Earthy and tribal

Hello! It'll be a brief post from me today. A little pair of earrings I made recently with some components from my very favourite artists. And also illustrating my slight obsession with layering in earring designs!

Firstly, we'll take Petra Carpreau's beautiful ceramic droppers. Made with black stoneware, they are earthy and rather tribal.

I added some oval brass connectors at the back, which act as a frame for some rather fabulous red brass chain, which peaks out from behind the holes in the droppers and at the bottom of the earrings for extra swing! I had a pair of Claire Lockwood's gorgeous textured denim ceramic rondelles in my beady stash for a while. They were part of a set of earring beads that Claire sold in one of her shop updates (her updates are rare, but oh my word, they are worth waiting for!) and I really like both the colour (that pop of blue is a nice contrast) and texture of these (co-ordinates with the primitive, tribal vibe I think!). Finally, I added some greek ceramic rondelles and some copper twisted jumprings.

Hope you like them. They are available in my shop.

See you in a few weeks
Sue

"NeoTribal"

Hello! I do hope you are all enjoying the summer.

A friend I met through Etsy, Susan Delphine Delaney, sent a pin to me the other day with the title being NeoTribal, saying she liked the word as a descriptor. To my chagrin a few moments later, I said I don't really know what that means. She responded, oh, I just took it to mean New Tribal. duh. . . . right? Of course it's New Tribal! So that sparked the idea to make tribal-like earrings for today's post. As I was working I started to think about what really was traditional tribal jewelry, specifically traditional tribal earrings. I did not have a real vision of what it was. I did some searching (I admit, not a lot) for tribal jewelry. I expected it to be an easy search with a plethora of images. Not so.

Fulani 

Maasai

The two photos are of African earrings. Two very different styles. The colorful beaded earrings are 9 1/2 inches long, and were made in Africa by the Maasai people. The gold and cotton earrings, also from Africa, made by the Fulani people. These two photos are from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They are early 20th century. 

I searched then for Native American Jewelry. This photo came from the website http://www.beyondbuckskin.com in a section called Ancient Southwest Jewelry. The dates of these earrings are, starting from the top, 1100-1200 CE, (common era), the 1800s, and 1978. Beautiful mosaic inlay of Turquoise. So a lot of Turquoise and Silver was mostly what I found, again, on a cursory search. 

So I now have some real curiosity to dig deeper when I have the time to see what I can find.

1.

2.

Just briefly then, my earrings today: 1. "Bone" ceramic sticks, as well as ceramic beads from the same strand, paired with Red Creek Jasper, various metal beads, copper wire and Niobium ear wires. Ceramics by Andrea Salkowe of Josephine Beads. I love this pair. . but I ended up not listing it. There was more I would have liked to do with them, a basic jumping off point, but they were getting too heavy. I will likely take them apart and start again. 

2.  I think these are my favorites. :) The ceramic focals are by Petra Carpreau of ScorchedEarthOnEtsy. Paired with Ceramics from the same strand as No. 1. Natural Sig-Id Vine beads are wrapped to the black dagger-shaped Sgraffito focals with waxed Irish linen. I didn't use any wire in this design, just the linen. There are natural, rustic Turquoise bi-cone beads, topped with a red glass bead. The linen was knotted to a Tierra Cast copper-plated spacer bead. The dangles at the bottom contain green turquoise glass beads, tea-stained bone beads, and vintage Kuchi/Kochi tribal clapperless bells.

3. The last pair, both ceramic elements were made by Georgia Neumann of AtHomeInTaos. I used various copper beads, ball-tip headpins I made from copper, Czech glass beads, more copper wire, Niobium ear wires, and a tiny brass teardrop.

3. 

If you ever have any questions at all about techniques and/or processes, please just message me through my Etsy shop. It's great fun to look at other people's work for inspiration, or when looking to purchase. But if there is anything I can help you with that you see in these earrings, please just let me know.

As always, I appreciate your taking the time to stop by. All feedback/comments are welcome. In fact, we'd appreciate it! 

Thank you! I'll be back the first Tuesday in August. I do hope the rest of July is joyful! 

Norbel
She Flies Again on Etsy
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Jana + Wire = Fun!

Hello! And depending on where you live, Happy Summer! And Happy close to the end of June, if it's not summer for you. ;)

Copper wire is one of my favorite things to work with; ceramics made by Jana Bliznakova of HappyFishThings are another favorite.

These beautifully painted ceramic bars were resting in an open box with many other wonderful pieces I'd just received from Jana. 

