DanaArts Podcast: Recent Episodes
Dana Thorup
So ever since I started to create jewelry I’ve also had to do the photography for my own jewelry. I have a passion for jewelry and making crafts that I’ve literally done this my whole life. I used to play with clay in my backyard growing up. I did leather work, and cloth bracelets for friends. Then there was a time I lived in Lao P.D.R. for a few years. There I learned silversmithing with the locals. I melted the silver down into bars, rolled it out and then drew it out into wire. From there we would make these really cool belts. I look back at this and am amazed at all the work that goes into making these. The torches used gasoline in a glass bottle that had a bellow to pump the gas through another bottle and use the fumes for the torch. Not safe as I saw many times the bottle bust or some disasters happen.
Handmade Silver Lao Belt
Once back in the US I was wanting to continue my education in silversmithing. I brought back as many tools as I could and then went to a jewelry supplier in Oakland, CA called Otto Frei and spent the most money I had ever spent at once in my life. About $1,000 dollars. I was nervous and excited. I then started to practice those skills I learned over in Laos.
Then I found a job at Anasazi Foundation where I learned and honed in more of my passionate skills with leatherwork, flint knapping, pottery and more. I could have worked a job like this forever. Not only to help the youth grow and learn principles in life that are life changing, but also to be out in nature and to feel at peace with me and those around me. Such a memorable experience that will stay with me forever.
Then I got married and needed a job that would be a closer to the city. I thought to myself, “I need to work in the jewelry field if I want to learn it.” So I went looking around all the greater Phoenix area for a jeweler job. I mean I had a little experience working with silver, how hard could it be to get a job in this related field? Well, it took me everywhere throughout the valley and you know what they all told me? They said that working with gold is much different and harder than working with silver and we don’t have the time to teach you. No one would hire me. I think I must have gone to almost every jewelry store in the valley with all rejecting me. I finally found someone in Ahwatukee, AZ. He was willing to teach me and help me learn getting paid minimum wage and I was making $6 an hour. I took it and was learning how to size rings and more. I was so happy. I also found out that gold is so much easier to work with than silver. So why did they all reject me? I have no idea. Gold is much easier to work with, although I still love working with silver.
I sill was doing my best to create my own jewelry at home in the evenings. I was poor and newly married. I have always found ways to make things work though. I built my own jewelers bench. I continued to hand make jewelry. The internet was just starting to come about and I had no way of utilizing it to help me. My little side business never really went anywhere. Then one day at a new job working with jewelry I was advancing more in the field. I even stared to work with CAD to help build jewelry. I’ve never looked back and that is where I now do most all my jewelry. I still fully handmake jewelry at times, but I also love to create in CAD with the more freedom it has given me to create designs that I can imagine up.
By this time went to school for web design. I tried building my own site to sell my jewelry. Still nothing. Since then I have gone away from building and coding my own site to using a templated service where I can design using their templates, but not have to do the backend coding.
Yes I’ve done all this just to try and save money instead of hiring someone to do it for me. I have this mindset that is probably preventing me from advancing. I’m trying to do it all my self because I try and make the time for it all, but don’t have the money to pay anyone. So progress is slow. I’m no expert and so the evil cycle keeps going as I continue to try and grow my business alone with no help and me trying to do everything from design, making, photography, web design, writing descriptions, bookwork to every part that is part of a business. This is probably why I still to this day have not progressed as much as one would hope. It’s a passion of mine and I’m sure whether I am greatly successful or not at it, I’ll continue to do it till I am no longer on this earth.
So now that you know my life story, I’m going to focus on jewelry photography. I’ve been at it for all these years is what all the blabbing off was about. It’s not easy to capture jewelry on film because of all the reflections around. So many reflections that can get into the stones and then the photo does not look good. I still struggle with it. I guess I learn very slow. I guess what I have learned is to create a white box to keep reflections out. Use good lighting and use photoshop to help clean up the photos. Still not easy, but you can get some decent results. I still don’t have a light box and use a white background with paper as my walls. Lol. Still trying to do it the cheap way.
Lately I’ve been thinking to do photo shots with a model. My daughter is that willing participant. Again, I’m being cheap and don’t want to hire a model. So she is my model for now till she moves out. This is my most recent photo.
Anja modeling my Celtic ring design
I took this on a day that was a little overcast. All natural lighting outside in a forest. I can’t always go somewhere other than home, but it was nice to get out and it helped with inspiration. I love art and love photography just as much as jewelry or any of the other crafts that I do (Leatherwork, Pottery, Sewing, and even gardening). If you struggle at photography as I do, don’t get down on yourself. We are all learning all the time. I doubt I’ll ever be stratified 100% with the photography, jewelry or crafts that I make and do. I think that’s just part of being an artist. Just keep trying. We are all at different levels. I don’t make perfect jewelry designs. I’m flawed at certain parts of the processes. Same goes for photography. I admire the individuals that can afford to buy the good equipment and just start taking great photos. I still after all these years need to buy a professional camera. I admit I’m a bit jealous of those people and long for a camera that can help ease my efforts to a better image. Or maybe looking on the brighter side of things, just maybe there is a day I get a great camera and then nothing actually improves. LOL. Maybe the intermediate camera and some developed skills over time is just as good. I don’t know yet. I’m still figuring it all out. I probably always will be.
What is the purpose of this blog post? I don’t know. It wasn’t all about photography as I intended it to be, but I’m hoping you may get a sense of what I’ve been through to be where I am. Maybe it can help you avoid the mistakes I’ve made. Maybe it helps you do things in a better way. I hope so. Don’t try to do it all on your own. Progress is too slow. I say stick to the parts of your business that you like and do your best to farm out the rest. This way you can like what you are doing and concentrate on your passions. My issues is that it’s all a passion to me and I love to do it all myself. I don’t like help. Doing it all yourself is not the answer, but I do know I am at peace and love what I do. All we can do in life is keep going and doing our best at what we love. For me if something ever comes of my business I’d be happy to be doing what I love with less worries about the other aspects of life. If not then I already know what that’s like because I live it every day and I do love life. I am blessed and I keep doing my best to improve my skills at photography and all the other skills I desire to have.
