The Anguish of Light – Havana’s Stained Glass Windows — Hawkins Bay Dispatch

I’ve wanted to see Havana for some time now. With my love ofof stain glass, this makes me want to see it even more.

22 Jan 2019 | Richard F. Potts | Havana Times The anguish of light in its thousand mysterious paths, multicolor reflections and enigmatic chiaroscuro, in the aged shadows intermingled with memories and history, these are Havana’s stained-glass windows that have breathed life to my childhood fantasies. Text and photos by Richard F. Potts HAVANA TIMES […]

via The Anguish of Light – Havana’s Stained Glass Windows — Hawkins Bay Dispatch

New “Recent Creations” Page

ArtsyGenius Jewelry is sold locally in California and worldwide through Etsy. Since local and Etsy items will be different, and some things are sold before they ever get posted online, this page will keep you up to date on the most Recent Creations, so you can snap them up before anyone else.

Here are the latest creations, tiny hand-painted fairies (about 3/4″ tall) and hand-painted butterflies.

Handpainted Bronze Butterfly – Available soon on Etsy

Handpainted Pewter Fairy

Handpainted Bronze Fairy

Stained glass and metal card holder, created for Fresno Ideaworks by Hector Alvarez of ArtsyGenius

To keep up on the latest creations, bookmark the Recent Creations page.

Someplace Old, Something New.

Read a great post about “travel envy”, and about the wonderful concept of finding new adventures right outside your front door, wherever that may be.

It’s in the Details: Etsy’s Bows & Handwritten Notes

Those of us who make handmade crafts and wonder whether there are people out there who truly appreciate the details we put into our work will be greatly encouraged by this story.

Helping One Woman… at a time

I have a passion for connecting and for helping others. Today I had the great fortune to do both. I met a woman at a lunch networking event, who mentioned that she was going to another event that evening, and that the purpose of that group was to help women. That’s all I knew about H.O.W. in that moment, because the woman left before I got the chance to talk to her. I had the name of a restaurant, and a time. I ran with it.

The organizers of the dinner were confused by me because I was carrying my jewelry box under my arm (I hate to leave shiny things in my car), and I was very confused by them, but after clearing up the fact that I wasn’t there to sell, or to eat dinner (because I’d already eaten), I stayed. The purpose of the group, I learned shortly afterwards, is to make a difference in the life of a woman that has suffered a great loss or tragedy. The means to help these women is very simple; a monthly dinner in which all attendees donate to a fund, which is then given to the chosen recipient. The recipients are chosen by drawing, from nomination slips filled out the previous month by those attendees. The recipient this month was a woman named Gail. Her husband had suffered a heart attack, that led to surgeries that resulted in brain damage. It was truly touching.

Aside from my wallet, I opened my treasure box. People with big problems need beauty in their lives, so I decided to give some away. Gail has a lovely daughter about to graduate from high school, who I could tell even at a distance, was a big fan of all things blue. So I dug into my stash of bracelets and found a couple blue ones to choose from. The happy smile on her face and the big hug she gave me were worth more than what I would have received in money. And to top it off, I met a fabulous woman named Cassandra, who has just moved to town and will hopefully become a real friend.

I highly encourage you to join your local chapter, or start one, or make a donation to the organization, regardless of your gender. We may not be able to help everyone, but we can indeed help one woman at a time.

Please visit their site at: http://www.helpingonewoman.org/

Back to School

Some of us like to learn from books or solitary experimentation, and other prefer a classroom or formal workshop. If you’ve never taken a jewelry-making class and have some concerns, here are some great tips!

Diary of a New Jewelry Artist

I recently mustered up the courage to attend my first jewelry making class.  As a new jewelry artist and completely self-taught from magazines, internet tutorials, and books, I was pretty nervous about it.  What if everyone is so much better than I am?  What if they laugh at my amateurish technique and hodgepodge variety of tools?  What if someone discovers that I am (gasp!) a complete and utter fraud pretending to be a jewelry designer?  Ok, so I have some self-esteem issues.  Maybe you can relate to being a little insecure about your art.

Overall, it was a worthwhile if not an entirely enjoyable experience.  I did learn a lot, and left with a beautiful piece of jewelry.  It was, however, a frustrating experience.  I felt like I was behind the whole time.  I struggled to keep up with the instructor.  I had to stop being a perfectionist with each…

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Etsy Article: Valuing your unrealized work

The great thing about time is that it gives us perspective. We grow, our tastes change, our experiences give us a sense of appreciation for things that weren’t important before. Looking back at our old work, things that didn’t quite make the cut, we can often find something new that will challenge us in a new direction and turn out spectacular.