fire and glass

Journal entry our time in Israel 💙 [from fall of 2010 to summer of 2014] The olives in Israel are really outstanding. Fat and Tart. Salty and sumptuous. I was surprised to see so many groves in the Negev desert area! Thriving, lush groves. In a country with limited water Israel is masterful at managing this precious resource.  We seem to go through plenty of olive oil here. We use it not only for frying but also in hummus, which I've become pretty good at making.     1 or 2 tins of chickpeas. a couple of TBs of a great olive oil  fresh chopped garlic to taste lemon and salt to taste.  One small trick for super smooth hummus is to take the time to remove the skins when rinsing. Blend all in food processor and serve with either vegetables or pita bread. [The pita bread has to be fresh.]  The last bottle of oil we emptied was particularly handsome. As I was about to discard, I considered what beads from the glass might look like! So.. I wrapped the scrubbed

In frustration of never really finding a clasp for my work that seemed cohesive, I took a small silversmithing class while temporarily living in Doha, Qatar. Shopping at the Souq while in Doha, Qatar: I enjoyed the class and have been taking great satisfaction in constructing my own organic style clasps that mimic the curved petals that I love to design in the glass. Each are hand fabricated using mixed metals of sterling silver, copper or brass with a simple hook making them easy to do up.  While these connectors are worked to be comfortable on your wrist, they are also rough hewn and earthen by design. I like to age them further with a patina so that they might look like they may have been buried somewhere for some time. My makers mark  the raven , is either stamped on the back or stamped on a small dot of sterling as a charm.   These are highly organic and nature inspired..like the glass beads. They are hand forged of mixed metals.. copper and sterling and pure s