If there is ever a topic that you wish for me to cover. A skill that I do that you are interested in. Let me know and I’ll share what I know about the topic. I don’t know everything, but we are here to learn together.
Small Gourd Canteen I made with Elk leather straps
Handmade sterling silver twisted bangle. I made this from scratch from melting silver to rolling each part into wire, etc.
Ever since my 67 bug’s engine caught on fire a few years back I’ve been wanting to get it working again. I had bought the engine parts years ago and I removed the engine and it’s been sitting outside in the elements with just a plastic bag over it. Not a great situation. So I’ve started to dedicate my time to it so that I can get the engine in and get it running again. It has been quite the process and to be honest the engine is back inside. There are potential issues that will force me to remove the engine again, but with limited tools and equipment I will just have to do what I have to do. If I can get it running then I can worry about the rest. If not then I don’t feel I should spend anymore money on it and just sell it for someone else to put their heart into it. It’s in a stage where if I were to do it properly, I would need to redo so much of it, body work and all. I can’t afford to do that and just want the car to run. I miss it. It brings a good feeling when driving it.
My 67 VW bug engine rebuild - Right = engine after fire - Left = my rebuild attempt
Old classic rings are like my bug. They look so cool and have that antique look. Even though it has that look that doesn’t mean it has to have been made a long time ago. I made this one classic ring years ago and I love it. It’s not super old, but still has the look and feel. The one in the image has a 2ct amethyst stone with small diamonds and other cool design elements.
Draping Elegance - A platinum ring with a 2ct round center and accent diamonds and filigree.
So there is just something about that old classic look. It’s beautiful and feels good to just to own one. The amount of time that goes into fixing a bug up and to design a ring, clean it up and set all the stones are similar on different scales. Lots of time and energy spent on thinking and even getting your hands dirty. Patients and a careful sense of attention to the small details. In the end it pays off and what comes of it is pure joy. It’s the journey that is wonderful and we need to see life in a way that is positive. A life that lifts our soul that can help shine onto others so we can all progress forward in a constructive positive way.
So I have a tradition that I started with my family and it’s been about 7 years now that we have been doing this. It’s a tradition that I did with my Dad and siblings growing up. I grew up in Paradise California and I remember as a child going with my Dad higher up into the mountains where there would be snow. We would hike around and find a Christmas tree to cut and take home. I don’t know how many times we did this, but the few times we did are stuck in my memory. So I also started this tradition with my kids. It’s about that experience of going and enjoying the day in the mountains hiking around for a Christmas tree. Oh and yes we did purchase Christmas tree permit which you can get at recreation.gov. :) This year I went twice. lol Once with my family and another with my daughter and nephews. There is no snow here in Arizona where we go at this time of year, but it’s still very fun. The weather was in the 60’s. Perfect to enjoy the day and we did. It’s just so peaceful. I wish I could get out more often. So what are some of your traditions around this time of year?
CuttingTheTree My Daughter cutting the Christmas Tree
Cool Forest Image Just a cool area we came across
Forest Relaxation Taking a nap in the forest
Christmas Tree Our decorated Christmas tree
So I love to celebrate the birth of our Savior with family traditions and a time to remember how important the birth of Christ is. Are we actively engaged in a good cause? I sure hope so and of course we are imperfect, but we should always be trying our best.
Gifts are a joyful way to give and help others out. I remember as I was growing up I loved to make things. I’ve always made things like cloth bracelets, or beaded jewelry. I’ve gotten a lot more advanced since those early days and it’s continues to be a passion for me. I just like to make the best craft or jewelry item I can. I hope you can enjoy keeping up with some of my arts and crafts. I don’t post as often as I should, but this year I’ll do better. You can find me mainly on Instagram @danaarts and You Tube @JustinThorup
I would love to do another give away soon. I missed out on Thanksgiving which is when I like to do it. Maybe I can plan one for the beginning of this coming year. If you agree then just let me know so I can plan for it. :) If no one reads this then I’ll know it’s just not time yet. :) but let’s just keep giving and enjoying life together as we try and help one another out through this journey of life.
So as many of you may know I love to garden even though I am really terrible at it. I do try and try though. Some years are better than others. Now that I’m in my house it should be a whole lot easier to work on the garden instead of having to travel to it all the time. This summers crops were the worst I’ve ever had as it was the building of the houses that interfered. We had no water for a long time and had to transport water. Then when we had it I had to come water it every day by hand. Plants were only surviving. We had no electricity to turn on my drip system. It was just a whole mess though I tried and tried. In the end it fail despite all my efforts. The little that may have survived died because the gophers eat or killed the plants off. So a new season is about to start so I’m excited. I just have to prep the garden and then plant for this winters crops. When I garden it inspires me so much. It uplifts me. I think it’s a combination of hard work and the care I put into it. I also love life and the plants that bring on this new life. Seeing them start out so small and then grow into beautiful plants just brings me hope and keeps me working hard to achieve all this plant life. It’s also just peaceful to be around. I love just sitting there staring at the garden. I waste too much time just staring and thinking.
