Hello Friends!

Well, it’s official.  I’m going to teach an in-person jewelry making workshop Saturday, February 29th in my home studio.

Here's a little bit more information about my very first in person workshop.

Bronze Bliss:  A Jewelry Making Workshop

In this class, you will learn how to cut form, hammer and solder bronze sheet metal and jewelry wire.  Taking these raw materials and turning them into one of a kind fashion statement pieces of jewelry will be your assignment. 

I’ll bring everything you need other than a willingness to learn something new.  You will also need to bring your glasses, if you use them for close up vision.  We’ll be zooming in on some pretty small details as we work.

You can expect to leave with more than one piece of jewelry depending on how fast you work.  You will also leave with a list of supplies needed should you want to continue moving forward on your metal-smithing journey.

I love teaching kids, but because we will be working with hot flames and torches students should be at least 14 years of age please.

Class will be held from 9AM-5PM Saturday, February 29th in my Jacksonville, Florida home studio.  Lunch will be provided.

We are located a little less than 5 miles from the edge of the content where the Atlantic Ocean laps up upon the sands of Neptune Beach, Florida.  If you live nearby, you are familiar with all there is to do in this beautiful coastal town.  If you don’t, you will find it charming, I’m sure.  I am a Jacksonville, Florida native and though I have thought about moving away before I just can’t seem to be able to leave behind all the natural beauty to be found here.

Early bird registration is now open.  Tickets are sold in my on-line shop.  Regularly priced tickets are $125 per person but for a limited time, they are on sale for $100 each.

Click here to buy tickets

Space is limited.

Full Schedule

I used to say “I’m so busy” all the time.  Well, it’s still true but I try not to say it anymore.  I prefer to say I have a “full schedule”.  Doesn’t that sound better?  I feel like the phrase “I’m so busy” sends a message.  I don’t have time for this, that, the other thing or (even worse) you.  The word “busy” to me implies a frantic state, somewhat like a running around or even a somewhat “frazzled” state of mind. But when I use the phrase “full schedule” it feels grounded.  It feels like I’m saying my feet are on the ground and I have a calm approach to the things that are going on in my life.  It feels like I’m saying I elect to have a lot on my plate.  It’s my choice because I’m one of those types of people who enjoys and prefers having a lot going on all at the same time.  It makes me feel productive and it makes me feel like the fullness has a lot more to do with my purpose and intention than anything else.  Can you relate?

Bold Bronze and Beautiful

My Happy Place

Me in my happy place, making something.

Little Works of Art

I love drawing and painting as much as I love forging metal jewelry.  I really love creating tiny works of art.  Something like this, which is about 4x6, is something I can make pretty quickly so it satisfies my need to get my creative fix.  The substrate I create is a little hard to explain.   I'm planning on fully explaining in my first creative on-line course, if i can ever get that sucker of the ground.

Working with Silver Plate Platters and Bowls

So let’s talk about the silver plate materials I use when making my jewelry.  As some of you may already know, I’m a huge fan of thrift stores.  I love the idea of taking an object, cast away by another, and turning it into something precious.  Most thrift stores have an abundant supply of silver plate platters and bowls from which to select.  I’m always on the lookout for ones that tarnished.  A bright and shiny piece will rarely, if ever, catch my eye. 

The way the piece feels in my hand has a lot to do with whether or not I buy it.  The lighter it feels (for it’s size) the better.  Cutting these is not easy.  But I have found that the lighter the weight of the piece, the easier it is to manipulate with a blade or metal sheers. 

I used to spend a lot of time etching metal to use in my jewelry.  The process is messy, time consuming and, honestly, a little bit scary to me.  The chemicals required to etch a great piece are pretty nasty.  One day I was looking at a stack of silver plate platters (when shopping at a thrift store of course) and noticed that the embossed design on some were a lot like my etched designs.  Voila.  There it was.  My eyes saw the potential for amazing jewelry right there in this dusty and dull selection of silver plate platters and bowls.

I don’t limit myself to only embossed silver plate objects.  Every now and then I find the perfectly plain platter or bowl.  Great jewelry comes from these objects too.

New Jewelry

I've really been enjoying the process so much lately.  And have been busy preparing for an upcoming spring show, keeping the Atlantic Beach Arts Market full and getting ready to add new work to my on-line shop.  Busy, busy, busy.  

Letting Go

So, I've been thinking a lot lately about how much I've been "letting go".  I'm trying hard to let things go when I feel annoyed.  It definitely takes a bit of effort on my part, but I’m finding that if I can just try to lean into the part of myself that sincerely wants to feel lighter then some sort of magic happens. I’m finding that letting things go really isn’t the hardest thing in the world to do.  The more I do it the easier it seems to be.

