Tonia Davenport

Scenes From The Big Island, Part I

Make a Smilebox slideshow

String Art Pendants

I hadn't played around with this concept for a while, so I created two new pendants this weekend. These will be samples for my upcoming class, String Art Pendant, at the Bead&Button Show next month. There are still spots left in the class if you can make it. :-)

Creative Minds Are . . .(Throat Clear) . . .Rarely Tidy

 

Have you ever wondered what type of extravagant working conditions I create art in? I'm going to come clean (well, that might be the wrong figure of speech) and show you just how much of a mess my studio truly is, the vast majority of the time. I don't think I'm going to be interviewed for one of those "artist studio" publications anytime soon, do you? And just to prove how consistent of a slob I really am, the first three photos were taken almost exactly a year ago and the ones with me in them, taken today. Yep . . .not a whole lotta difference, though if you look closely there are a few different materials and tools.

So why the self-portrait pics? Because I want to truly take ownership of my creative chaos and perhaps bond with you other cluttered types (oh I know you are plentiful--I see how you work during photo shoots that we have together at my "day job"). So there you have it; a little glimpse of my little world. I hope you're having a good weekend!

The "Extended" One-Hour Class

I just want to thank the good sports that were in my class a week ago, tonight for the Artiscape Heart Choker Pendant. It was supposed to be a one-hour class, but we ended up working for an extra hour or so. Everyone seemed to be having a great time and I hope that you all left inspired to try more things with Plexiglas and with the jeweler's saw!

Here are some samples that a few of you were generous enough to share pics with me for. Lisa gets the Renegade award for being brave enough to actually experiment with heating and shaping her heart into a very cool bracelet! Nancy gets the Very Cool award for her beautiful use of shrink plastic to create a crinkled-paper look and Mary gets the Patience of a Saint award for kindly waiting on me to help her set her rivet. All the pieces in the class came out beautifully and I really had a great time with everyone. I hope to see you all again next year, if not sooner!

Inspiration from John Fischer's Catch of the Day

I know I typically post about my passion for plexi and normally stick to showing you projects I've completed, yet this marks the second day in a row my post would fall into the "touchy/feel-y" category as a friend would call it. Oh well. What can I say? I feel inspired to share something deeper than jewelry with you, two days in a row now.

I subscribe to a daily e-mail message called Catch of the Day and found this morning's message especially relevant to me and I thought it was a wonderful reminder to take a look at the people close to us and celebrate what they bring to our lives rather than focus on what their differences do to make things challenging. The "Catch" for today is called "Your Mind on Caffeine" (the author is a fellow coffee-house nut) and I encourage you to go to the site and read the entire thing. My two favorite points John made:

"My road will not be yours; yours will not be mine, even if we walk together."

"And finally, part of who we are becoming involves those closest to us. We are not who we are in a vacuum. We are a product of the people we know and how we have grown together. We shape each other. When this aspect is strong, there is a healthy push and pull at work. “As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend.” (Proverbs 27:17 NLT)"

And thanks so much for the positive comments about the last post. Each brought a smile to my face. Have a wonderful day!

Speak Up!

Did you see something today that somebody else did, was wearing or created? Something you really admired or was impressed with? Did you tell them you liked what you saw? I've been thinking a lot today about how many of these opportunities we pass up on a consistent basis. Oh sure we dish out compliments when it's convenient and of course when it's expected and often when it takes little effort on our part, such as when friend shows up in a new outfit or you learn a coworker received a promotion. But what about when it's someone we don't know? Or when it might seem "too random" or "weird?" How many blogs do we browse each day and really love some of what we see, yet we finish reading/looking and move onto the next blog or activity without having left a comment or emailed the person our thoughts/appreciation for the inspiration or our simple admiration? You know how you feel when someone stops you unexpectedly and gives you a compliment; it makes you smile and actually become somewhat impressed that anyone was even paying attention, right? It does that to me anyway. And what about the person that you're certain receives more than their share of praise and doesn't need any more from you? They do need it. They probably receive far less than you think they do and you might just be the one to make their day. And I'm not talking about empty praise or ever being less than sincere, but couldn't we all do a little less lurking/looking down at the ground as we pass someone/almost saying something, but then changing our mind? Just a thought . . .

Artiscape is Around the Corner!

I've been busy all weekend getting ready for my upcoming class at Artiscape. There is still room in the class, if you feel a burning desire to come play with us and create your own heart-shaped choker.

Yesterday I completed typing up the handout/instructions and pre-cutting pieces of plexi for my kits, and today I finished up the piece I'm contributing as part of the Unlocking Inspiration project where we were asked to create any piece of art that incorporated a skeleton key which was sent to us with our welcome packets. After being on display at the event, there will be a silent auction for all of the pieces, with proceeds going to the Women's Fund of Central Ohio. Hope you can join us! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Experiments in Plexi--Except it's not Really Plexi . . .

This weekend I did my first real project using Robert's Real Faux Bone! I have had a 1/4" piece of this stuff that Robert gave me to play with, for quite some time now, but have never really been sure what I wanted to attempt with it. So this weekend, as I continued my dyeing experiments, I thought it would be fun to see how the Faux Bone took the dye. This is really a very cool material that cuts very nicely with a jeweler's saw and a non-metal blade (Faux Bone blades--they are available on Robert's site too!), and it also takes texture and shaping extremely well.

For some reason, I can't get the idea of braille out of my head lately, so this is my first expression using it. It says, "Love Strong" and the undulating waves of the bracelet shape are a reflection of a strong current that is at present approaching my life and having me stand up and take notice. I have plans to make many more things incorporating braille and will soon have more available in the It's All Good section of my shop, so stay tuned for more with this tactile form of communication. Happy Monday!

A Whole Lotta Love

I spent the better part of my weekend escaping reality by spending time in the studio making five new pendants for the "It's All Good" section of my Etsy shop. While you may have noticed, I'm normally most inspired by the symbol of the heart. But this weekend, it went in a slightly different direction and I was having much fun with the word LOVE.

While the weekend is about over, Monday won't seem so bad to me this week because tomorrow I'm looking forward to a live broadcast that the amazing individual I mentioned in my last post will be giving tomorrow evening in the form of a reading from his newly-released novel, The Whisper of Serpents. If you'd like to get a glimpse yourself, go here at 7:00PM PST and click on the ALH Live! link.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and the new week to come and remember, all you need is love . . . ;-)

Courage, Will and Heart

Today I don't have any new plexi projects to show you, nor any quirky personality tests to share. I just would like to tell you about a Web site that launched today: A. Lawrence Haskins.com. I met Mr. Haskins when he asked if I would be one of several people he would like to send an advance copy of his first novel to, to review. I did review his book, The Whisper of Serpents and he is actually featuring the review on his site. And I think you should visit the site. Not because of my review (in fact I'm actually a bit shy about it and blush a bit each time I see myself there), but because A. Lawrence Haskins is quite an inspiring individual and someone I believe has the power and strength to do a lot of good in the world.

 

If you catch this post early today, I would especially encourage you to visit the site between 5PM and 8PM, PST, because Mr. Haskins is going to be doing a live "meet and greet" with those who enter the site. How cool is that? But even if you miss that, take a peek at the site anyway. I think you'll leave the site inspired too. Oh, and by the way, the book is great. :-)