Featured Etsy Shop: Jewelry by Tara

Today's featured shop is Jewelry by Tara

What made you start crafting/designing jewelry, and what was the first thing you remember making?

I have always been crafty, even as a child. The first thing I remember ever really designing from scratch was during 4th grade. Friendship pins were a big thing back then (giving away my age) anyway, I pulled apart safety pins with pliers and put beads on them. My relatives still have a lot of them today! I've dabbled in all types of crafts, crochet, knitting, floral arrangement, you name it, I've tried it. I've been designing jewelry for 7 years now. I just closed my own personal website to come over to Etsy and I have to add that I really enjoy the environment and different types of artists there.

What other jobs have you had in the past?

As for other jobs, I'm still a petsitter and I used to work in my husband's brokerage firm as the administrative assistant to the C.E.O.

What inspires you?

I'm constantly inspired by the seasons changing and all the beautiful bright colors I see. All of my designs are one of a kind because I always have new ideas and want to create a totally unique image based on my moods.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I consider myself a very liberal, artsy kinda gal. I have 2 children, 6 pets, and a husband who probably wants to move to a quieter house! I'm obsessed with antiques and I have an appraisal certificate. I hate the summer, love the snow, pink is always in, Hello Kitty is my favorite icon of style, and I'm originally from New York City.

Is there a art/craft that you admire and hope to learn someday?

Lately I've really wanted to try sewing. I see all of these beautiful bags on etsy and I want them all! So I'm definitely thinking about getting a sewing machine soon.

Painting again

"Pure Emotion" Click HERE to Buy

"Spokes of the Sun" Click HERE to Buy

Today is the first day I've painted since our furnace died. So, I dove right in and painted two daily size paintings. These are both 8 x 8 inches, H2O Oils on recycled, handmade canvas board. I made the boards using scrap matboard, raw canvas and gesso. I also made custom backing paper for them! I started out with 12 boards for now. That gives me a couple weeks without having to make more, unless I paint two a day! I also have a 10 inch square canvas prepared and ready to paint! Time is getting short for my show in March, so I'm trying to finish as many as possible.


Today I'm going to a meeting at my community center about a proposed mural on a wall that overlooks the neighborhood park and the city of Albuquerque. The neighborhood association asked me to be on the committee and help with the process. I'm excited but at the same time a little unsure as there will be a lot of city politics involved I'm sure. I would like to involve the high school art students and any other neighborhood kids that are interested. I think it will happen as this is supposed to be a community project because of the funding being used. We shall see!

Featured Etsy Shop: Lavajewelry

Recently, I have been featured on a couple of blogs by other Etsy sellers, so I decided to return the favor by featuring one of those sellers here in my blog. I would love to do this more, so if you are interested in doing a blog feature swap of sorts, let me know. My idea is that I will feature you on my blog if you feature me on your blog. I don't have tons of time so I plan on doing this maybe once a week.

My first featured shop is http://lavajewelry.etsy.com

You can see her feature about my shop on her blog at http://www.cheldodge.net/blog/?p=50

Describe what you sell.

Handcrafted Sterling silver jewelry featuring genuine gemstones, freshwater pearls, and Swarovski crystals. (And handpoured candles.)

Where is your work available for sale?

Local craft shows, my web site http://lava-jewelry.com/, and my Etsy shop http://lavajewelry.etsy.com/

What inspires you in your work?

My friends and family member provide the primary inspiration for my work. Most of my pieces are made with someone I care about in mind. Sometimes I'm just inspired by a color or by a color combination that really strikes me. Sometimes I see a gorgeous gemstone at a trade show, and I know within a split second of seeing it what it needs to be made into.

What other jobs have you worked?

I'm a geologist by training. Although I'm not currently employed as a geologist, I hope to get back into it when my health allows it. I plan to keep both geology and jewelry design in my life. In addition to working as a geologist, I've worked many different jobs, including research assistant, teaching assistant, telemarketer for the Republican National Committee, retail manager, nanny, seamstress, consultant, library technician, tutor, and I even unloaded trucks at Walmart on the nightshift for a time.

How did you name your shop?

