself without any help, or even with the aid of a maid or daughter. That's one reason for the old tradition of Monday--washing ; Tuesday -- ironing ; Wednesday something else, can't recall offhand. There was a major job to be done every day but Sunday, because these jobs took up the whole day. It's why young girls took on so many wifely tasks at such an early age. In America, by the way, the term servant was not used much, except by the highest classes. Most referred to them as "hired help", it was more democratic.

The Victorian city dwelling woman was constantly fighting a battle against dust. This was not the kind of dust that we are used to. It was dried city mud, with particles of decaying animal and vegetable matter, horse droppings, etc. Coal dust and soot were everywhere, from the smoke pouring out of the chimneys to the coals as they were carried about the rooms from fireplace to fireplace, to the ashes that had to constantly be swept and gotten rid of. Soot was thrown out by the fires and blackened everything. People would cover surfaces and wash the covers regularly. However, over time the covers became more and more decorative and less and less washable. The covers now needed covers. Can you see where this is heading as far as Victorian decorating goes? It was advised that you should have 3 hairbrushes. One to start the day out with a clean brush, the second to be washed and set to dry for the following day, the third to lend to a friend if she needed it. A woman remarked that it was impossible to keep your hair clean “ our brushes look black after one using”. If your hair got that dirty in one day, with a hat on when you went outside, imagine how filthy your clothes and furniture would be.

Tea Dreamer

2009-02-10T14:24:00.005-05:00

My little oddity in life is a fascination with the egg man. Let's see...if I count the humpty dumpty shaped teapots in my studio...there are 24. I can't quite explain it, he just browns my toast. I love looking at the different ways that artists and companies have depicted ole humpty, and sometimes, Mrs. Humpty too. The yellow teapot is a Lingard from around 1930. I have him in green too. What do you think he is saying?

This is a more recent rendition from England. And if you have a humpty teapot, it just wouldn't be right without a humpty teacup...or 80 humpty teacups in my case because I thought I might want to give tea parties at a children's hosptial someday. OK, I know it's a little unlikely, but I'm a tea dreamer.

Tea Parties

2009-02-07T19:38:00.008-05:00

Each year I give one to three tea parties...sometimes for my local community center, my church, or for friends. I love to decorate the table with a theme...

I'm the short one, center.

Sometimes I'll ask for the ladies to tell me what their favorite flower is and then try to match a cup or plate from my collection to match that flower. At the tea, I ask the ladies to share a story about that flower and why it's special to them with the group...and this has led to some wonderful stories over the years.

This past year I chose a theme of nests and birds. I asked each lady to bring something they treasure with them to share a story about that item with the group. It was a marvelous tea party.

And next month, my newest theme is Gems of the Heart. Each lady is asked to bring a letter of appreciation to someone that they wouldn't otherwise have thanked...perhaps the cashier at the grocery store who told you that you had given her $20 too much, or your daughter-in-law for being a wonderful mother to your grandchildren, etc. The letters can be written anonymously if preferred. And we will share the letters at the tea party and, I hope, decorate the envelopes with tea themed rubber stamps and stickers. I'll be serving Harney's Bangkok Green, Stash Peach , either Golden Moon Vanilla Jasmine or Jasmine Pearls and an herbal Mamasita from Blessed Botanicals.

This blog thing is nice because these are details that only other tea lovers might find interesting.

Lastly, here is my dream tea cottage. It appeared in a magazine, but I don't remember which one. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have afternoon tea there? Hasta luego friends.

About time!

2009-02-07T15:55:00.000-05:00

As much as I love to write, I'm like a lazy dog getting onto the blog bandwagon. But I've heaved myself up and off I go. Inspired by some of the tea enthusiasts out there, I'm joining forces and sharing my love of all thing tea, including my own creations...but that will come later. For now, savor one of my favorite "teapot" things I found ...oh to be able to have that topiary in my front yard! And

and last year down in South Carolina, I came across another doozy topiary. I've always wanted to garden and imagine creating large topiaries. Fun.