Kelley of Kellscreations.com blogs about her jewelry, art, writing, and creativity in general

Here I am again, posting about another jewelry design. I already blogged about aspects of this on the Year of Jewelry blog, which you can read, but I can put a different spin (swirl?) on it here.

Anybody who knows me knows I love the Book of Kells (hence the name Kell’s Creations–it’s a happy coincidence that Kell was also my best friend’s nickname for me all through school) and I love all things Celtic, especially all forms of Celtic knots. I love to draw and paint them, and I have numerous books on them for inspiration. Featured in this piece are three interlocking circles which form what is called a “triquetra” in the very center.

I knew Ireland was deeply influenced by the Vikings who first arrived there in the 800s AD, but what I didn’t fully realize until I recently took an art history class was how much those Celtic knots I love resemble wonderful artworks such as the wooden portal on the stave church at Urnes, Norway (image below can be seen in context at this site), or the animal head posts ca. 825 from a Viking ship burial at Oseberg, Norway.

If you’re fascinated with Celtic or Scandinavian art and want a little inspiration for your own artwork, here are a few books I can recommend (in no particular order): 

101 Knotwork Designs, by Courtney Davis
Symbols of the Celts, by Sabine Heinz
Great Book of Celtic Patterns, by Lora S. Irish
Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction, by George Bain
Celtic Spirals Handbook, by Shela Sturrock
Celtic Motifs, by David Balade

It’s been a while since I posted about any of my jewelry designs, and I’ve created two pieces recently that I’m proud of because they presented unique challenges. Both designs are slightly adapted from tutorials. Several wire jewelry artists create step-by-step tutorials, and I subscribe to magazines that publish tutorials, but I don’t want to become dependent on them because I never want to be known as a copycat. I want to be able to create my own designs, and normally that’s what I do. I use techniques I’ve learned or have seen in a piece and I extrapolate to create my own pieces. But I still have plenty to learn from those who go before me, and the good thing about the tutorials I have purchased is that I have indeed learned new techniques which I can use in other, more original designs.

I adapted this design from a tutorial by the late Jorgen Greftegreff, contributed by his wife Beverly Langhus, in the April 2001 issue of Wire Artist Jeweller. Ever since I saw my first wire-wrapped faceted solitaire ring, I wanted to be able to create them. The adaptation is in the twisted middle wire and the wrapped shank. I found that wrapping the shank gave me more control of the piece as I was working, and I think it added an attractive touch to the design.

I’m not sure whether the stone is a ruby–aka Lord of the Gems–or a spinel, ruby’s beautiful imposter. A friend of ours frequents police auctions, and this stone was one of his finds, which I bought from him. The paper this stone and its twin were wrapped in was labeled “ruby, 8mm, wt. 2cts,” but more writing on the same wrapper said “red spinel, lab grown.” Come to find out, naturally formed spinel, which comes in a range of colors, has become even rarer than rubies, and according to International Colored Gemstone Association’s page on spinel, “spinel is the great impostor of gemstone history: many famous rubies in crown jewels around the world are actually spinels. The most famous is the Black Prince’s ruby, a magnificent 170-carat red spinel that now adorns the Imperial State Crown of England . . .”

Lab grown spinels are often used in birthstone rings, so here is my version of a ruby/spinel birthstone ring, wrapped with 12K gold-filled wire.

This design is based on a tutorial by Eni Oken, an amazing wire jewelry artist. To make it a little more my own, I changed the bail from the series of jump rings that were shown in the tutorial to a woven beaded bail, and I used a pointed amethyst briolette and freshwater pearls–two of my favorite combos. I also added some coiling detail as a loose frame around the pearls at the top of the background heart. The wire is 12K gold-filled. I’ve decided to keep this one for myself, but I do plan to offer one similar in my shop sometime soon–maybe next week.