This brings me to how gardening inspires me at times when I design jewelry. When I’m in that uplifted state, I’m more receptive to ideas and there are many times nature itself will be incorporated into my designs. Many times it’s the beautiful curves and shapes that blend together that make up an ever so unique and powerful design for jewelry. I usually will incorporate these patterns and designs into my pendants and rings. The rings are usually wide so that they can fit these organic patterns. There is more room for me to fill the ideas that flow from my head. Not all of them translate into a great design, but the ideas start happening and I can then jot them down and test them. If it doesn’t work then I can play with it until I find something that does work. I have so many designs I have made in CAD but have never cast into metal. As with any small business owner might know, I can’t just come out with new designs every day. I need to work on many aspects of the business to make it all work together. I do wish I could just sit and create all day. That would be the best, but for now I to it all so time is limited. Even through all that I still am inspired to design and build custom designs all the time. If I didn’t then I don’t think I would keep progressing forward one step at a time. That is where passion comes in. I do all the other non inspiring parts of the business to look forward to do the fun inspiring, joyful and satisfying parts of the artistic side of the business.
sun and wheat patterns inspired by nature
So if you ever wondered how gardening can be an inspiration to make jewelry then well now you know. Gardening does not have to be what helps you make jewelry, but it could inspire you to do whatever you are passionate about. With new life comes new ideas. Try it some time. It does not disappoint!
Making forward steps one at a time is what we are all hopefully doing and striving for. These steps forward don’t have to be anything large like a leap and bound. Each step and how big each step is different for everyone. We all have our challenges and methods to cope with life. Some may be spiritual and others are physical or mental ways or a combination of them all. All of this and I get to my own challenges in life and with running a business. Right now one step at a time is all I can do.
We finally moved into our house about a month ago. It’s a great feeling and I am overly joyous of the huge blessing it is to be living on the property. You see, now I can be a whole lot closer to my shop which has been a challenge all in itself. I had no water for long periods during the build and even longer no electricity. Can you imagine working without electricity? Well, a bit impossible so things were on hold for a while. So again, one step at a time. This past weekend we finally got the electricity back to the shop and I’m excited. It’s finally finished and I can start progressing and taking that one step at a time in a forward motion. I feel rejuvenated and inspired to start thinking again about my next steps in moving forward. It still will only be a small step at a time as I’m still spending lots of time unpacking and organizing, but little by little I will get there. Patience is key and I hope to be more active on showing what I’m up to. Stay tuned and if you have any suggestions I’m willing to listen. :) Take care. Hej Hej.
New subpanel to the left coming from main at the house. The right side is where the electricity was before it was moved to the house.
I love designing rings. I remember my first interest in wanting to make jewelry when I was young. I was with my mom at Johnny Apple Seed Day in Paradise California. This fair was once a year and in the heart of Paradise. There was a park that had some booths where venders were selling arts and crafts. So my mom and I were looking at a booth that had some jewelry in it and my mom had purchased from this vender before. I was intrigued by all the jewelry and wanted to see if there was a way I could purchase some sterling silver wire so I could maybe try and make some crystal wire wraps for pendants. I’ve always been into making things so it’s always been apart of me and who I am. The vender did not have any wire to sell us, but it really got me wanting to get some silver wire. I cherish that memory because now that I think about it, it was my mom that really introduced me to the jewelry field without knowing. Then as a teenager I found a shop in Chico California that sold everything hippie like style items. I asked and they said they could get me some. I eventually got my hands on some silver wire and it was my chance to start wire wrapping. Such a fun time creating more crafts related to all the other hobbies I had including leatherwork, cloth woven bracelets, and anything else I could think of to create. Well, through the years I after that I never knew what I wanted to do for a career. Eventually I got married and was working at Anasazi Foundation (a wilderness survival treatment program for youth). I had to find a new career and that was when I started working in a real jewelry store. Since then I have learned to design jewelry in a whole new way. CAD (computer Aided Design).
I love working in CAD. It’s something I still have a passion for and love the freedom it gives me to create what I have tucked away in my head. Developing a design can be quick or it can take a long time. I have noticed though, that when I have to rework designs, they become better and better as I rework them. At times I am unwilling to rework a design because I feel I have put my all into it and it’s maybe good enough. Each time that I end up reworking the design it truly does become better and I’m always glad I made those changes. It a bit like life. For those of us that like routines and don’t like change, it’s hard to make changes. My daughter is also the same way. Change is difficult and we don’t want to have to go through with it. We will fight it and deny that we need to progress and make the changes in life. Once we do it’s really wasn’t so bad and things just got a whole lot better. Not all change is great, but I feel that many times it does or can help us to grow into better people. When jewelry changes happen, it’s for the better and I’ve learned that everyone is their own designer. How often do I make a custom piece of jewelry that is fully my idea or deign? Not often. Most people have something in mind that they want and so even though I throw my own flare into the design, the overall idea is the customers. They are the designers and even if I don’t fully love the design it’s what they want. There are only a few times, here and there, that a customer loves my style of craftsmanship and design enough to where they can trust me and I can pretty much design anything and they would love it. Just give me the topic or a little guidance and let me free. That’s what it’s more like at Dana Arts. As I am able to just freely design what I want. That is why I wanted to start Dana Arts. It’s a place where I can design what I like in hopes that others will too. A place where I can showcase my art and ideas. It makes me feel good when someone can wear a piece of jewelry that I’ve fully designed and created and have joy in it. That’s why I love music as it is one of those areas that can touch so many lives. Although jewelry is not the same as music, I would hope I can also touch lives though designs that are enjoyable to wear. Something you can feel proud to wear and show to others. Quality well made custom jewelry is a so breathtaking when you love to wear it. Beautiful rings can bring moments of joy to your life. Wedding rings are one of those categories. Wedding rings and wedding bands are jewelry that we wear daily. I know that you should love what you wear for wedding rings. They mean so much and remind us of our commitment to our partners in life. Finding the right design or having custom made the right ring design can be a decision that stays with us throughout our life. That is why it’s so important to choose the right ring as it reflects upon us as couples and becomes a part of who we are.
