As you can see, my technique has not much improved since my last lampwork post. I have only managed to incorporate more colors, which when applied in a not-very-controlled manner, results in swirling messes. They are works of abstract art, of course!
Last week I learned the technique of bubble-trapping. When the bead is hot but allowed to cool just somewhat, use a cold, pointy metal tool to poke at the surface. Then melt clear glass over the holes. A bead in the background (the one with bumps, yes I should have photographed this with that in the foreground, oh well) has been subject to bubble trapping.

It is almost Valentine's day, after all. I've finally put up a portfolio of jewelry on my website at www.jzeestudio.com . This red version of Swing Set was a special request by some one whose favorite colors are pink and red.

I'm going to throw some tag words out there, so that search engines might lead potential shoppers here to go on to check out my website. Indie jewelry. Pressed glass. Glass beads. Heart beads. Wire wrap. Pendant. Hand made jewelry. Artist made jewelry.

I aspire to sell at some craft fairs this year, such as the North Park Craft Mafia Spring Line Up in March. That's a juried show so we'll see...

One wouldn't want to swim into Megalodon, the prehistoric shark. Much bigger than great whites, a megalodon tooth can measure up to 18cm long (just over 5 inches)! Since this is an illustration for kids, I tried to make megalodon look a little cute. Inked by hand, scanned in photoshop, neatened in illustrator, colored in photoshop, ultimately used for a activity station sign, made in illustrator.
2-12-08 update: Alas, this megladon was deemed too scary for kids. I will have to make him friendlier.

I did another set of engagement photos 2 weekends ago. This couple happens to be fond of the zoo, so off we went to San Diego Zoo for a photo shoot. It's not like there are any animals in the backgrounds, but there is a lot of foliage which makes for a picturesque environment. This was taken in a little Japanese-ish garden off to the side of the main path (and seemingly an entrance way to some zoo offices). There were some flat stones amongst the ferns and under a willow. The lighting was just right (no flash here, I think) and the subjects tilted their heads at just the right angles. I took some 300 photos that day, so one of them was bound to turn out good.

Mardi Gras in downtown San Diego consisted a party 6 blocks long and 2 blocks wide, 2 parades, 5 outdoor stages with DJs, and a crowd density that impressed even this Hong Konger. I expected large floats, but the street being a narrow two lanes, allowed only bus and truck sized vehicles to pass down the middle with a 8-person thick crowd flanking either side. The first parade at 7:30pm was considerably tamer than the 10:30pm parade, where competition to grab tossed beads was cut throat. It was the equivalent of kids with a pinata, except those who dived for the falling goodies were women equipped with long acrylic nails or 200 lb men. I noticed that the 6'5" guy was accumulating quite a lot of beads.

Photographing was fun; a non stop supply of colors and activity, easily blurred out to show movement on digital film by a slightly longer exposure time. This above pic was at 1/4 sec shutter speed with flash. Challenging circumstances: I alternated between catching beads hurled from paraders (and I must say having ultimate disc experience helped with this) and avoiding beads that came straight for my lens.

Brazil Carnival at 4th and B, San Diego. A colorful, energetic extravaganza. I took many color photos of course, of the ladies in feathered head dresses and gentlemen in sequined suits. When dancers were clad in white, I made the images black and white, and I like them in a different way from the colorful images; there is less distraction and other elements like the subject, story and composition become more important.

Not all sand comes from rocks. Some sand particles are made of coral. How might coral befall this sandy fate? Parrot fish each chunks of coral, and a pair of specialized internal jaws allows grinding of coral chunks. A piece of coral is about to be ground into tiny bits, whereupon it will pass through the gut and be pooped out as coral sand grains.

This Octopus Pirate will be featured on a down loadable Birch Birthday Party Invitation Card. He comes in color, and B&W, for those who lack a color printer or who prefer to hand color. The Octopus Pirate is for the Pirate themed parties. My original intent was to make an illustration of a pirate kid, but then complications arose: should I make a girl and boy version? Should I make versions with kids of different ethnicities? It was easier to make the pirate a marine animal, and more fitting with the other invites I'd designed, with a shark and garibaldi character donning birthday hats and toting gifts.

I'm taking a lampwork class at the UCSD craft center. Lampwork is the art of making glass beads by melting a glass rod using flame, and winding molten glass onto a mandrill (metal rod). I've been enjoying being creative without the pressure of having to turn out something professional looking.

After learning the basic technique of building a donut shaped bead, the fun began with adding colors. I like layering clear glass over opaque, for the 3D effect. In some cases, layering got out of hand or I simply lost control of glass application, and I wound up with abstract messes, like the big green bead in the middle. Actually nothing turns out the way I plan, but fortunately glass is inherently pretty and so most everything at least turns out interesting-looking.

The process of winding glass is very mesmerizing, and can pass tens of minutes. I'm focusing on the bead, yet in a trance of sorts. It's very calming, and mind clearing. Like yoga perhaps?

Sunday was t-shirt screen printing workshop day. I set up 3 tables to form a long work bench in the living room, and the bathroom and kitchen were transformed into print areas. The chandelier and curtain rod served as drying racks. 8 friends gathered to learn the basics of screen printing.

There are physical and mental challenges. The mental ones include getting one's mind wrapped around the idea of positive and negative space, and using various liquids to fill one or the other. The tricky physical part is applying even pressure to the squeegee combined with a balance of lateral and downward pressure when forcing ink through the screen.

Everyone learned quickly; before long, there was a flurry of activity as screens were peeled off t-shirts and t-shirts were triumphantly hung to dry.