I sat down to play with wire. A little soldering fun sounded like a very good idea that day. A bit of fire play is invigorating! I played with spirals and hoops, triangles and ovals, teardrops and a shape trying to be squares, hearts and birds, but nothing was catching my attention. It's been a bit of a down time for me creatively after having to let go of our almost 13-year-old Lab; she was a beautiful girl, Angel, and a constant, loving companion throughout those years. The muse doesn't seem to be able to break through the emptiness just yet.

As I was wrapping the wire 'round and 'round a pair of step pliers, these pieces caught my eye and I thought, hmmm, I can offset the open end of the pattern on these, which felt right to me.

Jana + Wire = Fun

Halfway through the first earring, I noticed the pattern on the second piece was identical, not a mirror image. Oh No!!!! my symmetrical leaning brain alarm sounded. How do I do this then? Do I wire the second one on the same side as the first, balancing the open side of the design. . . . . which absolutely felt wrong to me. So no, of course I was going to wire the second one on the opposite side. 

Either way, I was going to end up with an alarm going off. :) But I have slowly learned to ignore that alarm, firmly burying it and its silly notions, feeling totally comfortable that the two pieces aren't identical. Thanks to many of the Oh-So-Talented Jewelry Designers here on EE, as well as others, I now am okay with it, and may even prefer them that way! That was not the case a few years ago. I suspect I would have scrapped the idea altogether and moved on. The one thing we know about life on this planet is that things will always change. That's a good thing. ;)

Jana + Wire = Fun

The red beads I paired with the ceramics are natural Red Sandalwood Seeds. They grow this vibrant shade of red. I had never seen them before, and purchased these at the very cool TheFickleBead shop on Etsy. Debbie is the shop owner, a wonderful lady to work with; customer service is at the top!

The earrings below weren't made for today's post, but I wanted to show you another Jana/Wire pair. I melt looking at the primitive, soft blue sun design. 

Soft Blue Primitive Suns

I hope you have a happy week, filled with love, laughter and peace of mind.

Thank you for stopping by! I will be back on the 5th of July. 

Angel Baby

Norbel Marolla

She Flies Again Etsy Shop 

She Flies Again Facebook 

What's in a Face?

Hello! And Happy June.

I don't have a lot of clear early childhood memories, but there are a handful that I have always remembered, for whatever bizarre reason as they don't seem to connect to anything major at all, and one of them has to do with faces. I was a very young girl, obviously working on expanding my mind, which it certainly needed based on the thoughts I was having. :) I remember clearly pondering and being perplexed by the fact that every person on the planet looked so different, when we all have two eyes, a nose and a mouth. Remember, I was really, really young. :) But that was the beginning of my fascination with faces, their expressions, and my emotional reactions to them. Not just human faces; I'm fascinated by canines, felines, other primates. Faces in photographs, paintings, sketches, I love them all.

So it was no surprise to me when I found myself gravitating to faces in jewelry components as well. And there is so much to choose from. 

Today's earrings are "Serene Faces" made by Andrea Salkowe of Josephine Beads. They are, indeed, serene, and this pair is graced with a beautiful, high-gloss, golden brown glaze with shadows and shadings of deep brown. Simply beautiful. The glaze seems to almost sparkle.

"What's in a Face"

Initially these earrings were a fiesta of color, and they were fun, but they had lost some of their serenity, and I wanted them to stay serene. So a two-color palette is where I landed. I used varying shades of brown aged glass beads, natural Turquoise disk stones and matte finish, opaque turquoise glass beads, with one rogue red glass bead on each, all wound on ball-tip headpins I made with 20 gauge copper wire, and 22 gauge copper wire was used to wrap above the faces. 

As an aside, I generally don't like working with 22 gauge copper wire. Even though the wire I use is "half hard," 22 gauge is "wimpy," even when work hardened. But many things, like these Turquoise disks, won't fit on 20 gauge. They just require a little extra TLC.  And Black Lip Shell heishi beads sit atop the Turquoise disks.

What's in a Face?

Thought I'd also share with you my current little stash of Face Beads. All of them are ceramic. The artisans who made them are Jana Bliznakova of Happy Fish Things; Petra Carpreau of Scorched Earth on Etsy; Andrea Salkowe of Josephine Beads; Nadia Karepencheva of Nadia Terra. I have a whole lot of fun to look forward to! :)

Fun Fun Fun!

Thank you so much for taking the time to take a look. We appreciate it! I'll be back on the 21st of June. 'Til then, I wish you all days filled with sunshine, peace & joy. 