Sun ring and a Greek wheat square ring
If you are contemplating buying a ring for any occasion, remember the joy a quality handmade ring can be as it will journey with you throughout your life. I will always be making jewelry and if you haven’t noticed I never delete any designs. I will always come up with new ones, but if you ever lose a ring, it will be there to order again. Most companies phase out designs and always keep the new. I strive to keep coming up with new, but keep the old as they are classics too. You can count on me to do the best I can to create quality jewelry that will last through the decades.
So I’ve tried in the past to sell some CTR rings which stands for “Choose The Right”. Then I stopped because of licensing issues. I am now proud to announce that I’m have permission to sell some CTR rings again. There are only five designs that I can sell for now. I have maybe 15 designs. I will work on getting the others approved. As of now I have these five available as I get time to list them on my site. I’m excited to share these designs with you. Here is the first one that I’ve listed. CTR Rock Foundation in Sterling silver
CTR-Greek_SS_b.jpg
CTR_Rock_a.jpg
CTR-Celtic_b.jpg
CTR-SI_a.jpg
CTR_immovable_h.jpg To “Choose the Right” is not always an easy thing to do. I feel it’s easier to do alone than when around friends that may give a little pier pressure. Either way we need to stay strong and always remember to choose the right especially when faced with hard choices. We may be tempted to take the easy way out, but if we can learn to pre decide and know what we would say or do in certain situations we will make those hard choices become easy choices. So lets choose to choose the right.
So I’ll have to say that a lot has been going on because usually I can’t stand still and keep things moving along. lol. For Dana Arts I keep myself busy. I always have and will continue to do so. I’m a small business that is just me and my determination, passion and love for what I do that will keep it going no matter what. I have to admit that the past 5 or 6 months have been more than slow as far as sales go, but I continue to try and find ways to come up with new ideas, improve the website, or as of lately planing to do more video about what I’m up to. I have a few pendants that I think are really cool that will come out for the next few months as my newest featured items that you can usually see when they come out from the banner at the top of the webpage. I try and come up with ideas of what I think is cool. There have been times when a customer had an idea that we worked together on and are now available for sale. If you’d ever are inspired just let me know. I can do custom unique pieces just for you or we can work it out to put it into my line of jewelry. My shop is a bit cluttered right now. I have a 12’x12’ shed that I work out of right now. It has all my equipment for jewelry, gardening tools, and wood working tools. Oh an a lot of vw bug parts all over the place mixed in with everything.
So the shop has been real messy lately as I have been working more on my vw bug engine than jewelry. Ever since the fire I’ve been slowly trying to get parts and now cleanup to get this thing running again. So far I’ve managed to pull the engine from the car. (my first time ever doing so). Now I’ve been tearing it apart. I’ve managed to paint a few tins and am currently working on cleaning up other tins for painting. Next I’ll clean up the engine bay and then re wire the car. After that I plan to assemble the engine and put it back in. I want to test it to see if I can get it running again. If it does then I can work on the seats, windows, and the rest of the car to make it usable again. I just want to know if it can run before I spend the time fixing up the rest. The sad thing is that I am not going to be able to restore the whole car as it should be. I can’t replace the pans right now that have holes in them. I can’t do a lot of things that should be done since the car is stripped down to nothing. I don’t have the money to put into it, so I just want it running and drive able again. This way I can enjoy it once again even thought it won’t be perfect. It’s just a joy to drive my 67 VW bug. My first car. It’s a big fun project that I will share more about down the road.
The garden is doing well. After the last frost I pulled out all the tomato plants and basil. Right now I have onion, yarrow, mint, carrots, a few types of lettuce, bak choi, thyme, cilantro and a few other small plants and herbs. It’s starting to warm up a bit and I have planted a few carrots, celery, squash and more. It may not be the right time for some of these, but I will replant if nothing shows up. Already we have tons of tomatoes popping up from the old tomatoes. Same thing with the basil. It’s like a weed. I plan to keep the garden area a bit more clean this year. We’ll see how it goes. My henna plant may have died in the frost because it got frosted when my cover blew off it. Hopefully it survives. I could go on and on, but that’s just a small update on the garden.
Garden Area in the back and the fire ring up close to us.
The Garden House. It has begun. Yes the day we have been waiting for for almost 2 years now. The pad was built a few weeks ago and then it rained for a week. Now that it’s dry again the footing was just poured Friday the 16th of February 2024. I look forward to seeing the next steps and progress of the build. To get to this point felt like it would never happen. I did have to change the plans and lower the pitch of the roof from a 9:12 to a 6:12 because it just plainly cost too much. I also had to modify the foundation a bit to save some money. We are happy that our builder is our next door neighbor. He is amazing and so helpful. I would love to post about this whole journey someday. It’s a blessing that I’d love to share with everyone, but for today I’m just keeping it simple and letting you know that it has begun. Within six months we should be in our new home.
The House footing is poured.
Live is full of ups and downs. I know that nothing lasts and I’m sure hard times and good times come and go. I just know that if we keep God close to us we will be able to get though anything, appreciate life and see the light as we progress through life. Our outlook on life will be different and we will have greater peace within our life and that energy will show. I will keep everyone updated now and then on mainly the house, garden and of course Dana Arts. Take care and I’ll talk with you again soon.
Christmas season is a fun time of year. It means different things to different people and I love different aspects of Christmas. It has also changed over the years as I have grown up and after I got married. More changes came when I had kids and then now as they have grown up it also has a different feel. Here are a few examples of the different stages of life and the Christmas season.