I chose the name Lava Jewelry because of my background in geology. There's not much that I love more than molten rock. I went to college in Hawaii, where I'd spend every possible spare moment at the active lava fields on Kilauea, helping various people with their research or just exploring. I love the flow and curves of hot lava, and I think some of those same curves can be seen in my designs. I like the word "lava" itself too - it's two pretty syllables. And I do incorporate lava into my jewelry; I make designs using basalt, rhyolite, and obsidian.

Back to Normal (Sort of!)

Finally, things are getting back to normal around here. We still don't have a furnace, but we did install a wood burning stove over the weekend to supplement the fireplace in the main part of the house. Also, the weather is cooperating so it has been much warmer lately! It's supposed to be close to 60 degrees today.

So, I finally have a new progress photo to post! This is the 36 inch square canvas I am currently working on. I have set it aside for now to decide whether or not I will be adding more. Not sure yet. It's hard to see all the details in a photo this small, especially when the original is so large. What do you think? Is it done? This painting is going to be the center piece for my show in Gallup in March.

I have been busy painting little paper mache heart boxes for Valentines day. I will have them in my etsy shop by the end of the day. Also today, I will be posting many of my older originals at special prices. I need sales to make the money for the new furnace (the estimates start coming in today). So now is a great time to get some of my originals for great prices!

Also, the Beck prints are still buy one, get one free until February 15th. See the clearance section in my Etsy shop.

What a week!

This has been quite a week! It started out really good, had a few sales, judged the West Side High School Art Show(AND got paid!), and I was interviewed by the Albuquerque Journal for the show.

Then, on Wednesday, our gas went out because the city is doing construction on our street. I will try to post the photos I took later. We're talking major construction, they are replacing all the sewer, water, gas and drainage lines in our neighborhood. So, anyway, there was a huge 20 foot deep hole in front of our driveway on Wednesday. Felt like an earthquake with all the heavy machinery out there. So, on with the story, the utility company came out in the evening to turn our gas back on and light our pilot lights. The guy goes to light the furnace and comes out to tell my husband he can't light our pilot light because we have a cracked heat exchanger! If he were to light it, the furnace would dump carbon monoxide into our house and kill us in the middle of the night! So, here it is, middle of winter, and we are without heat! We have two electric space heaters for the two bedrooms and thank God for our fireplace in the living room! We are hoping that our homeowners insurance will cover it, but who knows because our insurance guy hasn't returned our call yet(after two days!).

So, I may have to have a blow out sale to earn some money for a new heater. We have decided that no matter what happens, we are going to replace the gas furnace with solar heat panels, but that will cost about twice as much. Cheaper in the long run though, and better for the environment.

Anyway, it never fails, when things are going well, something always comes along to bring you back down to earth! Luckily, the snow is past and it's supposed to be warming up into the 50s this coming week.

January 2007 Newsletter

I've been busy trying to get my to do list for January completed! Almost there, don't know that I will finish everything, but pretty darn close! Yesterday I finished my January '07 newsletter, you can see it HERE.

For today only, I have a special running in my Etsy shop. Buy one print in my clearance section and get one free!! Also, I still have FREE shipping until Midnight EST tonight!

I am very close to finishing the large painting I posted the progress photo of in the last post. I will try to get a photo of it today if I have time. This afternoon I am going to judge the Westside High School Art Show! Should be fun, although it is so difficult to make choices!

Couldn't do it!

Stay away from my blog that is! So, I'm weak! Kidding, but seriously, I wanted to build up some suspense for my new paintings. I can't do it, I miss the feedback! So, anyway, the top one is the finished larger canvas I mentioned a few days ago, haven't named it yet. It is a 20 inch square h2o oils on canvas. The second one is a much larger painting still in progress. It's a 36 inch square h20 oils on canvas. I plan to make this one the center piece for my gallery show coming up. Still a ways to go to finish it. I'm really loving working larger, may have to do more!

I have been able to get quite a bit of work done this week, with cutting myself off from the internet. Of course I've still been surfing around every morning and today I spent way too much time online, making up for lost time, right??? Yeah, right!!

Anyway, hope everyone is well, happy and feeling creative today!

