fieldmouse studio

More shell designs

fieldmousestudio — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:50:45 +0000

January has been a time to go thru the box of sea shell and work on some new designs…

Shell and Carnelian Pendant

This piece from a interesting, but larger shell fragment…I’ve been working on how to use some of the larger pieces without them being too heavy, or look too awkward. This one seems to work and I have “test” worn it on a couple of occasions.

Pearl Nest Pendant

“Pearl Nest” is made from a well worn oyster shell… tumbled in the sea! (Tybee Island, GA) It looked like just the place for a nest of pearls! The nest is made from a mix of silver and gold polymer, and the bale is sterling silver.

Shell with polymer dangle pendant

This beautiful shell fragment has purple, silver, and gold tones…the sea worn holes were perfect for the silver bale and the three dangles. I used polymer clay to make beads to compliment the colors in the shell.

Pink and Grey Flower Pendant

Another “flower” made from shell with polymer beads. These shell pieces conjure up flowers…

Currently some new polymer jewelry is underway…different techniques and some experimental pieces…some have come and gone while my camera was out of commission (got wet in October while trying to collect more shells before a storm hit….), but others I will photograph soon! Some of these, and similar pieces are available for sale at the South Carolina Artisans Center, Walterboro, SC. Please contact me if you have any questions on the jewelry or any of my work…

Branching out…

fieldmousestudio — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:24:45 +0000

This fall I was finally able to visit some ginkgo trees for fresh inspiration! Memories of beautiful yellow fans covering the tree in a neighbors yard…. Below are a few new Ginkgo Leaf pendants.

Double Ginkgo Leaf Pendant

Ginkgo Leaf Pendent with Copper Bail

Ginkgo Leaf Pendant

These, plus other leaf and “flotsam” (sea shell) pendants and earrings are available for sale! Most are the in the $35.00 range. Please contact me if you are interesting in purchase!

Mice in the leaves and vines

fieldmousestudio — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:03:51 +0000

Since I am under the impression that Hershey and her friends are ALWAYS just out of sight…and I spend looking in the weeds, leaves, and undergrowth to try and catch sight of them…I see those close up bits of nature that influence my art. Especially the three-dimensional work. To add to the selection of leaf and grape inspired jewelry and boxes I decided to try covering some cheap glass bottles I found at the craft store. Below are my first two attempts.

Grape Vine Vase

The oak leaf and acorn vase goes nicely with the oak leaf box I showed in a previous post.

Oak Leaf Vase

Unfortunately my camera got damaged in a downpour at Tybee Island back in October, so getting good photos of anything new is going to be a problem for a while.

Note: all of my work is for sale…send me a message if you are interested in anything and I can provide prices…BTW I can invoice via PayPal.

Watch out for mice…

the “flotsam” collection

fieldmousestudio — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:22:19 +0000

A selection of the new “flotsam” pendants that can be purchased at the South Carolina Artisans Center, Walterboro, SC.

sea shell, handmade polymer beads, and wire pendant

Sterling wire, oyster shell, polymer clay, and freshwater pearl pendant

oyster shell and handmade polymer "peas"

All these pieces are made from shells and shell fragments from various beaches on the Atlantic coast. The beads and other polymer additions are hand done for each individual pendant. The pearls are freshwater pearls. Some are tinted.

New Artisans Center Member

fieldmousestudio — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 21:54:24 +0000

I am pleased to announce that my jewelry has been accepted in the South Carolina Artisans Center, Walterboro, SC. The guild runs a shop with the finest arts and crafts from artists though out the state. Folks traveling Interstate 95 along the east coast — be sure and make a side trip to the center. There are interstate signs and it is an easy side trip if you are making the long drive from north to south or vice versa!

Here is a selection of the jewelry I have at the center’s gallery. The first two are from my new “flotsam” collection…incorporating Atlantic coast shells I found while beachcombing. (had to do SOMETHING will all these shells!)

Pod Necklace. Oyster shell and polymer beads.

Flowershell Pendant. Sea shell fragment and polymer clay

Japanese Maple Pendant

Maple leaf stud earrings - polymer clay

These pieces (and more…) can be seen in the shop in Walterboro. Ask for M.C. Churchill-Nash’s jewelry! For more information on the Artisan Center their website is http://www.scartisanscenter.com/

Where did spring go?

fieldmousestudio — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 18:19:00 +0000

Hershey here…. been so busy around here I haven’t been able to get near the computer.

In the great outdoors we have had lots of spring and summer storms. Trees down. Pine trees. No one mourns the pine trees… And lots of bird families this year! Three nests of Mockingbirds, three SC Wrens, one Cardinal, and one Tufted Titmouse. Baby birds are FUSSY! Most of my mice relatives have moved out for the summer. Some to the barn. Some to the surrounding woods.

Here in the studio there has been lots of activity too! Commission portraits, illustration projects, more music CD art…plus new jewelry and paintings. While a bit off schedule on completion the series of bulls and cows is coming along nicely…The painting from last summer is still out with the SC Watermedia traveling show. Below are some new watercolors.