My mom is from Denmark and we had what I feel were Danish Christmases. She would always decorate the house with danish ornaments and little scenes. Small little figurines that were made of string or wooden figurines that all had red and white colors to represent Danish colors. The Christmas tree was the best. It had lots of ornaments with the touch of little stringed paper danish flags that would wrap around the tree. We also spent time making those danish hearts that were woven together and had a handle on them. You could add candy to those too. :) I remember dancing around the tree signing songs. Also the food was traditional foods like pork and pork rinds, the red cabbage, and the pudding that has the almonds in it. You know there were only one or two whole almonds in it and whomever got them would win a prize. The pudding was always so rich that I could not eat a lot, but tried so I could maybe win. lol . She always created a magical time. I’ll always remember Christmas at home.
When I got married things had changed. No more Danish Christmas. I tried, but not too hard to keep the traditions going. It was hard because no one else had these traditions in the Latin culture and I felt out numbered and gave up early on. My kids didn’t grow up with the same feeling of magic that I grew up with. I’m sorry kids.
As I’ve grown up and my kids are older I’ve been trying to center Christmas more and more on the true meaning of Christmas and about Christ and his example and role in this world. I mean, Christ was born and that is very significant. So even though we can create a lovely time during Christmas and enjoy all the decorations it’s also important to remember the Christ and his purpose here on earth. I won’t get into any depth on this, but I’m hoping you know what I mean.
So yes we still decorate a little, and things have changed, but it’s still an enjoyable time to be with family and share giving and thoughtful times with each other. One fun family tradition we do every year is to buy a Christmas tree permit and go out to the forest together and cut our tree down. It’s a fun day that we all enjoy.
Our Christmas tree 2023 - simple forest tree
So what are some of your favorite holiday traditions?
I have to say that leading up to Christmas day is a busy time for me working in the jewelry field. I usually don’t get vacation during this time of year, but making jewelry and being able to see the joy other get when wearing jewelry makes me happy too. I have not designed any specific designs for Christmas this year, but may I suggest some fun rings to look at.
- Petals Scale band - a unique silver ring that has these like shield sections or scales that go around the band. Then it has these leave petals or stems that are on each scale. It creates a very cool nature like ring. You can see it by clicking here.
- This Life Cross pendant in sterling silver. A must see.
- The Tree of Life pendant is also another one that has some great meaning behind it. This pendant is cool because it has the leaves and a tree next to a little flowing creek and on the back it shows the roots and a more winter like tree above.
- Or this sooth and rough band it sterling silver. The smooth surface next to the rough organic surface makes a unique ring that also reminds me of nature and Christmas.
- This square ring that has leaf like patterns on the edges is a truly lovely ring. It is comfortable with the hidden side designs that bring that cool festive factor to it.
So I could keep going as I have a lot to share, but these rings are some of my favorites that are natural and have a good vibe about them. I love nature and what has been created for all of us to live with. Getting close to nature definitely helps me get closer to God. Hopefully some of these rings can bring that type of representation to you as you wear them.
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So I really enjoyed the first ever give away I did about a month ago. It was really fun and I got about 11 new followers on Instagram. Thank you to everyone that participated because it really helps. So I’d like to try this again and since Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday I’m going big. Yes you heard me I’m going big. Instead of a specific category I want to allow for the give away to cover any category of my collections that have a cost of $250. All my rings cost that much except for a few so you’ll have a huge variety to choose from. I still like when a give away is just one category in the collection, but since I’m going big I figure what the heck. Let’s do this. Are you excited yet? I know I am. So many to chose from there should be one in there for everyone to like.
A few samples of what could be yours.
Dates: Nov. 20th (starting when I post on Instagram) - Nov. 25th @ 8pm
So the rules are this:
- Like the Instagram post of the give away
- Comment on the post of the give away
- Share the post with a friend
- For those that don’t already follow me on Instagram, follow me.
Simple and easy. If you meet that criteria then you are entered to win a sterling silver ring. At the end of the week I will again randomly choose a winner that meets all the rules. The more you enter the more chances you have to win. Thank you for everyone that is helping support me. Good luck.
I love designing pendants because most of the ones I do are larger than rings and it allows more space for the design elements. Lately my favorite shape has been the round medallion pendant shapes. I have a few in the works and lots already done. I know they are big and heavy and not everyone likes that. I will try and design a few smaller and thinner ones in the future so that there is a pendant weight for everyone to choose from. My personal favorite is the “Paradise Pendant”. That’s the one I wear most often because it has to much significance to me. I like adding a thick leather cord to them because it is strong and will wear well with the pendants. Of course you can also put them on a thick silver chain, but they will wear out faster than the leather cord would.
Honey Run Bridge - Chico CA
Pendants can be so creative. There are so many shapes that can be used. For me I like to find what I feel is a cool shape in the moment and then start the design or idea for the middle. As I develop it I push and pull things around until I like it. I’m a very visual person so I usually can tell what will work and can see it in the metal as I design on paper or in CAD. Most of my design I start with and design totally in CAD. I think that’s funny because when I went to college I took many art classes. They always taught to design on paper first because you have more freedom to do anything you want. You mind can open up and be creative. That may be true, but for me I am able to be free even though I’m limited to the tools and my knowledge of the CAD program. I’ve used CAD for a long time and the tools are not really a hindrance anymore. If anything I can do things and be creative in ways I could not if I were to just use pen and paper. We all work different and have different skills and this is just how I’ve developed mine. I enjoy doing it in this way. I’ve also learned that I am not the best 2D artist. I love to draw and love to design on paper so don’t get me wrong. I just don’t feel I’m great at it even after all these years. I’m not a natural at it like some people. When I discovered CAD and started to learn sculpting in the computer, I fell in love. I’ve never sculpted clay other than making pots, but in CAD I love the ability to sculpt and save your file, then continue with it at any other time. I feel I’m a better 3D artist than a 2D one. It just makes more sense to me and 3D shapes are like real life so it comes easier to me. I’m still not perfect at it, but enjoy doing it.