Busy at work

I don't have a photo to post today. I came to the realization the other day that I am WAY behind on my to do list for January! I'm still painting everyday, in fact, I'm working on a large canvas right now. I have a show in March to get ready for and I'm thinking about waiting to reveal the new paintings until then. At least the larger ones.

As far as work goes, I am working on a catalog for 2007 of all my new work. I'm still contemplating whether or not to axe my older work to make my catalog more cohesive. So, heads up, my landscape prints and paintings may not be available for sale after January is over. The Beck prints will for sure be gone from my shop in February. If you were thinking of purchasing any, best do it before January is over.

Another heads up, my prices will be going up in February. I have no choice in this matter, my supplies have gone up and after doing my books for 2006 I have discovered that I'm not making any profit! The price hike won't be huge, but if you are one that likes to save money, get 'em now before the price goes up!

2007 is the year that I go back to selling wholesale to shops. While I love selling directly to the public, I need to get my work out in the public eye more. So, if you know of a shop that would be a good fit for my art, or you have a shop that would be a good fit, please contact me.

So, because of all the work I have to do, I will not be blogging as often. My 2007 catalog of prints will be listed in my Etsy shop in February and I will blog more about that then.

Today's Daily Journal Painting

Arches, SOLD
Today's painting was begun long ago in a galaxy far away! Actually, it's been sitting around the studio for at least 6 months. I decided to paint over the attempted landscape with a new spiral abstract.(inspired by Jessica Torrant) Figured I would keep the name, Arches. This is another H2O oil on canvas board, 8 x 10. It can be found in my Etsy shop.

All over the place

I am all over the place this week. Portrait on Wednesday, painting furniture on Thursday and back to canvas on Friday!

This is a photo of a new project I'm working on. It's a handmade, handpainted table. My husband cut the top and attached the legs for me. I started with gesso and then painted with my H2O oils. I still have to varnish it, waiting to make sure it's completely dry. I've always wanted to make some functional art and when we found some used table legs for a dollar at Goodwill I decided there was no better time. This will be going into my Etsy shop once it's finished.

I received an email from a gallery owner in Gallup that saw my work at the NM State fair. He is reopening his gallery in March(after renovations) and wants me to show my work for the Grand opening. He's even going to put us up in a hotel for the night! I will post more information once I know all the particulars. My hubby will be playing his guitar for opening night. So, if you just happen to be in Gallup, NM on March 10th, I hope to see you there!

Unfinished portrait

Today I'm working on a portrait that I started at least a year ago. To be completely honest, I don't remember when I started it. It was meant to be a gift for my mother in law and since today is her birthday, I decided to try finishing it up so I can give it to her.....FINALLY!! This is a portrait of one of my nieces. I have already given my mother in law portraits of my other niece and my two nephews. Now, of course, I have a new niece who just turned one, so I'm a little behind! Anyway, I guess it's better late than never! This started as a watercolor, but I decided to finish it with my new favorite...H2O oils.

In other news, I have to take my youngest son to the Dr. for an ultrasound today. He has a lump in his left breast that is most likely a cist, but the Dr. wants to be sure. So....keep some positive thoughts going for him please!

Today and yesterday

Here are my daily journal paintings for yesterday and today, Winter Sun and Warmth. These are going up in my Etsy shop today. Once again, they are H2O oils on canvas board, 8 x 8 inches. The difference with these and paintings I have done in the past is that these were painted on handmade recycled canvas boards. I used acid free matboard scraps and canvas scraps that I had lying around. I figure why do I keep spending money on canvas boards when I can make them out of recycled materials around the studio?!

I just have to share a movie that we watched the other night, I can't get it out of my mind. It's called Little Miss Sunshine and it was filmed here in New Mexico. It is about a fictional family from Albuquerque and it is the BEST movie I've seen in ages! Hilarious and sad, it has everything. It's most definitely a must see!

PS, I keep forgetting to mention....Joyce Brandon of Dream Horse Gallery blog, mentioned me on her blog and in thanks for the mention I'd like to add a link HERE to her blog, check it out!

"Winter Sun" Click Here to Buy

"Warmth" Click Here to Buy

Happy Friday!

Good news, I sent a couple of emails this morning and now the copycat blog has been suspended! Hopefully it will be shut down for good. There were two more copied posts on the blog this morning.

