Ferrari, Family and a new design.

This was a good weekend. Ferrari took home another victory in Istanbul though McLiars looked too strong for my liking this weekend. Two weeks to Monaco!

Francesca got back from visiting her family in Italy and brought back photos of my niece who lives in Rome. I rarely get to see her so I love seeing new photos to see how she's growing up. Way too fast by the way. But what a little cutie.
















Today was mother's day so I hope all the mom's out there had a good time. But, probably a lot of you were nearly neglected by your lazy ass husbands and families haha. My mother and I went to my aunt's where my 91 year old kick-ass grandma is visiting from Florida. Played kickball with the kids as a reminder of how out of shape I am, but it was fun. I haven't seen a lot of them in years.

I also just finished working on a new pendant design. Right now I did one in a 1.25 inch square pendant, but I have a vertical, rectangular version ready too. I've always liked sun/moon/star designs like this so hopefully others will too.

F1 Anticipation

I should be making pendants right now. It would be the wise thing to do since I've got some new designs to make.

But instead, I'm on the internet reading through the Formula 1 websites in anticipation of another Ferrari 1-2 finish in Turkey this weekend. In just 2 days, 11 hours and 26 minutes from now, the lights go off and hopefully Raikkonen or Massa will be in front.

If you've never watched a Formula 1 Grand Prix I highly recommend it, as long as you decide to support Ferrari and not McLaren.

I guess tonight I should be getting around to finishing that new pendant. It's pretty cool. We'll see.

Put to shame - by an old lady

I'm not slim. In fact, over the past few years I've started looking a lot more like Chris Farley than I'd like so over the past couple weeks I've been eating better and taking nearly daily walks with my mother and have dropped 8 lbs off of my elephantine girth.

There is a town near me called Lafayette and there is a trail, an old railroad bed, that goes for miles and miles through NJ..something like 50 miles I think. We start at Lafayette Village and usually walk about 90 minutes or so. It's a dirt trail that goes through the woods, past farms and a pond with about 75 turtles in it, and crosses some streams with lots of wildlife to see. Really a very nice way to get out and exercise a bit.

That is, until yesterday when an old woman came walking briskly down the trail. She was probably at least 85 years old, snow-white hair and carrying a poodle! The nearest cross road was probably 2 or 3 hundred yards away and there was no car parked there either. I don't know how far she had walked but it had to be a long way, and carrying a poodle. Not bad for a woman in her 80's!

I think mom and I need to step up our efforts!

Bluebird Pendant

One of the subjects I like to use in my pendants is birds. Since I was a kid birds have been a pretty big part of my life. When I was a child my mother ran a bird banding station and so we'd band birds, and also rehabilitate injured and orphaned birds as well. That early experience has lasted my whole life and I still get a lot of enjoyment from them today, photographing them, feeding them and now using them in pendants.

I recently found a painting that I liked a lot and wanted to use. It was painted by Canadian artist Lindsey Paynter (a great last name for an artist!) and features one of my favorite birds, the Bluebird. She was more than gracious in allowing me to use her art and collaborate with me.

What I liked about it was that it reminded me of the old paintings they used to use in field guides and bird identification books. The colors have an almost vintage feeling to them which looks great in the pendant.

For all you bird lovers out there, I will continue to feature a lot more bird art so check in once in awhile to see what's new or you can go to the Etsy store to see new bird art pendants.

Why Pewter?

All of the pendants I've made so far use a pewter setting. I was recently asked why I use pewter instead of silver. Well, for one, using silver would increase the cost of the pendants quite a bit. These setting are pretty substantial. They have deep walls allowing me to pour a thick coat of resin about 1/8 inch deep, so there is a fair amount of metal to them. Silver would be pretty costly for pendants this size.

Also, there really is nothing to be gained in terms of beauty. The settings aren't meant to be the focal point, the art is, so what they are actually set in is less important.

The other reason is, I just like pewter. If you notice some of the pieces I've done, you see a bit of influence from the Renaissance and Middle Ages. Pewter, which is mostly tin with some copper and antimony thrown in as a hardener, was used extensively in these periods for nearly everything - cups, vases, pots, forks, bowls, etc.

Nowadays you don't see pewter too much unless it's a decorative item. If you've ever gone to a Renaissance festival I'm sure you've seen the pewter dragons, plates and beer steins at various craft tents. But it's this connection to the past that I like and one of the reasons I use it also. It just seems like the right metal to use.

Let me introduce myself...

Welcome to my new blog about my art pendants. As none of you know, my name is Robert and I live in the woods of New Jersey among the raccoons and black bears. Over the past couple of years I have begun to explore my artistic side in more depth. I've been doing recreational and professional photography, and now have gotten into making pendants.

Since late January of 2008 I've had a photography store on Etsy.com where I sell my prints. I'm sure many of you have heard of Etsy before or are sellers yourself. For those that aren't I'll be blogging about it soon. It's been a nice experience filled with a lot of talented craftspeople, and when I started making pendants as a means of relaxation I decided to open a second store there called Curu.

The pendants that I make feature my own photography and art, old paintings, vintage images, and contemporary art by artists that I collaborate with from around the world. While the majority of the images I use aren't created by me, each one does show my own personal style and interests.

I set the images in hand-soldered pewter of various shapes and sizes, then cover them in a thick coat of resin, usually about 1/8 inch thick. This gives a beautiful, glass like shine and protects the image from being ruined.

If you look to the right you will see a link to my pendant store on Etsy where you can browse through the ones I have made already. Prices will range from $15 to $35, shipping is included. Have a look and if you like what you see, please stop by this blog in the future to see the newest creations as well as features about other Etsy sellers that I admire.