Stack 'Em Up -- More Bangle-o-Rama Drama

Here's an 8-bangle stack with a beachy theme: hand painted shells, sea urchin spine, a steel spring bangle with an engraved shell seahorse, an anchor, a holy medal, shark vertebra, vintage beads. Torn silk, hemp and inlaid bone, distressed and aged to have that look. You know the one where a traveling dancer just keeps adding to the stack and never takes it off so it gets a lifetime patina. And go ahead and dance like nobody's looking. Barefoot on warm sand.

Wonder of Wonders!

http://www.googleartproject.com/

Okay, artists and lovers of  art, what would you say if you could visit the collections of great museums all over the world, without having to go through the airport scanner?  Any day, whenever you like?  Well, indeed you can!  Visit Google Art Project, bookmark it and return again and again.  Let's see, today, I think I'll visit the Tate, or shall it be the Ufizi?  Hey, both!

Things That Happened Because of a Good Hike

Tribal Archaeology, Umtanum Canyon
This is a wild place. We came here when the fishing was good and the camas roots were ready. We didn’t own it; in time the ashes of our cooking fires, our blood and our bones became part of the volcanic soil.  And now the rallying cries of our fierce leaders echo in the canyon walls when the falcons build their nests, our beautiful women dance in the breezes of spring in their new green dresses, our children laugh in the rapids, our drums still beat as your heart does climbing higher to our secret place. This is a wild place, we are still here.

A bangle stack of 9 distressed recycled bangles antiqued with the fine soil of Umtanum Canyon in Eastern Washington. If you visit, do it no later than mid-April. After that, it is also known as Rattlesnake Canyon. The snakes begin to stir when the night temperatures rise above freezing. And when you visit, listen for those who came there before you.

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That's Umtanum Canyon in Eastern Washington.  It's a fine hike that can be as long or as short as you want it, on trail, or off.  It's dog friendly, as long as you go before the snakes wake up.  Abbie proved her stout heart by swimming a creek crossing, while I teetered over slipperly logs and tippy rocks like a total NOOB.


And a week later, I finally put up my gear and such -- and that's when Abbie found the glove.  She likes to let me know she has my glove or sock (wool preferred) by dancing in front of me with it dangling from her lips and scooting off when I reach for it.  You may not be able to hear her thoughts, but I can, it's NEENER-NEENER, you shoulda put up your stuff before now, so bribe me to get this nice wool thing back.  Slobber and tooth marks are extra.

Icons of Wisdom, Owlets

For more on these charming young ones, visit Quigley's Cabinent, easily the best blog on the 'net, and see her entry for March 23.  You may just make a visit to Ms. Quigley a daily habit, as I have.  There you will find lots of random, inspirational, quirky, often dark, information from Christine, who gleans it from who-knows-where and edits it and presents it for your edification and delight.  She is one of those rare folk who shine a bright, but gentle, light into the shadows, and helps us keep a clean and rational perspective on our world, past and present.  Reality is a great inspiration!

Bangle Inspiration from the Ships of the Desert

Now that's a stack!  See how a nice stack of tassels and beads and beautiful textiles can beautify a person?

I love the way people decorate their valued transport!


And it seems that the camelids, new world and old, have a special relationship with red tassels, regardless of ethnicity.

Or a special relationship of drivers to their valued source of income?

or maybe it's those beautiful, sloe eyes . . .

Bangle-o-rama II

You say "stack" and I say "how high?"  Each time I make a set, I want to add it to the previous one --   my latest resulted in a stack of 13, so I had to add just one more.  Something about starting the project as two separate ones results in a richer color and texture when the two are joined.

Here's an arty shot of the results, all stacked up on my po' ol' mannequin hand with the crackled skin and melted fingers.

And here's a close up shot showing the array of charms.  None of yer readymades, m'dears, but an eclectic grunged-up assortment of things that an acquisitive, sharp eyed traveler might have found along the road and cobbled into a personal treasure.  Charms include: a vintage scarab souvenir, a holy medal, a bit of abalone, a peach pit with a star on it, and other bits 'n bobs of found and recycled jewelry.

Found Object du Jour

Another beach walk yesterday with some cool small things that have some pack rat appeal, at least to me:  A shell, perhaps just the lining, all nacre, a whelk that has been broken to show its spiral staircase inside, all tumbled white; the tip of another whelk with a pretty nova striped pattern, a barnacle with a plume of kelp; a bit of aluminum with chipped paint in black and red, with mysterious encrustations, sea glass and a bit of charcoal tumbled into a pretty, flat oval.

And my best find, a sign of spring in deep waters, an egg mass, that looks a bit like caviar, but it is solid and rubbery.  Perhaps the young have already hatched and this is just the old nursery; it bears close, magnified examination.  I love the color and the texture, and think it would be wonderful in a resin pool.

These treasures may seem ordinary, but I follow a design discipline that disposes of that notion.  Nothing is ordinary if you open your mind, eyes and heart!