New This Weekend

I have been busy making necklaces from the glass buttons I bought at the Bead Show last fall, and they are debuting at both shops. The designs and colors are amazing - so much is packed into one little button! All I'm doing is showcasing it!

I also added two simple scarab necklaces - I started out with these, but have made more ornate versions of late, and decided to add a few simpler ones at a better price point. The pink one has already sold, but there will be more available tomorrow.

NEW JOOLZ in the SHOPS

New this week and weekend: Three necklaces and a pair of earrings. I am starting to use some recent antique market finds in a new line of "statement" or "heirloom" necklaces and love that people are quite willing to wear all kinds of found and recycled objects as jewelry. This week, the two new necklaces are made from a vintage cream beaded Charlet evening purse, penknife and section from a bracelet that no longer functioned, embellished by beads and chain from my stash.

Vintage beaded Charlet purse on chain made from bar chain, glass pearls and crystal rondelles. There's a small mirror included with the bag!


Wonderful yellow "Peking glass" bead earrings. So cheerful on a winter's day.


Vintage engraved pocketknife, bracelet bits, resin and glass bead necklace.


Vintage Mahjong tile (2 circles) necklace (simpler version of ones I've sold previously)


I'm starting to list these in both shops...they'll be available by the weekend!

Red is the Color of Love

I saw these glass beads at a bead show last fall and am beguiled by the combination of translucency and opacity. Plus, the color is an amazingly deep shade of red, so it's perfect as a gift for Valentine's Day, which is almost upon us. It's also great for those of us who adore the color red and who need no holiday to give us an excuse to indulge ourselves.

On Etsy and Artfire.

Winter Sugar

Brand new earrings for a snowy, wintry week! I found these glass beads last year in a tiny bead shop on the Upper West Side of Manhattan - they're coated with silver and dusted with colorful glass "confetti". Embellished with sterling silver bead caps, hanging on elegant handmade copper earwires. Check them out on Etsy or Artfire.

NEW BLACK SWAN-Inspired Collection!

Are you a fan of the dark and dangerous BLACK SWAN movie by Darren Aronofsky? I sure hope so, as I have been working on a limited collection of pieces inspired by the film for the past few days.


There are two necklaces, earrings and two bracelets (so far) that for me evoke colors and textures found in the film's palette and costuming. I think that costume designer Amy Westcott did a wonderful job of storytelling with her costume design, as did Rodarte for the film's ballet costumes - at least, that is how the costume design breakdown between the two credited designers has been portrayed in the film's PR. I only wished that there had been less hand-held camera action and more wide and medium shots so that I could better appreciate the production design and see the hard work accomplished on a limited budget. There are a number of wonderful details that are hard to see on the first viewing in set decoration and design that I look forward to seeing on the DVD.



I am enslaved by Tchaikovsky's music for ballet and opera, so I was in pig heaven listening to it during the film, though nothing is better than hearing the entire ballet at one sitting. If you're looking for a recording, I recommend the one I own, available here.



The contrast between dark and light is the focus of this collection, which like the costume design, is made up of ballet pink and a variety of grays and blacks, as well as various textures that evoke for me the grandeur and romance of the theatre and the ballet.



The collection is previewed here and will appear over the next day at both my shops, on Etsy and Artfire.

Snowstorm Photos 12/26/10

Late, but I am organizing my picture files and thought I'd post some pictures I took during our big snowstorm on December 26, 2010. We're supposedly getting more snow this week. I love it. I can't help it.

Adam Purple's Garden of Eden

Tomorrow, January 8, marks the 25th anniversary of the destruction of The Garden of Eden, an earthwork created by Adam Purple that spanned five city lots on Manhattan's Lower East Side. A friend, the talented photographer and filmmaker Harvey Wang, who also directed "The Last New Yorker", documented the expansion of the gardens from 1978 to 1985. Most of these photographs are unpublished, so they'll be seen for the first time in an upcoming exhibit, and there will also be rare prints from a few of Adam Purple's own negatives on show.


Who is Adam Purple, you may ask? Here's a comprehensive article published in the New York Times in 1998 describing the now 80-year old hippie who has led a life full of purpose, who "went green" long before it was fashionable or easy, and whose living conditions have undoubtedly been uncomfortable and downright hazardous. Here's a terrific accounting at the wonderful Mr. Beller's Neighborhood website.

Here's a podcast interview with Adam Purple that you can listen to, and a video at Youtube.


When I was at school in the East Village in the 1980s, I used to see him on his bike, in full purple regalia, and occasionally spied him in Central Park...little did I know at the time that he was there to collect horse manure for his amazing garden creation. So taken was I with his costume that I took a picture of him, so it exists as a slide somewhere in my realm. Thankfully, Harvey has taken some really good photographs, and I look forward to seeing them.


Harvey is raising funds for an exhibit of these prints to be shown at FusionArts Museum at 57 Stanton Street, New York City, scheduled for February 2-20, 2011. I've made a donation to this project at Kickstarter; if you are interested and want to help out, please click here. UPDATE: They reached their goal! There's also a great VIDEO that you can watch there made by Amy Brost and Harvey Wang that will give you some excellent background on this fascinating man. I hope to be able to meet him next month!

All photos ©Harvey Wang

One Year and Missing You

It's one year ago tonight that Dad left this earth, and to commemorate, I have added a playlist to the upper right-hand corner of this template of his marvelous singing and composing. Fortunately, there are many songs and spoken recordings available, and I have chosen but a few, which I will change out or add to from time to time. The golden age of popular song is well represented here, including one that Dad wrote, "A Lonely Town", which he also sings.

I'm very proud of him, and have spent the evening listening to his music and editing sound files that happily, are still new to me. Dad had 78 LPs made from reel-to-reel recordings, which I also found and had transferred to DVDs, a most worthwhile project. I hope that if you click on them, that you'll enjoy what you hear!

A New Year Begins.

I'm glad to have survived 2010 (I had my doubts that I would) and friends and family have also had a very stressful year. I wish everyone a happier, healthier and more prosperous New Year, and for people like me who simply wish for a period of calm and quiet, may we have that this winter, in spades.



I spent some of my New Year's Eve being entertained by the Metropolitan Opera at the opening night of "La Traviata", a new modern production by Willy Decker, which replaces the Zeffirelli warhorse that pleased thousands over the years. It remains to be seen whether or not this post-modern interpretation will click with subscribers and will play as long as Franco's, or be replaced in a few years' time with a more traditional offering.


It was fun to be there under these circumstances, and my date and I saw a number of famed folk, and even met Deborah Voigt, who looked beautifully glam. You really can't stop staring at her mesmerizing blue eyes, and she seems to enjoy getting dressed up and wearing sparkly jewels - that's one great perk of being an opera star that I would love to experience. I don't own an evening gown or suit anymore, haven't for 10 years. Maybe this year I'll have the happy task of finding the right one - it's a good thing to have on hand, even if there's little likelihood that you'll need it. I was suitably impressed that so many people dressed up appropriately for the night - we saw some amazing outfits and baubles. I did wear jewelry that I made, notably this piece made from a Victorian purse, a virtual "chatelaine" necklace.



I feel a bit like Mrs. Danvers while wearing this piece, in a good way, anyway.