So back to the pendants. This is why I design my pendants in CAD. The 3d environment make sense to me and it’s easier to do than draw my awkward 2D drawings. It’s interesting how we develop our skills though life. Everyone different with different paths. We do what works best for us and our families.
I hope yo enjoy my ideas coming to life in the form of pendants. I sure do. I get excited each time I’m able to spend some time building a new one. If you ever have a request for one let me know. I’d love to explore the idea and you will have had an influence on the design process. Thank you all those who actually follow me on social media or even read this blog. I doubt there are many, but everyone is important to me. As I try and grow my business please help out by sharing my posts with your friends. I just recently did a giveaway for a silver ring. I will be doing more in the future. Stay up to date and follow me on Instagram. @danaarts
So the holidays were great! It’s a wonderful time of year where we can all enjoy good spirits and family. Now that the new year has started I have hopes that life will continue to grow and expand and mature as the year goes on. I will go through what my plans are for this year.
First off Dana Arts will be posting a new design every month for this year. Keep an eye out for these new and exciting designs. I love designing and want to keep the flow of creativity going through the year. This means creating new design even when there are so many other things I have to take care of in life and in the business. I hope you will be as excited as I am to see each new design as the become available. I’ll try and promote each one through the month so you can have a look at it. I hope to grow Dana Arts this year as much as possible. I need your help to spread the word and continue buying rings that you love. Every bit helps when you are a small business like me with no employees.
American Flag Star ring with and eagle on the inside.
The Garden House. Well the plans were submitted on December 8th. I called today and it has gone through various steps and it’s in the actual plan review stage. They say it will now take another 30-40 business days. Really? They blame it on the holidays and being backed up. They say they are a week ahead and we should have them reviewed by the end of February. That’s a total of 3 months. Wow! I really hope there are no revisions that have to be done because each revision will take another 2 weeks for them to review and hopefully I won’t need weeks to make the changes, but it’s possible. I’m starting to have the feeling the house will not be completed before my son returns from El Salvador in November. I was trying so hard to make that happen, but it will be close. I’m so tired of waiting. Once the plans are approved I know things will move forward and wont' worry so much.
The Garden at the Garden House. Well I have finished the second strip of garden box. They are both 5ft by 15ft. The next ones will be a little longer. I need to pull weeds and then start mixing the dirt. I would like to get a few more done before spring planting. The new Home Depot just opened here in San Tan Valley so I can make shorter trips for the things I need. for building, so that is a plus.
The driveway. We need to be working on this. I have a friend that will come help me cut some 23” pipe that will hopefully go in at the front of the driveway. I need to destroy a little of the old cement of the old spot for the pipe so this new one can go in it’s place. I then would like to brick lay the end of it and then fill the top with cement. The top cement layer will be thin as this pipe is in reality too big and should be smaller, but that is what size is there and our wonderful neighbor is so kind and generous to give us that pipe. So I’m humbly thankful for their generosity. Once the driveway is fixed we can get rid of all the trash that is on the property. It will feel good to have it cleaned up a bit more. Each new stage is challenging and I am up for it. This is where I want to live and improving the land is a way to make life happier.
Broken part of the driveway.
We all need something in life that keeps us going and keeps us happy. For me it’s believing in God and Jesus Christ and all they do for me as I strive to follow the gospel that has been taught. My family and the joy they bring to me everyday. My work that to me isn’t really work, but play time. My new home where I can create a place of peace and beauty for my family and I. A place of safety where we can all grow together. This is what life is all about. With this we can also then think about serving and helping others the best we can and know how to. We are all here on this journey through life and it’s wonderful to serve and help others the best we can. It only lifts our souls and make life that much easier and joyful. I hope this year that we all can progress together on this journey of life to live it to it’s fullest.
The house plans are done and submitted for review with Pinal County. We hope all goes smooth as we now concentrate on the driveway.
Garden beds that are being prepared for this winters vegetable garden. I plan to do a total of six rows. This one is looking nice so far.
My first car was a 1967 vw bug. I’ve had it for 33 years and the engine just went up in flames.
Ok so this is just a quick update on my site in the Mission Rings section. I know I only have three rings so far and soon I will post one for Mexico. So I hope to come up with more designs, but it’s a slow process. I am not able to make a sample ring for every mission out there so I have found a way that hopefully works. Now when you order a mission ring you will be able to select your finger size and then once you add it to your cart a pop up window will come up and ask what mission you were in. Just add the mission name to the field and add it to your cart. This way I can change out the text before I cast it and you will have you mission ring that looks like the sample photo, but with your mission name on it. It’s an exciting update that I feel will help to easily make your mission ring personalized. If you wanted a date or something like that, I am thinking of having that option too. Just like this post if you would like this and I’ll add if with enough support. Thanks.
Just the first step in building a new life with my family and a place for Dana Arts to expand and grow.