I’ve been letting go of a lot of stuff lately too – meaning stuff in the garage, stuff I’m finding in drawers that rarely get opened – just stuff.  It’s everywhere.  Letting go is a good thing.

Vintage Florida Sea Shells

So many of the shells that we have around the house are old.  I love the way they end up looking over time.  When I was growing up we spent many years on our Florida beaches combing for shells.  We used to be able to find large conch shells but it seem these days the beaches are a little more crowded. So, I don't see as many larger shells as I did when I was young.  I'm really grateful for this super cool stash.  It's currently sporting the center of our dining table.  Things do move around a lot over here though.  Not sure where it will end up next but it will most likely always be somewhere with us in our sweet home.

Sewn Journal Pages

I love my new journal.  I sewed the pages and now they are the perfect playground on which to play.  I've been practicing all the super sonic drawing techniques I learned while attending Alisa Burke's Journal Making workshop up in Oregon this past spring.  Who knew using a simple fat black magic marker could be such a fun supply.  Well it sure is when you add the Signo uniball into the mix along with it..

Let the Jewelry Making Begin - Again

Can I get a whup-whup?  I finally got into my little studio and started making jewelry again.  Yay!  I’m an artist who makes jewelry but I make a lot of other things too.  For some reason, that I really can’t quite explain, I hit a wall with my metal making endeavors about 6 months. I’m sure you can relate to this if you’re a fellow creative.  It wasn’t because I was burned out or uninspired.  I actually felt enormously inspired, but just wanted to make other things.  I guess I’ve just decided that I’ll never be one “type” of artist.   And while that may not be good for a working artist, who’s running a creative business, it’s still good for me as a person.  I think it’s safe to say I make something every day.  Lately my studio has been over-run with paints, brushes, gesso, gel medium, pens and other supplies.  Pretty much you name it , and it’s recently made it’s way into my studio.  I’ve been having a blast with it all.  But it’s time to get focused – as much as someone like me can get focused at least.  I have some jewelry shows coming up this fall and I can’t wait.  But I really must start preparing.  Focus – Focus - Focus

My Creative Art Journal

I've been playing with art journal making techniques that I learned in Oregon.  That’s where I recently attended one of Alisa Burke’s workshops.  Since then I’ve been working with paints, pens and colored pencils.  And I’ve been trying hard to blend my own creative voice into all that my brain soaked up while I was there.  I think it’s important to mix all of the “me” that I can into whatever I learn from others.  I don’t ever want to be accused of copying other artists.  It’s hard because we all learn so much from each other and we get inspired by others.  But whenever I come back from a creative workshop the first thing I do is ponder and work to figure out how I can take all I learned and turn it into something that has a robust amount of “me” in it.  I don't know if my erasable Crayola pencil collection counts as a robust amount of "me" - but hey, it's a start.  

I also sewed my journal together rather than binding it with the metal binder machine I learned how to use up there.  I love sewing paper.  This to me was another perfect opportunity for just that.

Hand Painted Magnets

I love making things by hand.  Sometimes I really think the simpler the process the better.  Whenever I work with basic supplies and keep my process simple, I take the part of me that worries about the end result completely out of the picture.  And that's when I have the most fun making hand made things.  Making little painted magnets this way is so easy.

These little bags of wooden circle slices are inexpensive and available at your local craft store.

First paint them with a layer of white gesso.  Let that dry and then paint them with a layer of acrylic paint.

Once the paint dries use a Sharpie pen and a Uniball Signo white ink pen to add doodles and designs.

Glue magnets onto the backs of each.

The end result is an array of bright and cheerful magnets.  I just love these.  But most of all I love the process because it's a very simple and easy one. 

Painted Terra Cotta Bits and Pieces

Over the years I’ve potted A LOT of flowers and herbs.  And as a result, I’ve amassed quite an impressive collection of broken bits and pieces of terra cotta pots.  I keep them around because I put one in the bottom of each newly potted plant for good luck.  May sound weird but it’s just what I do. 

I was looking at my bowl full of terra cotta shards the other day and felt a little tug of inspiration. 

I cleaned them well with soap and water and once they dried I lightly sanded them.

I painted them with black India ink.  I’m sure you could use acrylic paint too. 

Then I sprayed them with a little bit of polyurethane spray.

I'm loving spring and I hope you are too.

Me and My Jewelry

Hi Everyone.  I'm just saying "hi" and I'm here to tell you something you may or may now know. And that's that I've been making jewelry out of silver plate platters and bowls for years.  So My shop is full of great earrings and necklaces right now.  To find out more about me and my artwork please go to http://www.marciamyricksiany.com.

Arts in the Park: The Poster

I was truly honored when I was asked to provide artwork for the 2017 Arts in the Park Poster.  I don’t just make jewelry.  I do lots of other creative things as well.  The jury selected one of my favorite puppy pastels.


