YOJ09-05 The Caged Heart Grows Cold

The Caged Heart Grows Cold or Portrait of the Artist circa 1998 (2009)
Bare copper, polymer coated copper, wool
Constructed, needle-felted
Pendant:  L 7.5 cm x W 4.2 cm; Neckwire:  L 45 cm

I’ve been debating with myself for three weeks about what and how much to write about this week’s entry.  I made the felted heart in week 2, but then discovered that studio gremlins had made off with my copper wire…  I finally found a small spool of it last week, so was able to start work on the project.  The gremlins are refusing to let go of the rest, though, so this is the last copper piece I’m going to be making for the time being.

I spent a lot of time during my hiatus meditating on the direction I should go with my jewellery.  Time and time again I’ve gotten the message that my jewellery needs to connect with the spirit, and express more of my inner voice.

So, my piece this week speaks from a very personal perspective.  The very long story behind it is one that only my very closest friends have known about before now.

YOJ09-01 Needle Felted Circle Pendant

Needle Felted Circle Pendant (2009)
Sterling silver, wool
Needle-felted, flame-worked, cold connected
L 5.2 cm x W 4 cm

Back in 2006, when I was working with the Bonsai Rings one of the challenges I faced was to create realistic looking foliage.  A technique I thought might work well was felting.  I signed up for a felting course, but unfortunately various circumstances prevented me from taking it.

So recently, when I was putting together a Treasury on Etsy.com, I came across a shop that sold needle felting kits.  The price was good, so I took the plunge and bought one.

I decided to experiment first with the least appealing colour for foliage:  pink.

The technique is quite simple and fun.  On the first night, I made two little balls.  The next night I had a meeting with Maegen Black, a colleague who works with me on MAGazine.  She was wearing three felted bangles made by a BC artist whose name I didn’t catch.  (Edit: Maegen let me know the artist’s name is Deb Dumka). Intrigued, I tried a version of my own the next night.

Since I’m now working on my YOJ projects, I decided to use this little circle for my week 1 submission.  To jazz it up, I broke out the torch and made a bunch of sterling silver studs to decorate the circle.  Remembering the mess I got myself into during the previous YOJ, I did all of the finishing prior to assembling the pendant.