So to find out I just wanted to apply for the associate membership to the Patawomeck tribe. It seams from what their historian says there is one mistake in my line. They say that quote:”
Here is an excerpt from William Deyo's book about Monteith "updates and revisions" section:
There needs to be some clarification in regard to another child that so many people have claimed was a daughter of Henry Meese, namely Grace, the wife of John Ashton. It is important that this is NOT a family tradition but was inferred by a deed of gift (a cow) of Henry Meese to Mary, the daughter John and Grace Ashton. Many believed that this meant that Grace was a daughter of Henry Meese, which was impossible. First of all, Henry Meese, who was indeed very close to the Ashton family (including Col. Peter Ashton, who is strongly believed to have married another daughter of Chief Wahanganoche because of the gift recorded in the Virginia Council minutes that the Chief gave to Peter Ashton), only made a deed of gift to ONE child of John and Grace Ashton, named “Mary”, and made no gifts to any of Mary’s siblings. This appears to have been a frequent gesture made when a person was a godparent of a child. Henry Meese was likely the godfather of Mary Ashton, who was very likely named after Henry’s Indian wife, which is why his wife has been called “Mary”, as well. We now have proof that Grace could not have been a daughter of Henry Meese. Meese was born in 1628, which is inferred by the baptismal records of the English Overwarton Parish in Oxfordshire. Even though his own baptismal record is lacking, he is listed in the English Visitation of Oxfordshire between the baptismal records of other siblings and his place as a numbered son is given. Grace, wife of John Ashton, was married to her husband before 21 June 1651, when she made an oath, as the wife of John Ashton, and relict of William Best, deceased, that Best’s inventory was a true account. Best’s inventory was made on 4 May 1650 in Warwick County, Virginia. Grace was a widow of William Best by that date and may have been married to him for a number of years. Even if she had only married William Best in 1649, the year in which John Ashton appeared in the records of Warwick County, and was only 16 years old when she married him, her birth would have been in 1633, when Henry Meese was only 5 years old! Grace was more likely to have been the wife of William Best for a few years and was probably older than Henry Meese, who was called her father by many! Grace was apparently the daughter or very close relative of Dr. William Frizer, who made her the executor of his estate and gave large tracts of land to her children.”
So if true that breaks my blood line to the Native American lineage. It was a cool though and at heart I still have some Native American in me. Unfortunately my bloodline can not be recognized by the Patawomeck tribe. I’ll continue to do some more research to see what I can find. History is hard when so many records are lost and some things are inaccurate.
I go over my direct lineage to Pocahontas and her Sister. I found out that I have Native American blood in me. The importance of genealogy.
A few of my personal favorite designs that I've made. A brief description of them and a little meaning behind it.
I go over what I've experimented with in regards to grafting ash trees and grape vines.
About Dana Arts and what I like to do. I share my ideas and a way of life I’d like to fully imerse myself into full time.
I will be attending the Arizona Bridal show and Queen Creek Family Market. Come Join me.
I go through the process of making a true loop and loop style bracelet. The joy of it and how much work it really is.
How non ferrous and ferrous metals are worked. Blacksmithing as a way to create more art.
I love gardening. What does a gardener do when he has no garden? Rips out his grass and starts planting. Ok so I’m re doing my yard and planting season already began which means planting in the grass was the best I could do on short notice. I actually have to tear out all the grass one one side of the yard. No easy task. The yard has two large patches of grass. One side I’ll keep and expand. The other side gets torn out and turned into a garden. I have way to much growing in such a little space right now, but I could not wait. It will improve over the years to come.
This image shows some of what has started to grow. I can’t wait. I love to see them grow everyday. I could just be outside and stare into space/garden and dream. lol If you have any gardening tips, I’d love to hear them. I love hearing how others garden. It’s a wonderful time of year to be outside.
Pak Choy Toy Choy
So for all my CAD work I need a decent computer. Basically they are great gaming computers, but that’s just a plus. Anyway, mine is starting to get old, but hopefully can hang on a few more years.
It’s interesting to see my last computer I had built for CAD years ago. It still had windows xp on it. At one point it was a great computer. It’s amazing how technology advances because now we can’t even use this computer because nothing works on it. I decided to put window 7 on it. Digging through boxes I found windows 98, xp, and 2000 discs. Even an unopened xp disc. Lol. Anyway I had to flash the bios with the latest update to install 7 and things were great after that. Looking for drivers I found out that my motherboard supported a 64bit system. So I installed windows 7 64 bit. As I installed drivers and updates things went bad. Computer would freeze a lot and lots of dreded blue screens. It was a nightmare. I re wiped the drive and tried again with different results, but still a nightmare so I tried the 32bit version of windows. At last it works like it should. Better than xp, but I still wish the 64bit version would have worked.
So you might be wondering why I write about this. I don’t know. It was just on my mind. Well I learned that even though my computer parts supposedly supported the 64bit system I’m sure the builders could not see the future and something about the new drivers didn’t like old parts. For now we have a simple computer that the kids can do homework on or play some games that might still work on a 32bit system. I also learned that a blue screen doesn’t nessisarily mean the hardware is bad. It might just mean that the OS can’t handle the old hardware.
I don’t even know how to begin. My hometown Paradise, CA. A place that never leaves my heart and where family still dwells. My heart goes out to all of you that live there and those of you that are helping and serving. I am still in shock and unbelief weeks later. So much devastation and destruction. It’s a nightmare that became reality. I don’t want to focus on the negative even though that is all I can think of when my eyes see all that nothingness throughout the town. It has been weeks since it started and the Paradise post mentions that “A total of 13,696 single-family homes, 276 multi-family residences and 514 commercial buildings have been destroyed by the fire that started Nov. 8 off Camp Creek Road near Pulga in the Feather River Canyon. 153,336 acres have burned, at least 85 people died, and 296 are listed as unaccounted.” My heart goes out to all those people from the area that had to go through this experience. I can’t even imagine how it was, but my heart is with you and those kind enough to serve and help in the area. I do truly wish I could be there to help my family and anyone compacted by this tragedy.
Growing up in Paradise was good. I loved playing in my backyard in honey run creek catching bugs or looking at the dragon flies pass by. Playing in the “trails” making forts or tree lookouts with friends. The fun of shooting BB guns and home made blow guns in our backyard. Seeing deer pass through or stop by to eat our flowers. Riding bikes all over town with no sidewalks and going so fast down those hills. Going back up not so fun, but all good times. Walking pretty far to friends houses or even to the grocery store. Never any room for boredom or maybe boredom helped create fun like slicing through water filled soda cans with swords. I’m sure my friends and I remember good times like those. Really it was a great place to grow up. I’ve never been able to create the same type of environment for my kids unfortunately.
