Wow- it's been a year since my last entry.
The past 2 semesters of school I have been taking production casting, and have enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I am very close to being finished with school- I just need 2 more credits. But I have decided to take the summer off, since last year I was in school all summer.

A few weeks ago, I returned from an amazing trip to London, England. The co-ordinator of my program organizes a school trip once a year. They go to the annual gem & mineral show in Arizona 2 years in a row, then every 3rd year, they go to London. I haven't gone to Arizona the past 2 years, but REALLY wanted to go on this trip, and was very glad that I did.

We went to lots of museums, saw many famous works of art- Van Gogh, Renoire, Monnet...and I went & saw a Picasso exhibit. It was pretty amazing to see pictures that I had studied in school. A friend and I also went to Dali World- a museum dedicated to the works of Salvador Dali.

There was also a lot of beautiful architecture- really old buildings that have been preserved so well. I got to go on a Rock & Roll Legends Tour (I'll be submitting a few pics from that), but the highlight of the whole trip was going to see Stonehenge. That day it was cold and a little bit rainy. There were lots of other tourists, a highway behind me, and helicopters flying above (Stonehenge is near a British Military Zone), but despite all that, it was so tranquil. A feeling of peace and happiness washed over me. I could have stayed there all day. It was truly a magical place.

Yay! I finally got a few new pieces uploaded. The 3 stone pendants and the 18 inch chain were pieces I made during summer studio. I wish I had more to show, but either I didn't get the chance to photograph them, or the pictures I did take were awful. However, I'd love to hear people's thoughts on the ones I posted.

Now that the summer jewellery studio is over, I am taking a printmaking class over the rest of the summer, and hope to get some of my creations posted soon. Tomorrow we are learning how to etch metal, which I am very excited about as I have wanted to learn etching for a while and will eventually incorporate it into my jewellery.

On top of that, I am taking 2 classes over the summer. They are required classes that don't actually have anything to do with my program, but are necessary if I want to graduate. While I don't really want to take them, I shouldn't complain as I am getting good marks in both classes. In one of the classes, for the first test, I got the highest mark in the class- 95%!!!

I'm curious to know, in your opinion, what sells better- jewellery, artwork (prints, paintings, etc.), or other 3-D pieces (sculpture, pottery, etc.)?

So, my big Christmas present this year was a portable lighting studio (one of those boxes with the white walls for taking pictures).
It comes with a tiny tri-pod, the box which folds up, and 2 spot lights.
Hopefully within the next few weeks I'll have time to play with it, so watch for some new photos coming soon...

I've been so busy lately that I haven't had time to post anything in a while, so I'm submiting a bunch of new stuff.
Some of it is school projects that I've gotten back, some of it is to sell at the Christmas jewellery show my school is putting on (all the unsold items will be going to the gallery where I sell my work), and a few items are stuff I've made for swaps I've been participating in on Swap-bot.com.
Busy, busy, busy!