January 2016 – Ornamento

Huichol Beadwork

By: ornamento.blog January 28, 2016January 27, 2016

ArtArt, beading, Huichol beadwork, Puerta Vallarta, TravelLeave a Comment

Rolling Stones is a leather goods store in Puerto Vallarta For years, the owner has given space in the store to a family of the Huichol Tribe where they make and sell their beadwork. I was familiar with Huichol beaded objects where they embed seed beads in wax and in fact purchased a turtle figurine on my last trip to Puerto Vallarta. But I was not familiar with their other beadwork until I dropped into Rolling Stones with some friends. Here are some earrings I bought as gifts.

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If you are in Puerto Vallarta, stop by Rolling Stones leather for some fabulous leather bargains and to see the Huichol Beadwork. Rolling Stones is located at Paseo Diaz Ordaz 802, Puerto Vallarta 48300, Mexico.

Creativity: Denial of Death?

By: ornamento.blog January 21, 2016January 19, 2016

UncategorizedLeave a Comment

Art, History, Travel, Philadelphia and the World Through the Lens of Creativity.

I was looking through old clothes in my basement when I found this painted wooden box. It belonged to my grandmother Emma Montgomery who was born in 1886. Someone got the box as a Christmas gift that year. My Great Grandmother? MB3

My mother kept the box for years and stored rose petals from my Grandmother’s funeral inside.

MB!

Which got me to thinking. Why do we spend so much effort creating art in a world that is impermanent ? To be remembered? To pass the time? To escape from our demons? All/none of the above?

[T]he only way to work on perfection is in the form of an objective work that is fully under your control and is perfectible in some real ways. Either you eat up yourself and others around you, trying for perfection, or you objectify that imperfection in a work, on which you then unleash your creative powers. In this sense, some kind of objective creativity is the only answer man has to the problem of life. In this way, he satisfies nature, which asks that he live and act objectively as a vital animal plunging into the world; but he also satisfies his own distinctive human nature because he plunges in on his own symbolic terms and not as a reflex of the world as given to mere physical sense experience. He takes in the world, makes a total problem out of it, and then gives a fashioned, human answer to that problem. This, as Goethe saw in Faust, is the highest that man can achieve.”
Ernest Becker, “The Denial of Death, page 185

What I Learned in Jane and Richard Salley’s Class This Time

By: ornamento.blog January 14, 2016January 14, 2016

Art, Faux Bone, Hacienda Mosaico, Hand Made, Hinges and CatchesArt, Hacienda Mosaico, Jewelry Making Classes, Richard Salley6 Comments

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I am writing this blog post from my cozy kitchen where stew is simmering on the stove and vegetables are roasting in the oven. This is a new experience for me because I am relaxed. I am relaxed because I am newly retired and do not have to get up at the crack of dawn each day to fight the wind and sleet to my office. I do not have to cram whatever cooking I might choose to do into the nights or weekends. I can go into my studio and work when I want. I actually visited Beading Yoda yesterday for conversation and a cup of tea. (I will share the cache of Huichol beaded earrings I got for her in a later post.) And I am newly-returned from a Jane and Richard Salley metal smithing class I took at the Hacienda Mosaico in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

I learned I could pack lighter and still have everything I need, although I wish I had brought more silver bezel wire.

I learned how to combine leather and silver to make jewelry! I learned how to make a hinge with a pin closure. I learned that you can drop your focal stone on the brick floor and rescue it with a little epoxy glue. If you can find all the pieces.

I learned how to set a coin in a bezel and some soldering tricks that will give me a better result the next time I do it.

I learned how to make this nifty spring-tension clasp! I will be making more of these and working on design variations.

I learned that it was possible to saw out a word in brass without feeling like putting a sharp object in my eye. October 31 is my wedding anniversary so I made this for my husband even though I will have to wear it for him.

I learned that if you execute a new technique perfectly the first time, it will take you thirty tries to do it again. Wait, I think I already knew that.

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I learned some new things to do with Faux Bone and mixed metals.

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I also learned a lot of other stuff including the location of a few liquor stores. But I dare not reveal everything on this blog.

Many thanks to Jane and Richard and Sam and everyone at Hacienda Mosaico.

What’s Cooking at the Hacienda

By: ornamento.blog January 7, 2016January 8, 2016

ArtArt, Jewelry Making, Richard Salley, TravelLeave a Comment

I am currently living the good life at Hacienda Mosaico in Puerto Vallarta, taking a class with Richard and Jane Salley. In addition to the class and the beautiful surroundings, the Hacienda serves up some delicious meals. All of which facilitate learning and relaxation.