2018 is shaping up to be an interesting year for two of the most venerated (and often controversial) Science Fiction and Fantasy awards: the Hugos and the Nebulas. Here’s a Wikia page about 2018 Hugo Awards nominations, if you are eligible to nominate stories (or just want to see what’s already nominated.) Here’s a handy…
Read More It’s Hugo (and Nebula) Award Season againThe book is done! I haven’t even had time to list it on the 2017 Book Art page, but it’s up on SaatchiArt now: https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Sculpture-Two-Jade-Buttons/799858/4038430/view Update: August 8, 2018: this book and a few others will be for sale on the 23 Sandy Gallery website soon. Here’s a teaser. Yes, those are detachable cufflinks in Burmese…
Read More Two Jade ButtonsNot quite the first completed project of 2018, but the first one ready to show off: Spring Garland Earrings! 2″ long asymmetrical tendrils of beaded vines make up these lightweight, dramatic earrings. Findings: .925 sterling silver leverback ear wires from Plazko.com. Beads from Creative Destination, Drumbeat Indian Arts, Fire Mountain Gems, Bead World, Bead…
Read More Spring Garland EarringsFor 43 years, Ornament Magazine has been documenting personal adornment through the world’s highest levels of wearable fine craft and art media. The magazine itself has a physical beauty that has never been compromised: thick paper, glossy finish, stunning photography, and deeply-researched articles. I first encountered Ornament in January 1979 in the skimpy magazine section…
Read More Ornament MagazineArtisans make bread-n-butter pieces: smaller, simpler objects that feed the bank account. But they also need room for the big or complicated gonzo works that feed their joy and skill. I don’t have pierced ears, I don’t intend to ever have pierced ears, and clip-on earrings tend to hurt me after about an hour. So…
Read More Earrings and other conundrumsWhat a year, gang. We’ve seen political upheavals mingled with newly energized activism. Lazy intellects, desperate anger, slick marketing, and pathological distrust of expertise resulted in everything from Trump’s election, Brexit, serious Flat Earth conspiracies, anti-vaccination movements, pseudoscience, and the disastrous return of Lysenkoism to Russia. We’ve seen brave, fierce scientists, journalists, and ordinary people…
Read More 2017 in reviewAfter seeing this made when I was a kid, I’m trying out the recipe for ‘Mamie Eisenhower’s Fudge’. It’s a really friendly recipe if you’re scared of candymaking. Just remember: no touching the fudge until it sets overnight. Cover the pans with foil and keep in an *undisturbed* room temperature location. Chill after cutting into…
Read More Mamie’s FudgeThese are coming along nicely. The teeny rocketships are all embroidered, and now both sides of the text blocks are sewn together.  I debated hand-sewn seams to anchor the folds, but my hands and schedule said ‘nope’. So my trusty old Elna sewing machine did the work, in about a quarter of the time…
Read More ‘Rocketship’ Fiber Art BooksAs I write this at 6am on a Wednesday morning, several major news organizations have called the Alabama Senate special election for Democrat Doug Jones. The Republican candidate, the odious Roy Moore, has yet to concede. This is a big deal for American politics. Early exit polls and anecdotal evidence suggests this is more a…
Read More Doug Jones and the Republican SoulThis will eventually have its own spot on Filigree’s Rule, but I thought the problem merited its own longer post. Literary agents are human: they have likes, dislikes, foibles, and triggers like anyone else. Sometimes an author is lucky and their quirks will mesh with the agent’s. This is one of the major reasons to…
Read More Abusive agents and how to spot themAs per this Facebook post, the erotic romance publisher Loose Id is closing. https://www.facebook.com/LoosenYourId/posts/10156261079630101 The four owners (The Quad, in LI nicknames) have decided not to squander the market’s good will, and are winding down the business by May of 2018. This was my first romance publisher: they took on the first edition of my…
Read More End of an Era: Loose IdHint: if your publisher pops up and declares they will no longer consider submissions from agents, and requires their authors to sever existing ties with agents…your publisher is either predatory, clueless, or both. This post prompted by the hilarious meltdown from Tyrant Books, an independent literary press based in Rome & NYC. Tyrant *has* published…
Read More On agents and publishersFor a couple of years recently, I worked at a strenuous but fun job painting faux finishes on fiberglass architectural forms. A mostly outside job winter or summer, it involved schlepping big cast brickwork arches onto sawhorses, fixing the (numerous) flaws from the manufacturer, and painting a three tone finish to mimic a particular type…
Read More Myself from SpaceThe latest award ribbons are done and delivered! As I mentioned here, they are based on the collage/printmaking work of Erin Curry. Here’s the Festival poster image, a commissioned piece. And here are the award ribbons I made in fiber applique, machine stitching, and hand-sewn beaded embroidery. Materials include polyester felt, commercial printed cotton, digital…
Read More Tempe Festival of the Arts Awards, Fall 2017I’m partway through the next set of award ribbons for the Tempe Festival of the Arts. These are based on the work of Erin Curry, so for the applique backgrounds I used a mix of bright and subdued cotton prints glued on white felt pre-edged with dark green/blue rose print fabric. The prints have some…
Read More Gel transfers on fabricBecause they make me smile: Sugar Skull ceramic planters from a nearby Trader Joe’s. I’m wondering if I could coax a Datura seedling into growing in one, instead of the succulent shown. Probably shouldn’t, though. Responsibility in gardening, and all that. But honestly: wouldn’t it be gorgeous?
Read More Happy Halloween, 2017!Note: ‘Natural’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘safe’. A surprising number of herbal products can harm or kill you, used improperly. This stuff is no exception. So if you are mad enough to make your own horehound candy, be careful and don’t overdo it, either in the making or the eating. These are horehound candy ‘sanded’ lozenges…
Read More Horehound candy from scratchGuilty as charged: I love Halloween more than I love Christmas. I used to be dazzled equally by both. I adored the lights, the glitter, the rich mythology. Both are consumer frenzies, but I hold that less against Halloween than I do Christmas. Not so much the fault of Christmas. It’s been hijacked by both ultra-conservative…
Read More Orange Orchids & a Halloween shirtI’m shamelessly neglecting my #Inktober duties. With so many disasters both natural and manmade in the news right now, I wanted to pull away briefly, and post two old-but-fun pieces inspired by Autumn. ‘Baltic Blue 1 and 2’ are large acrylic paintings on canvas, approx 22″x36″, done around 2009-2010. While pure fantasy, they were inspired…
Read More Autumn landscapes: Baltic Blue 1, 2Okay, we’ll try another version of this. In other words: writing is work. Often very hard work, that might pay little or nothing for an insane amount of time and labor. There is no set ‘destination’, since your career can skyrocket to best-seller and movie status, or crash into obscurity with equal speed. If you…
Read More Crane’s Guide to Writing and Baking