Hello everyone,
I hope that you have had a wonderful October. I can't believe that it's already Halloween tomorrow. It completely snuck up on me and I didn't have any time to plan for it besides buying myself some cookies from Whole Foods, haha! I'm telling you this pandemic is totally warping my perception of time and nothing seems real anymore.
I had to take a little break from jewelry because I'm pregnant, yay! But I'm not my normal energetic self. This pregnancy coincided with my burnout and for most of September I found myself laying bed, feeling very hungry, unmotivated, extremely tired, slightly nauseous, and very distracted by what my body is going through. Pregnancy is no joke!
I'm in my second trimester and this is when things kind of normalize. The third trimester is also supposed to be tough so I'm not entirely sure what I'll be able to do jewelry-wise. That's ok. A little hiatus won't hurt and soon I'll be back to making my earrings and jewelry pieces.
At this very moment, I've been working on miniature oil-paintings that will be turned into statement earrings. Oil painting is extremely relaxing and can be done anywhere (in my studio, in the dining room, from my sofa) so it's a great activity for me to engage in and in all honesty, I love doing it.
I've decided to select works from master painters and recreate my own twist to the works. I oftentimes make the color palette more colorful and vibrant, and then I select a portion of the painting rather than try to focus on the whole painting. I chose to do this because when I go to museums, I am usually drawn to one specific area of a painting and I know I can't be the only one. You start to look at a section, notice the details, and then appreciate the whole.
I'm currently diving into the works of Jan Van Huysum who was a Dutch still-life painter from the 1600s. His work is absolutely incredible. I was telling my mom the other day that there are some painters where you love their work because of the subject matter and then other painters you love because they're masters at their craft. This guy has tapped into a deeper part of my imagination (I'll talk about that in another post) and has made recreating his paintings an exciting and thrilling challenge. I have walked away from the painting session feeling honored to 'work alongside' this master.
Anyway, here's a peek at the miniatures I just finished, the design I have set for them, and the painting they were inspired by.
Thanks so much for reading and take care,
Caitlin