"Black Cow" watercolor

"Attitude" watercolor

"Red Cow" watercolor

"Purple Cow" watercolor

More watercolors are in progress and then we’ll see if we can get an exhibit in the works.

Next post I’ll see if I can get some photos of the new jewelry…

Later, Hershey

Mouse eye view…thru the weeds and beyond

fieldmousestudio — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 20:09:16 +0000

Beautiful morning here! Although a bit windy…glad I am close to the ground or I might blow away. This is my first trip outside this year. I know it isn’t spring yet, but it sure feels like it!

The flowers seem to think so too…I ran across some daffodils coming up in one of the flower beds.

Coming up through the back pasture you can see the studio in the background…

Hmmm…lets see what we can find up here in the studio. Good thing she doesn’t clean up much. Lots of places for mice to hide. Looks like she has been working on some jewelry. A pendant with a little dog on it, some more copper and silver things…and what are all these leaves doing???? Oops…it is another maple leaf pendant. Thought is was real there for a minute.

jewelry in the studio

And over here we have a bin of drawings and watercolors.

drawings and paintings

eekkk….I hear somebody downstairs…

Stop and enjoy your Monday!

Hershey

Mice in the attic…

fieldmousestudio — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 21:48:24 +0000

Oh Wow! Me an’ Laurel have been snooping around in the attic. MAN there are a lot of reeeeaaallly old art works up here… We have struck gold!

I just hope we don’t get in too much trouble for this. I’m not sure some of these drawings were meant to be seen. After all they date WAY back to grade school…but hey, if M.C. is leaving them around she can’t blame US.

Starting with an old sketchbook of mostly pencil drawings. Animals seem to be the main subject matter (she just can’t get over the horse thing…even today) There is only ONE drawing of mice! So that will be our “Post of the Day” — “The Mouse House”

Rambling through the studio…the mice take over the blog

fieldmousestudio — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 01:28:39 +0000

Hi! My name is Hershey and I am going to do most of the blog posts for a while. MC has been swamped with things she is behind with…and needs to get back to the drawing board. That stupid horse didn’t help… dumping her in the dirt and spraining her ankle. I may just sneak down to the barn and steal some of her grain! Serve the old nag right.

I have been snooping around the studio and found interesting projects and paintings that I think she has forgotten about… like a portrait of ME!

Hershey

She must have seen me sneaking around in the houseplants… And what have we got over here? Looks like the underpainting for a portrait of her son with one of my relatives on his shoulder. Gee she really should get back to that one…her son has graduated college…he’ll be old and gray before she finishes.

Brett and Laurel

Hmmm….I’ll be looking around for more interesting things sitting around up here.

Off for now, Hershey

Rambling, and seeing what’s before you…

fieldmousestudio — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:34:47 +0000

Just got around to reading a Saturday column by Lawrence Toppman in the Charlotte Observer — “In an Age of Miracles, We Settle for Mush.” As a visual artist, with a musician husband and son, this article struck a nerve. I am not going to try and paraphrase…but suggest you read the piece for yourself…but the gist is how our “have it now” society has hurried us through the museums, film, music and other art forms to the point that few people see or reflect on the actual painting, movie, or music. So sad. So true. Reminded me of a trip to see Mayan ruins where one of the other tourists had so many cameras and bags hanging off his body he could hardly walk, much less see the beauty around us….he, like the museum goer in Mr. Toppman’s article, didn’t get to see anything until he got home and had his film developed (was back in the film days…). http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/01/29/2015320/in-an-age-of-miracleswe-settle.html

Reflecting on that Yucatan trip….I took a FEW photos (more of the snapshot variety, only had a cheap rangefinder at the time)…I need to hunt up the prints and see if they inspire any paintings or jewelry. Somehow I doubt that my photos captured the quality of the light…but I remember the jungle beauty quite well. I also remember being stuck in the mud in a very old LandRover.

Meanwhile, here are a few watercolors.

Smokey Mountains - watercolor

This is the way I will always think of the Smokeys…hazy, green, and damp.

Snowstorm - watercolor

The paint pony in the snow…very different atmospherics from the mountain scene!

A second cousin lived on a Florida cattle ranch. I was lucky enough to get up close with this VERY friendly bull. He loved to have his head scratched.

Back to the Toppman article….it is hard to comprehend why anyone would go to a ART museum and photograph paintings (on a phone no less!) to look at later! Even a high quality art book cannot convey the reality of a painting…the scale, the brushwork, the color, the detail…????????????????????????????????? Even my own, more modest, paintings lose many of the qualities of the original works on paper. You cannot tell how the paint sometimes sinks in and stains the paper – sometimes sits on top, almost an impasto (at least as much as you can get with transparent watercolor paints)… color nuances get lost in digital translation…

OK….now GO to an art museum or gallery. LOOK at the PAINTINGS. Look at them up close. Look at them far away. Spend some time with each one. But LOOK.