The ASR (Action Sports Retailers, I think; it's one of those acronyms that people in the know know and so doesn't have to be explained on their website or printed materials - I am not in the know, but I get to pretend to be) Trade Show at the San Diego Convention Center is from Jan 24-26. I was sent along mainly to photograph the fashion show, featuring clothes by Matix, co-hosted by Foam magazine.

The area at the head of the catwalk was reserved (encircled by red velvet rope!) for the media. I sat in the first row. What a great view! And multiple chances to get a good shot as the models progressed up the catwalk.

My 28-75mm lens worked well for the job. Fully zoomed out, a model fit the height of an image about 1/3 of her way down the catwalk, and then when she reached the end, waist through head fit nicely in my view finder. Fullest zoom is most flattering for models (or anyone). Think of it as opposite to wide angle, which makes a person look, well, wide.

Person-friendly illustration featuring everyday things and their pH. Hand drawn & inked, scanned, vectorized, colored. I don't think I'll ever do all my drawing on tablet; hand inked lines have so much more personality.

Flavors of San Diego Culinary Gala is an amazing food event. Some twenty tables are hosted by a different chef and his/her team from the fanciest restaurants in San Diego. I found my way into the kitchen, which was packed with photo opportunities at every turn. 10 mini kitchens were set up, abuzz with chefs and sous chefs and servers.

I witnessed the process of setting up plates of food; the decor, the garnish, the lovingly prepared centerpiece, the carefully placed splashes of sauce, the grated truffle. I would have liked to spend the entire time in the kitchen; however, my assignment was to cover the event, not just the food.

My table was wined and dined by JRDN in Pacific Beach. The chefs were refreshingly down to earth; none of the stuffiness or snootiness that I stereotypically think of chefs.

It was a perfect day to visit the Del Mar Farmer's Market. Sunny, breezy, not too warm. The farmers and the shoppers were in good spirits. Produce sellers were surprised and pleased to have photos taken of their vegetables. I wanted to practice my food photography, and had studied some produce photographs in cookbooks. Like portrait photography, food photography seems to work best with a small depth of field; that is, only some parts will be in focus, and say, the background is slightly blurry, to highlight what is in focus. I tried to do this with the red pepper, and contrasted it from the green not only by color, but by not focusing on the green peppers. The composition could be better, had the green pepper (whose stem attachment is visible) been turned around. That green pepper distracts somewhat from the red center pepper, and leads the eye of the photo viewer out of the composition. Oh well.

Swing Set is my first attempt at combining two jewelry styles that I developed. The first: the twisty wire branchings, and second: the asymmetrical hanging things. Of course I'm not the first to do either separately, (though the aesthetic results of how I have used those techniques are unique, I believe), I've not seen the two together.

I'd been mulling over designs in my head when this suddenly came to me. Working with wire is tedious, getting all those branches to come out in the right places. Even now, after I've made six, I still have to concentrate. Very soon, my jewelry will by for sale online. Stay tuned.

Dance has become one of my favorite subjects to photograph. It is a little odd, interpreting one art form into another, especially when they are so different. Dance is so multi-dimensional, engaging all senses. How can photography do dance justice?

I don't attempt to "document" dances. Instead, I try to create 2D compositions that capture the moods of the dance. It's challenging on multiple levels: (1) the subject is moving (2) there are multiple subjects (3) they are moving in an unpredictable (to me) manner. It takes quick composing with a zoom lens and camera tilting and bouncing around the edge of the dance area and a quick reaction trigger finger. It's mentally exhilarating and I was exhausted afterwards.

This photo is from a dress rehearsal for a performance of Cabaret: Latin Images by the Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance Theater. The actual performance will be Jan 17-20, at the San Diego Museum of Art.

A necklace design may be born in different ways. Sometimes I picture a composition in my head, and set about selecting beads and materials (chain, wire etc) that will fulfill that idea. Other times, I gather a collection of beads that I think complement each other, in color and shape. The photo above is an example of such a collection. I start with the largest beads and arrange them asymmetrically yet balanced, and fit the smaller beads around them. The design evolves as I experiment.

This is a detail of a necklace design that gave me a lot of trouble. The difficulty lay in attaching the flowers (consisting of 5 beads) to the 4 strands so that the flowers didn't flop over, or rotate. What finally worked was a wire support, perpendicular to the long strands, holding the four strands in place. The support is hidden behind the flower on the right.

What is fun and challenging about beading is that each piece is a mini 3D mixed media sculpture. It is a different puzzle to figure out, different from drafting out a 2D composition, for example. The tiny parts and finicky materials add tediousness.

It's been a while a since my last post. I've been traveling, and subconsciously gathering ideas for new art projects. There are more necklaces on the way, perhaps incorporating new materials if I decide to make the investment, into a lamp working class, for example, or into metal clay or resin materials. The above necklace was a gift to my friend; glass and metal beads on chain. The strategically placed hanging beads on chains as become a signature style, and I'm looking to expand on it.

It's been a hectic week of jewelry creation. I was inspired to make jewelry after attending Thread last weekend, a fashion and shopping event. I was hoping to buy accessories for presents, but I didn't see any designs that were perfect, (nor prices that were perfect) so I figured I'd make my own.

When buying beads, it's cheaper to buy in bulk. So, I didn't get just one Black Gold Amazonite rectangular bead as seen above, but a strand of 10 or so. Same with bird and leaf charms. So why not sell to friends? The featured Cirrus Circus was a big hit.

Parting with artwork, even when it is made in multiples, is difficult for me. Thus I took lots of photos. Hopefully the recipients will appreciate the stones and aesthetics as much as I! So far it seems that people do.