I’ve also purchased tutorials from Iza Malczyk and Perri Jackson of Shaktipaj Designs. I hope to be using those tutorials in new pieces soon. :)

What kind of story do you get when you have a cover featuring red stiletto heels, a microphone, and the backside of a pig complete with curly tail? And equally interesting (at least in my opinion), is what kind of creative mind is behind it.

This is a “fish out of water” story if there ever was one, and it’s tailor made for humor. Just ask my mother-in-law (who moved from San Luis Obispo, CA to a cattle ranch in the middle of Nowhere, New Mexico) to share some stories from early in her marriage. But back to Act Two. Opera diva Sadie Maddox, a New Yorker through and through, is bordering on “has been” status, so for her second act she takes a professorship at a small liberal arts college in rural Iowa. When she arrives, she is horrified to discover that she will be living with a family on their pig farm!

That’s a great setup to a great story, Kimberly. Very unusual. So, since this book features such an interesting contrast in lifestyles, I have to ask–where did the idea come from?

I can’t possibly reveal that to the blogosphere, and I say that only partly because I’ve always wanted to use the word blogosphere. The other reason is that this one percolated for awhile. There was no lightning bolt moment. But I will say that I’m always interested in putting quirky characters in situations that make them woefully uncomfortable and allow the reader to laugh with gusto both at and with the character. A New York opera diva on a farm seemed like a situation that might work for that purpose.

You’re definitely right on that score! So what kind of research did you do?

It was intense. Lots of dangerous, Indiana Jones-type adventures, plenty of nights under the stars and without food or running water. Actually, I traveled to New York and was shuttled around by dear friends who love their city and were infectious in their excitement. I loved my time there and still wish I could drop off my laundry for someone else to do, begging out of the chore because my building just didn’t have a washer and dryer. The laundry, the insane number of fantastic restaurants, the ability to wallow in theater, dance, live jazz, high fashion—if I could only afford half of a studio apartment, I’d drag my family for an extended stay. As for research on Iowa…

The trip to New York must have been great fun. Having someone else do my laundry sounds like heaven right now! LOL So, if you don’t mind me asking, what kinds of struggles do you have with the writing process? Because every writer is different, we all seem to struggle with different parts of the process.

*Making myself sit down each day and crank out new material, especially on days when I’m feeling about as creative as a paint tarp.
*Pushing through the middle of a novel, when the characters have lost their initial intrigue and it’d be so much more fun to daydream about the NEXT story to write.
*Getting out of the way of the story. That is, allowing the story to flesh itself out without coercion on my part.
*Being able to, as Stephen King writes, “crucify my darlings,” to part with the elements, characters, plot movements that do not serve the story, no matter how fond I am of them.

Yeah, all those are definitely true for me, too. Love the paint tarp comment. I’ve certainly had a few of those days in my life! So what part do you enjoy the most? For me it’s the characters as they come to life.

Without question, hearing from readers who connect with, cry about, laugh because of the stories I write and then take the time and effort to let me know. Unbelievable and lovely.

What’s your schedule like? What do you do to make time to write?

For every writer asked this question, I’m sure you’d get as many answers. At this time in my life and the life of my family, I write in the afternoons when my daughter is at preschool and my son is napping. This is unfortunate for two reasons: One, my toilets become gross because the time I used to devote to being Martha Stewart is now devoted to being Kimberly Stuart, a woman with far fewer housekeeping ambition and far more dust bunnies. Two, afternoons are not my most creative time, mostly because I’d rather be napping. So I’ve had to force my mind and my body into thinking one o’clock is Do or Die and that by the time Mitchell’s awake and Ana is home from school, I’d better have a new scene or I don’t get any chocolate for dessert. (Okay, that last bit is a stretch of the truth. Self-denial is overrated.)

So, are you a “plotter” or a “pantser”? I generally know where I’m headed, but I still find that characters take detours and surprise me. How about you?

