Happy Cinco de Mayo!

A little sneak peek into what I am currently working on in the studio. This will be part of my new collection that is inspired by my recent travels to Florida.

Oh boy, I can't wait to share with you what else I have in store. This collection will truly be perfect for summer!

sun and sand.

World Textile (Awayo/Bolivia)- Earrings

Let's visit Bolivia through some pictures and talk a little about yesterday's treasury pick of my World Textile (Awayo/Bolivia)- Earrings. As perhaps some of you that have been following my blog know from previous posts, that Bolivia definitely holds a special place in my heart. Some of my jewelry in my Etsy shop is influenced by my travels there. Here is a picture of the earrings from my Etsy shop:


On my travels there, I was amazed by all of the beautiful woven textiles. One of the best areas in La Paz to get all sorts of Bolivian handcrafts is south of the Iglesia de San Francisco known as Calle Sagárnaga. This image is taken from Calle Sagárnaga looking down towards the Iglesia de San Francisco.


Iglesia de San Francisco is also personally one of my favorite pieces of baroque-mestizo architecture---the church has a truly stunning and intricate carved façade. The façade includes fanciful carvings of birds, masks, pine cones in a mixture of Spanish and Indian traditions. The church was originally built in 1549 by the Franciscans but was collapsed by heavy snow in the early 1600's and rebuilt in the middle 1700's.


Heading back up towards Calle Sagárnaga and Mercado de Hechiceria (The Witches' Market).


As mentioned before, in this area, you will find all kinds of artesianal work as well as...


vendors selling llama fetuses and dried frogs for Aymara rituals, and soapstone figurines and aphrodisiac formulas. Little interesting fact about the llama fetuses:

"There are two different purposes that the dried llama fetus fills, the one that is seared on a plate with herbs and sweets is for good luck in business, while the regular dried llama fetus is to protect your home. It is widely known fact that most homes in Bolivia have these dried llama fetus interred in the foundations of the building."



Aymara textiles are prized throughout the world. Traditional Ayamara art depict the landscape, animals and plants of the Altiplano. While Aymara textiles otherwise known as awayos will often show images of llamas, fish, condors, stars and other designs. However, most of the textiles are also striped, similiar to the patterns of the terraced mountain slopes around Lake Titicaca.


Here is a photo of the terraced hillsides taken on a visit to the Islands of the Sun and the Moon on Lake Titicaca.


The Aymara textiles are woven by hand, using wooden looms. While the dyes used to color the textiles are made from boiled flowers and leaves. The textiles are strong and truly can last for many years. Each pair of my World Textile (Awayo/Bolivia)- Earrings incorporate a piece of awayo that has been brought back from my travels in Bolivia

The pieces of awayo are placed inside of these sterling silver domes that have the silhouette of the Chakana or Incan Cross pierced out. The Chakana or Inca Cross is an Andean symbol. The word chakana is derived from the Quechua word chakay, meaning "to cross". This cross represents the three tiers of Inca life: the lower world, this world and the higher world. The three levels are also known to represent the the snake, puma and condor. It is an icon that has been seen in the Incan culture, whether worn as a talisman or used in the architecture (i.e., temple steps).

While the hole in the center denotes Cusco, which is believed to be the center of the Incan empire and also represents the circle of life. The twelve outer corners are believed to mark the twelve months of the year. While the four main arms are thought to symbolize North, South, East and West.

I really do love traveling---- meeting new people, experiencing new cultures, and seeing how all these aspects influence who I am and my work.

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UPDATE: just to verify, the pieces of awayo that I purchase to make the pieces are considered "scrap" pieces. I do NOT cut up large woven pieces.

Travels: Whidbey Island (part II)...

So after our stop at Deception Pass we decided it would be fun to drive around the rest of the island and take in the scenery of the scenic isle way. Little fact: Whidbey Island's Scenic Isle Way is known as the first designated Washington State Scenic Byway on an island. Along the way, we stopped by some towns as well as lovely beaches.


One of our stops was Coupeville.This town definitely has an old world feel. It is as though you have literally stepped back in time or at least into what life was like once in a small frontier American seaport community. Unfortunately, by the time we got there all the shops were basically closed so we could only walk around and peek in.




Before leaving Whidbey Island by ferry, our last stop was Langley. This "village by the sea" is full of restaurants, galleries, antique dealers, small boutiques and gourmet chocolate shops--all located on the waterfront with views of distant peaks of the Cascade Mountains! But before I end this post, I am going to share with you my found objects from Whidbey Island.



An array of beach stones and sea glass! It was my first time ever finding sea glass. I was so thrilled when I found my first piece, this aqua blue chunk:

......I was hooked. I really enjoying finding items on my travels, since it is a way of bringing a piece of that place and one's memories back. So now my eyes were immediately glued to the ground once again, this time trying to find these tumbled, smooth pieces of frosted glass. Picking up these glass fragments it was hard not to wonder: how old are some of these pieces, where did they come from, what were they once, who used them last....and so on. I am planning on making a few limited pieces of jewelry with my found objects from Whidbey Island. So stay tuned!

Travels: Whidbey Island (part I).

This weekend I went on a day trip to Whidbey Island. I have for quite some time now wanted to see this commonly-photographed landmark of the Puget Sound region known as Deception Pass. Luckily the weather held out and we had no rain. On our drive in we came upon what seemed to be a shrimp shack. Hence the big shrimp graphic and large words that spelled out SHRIMP across this white shack. To be truthful, we first had driven past it.....only to make a u-turn further down the road.


This adorable shack had definitely pulled us in. We got some food to go and continued on our way to Deception Pass. We of course had to pull over in the pull outs and take some pictures before we crossed the bridge.


We later stopped at the Deception Pass Park where we found a picnic table and had our food from Sweet D's Shrimp Shack. The clam chowder was quite different from typical chowders.....flavored with thyme and came along with a delicious little shrimp fritter. We also decided to try out an elk burger and an oyster burger. I was a bit dismayed when I saw the oyster burger on the menu....seemed like a strange idea. They both were quite good! So if you are ever in the area, I highly recommend Sweet D's Shrimp Shack.



However, enough talk about food. We decided to wander around the park and take in the views of the bridge. It is pretty amazing to think of all the work that was put into connecting these two islands with the construction of this bridge. The pass underneath the bridge is known to have big waves, swift currents and even huge whirlpools during large tide changes.




This is where I am going to leave things off for today. Tomorrow, I will write more about the rest of the day and some found objects that I am going to use in my jewelry.

Olympia.

Here are some images I took while in Olympia, Washington this Saturday. I played around with the photos a little on photoshop. What a crazy day: one minute it was bright and sun while literally seconds later.....snow!

Port Townsend Cruise 2009.

Yesterday, I had a nice break from my studio......I went on a drive known as the Port Townsend Cruise with friends and many other European car enthusiasts. My friend drove his new GTI and I tagged along. This year was the 5th annual event, however, it was my first time going and it was definitely a lot of fun. Here are some images from the drive:

Moving back....

So whoever perhaps has followed my blog thus far has noticed that I haven't posted anything in quite along time. It is definitely my fault....since I really would like to post on here more often. My simple explanation is that moving from coast to coast has caused this delay. But things have somewhat settled down. It has been almost three weeks since we moved back. Our move from Florida to Washington took about 3 1/2days. Which I personally think is great timing, since moving down to Florida took about 5 days. I am glad to be back in Washington since I did miss my friends and of course Seattle. I suppose that is just how things were suppose to be. At least I don't regret the experience and I am glad that I tired.

Some images from the travels:






......and also would like to wish everyone safe and happy holidays!