Carla Jimison

Christmas earrings

 

It's been a long time since I've made a pair of earrings. But with the holidays coming making earrings seemed like a good idea. Here are some that I made last night with festivities in mind. The earrings above are made from sterling silver and cut amethyst beads.

This pair reminds me of winter, snow and ice. They are made with fresh water pearls, amethyst and sterling silver. I don't know what the stone is on the bottom dangle, it's something like labradorite except it's not grey.

For this pair I used vintage Czech glass beads, dyed fresh water pearls, citrine beads, seed beads and sterling silver. Now I'm ready and I can't wait for the holiday celebrations to begin!

Making Stuff with Jennifer

November has gone by so fast that I've hardly noticed. Maybe because there have been so many things to do this month. One highlight was a visit from Jennifer Barton. She brought this beautiful wool quilt top she had made earlier, which she tied and bound while the cats and I distracted her.

We also had fun making wool felt barrettes and charm bracelets for our daughters. Jennifer is a great friend and an amazing artist, check out her work.

A Spooky Night

To get into the Halloween mood the other night my family and I watched a documentary about famous hauntings through history. Before we had finished watching it the power suddenly went off, leaving us in a dark house with the residue of the hauntings vivid in our minds. What a perfect addition to the evening. We lit candles while Bob searched for flashlights.

I had forgotten how much I love the amber glow of candlelight. My daughters explored the house by candlelight discovering a mysterious new hole in the basement ceiling. Meanwhile I entertained myself with my camera, curious to see if what it could do in low light.

My subjects were paper ghost decorations that Allen and I had made for Sarah's birthday party. Somehow it seem like the right time to take pictures of these, since they were the only real spooks that show up.

Fun with collage

Here are some small collages I've been working on. They incorporate pieces of my intaglio prints and random papers. Making collages is serious play for me, I never plan them out ahead of time, that would spoil the fun. Instead I like to start with a variety of papers, but not too many, and a format or size. These simple limits help guide the process so that I don't get overwhelmed by too many options.

I love working with the interaction between shapes, values, textures and colors (that's the serious part). It feels a little like putting puzzle pieces together (that's the fun part). If you've never made a collage give it a try, it's something you can do with kids or secretly by yourself, it's just fun or I mean it serious art - of course.

If you are interested in acquiring one of these collages email me for sizes and prices.

What do you do with green tomatoes?

Our growing season is over here in Eastern Idaho and we have been left with lots of green tomatoes. This was the first year that we have tried growing tomatoes since we moved to this state. I was apprehensive because of the short growing season (some say it's about the same as Siberia's). So we planted Russian tomatoes from Seeds Trust and had success! We enjoyed lots of ripe tomatoes but now we are left with too many green tomatoes.

 

I have no idea what to do with green tomatoes, but luckily Lizzy House has been visiting and
knew what to do with some of them. She made fried green tomatoes which I discovered I like, I had never tasted them before and dislike most fried foods but some how these work. She also made mincemeat with them, I had no idea you could make mincemeat with green tomatoes. It is the best mincemeat I've ever had and the flavors made me excited for  the Holidays to come.

 

Things I've felt,

There is something so comforting about working with felt, especially when the weather turns chilly. It's a warm, forgiving material. I've enjoyed making things out of it since I was little because it is so easy to use and it's look is so gratifying.

A Poppy!

A Peony!

These fun little guys were made by my 11 year old and I. They have magnets in them so they can be worn or attached to anything metal.

It's about time!

It has been about time, wow has my life been busy since the first post.So here is a visual up date of just a few things that have been going on.

The Clara Barton Middle school report...

a crazy fun birthday party...

A trip to San Francisco with art students...

this trip was too fun...

Jen's booth at the local farmers market...
 

Consequently, we did a little baking and cooking this summer...

 

Exploring Idaho...okay Wyoming with friends.
 

 

Not much printmaking this summer, but I did attend an amazing workshop at Crown Point Press. I unwittingly took a broken camera with me so no pictures of this trip. Check out their website. What a great place and great people as well.

Print exchange between BYUI and BYU

This was a fun event last month for everyone involved.Here are a few of the things I love about print exchanges:

Completing a new edition in record time, which means almost everyone printing in the studio at the last minuet, or in other words an exhausting art making party.

The giving and receiving of prints compiled into a lovely box complete with documentation.

And maybe best of all, the collaboration and interaction with artists outside of the studio.

You can read about our trip at Lizzy house.