I begin a novel with barely more detail than that which I’ve pitched to the publishing house. I have a feel for the main character, the overall arc of the story, the central conflict. But the ancillary characters, the chapter-by-chapter breakdown, how my protagonist changes and what takes her there, those all flesh themselves out in the course of writing the book. My genre, comedic fiction, allows for this kind of approach but I’m sure a mystery wouldn’t be as forgiving. One can hardly decide whodunit as an afterthought. So, yes, I’m often surprised by what happens in my books, how some characters become unlikely heroes or heroines, how others reveal secrets I hadn’t anticipated. All in all, it’s quite the entertaining way to write.

As for characters, I always find that my characters contain interesting pieces of me. Sadie’s an opera singer. Do you sing?

I do. When I was a child, I wanted to be a “seener” (singer). Mostly, I wanted to be Amy Grant. That’s right, people: I was into STRAIGHT UP AMY GRANT. The hard stuff, the early years, like “My Father’s Eyes,” and “El Shaddai.” I rocked out (with choreography) in our basement, next to a record player roughly the size of an Escalade and was wholeheartedly convinced of my musical and entertaining genius. I studied voice through college, sang in the St. Olaf Choir (um ya ya), and continue to sing in church. My mom is a professional violinist, so we were cheerily forced into playing one stringed instrument and piano, for starters. Sadie, the protagonist in Act Two, took her love for music straight into a career, which was a step I did not take. But it was a riot entering her world and watching her both succeed and squirm.

Last, what’s your advice to someone who wants to become a published author?

Hone your craft. There are lots of fancy stories about getting one’s foot in the door to a publisher, how to get an agent, how to market oneself and one’s story. But the best way to ensure you’ll be ready to take on the publishing mayhem is to work your tail off at writing. Become your toughest critic (short of paralysis, of course), get up the guts to share your work with someone smarter and more well-read than you, spend the hours good writing requires. Most of a writer’s life is very quiet, unromantic, and isolating. Unless you’re ready to devote yourself to the less glamorous parts of writing a good story, you’ll be spinning your wheels for the time when a good break comes.

Great advice, Kimberly. Thanks!

Links:

Kimberly’s Website

Act Two: A Novel in Perfect Pitch on Amazon.com

Download a Sample at the Publisher’s Website

Here are the other blogs featuring Kimberly during our June 30-July 11 tour.
A Christain Romance Writer’s Journey
Behind the Mountain
Blog Tour Spot
Book Nook Club
Book Room Reviews
Canadian Prairie Writer
Chatter Matters
FictionaryFootprints in the Sand
Gatorskunz and Mudcats
His Reading List
I Don’t Wanna Blog
In the Dailies
Life with Missy
Lighthouse Academy
Musings on This, That, and the Other
Net’s Notes
Real Women Scrap
Refresh My Soul
See Ya On the Net
Sips ‘N Cups Cafe
So Many Books. . . So Little Time
Sumballo
The Friendly Book Nook
The Law, Books and Life
The Surrendered Scribe
Toni V. Lee
Write by Faith
Writing on the Edge

This was certainly unexpected! I have an account on Flickr, and a few months ago I posted some photos of Old Town Albuquerque from my digital photography class a couple of semesters ago. For the most part I just wanted to share these photos with any friends who wanted to see them, but yesterday I received an email from an editor at Schmap Guides, an online travel guide, that one of my photos taken in Old Town Albuquerque had been “shortlisted” for possible inclusion in the fifth edition of the Schmap Albuquerque Guide, to be published at the end of July. I had never heard of Schmap, but of course I was flattered that one of my pictures had been chosen to be in their contest. Of course I could decline to have my photo considered, but after checking out the site and verifying its authenticity, I decided to go ahead and allow the photo to be entered. So we’ll see what happens. I’m not a “real” photographer, but I still think it would be fun if my picture were included. Above is the photo the editor shortlisted, and here’s the link to my Flickr photostream where you can see other photos I’ve taken. Most of them are of my jewelry because of the groups I belong to, but there are more Old Town Albuquerque photos as well as photos of other places and things here in the Land of Enchantment–including a photo of the New Mexico state bird, the roadrunner, which I took on the arbor outside my front door.