A Year Almost Gone

... to the west, the sky, the crescent moon , the fir and spruce skyline

... to the south, the vastness of that preforming sky

 ...the abundance of wild rosehips along the seashore

 ...granite boulders at the beach, bordering beach and cottages

 ...break of day from the kitchen window out over the Bay of Fundy

Looking forward to a bright new year that will soon appear.

Saying Good-Bye to 2015.... but not to the beauty of nature.

Cheers All and the Best to you !

Stocking Jewelry in Local Shops ~ Tis the Season

A selection of our Desideratum Art Jewelry designs can be found at

 The Butchers Daughter  in the olde City Market in Saint John,

Carrington and Co. on Woodstock Rd., Fredericton, NB

and at Serendipin' Art in St. Andrews, NB

These little boy and girl "Bead People" along with many other designs made their way to Botinicals Gift Shop 

on Queen St. in Fredericton, NB.

...and these 2 lovely pics were posted by a new shop,  Namaste Mind Body Spirit Shop 

that carries our work in Sussex NB.

It has been a fairly busy season...  and truly I can't tell you how pleased I am when people order our work or when  I see people wearing our pieces.  

I am so humbled.

 Even tho we have been creating and selling our handmade jewelry since 1992, I get the same thrill... and maybe even more so.

Thank you all so much!!!

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...last 2 pictures taken by Karen Kirk, Sussex, NB

The Owl and The Pussycat

Whimsical mismatched pair of "The Owl and The Pussycat".
Owl, 1 1/2", Pussycat 1 3/4", top of earwire to base of earring. 

Textured and Fused.

 Handmade in Sterling Silver and Copper at Desideratum Art and Jewelry studio.

 $25. pr
... background from my sketchbook.

Ginger Cat

"Ginger Cat" ...pen and watercolour, in my sketchbook

Research says for every 4 male ginger cats there is only one female ginger cat... it has to do with the genes... the orange color is produced due to the presence of the pigment "pheomelanin", which produces fur colors in the range of red to cream.

 This pigment is also found in human hair with these colorations.

Desideratum Art and Jewelry studio, New Brunswick, Canada

Dogs ~ What More Could You Ask For

Dogs are Great!

9" x 12" in my sketchbook, watercolour and pen.

Desideratum Art Studio, St. Martins, NB

Wild Apple Blossoms

The little Wild Apple tree that grows along the driveway bloomed  with the most profuse rich colour this year.  The most blossoms ever in its young life.

As you can see it is only in its gangly preteen years....  and with it being a wild tree, which means the seeds for it were planted by the wild world.  Maybe a bird stopped there, or a coyote, or a fox or a deer... I will never know, but I'm glad they did...  and it grew there because it liked the location... slightly sloped, full south facing, no imposing large trees to shade it... no transplanting or preparing the earth was necessary.  It liked that spot took root and grew.

But how beautiful.  We have other apple trees blooming now too, mostly pale delicate pinks and they are most lovely too... but none with as bright fuschia petals as this. 

Something about apple blossoms that always capture me... maybe it is their burst of colour and then their fleeting nature. They never stick around as long as I wish... but I guess they have a few magical things to do... like turn into apples...  and that takes a huge amount of the trees energy so it has to get on with it in short measure.

 So glad it graced us with its beauty... makes driving home along the rock bluff driveway even more joyful.  and when this years apples do come, so will the birds and animals that spread the seeds in the first place... a natural circle of life.

"A Seed hidden in the heart of an Apple is an orchard invisible"  

~  Welsh Proverb ~

Photos taken by me in St. Martins, NB at Desideratum Art Studio.

Daffodils in the St. Martins Garden

 I have been waiting for those cheery faces .. in the St. Martins garden

 Feels like the world is coming back to life.

Looking out to the ocean

Still working on Jewelry too.   A pair of New Birds. They have little silver beaks.

and the New Cat and Kitten

cheers all!! 

The End of March Update

Just a little post of what we have been doing these past few months.