Other than that, I've been busy in the studio. Below are yesterday and today's daily journal paintings (8 x 8 inch H2O oils on canvas board) and a progress photo of the current large painting (20 inch square H2O oils on canvas) I'm working on. I'm not sure but I think I'm done with it now. I have to live with it a little longer to be sure. I did decide on a name, it's called "A Million Pieces". I called it this because it was begun when I was going through the problems with my middle son and I felt like my heart had been broken into a million pieces.

One of my goals this year is to name every painting I do. I am so tired of the confusion caused by having numbered series names instead of individual names. I decided its just lazy to not name them. Even if it is more difficult to name abstract paintings, they need names!

"Cheery" Click Here to Buy

"Serene" Click Here to Buy

"A Million Pieces"

Strange Day!

Today is turning out to be a strange day. It started this morning at 4 a.m. when I got up to go the bathroom. I walked past the dining room window and glanced outside as I walked by. It looked like there was snow on the car, so I went back to the window to get a better look. Just as I looked out the window there was a guy walking into our driveway! He was eyeing my son's bike which is on the bike rack at the front of the driveway. As he walked in between the cars to go get the bike I pounded on the window, he looked up at me and motioned for me to come outside!! I just yelled "Get the F*CK out of here before I call the police!" Then he turned around and walked away. By this time my husband had come out from the bedroom to see what was going on, I had to talk him into not going outside to chase the guy down! My husband brought the bike into the living room and we went back to bed.

The fact that he almost stole my son's bike is not the part that freaks me out, we've had bikes stolen before. What freaks me out is the timing of my going to the bathroom and the pull to look out the window right at the moment he was walking up the driveway!! It was such a strange thing!

So now for the other strange thing that happened today. I checked my email and as usual there was a google alert for "spiral abstract". I clicked on the link because it actually said something about a flower spiral abstract painting and I was curious to see that there was another artist painting flower spiral abstracts! The strange thing is that it took me to a blog with two posts on it and both were posts that I wrote on my blog!! But....it wasn't my blog it was some other persons blog! The only difference is this blog doesn't have my images, it just has my wording. Check it out! My blog entry.......and the imposter blog entry. What do you think? How weird is that? Problem is, there is no way that I can see to contact this person to ask WTF!!???

I'm not sure what to do, if anything, about that. What would you do?

In between strange happenings, I spent the morning in the studio, playing some more. I completed one daily journal painting, did a couple of screen prints, finished carving my block and made a print of the block. So, the photos below are in that order. I printed overlapping designs on a tshirt, to cover up the mess up print I did the other day, and printed the design on a tote bag.

Click Here to Buy

Click Here to Buy

Back in the Swing of Things

Daily Journal Painting "Fire"

Click Here to Buy

Daily Journal Painting "Purple Sun"

Click Here to Buy

First Screen Design

First Screen Print

Hubby and son went back to school yesterday, finally back to normal for me now. I've been busy working in the studio, or should I say playing in the studio. I completed my first screen print design and finally tried the first print last night. This morning I spent painting, I was so excited to get back to painting I finished two daily journal paintings today!

One of my goals(I dont call them resolutions!) for the new year is to be more efficient in my work and spend less time online. I have so many things I would like to accomplish this year that I need all the time I can get. So....if you are one of my blog friends, I'm sorry but I won't be commenting as much on other blogs. I will however continue to read all my favorite blogs! I couldn't live without you guys! I may blog every other day instead of everyday. I know, when have I ever been dedicated to everyday?!! Anyway, I hope that what this will result in is more art to share on my blog.


This afternoon I have to spend more time on my business plan and take my son to the doctor. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

Happy New Year

Here it is January third and I haven't posted yet! I'm working on planning, setting goals for the year, cleaning the house, studio and office and all around wiping the slate clean so to speak.

I am very excited about the year to come. I have some great new ideas for my art this year, I will post them as they come to fruition. I was given a screen printing kit and a block print carving kit for Christmas, so I have new toys to play with! I am ready to move on to a new phase with my art, so stay tuned for updates.