Honestly, I have a love/hate relationship with the pastel medium.  It’s a very unforgiving medium in my opinion.  You can’t make one mistake because there is really no good way to erase or go over anything.  But when I’m having “pastel luck” (which is what I call it when something actually works out well) the result is really cool.   And this piece was truly the result of one of those “pastel luck” moments.

Arts in the Park this year is Saturday, April 22nd from 10AM-5PM.  I'll be there along with many other talented artists and many much-appreciated patrons.  Hope to see you there.

Doing What I LOVE to Do

I love the spring and it is on it’s way.  It means there will be lots of art festivals.  I love working at the festivals because I love meeting new people.  So, it’s a very happy time of year for me.  :)

Cleaning in my Studio: My Button Box Tells a Story

Hi Everyone,
I’m a little obsessed.  Well let me be more specific, because I’m obsessed with a lot of things.  My intention here is not to talk about all of them all.  It’s to talk about one in particular.  I’m obsessed with sorting, purging and organizing things. I read something very interesting recently in a little book about clutter management. It was a passage that explained that if you love buying items intended to help you get more organized then you may need to consider that you are possibly a bit of a hoarder.  Not sure if I buy that analogy but when I read it, I must say, it gave me a bit of food for thought.  I mean I do love buying items that help me organize things like drawers and closets.  Is that so wrong????

I think not.  Anyway, I want to tell you about the fact that I’m obsessed with cleaning up and organizing in my studio.  I’m not sure if it’s that I like doing that part necessarily.  But, when I feel a little stuck and basically just not really in the mood to sit down and create something, I like to go into my studio and tidy up.  I feel all the good mojo in there whenever I’m in the room.  So, it’s a way to soak that up and feel like I’m at least being somewhat productive.

I started simple purging mostly envelopes and papers that had been lying around for years in my closet.  Soon a bag was filled, then two, then three.  You get the gist.

Then I dug a little deeper.  I looked inside the plastic boxes I keep in my closet. The button box was out of control because I have quite a stash of buttons: 1,000’S of buttons.  Hmmmm… hoarder?  Do people who are not hoarders keep 1,000’s of buttons on hand?  Well, in my defense, I do use them for my jewelry creations.  I love my button necklaces and I fully intent to make more - thus the problem.
  

I found a button attached to a cute little tag that I totally remember keeping because I thought it was a cute tag.  I looked on the back of the tag.  Size 7???!!!!!  Uhh, I think the last time I was a size 7 was maybe when I was in the 6th grade.  Okay.  That’s it.

 Hello, my name is Marcia and I AM A HOARDER.  I just realize that now.  Who keeps a tag that long because it’s cute?  Even worse – now I don’t want to get rid of it because I like remembering that I once was a size 7.

You know what else I found in that stash with all the buttons?  I found a pair of google eyes!  Nope.  I’m not too mature for a fine pair of google eyes.  I love them!  I’ve been known to use them around the house, at times, putting them on anything and everything, especially during Halloween.   Good times.

Now, let me be clear.  The reason I’m trying to write a blog is to help keep everyone motivated to create.  I guess the gist of this one is to tell you yes. I get stuck all the time when it comes to being creative.  There are many days that I just don’t feel like making things.  But, for me, cleaning up in the studio is still part of the artsy process.  Next time you feel stuck, I mean if that happens to you, don’t stress over it.  Take the opportunity to just hang out wherever you create and tidy things up a bit.  It really works for me and I bet it will work for you too.  Maybe, if you try this, if you’re really lucky, I mean if all the stars line up just right, you too might even find pair of google eyes.

Wonder if I have any more in there anywhere?  I’m gonna’ go clean out a few more boxes and hope for the best.

Thanks for reading.
Marcia

Wrapping Paper Tutorial

 
If you’re like me when you wrap a gift you want it to look…well….adorable.  I don’t know what it is about wrapping presents but typically I really get into it.

This idea came from the amazing Alisa Burke.  I want to be sure to give credit where credit is due.

First I started drawing flowers.  I’m totally into flowers right now because I’ve been following Alisa’s blog and am feeling seriously affected and inspired.

 Then I started adding color with water color paints.  I love working with water colors.

 Ultimately I added a little more definition with the Sharpie Pen and a few colored pencils.

 I took my finished piece and photographed it in the sun to get as bright a shot as I could.

 

I uploaded the image into Photoshop and started manipulating it by mirroring the image and then mirroring it again until I was able to make it the size it needed to be in order to upload it to the wrapping paper web site.

  

I uploaded it to a web site called "Spoonflower" and ordered a roll of wrapping paper made out of my image.

 

Arrived:  My own personal floral wrapping paper.