The Kitchen Jotul provided lots of comfort this year... always feels so good to feel that heat and see that cheery flame. 

Ok now, this was a fun find! ...  the Schwinn Air-Dyne exercise bike.. non electric... Manual.. totally works by just pedaling... you never have to plug it in! ...even gives you a cooling breeze as you pedal... 

It was given to us when we went to a yard sale.. the fellow just wanted it "gone" as he had sold his house and had to move that very weekend...  so we loaded it on the trailer and took it home..  Perfect condition and was it Heavy!!!   So solid... found out after some research that it is quite a Collectors item and I can see why... they don't make things like this anymore ... you know, things that don't wear out!  From the 1970's...  It is practically indestructible and you can do lots of different exercises with it other than just basic pedaling.. Love this !

This beauty was also being given away.  It is one of the coolest looking sewing machines in my collection.  It needed cleaned and oiled as most all old machines do, but I like to see if I can get them back in working order. It even came in its own table. It has a very masculine appearance don't you think?... brown and cream with lots of dials... also very heavy.

This machine was very dirty and dusty mostly just from sitting someplace where dust and grime accumulated...  most parts of it were seized and needed quite some time for the oil to soak in. 

The original  Kenmore ad was still with it, torn from the pages of a mid 1960's Simpson's Sears catalog.  I believe it is one of the early fancy stitch machines... Made in Japan.  The sewing machine industry was something that grew huge in Japan after the second world war as they were trying to get their economy built back up... shifting from war machines to domestic machines... and Japan made excellent quality machines.. 

Here "He" is with his top metal lid removed... a bit of a look at the many working gears and moving parts.  I oiled everything that moved and even the parts that never. It eventually loosened up and everything started working in unison.... but it took a few days.  He had not been used for a long time but was almost like new.  I don't think it ever saw much use.

 Thought I'd test it out.  I had an old pair of oven mitts that were worn out, dreary and darn ugly... made from an old pair of recycled jeans years ago... they had done their service and were ready to retire.

  I took a pattern off them and sewed a new pair up using that groovy sewing machine above... worked great. I reused the inner padded insulating lining.  

The fabric was left over from the drapes in the living room.  I preshrunk it and it was fine for the job... besides it's pretty and heavy and so much nicer to look at.

We are still in the studio making jewelry too. Here are some new "Fiddleheads"... can't wait for the real fresh ones to pop their heads up...  and a pair of "Ship and Whale" that are always popular with visitors to the Maritimes.  

The sand dollars in the background were found on the St. Martins beach at one of the times of year when the tide is very, very low and goes out the farthest.  They were on the sand at exactly the point where the tide turned... you had to be quick to gather them.

 An in-progress shot of the  Fiddleheads after fusing, being set up to have the hole drilled for the earwire... at this in-between unfinished stage they have not yet been hammered, buffed or polished. 

Also doing some forging and shaping on the big steel textured block, my dad found for us years ago.  

And every once in a while I unload some art supplies and spend some time making art.  I particularly like the new Sakura "Koi" water brush.  That's it lying across the small white sectioned dish... the main body of the brush is a water reservoir... no problems with leaking and the bristles hold their shape well...  A pleasure to paint with.

Till next time. All the Best!

Celebrating the Green for St. Paddy's Day

This time of year we are all waiting for the GREEN .... from the glittering moss on the bluff rockface  to the entire wondrous awakening landscape...   

My blog followers may have seen some of these photographs before but this post is about GREEN and St. Paddy's Day seems as good a day as any to remember what it looks like.

 

 Yes, I know, mung beans aren't landscape but at least they're Green.

Last but certainly not least... can't forget this lovely Green lady that means a lot to me.. a vintage green 1968 Kenmore sewing machine.. and does she purr... Heavy as lead.. works like a charm... have to keep her busy till the other Green shows up. (update: this old girl now has a new home at my daughter Rebecca's)

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Photos by Gwen Buchanan in St. Martins, New Brunswick Canada