I should get some new work painted and posted by the end of the week, until then, Happy New Year, may your year be filled with peace, joy and love!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

It has already been quite the winter here in Albuquerque! On the 19th we had about 3 inches and then yesterday it started snowing in the late morning and didn't stop until this morning, so we woke up to 10 inches this morning!!!

Aaron and I took a walk over to the park and then down to the river and got some great shots of the snow! The first shot is of two of my sons and their friend on the 19th during the first snow, the second shot was taken last night and the rest are from this morning. Happy New Year!

This is the most snow we've seen since we lived in Colorado, and I guess they are getting even more snow up there! According to the local news this is a record amount of snow for Albuquerque. Other parts of the city have more than a foot.

Update: It started snowing again, it may not stop until tomorrow morning. I talked with my mom who lives on the east side, closer to the mountains and she said they got around 18 inches!

Our front yard last night, before all the snow fell

Looking east on Glendale Rd.

Looking down at the park from the top of the hill

Rio Grande with ice!

Bosque trees in the snow

Happy Holidays!

A quick post to wish all my cyber friends a Happy Holidays, whatever holiday you may observe! I will be offline for a week or so. This week we are spending at home, Saturday we will travel down south to visit my dad and brother/sister in law in El Paso/Las Cruces.

I hope to get some time during the holidays to paint, but if not, that's ok too! Hope everyone gets a chance to have some time off to spend with family and friends!

See you next year! :)

Today's Daily Journal Painting

Today's journal painting is called 'Worm Hole', it was inspired by the name of my brother's band. Last time I saw him he told me my spiral art would be perfect as an cd cover, so....here it is, my interpretation of Worm Hole! This is an oil painting on 8 x 8 inch canvas board.

Great information on links

I had to share this link that I found on the Art Biz Blog. Alyson always has great information on her blog, if you haven't been there, you should check it out.

Anyway, here is the link about links that I'm talking about;

http://data.fineartstudioonline.com/dataviewer.asp?keyvalue=126&page=Blog&subkeyvalue=410

I plan to post a new daily painting today, I haven't started it yet, but I figure if I post about it, then I HAVE to do it! Accountability... I love it!

Update: I still haven't painted the daily painting, but I did work on the large one some. Above is a new progress pic. Now I have to wait for this layer to dry, so I'm on to the daily painting.

Progress at last!

Click on the image to see it larger

Finally, the progress pic I've been promising. This one is going to take a while! Don't know if I said before, this is a 20 inch square canvas, oil painting. I haven't done a large size painting in some time. I love painting the small daily canvases but, the large ones can have so much more detail! I'm a little obsessive about detail, in case you haven't noticed. The detail is where I get lost in the painting zone. My favorite part about painting!

Cool Link

A good friend of mine sent me this link and I just had to share! This is an animated drawing of a woman done from the inside out. Very cool....check it out!

http://fcmx.net/vec/get.swf?i=003702

Hoping to post a progress pic later today! :)

Another rough day

Actually, I should say, rough weekend. If you read rough day you know I'm having problems with my 16 year old, middle son. Well, he cemented it, he's going to Arkansas to live with his dad. He doesn't want to, he's going because I want him to graduate from high school. I don't know what it is with my boys, hopefully not my youngest one too, but the older one went to live with his dad at 16 too. Hopefully, my ex will have better luck with him. He did in the past. It is just tearing me apart! I keep going back and forth between wanting him to go, knowing it will be good for him and not wanting him to go, knowing it's going to hurt. Luckily, everyone in the family is with me on it. I know it is going to be for the better in the long run, but my heart is breaking!
So, I'm dealing with my pain the only way I know how, I'm painting, or at least trying to. Obviously, I'm here typing right now, taking a break, right? I am about to go back to painting so I can post a progress pic later. I'm mulling a title for this painting, probably going to have something to do with heartbreak or torn in to a million pieces or something like that. I'd like it to be more positive though. I hate negative titles. Oh well, back to painting now.

New Lettered Mats!

Today I'm working on something a little different. I call these my lettered photo mats. The top one is currently for sale in my Etsy shop. They are all 10 x 20 inch mats. The Peace mat has 3 x 4 inch letters and the baby mats have 4 x 6 inch letters. I have filled the Peace mat with small giclee prints of my daily journal paintings. The baby mats are left empty so you can add your own 4 x 6 snapshots. The Peace mats are selling for $25 as it has my prints in it and the baby mats are going for $15.