Norbel Marolla
She Flies Again on Etsy
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She Flies Again on Amazon Handmade

Ashes and Embers

Ashes and Embers Earrings

Imagine a volcano erupting with super heated magma and gases in red, orange, pink and yellow spewing into the air, and hot lava flowing down the side of the mountain. Flakes of volcanic ash falling from the sky like withered rain drops. The lava cools gradually to a dark charcoal gray and black stony crust.

The embers and ashes of the volcanic lava are the inspiration for my rustic stacked earring design. Beginning with textured drops, from Natalie McKenna of Grubbi Ceramics on Etsy, in bright pink orange and red, with shadows of black. Slivers of glowing red Greek ceramic and warm pink Indonesian glass complement the colors of the ceramic drops.

Ashy gray brown recycled glass with a matte finish like volcanic ash give a little contrast to the composition. The dark shadows of the ceramic drops capture the cooled black lava. Add a few accents of copper, and wrapping with darkened copper wire, with my own handmade ear wires and there you go, Ashes and Embers.












Gloria Ewing

Chrysalis Too on Etsy
Chrysalis Tribal Jewelry

Mali Clay Earrings

African Tribal Earrings

I am captivated by ethnic beads. So these handmade African black clay beads from Mali were irresistible to me. Their shape and pattern are simple but bold, so I used copper beads and spacers, with a bit of bright red vulcanite to accent the earthy clay focals. The copper and vulcanite are also handmade in different parts of Africa from recyclable materials. I think it is the slight irregularities and imperfections that I find so appealing in the African beads, and I use them frequently in my designs.

My hammered copper dangles seem the perfect shape to blend with the African beads. I hammered a texture onto them and added a darkening patina to get that aged look. When I need heavy copper blanks, I know I can find unique shapes at SupplyDiva on Etsy. The owner, Laura, has set up a workshop in Mexico to train women in metal work but also in other skills that they can use to be independent and productive.

So there you have it! A blend of handmade components from Mali and Mexico assembled in a tribal earring design.
















Gloria Ewing

Chrysalis Tribal Jewelry
Chrysalis Too on Etsy

NIP in the air already!!!!

I am still wondering what happened to summer. I know we had a very strange one here on Long Island. There were no endless hot days. The garden this year was disappointing, to say the least. But we still had our time at the beach, which for us runs from early spring until late fall.

Speaking of which, is now almost upon us. And back to the nippy air. I love fall and all the great things there are to wear!

These earrings are from my new Tribal Wire Artisan Components and focals line. The links that I am designing can be used as an accent or focal piece in your bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

I have paired these rustic, primitive earrings with cozy scarves. And visions of big sweaters, blue jeans and boots are already dancing in my head.

I have an intense passion for natural stones and other natural elements. And I am the crazy wire lady. If I run out of wire, I am paralyzed. You would think I have nothing else in my studio to work with.

These gorgeous stones are forest agate, they go great with the dark wood tube beads and detailed wire work. I love dark earthy colors for fall.

These colorful stones are Mexican red crazylace agate. I love this stone. It works so well in all fall designs and will quickly become a favorite in your jewelry wardrobe. The stones are each a small work of art ,with their varied colors and  patterns. The design possibilities are endless. I am pleased with the way that the agate and dark wood work with my wire work and tiny copper beads.

So as visions of chilly evening, sitting around the fire pit and making s'mores dance through your head. Make yourself a treat, a pair of gorgeous stone and wire earrings!

The Tribal Wire Collection was my first collection published in Belle Amoire Jewelry magazine.

You can find me:
Mojowoman Jewelry on Etsy
Mojowoman Jewelry on Facebook 

Going Tribal

African Krobo Bead Earrings on Etsy

 



My earliest pieces of jewelry were slightly southwestern in style. It is the tribal element in southwestern that is so appealing to me. Along the way I have discovered other tribal styles including Hill Tribe silver, Peruvian ceramic, Asian mala, Indonesian glass. I love them all!

 

My personal favorite for variety, vivid colors and imaginative use of shape are the African beads. Primitive hand painted Krobo beads are captivating and full of personality. Brass beads are cast using the same method for a thousand years and maintain that ancient character. Large and small trade beads (originally from Europe) in bright colors have circulated within tribal Africa for hundreds of years.  These amazing African beads are now becoming more readily accessible, and they inspire me to go more and more tribal.

Gloria Ewing

 

 



Rustic Copper & Trade Bead Earrings

Saturday Morning by Gloria Ewing

 

Yellow Sweater $390 - Henry Christ, Boot Cut Jeans $100 - Rock Revival,

Ankle Boot $155 - Mimco Rebellion, Scarf $330 - Etro, and Hobo Bag $395 - Brahmin