Garden & Home: Decorative Arts from Talisman Too

I’ve recently begun to incorporate my wire weaving technique into products for the home, with a small collection of tea light candle holders and terracotta plant containers. Here are a few images from the available pieces. I’d love to have your input – feel free to comment.

Wire Tea Light Votive Candle Holder

Copper Band Wire Wrapped Votive Candle Holder

High End Home Furnishings

Detail on Wire Weave Decorative Banding

 

Medallion Plant Container

Garden Decor Plant Containers

Mission Style Wire Crafted Design Bulb Planter

These items will be made to order, and require a bit of lead time to create, but unless someone is placing an order for multiple pieces, or the collection gets exposure through a popular source and I am inundated with requests, I expect I’d be able to ship within 5-7 days after receipt of order.

These items might make very nice gifts for housewarming presents of hostess gifts, as well as a special decorative element within your own living space.

I’ll be making the Garden & Home collection available through October this year, and then offering a limited supply of candle holders through the winter months.  Come spring, I’ll be back with more garden container designs and a full stock of candle holders in a variety of sizes. The winter hiatus is due to the fact that travel in a small RV during those months, and simply cannot dedicate the space required for storage on the inventory of those items.

 

What’s New at Talisman Too?

It’s been a while since I’ve posted about the things I’m working on, and in the last year or so, that’s really changed. My focus these days is mostly on Wire Wrapped Pendants, using beautiful stones that I personally hand select. For some wirecraft artists, the focus is specifically on their mastery with the wirework, but I want my pieces to be more in the Arts and Crafts era ideal, where (decorative)form follows function, and the material takes center stage.

My work is not austere. I often make use of swirls and fancy finishes, but I do try to craft in a way that the details only come into focus with contemplation. I want to imagine that people might be admiring the stone – it’s color make-up or shape, and then their eyes move toward the frame, and they begin to appreciate the work that went into crafting it.

Picture Jasper PendantIn this piece, I chose a smaller-sized cabochon of Succor Creek Jasper, with a scene that looks quite like a desert horizon, with a wonderful blue sky.The frame weave is fairly simple, with a design pattern that radiates outward, reminiscent of that from First Nations Southwest pottery.

Silver Lace Onyx with WireWeave FrameI just could not pass up this stone when I spotted it at Prairie Flower Beads in Portage, WI. The lacy black Dendrite reminded me of a row if trees in a desert.  For those who think that’s impossible, I would suggest you need to make your way to the desert soon. There are definitely trees in the desert! Wherever water can nourish them, the will slowly grow.

Wire Wrapped Lace Agate PendantThis piece, with it’s swirling colors, could handle a more complicated weave frame, an so I chose to develop my own pattern, which I call “Melody Weave” due to the delicate pattern of wire running up and down along the foundation rods, like musical notes on a staff.Ceramic Art Bead Encaged in Woven WireAnd this – This was a pleasant act of serendipity for me! I was practicing a variation of the Snake Weave pattern, a simple weave that uses both ends of the weaving wire simultaneously. I had chosen a small cabochon to work with, and cut the foundation rods to fit, but when I got the length needed, the panel was simply to bulky for the small stone.  Not wanting to have wasted my efforts, I looked through my bin and thought, “Maybe I can work with this bead…” As you can see, the result was quite nice. I’ll be looking for more pretty art beads to cage in the future.

These are just a few of the new pendants I’ve created recently, and I’ve several new earring designs as well. I hope you’ll take a few moments to browse the collection, which you can find here on Etsy. I’d appreciate if you can click a few of the little “Hearts” on anything you find especially intriguing. Doing so helps my work gain ranking in the Etsy search system, and it will also help me to better understand what types of things people find more appealing.

Wire Wrap Tutorials from Talisman Tutorials

It’s been several months since I began writing tutorials on some of the patterns I have developed, and only now have I realized I never posted the news on my blog. Shame on me! Especially as I am working on another pattern I will be calling “Melody Wrap.”

My first wrapping lesson was called “Bead and V Wrap,” which incorporates Bicone Metal Beads(or any bead shape) along one wire, with slanted wires accenting on each side.

Bead and V Wrap Wire Wrap TutorialNext, I made a tutorial which could be worked in addition the the first, or as a stand alone pattern, which was how I used it. That one, called “Slash Weave Pattern,” is a bit more complicated, geared toward an intermediate level wirecraft artisan.

Slash Weave Pattern Wire Wrap TutorialMy tutorials are available on my Etsy shop, along with my collection of jewelry, and have received positive feedback from those who have purchased them. I’ve yet to see a piece created from the lessons “in the wild,” as they say, but if you have used one of them, and want to send me images of your finished pieces, I’d love to add them here to showcase your work! Just send me a not through the Contact link on this site.

What’s New for the New Year?

I expect to be doing a lot of wire weaving work in the next few months – reason being that it has finally “clicked” for me, and instead of being frustrated by all but the most simple of efforts, I am getting really excited to be making some more elaborate pieces.

Sodalite Semiprecious Gemstone Pendant with Wire Frame

Sodalite Bead Pendant Framed with Copper Woven Wire and Antiqued for a Rich Patina

You can see more images of the work, and purchase if you’d like, through my Etsy shop. This piece was made following a tutorial, but now I feel confident that I can actually branch off on my own and come up with designs without following a step by step process.  In fact, this afternoon I will be working in weaving a frame for a beautiful Fire Agate that I recently purchased.

I’m also making new earrings almost daily, and have been traveling this last month and stopping at bead shops along the way.  Here are a few pieces that have come out of recent bead binges! Click on the images to be directed to the item in my shop.

Swarovski Crystal Pearls with Vintaj Bead Caps

Pearly Beads, from Swarovski, topped with pretty Vintaj bead caps

Another pair of earrings recently made – simple and casual.  A little bit of metal manipulation to halter these pretty Dove Gray Czech Glass beads.

Czech Glass Beaded Drop Earring

Pretty drops of Czech Glass in Dove Gray Sway from Antiqued Brass Rings

Next is another dagger-style drop design, pinched with a delicate bail.  Something a little bit unexpected!

Iridescent Earrings Black Tie Gala Dressing

Iridescent Glass Twists, Suspended from a Delicate Bail

 

Feel free to browse both my Talisman Too and Talisman Studios Shops, to see what else has been done since your last visit, and “Favorite the shops to see new additions when you log on to your own home page at Etsy!