I can also cut custom lettered mats with any name or word you would like. I plan to put up a listing for the custom lettered mats and they will go for $20.

Progress on Newest Floral Spiral

So, even with the rough day I had yesterday, perhaps BECAUSE of the rough day I had yesterday, I started my next Flower Spiral Abstract. This is an oil painting done on a 20 inch square canvas. This is a progress photo, there is still a lot to be done! Just wanted everyone to see that I am painting daily! I need to get some more small canvas boards so I can continue doing the daily paintings. I'm really liking this one so far! Click on the image to see the details better.

Rough Day

I'm having a rough day today. Hard to concentrate on work. I don't really like to write too much about my private life on here, but at this point, I need to get it out!

My 16 year old son is making our families' life hell. We have made the decision to send him back to live with his dad. This decision is based on the fact that his dad seems to have power over him, because when he has lived there in the past, his grades were great! He behaved himself. He did what he needed to do. This is a boy who has never done well living with me. He was diagnosed ADHD at the age of 5. This was a few months after my divorce from his dad. Looking back now, I think he really missed his dad to be totally honest. I hate to admit that! My ex is not a good person as far as I'm concerned. I mean he's much better than when we were together, but it kills me to know that he just has the magic touch with my middle son.

Without getting into all the details, I think he would be better off in the long run. This is really hard for me to admit! I feel like a failure as a parent! Which is also hard, because I know I'm a good parent, but.......and the doubt creeps back in. Being a parent is so damned difficult! I have so much more respect for my parents now. Why is 16 such an awful age??? It was awful for me, my oldest son and now the middle one. I hope the youngest will spare us!

I am trying to work on my latest large canvas right now, having a little luck, but I can't stop thinking about the problems with my son. I love him soooooo much, it's killing me! I guess I should get back to painting, hopefully get into the zone and forget about these problems for a little while! :)

Track of the Day

Time to do a little bragging! My husband (Aaron Lewis) recently posted one of his songs (he is a classical guitarist/composer) on Garageband.com and after only 2 days he was made the Track of the Day in the Classical section! Garageband.com is a site where musicians post their music for reviews and contests. Follow the link below to go listen to his song, "Awaken". It will only be on the front page for today, so go NOW! :)

http://www.garageband.com/genre/classical

Today I'm getting orders out and working on getting things together to put into our new flea market booth. We just moved into the indoor flea market this past weekend. We have been flea marketing for over 5 years, but haven't had an indoor booth in a while. We do it to make a little extra cash, but it's more of an excuse to feed our addiction to shopping yard sales!

I'm hoping to start my newest large sized painting either today or tomorrow. I will post a progress photo once I get going on it.

Great Hike in the Snow!

Yesterday, my hubby and I went for a great hike in the Sandias east of town. It was a little chilly, so we left around noon. The sun was out so once we got going it was perfectly warm. The cold air on the face was so invigorating that we made it farther than we expected. Ended up having to turn back because of the snow!

For anyone not familiar with New Mexico, we DO get snow here! In fact, there are several ski areas in the state. The amazing thing to me is that we can hop in the car, drive about 5 minutes east of town and hike up the mountain to the snow in a couple hours. I think it is this fact alone that has kept us living in the city for so long. We are both nature freaks and if it wasn't for the escape the mountains provide us, we would have moved away from Albuquerque years ago. Enjoy the photos!

Today, I'm working on cleaning and organizing so I can get more work done this week! I have such a hard time concentrating on work when the house is a mess. That has got to be the main pitfall with working from home.

Peace on Earth

Click Here to Buy

Today's daily painting is called Peace On Earth. It's been quite some time since I painted a peace theme, so, being that it's the Holiday season, I figured today was as good a day as any to paint peace! I used the red and green to give it a holiday feel, although being in New Mexico I guess it could be a chile theme as well. For those who don't know, the official question in NM is 'red or green?'. This is another 8 x 10 oil on canvas board and you can find it in my etsy shop for only $30! In fact, all of my daily paintings are specially priced for the holidays at $20 off the regular price.