I and all fellow Paradisians will have an attachment to the town even after we leave. Memories are what we take with us, I’m glad that my family made it out safe even if there is nothing to return to. We still can hang onto our rich memories that will stay with us forever. With love…
The is where I grew up. Totally destroyed all but memories.
Photo credit goes to whomever took the picture for the active destruction map of the Camp Fire that started on Nov. 8th, 2018
What is Matrix?Matrix is a plugin for Rhinoceros software geared toward the jewelry industry. It has been around for many years now and I got involved and started using this CAD program in 2004 or 2005 when version 4 was out. It was a tough learning curve at first, but once learned it only got easier. Each version had it’s ups and downs with the software developers introducing new tools to make building rings easier. Sometimes the new tools were only half developed and probably never got popular because of that. Other tools had more time spent on them and became the strengths of the program that has made life a whole lot easier bugs and all.
Community & CultureSo I always enjoyed being apart of this growing community of Matrix users. I had learned how to use CAD and I love sharing what I have learned with others. GV (Gemvision) always brought an excitement for new versions of the program. My favorite to this day was the day we received the newest upgrade in a sphere. The CD inside and the coolness of it. Then comes the GV symposiums. I was fortunate enough to attend a few of them. It’s always fun and exciting to learn better tips and tricks, be with fellow jewelers, and to meet new people. One of the highlights to me was always the CAD contest which we could enter a design into one of three categories. What a great and enjoybale times. It was like magic. They did a great job of creating this community of fellow like minded people that could share and have fun together. After a training or symposium we had the forums to reconnect and continue our new found relationships and share knowledge as we learned the program together helping one another along the way.
Big company buys Little companyMatrix has been around for a while and has helped the jewelry industry immensely.
I never thought that would happen. I’m very sad about it, but should have seen it coming once Stuller bought it.
Stuller is the big company. A great place to buy tools, metals and findings, etc for the jewelry industry. I’ve used them over the years and am glad to have had them to purchase what I’ve needed for my artwork. So the big company takes away the magic. It’s too corporate to make it have the same feel as a small close company. I think of it as a big pool absorbing a drop of water. The big company only getting bigger while the small one disappears. So sad!
The Future What does the future look like? I can only give my opinion here, but it’s promising even with all the craziness that’s happening.
I totally disagree with the way Stuller is going about the death of Matrix. They sent out emails for users to upgrade before they can’t anymore (users not knowing if Matrix’s death). Then they announced that there will be no more upgrades or future development of Matrix. They closed their user forums too. Just like that years of knowledge gone.
They came out with a new software called MatrixGold Essentials. The pro version in the future. What does that mean for us? Bad news. I can only speculate, but I already see them treating users unfairly. So will they offer an upgrade price to the new program? Or only offer the new price? It’s not right to scam us into upgrades and then cancel the program. Full price? Will they stop our Matrix key from working so we have to buy an $8k program? Who knows. I do know that we don’t know. Lol
So the future regardless of feelings. There is a future. We will have to get on board somehow and evolve. I’m sure the new program will be awesome. We will continue to grow, learn and develop. As you can see though, they have lost the small business magic and it’s all gone to money and who cares about the rest. Let’s force the money out of them. hahahaha.
ConclusionIn all seriousness I’m hoping they will care for the old user base and work on keeping us happy instead of pushing us away. I’m hopeful for the future and know it will bring some amazing new tools for us users to keep creating and making a living. So the real answer is that yes, Matrix is dead, but alive until further notice.
I know, I know. When you think of crafting you may not always think of leather work, sewing, gourd making, etc as crafting, but I do. I’m setting up this table as a way to finally have a designated spot to do what I love doing. My little area outside the shop. I know it’s a messy table, but that’s because I’m not done organizing the area. I brought most all my crafting tools to the table and now I’m trying to figure out what I need to get organized. I’ve put up some shelves so far, but the area needs a lot more. I’m excited about it. I’ll keep an update of it as I go. Here’s to more of my creations of art. :)
Leather working and sewing table.
You know ever since I lived over in Laos and learned a little about raising metal, I've wanted to do the same here in the U.S.A. I never got that stump that I felt I needed to make it all happen. 20 or so years later I finally bought a stump and am motivated to start using it. Hopefully I can find the time to start learning this again. I love doing it so hopefully I can get some practice in. As yo can see in the image the first school I went to to learn silversmithing. I worked on the bowl for a long time over that stump and although I made it too thin by the end, it was my first one and I love how it turned out. We started by melting a bunch of silver into a button. Then from that point on it was all hammering and annealing. First hammer out the disc and then start to raise it. Then chase it at the end. I hope to do this process again because it brings back so many memories, but for now I think I'll buy the sheet to save time. Either way I now have a stump and a few hammers to get going. This was a long time waiting, so let's see what can come of it now.
My new stump
Don't we all feel like this sometimes? A little fun mixed with crazy hair day? That's all I can say about this.
Anja's Crazy Beach Hair
Some silhouettes that I captured of my son. I love playing around with photography. Lately I have had to do most of my photos from my phone. I like how they turn out, but I wish I had the higher resolution of my SLR camera. Anyway, I do love the feel this photo captured.
Lucas' Silhouette at lake Rroosevelt
We needed a little getaway so we jumped into the car and headed for Utah to visit my Aunt and Uncle. We got to head up the canyon to see a little snow. The kids second time in snow and they absolutely loved it. It's nice to get away from the heat once in a while.
This also goes along with inspiration and design. There are at times when designing I tend to be less inspired or have no motivation. That's when I need to change things up and do something in a way I haven't done before. It again rejuvenates me and inspires me to move forward with more interesting designs. I'm sure we have all come across this so just like in everyday life we need change, as artists we need change too. As long as we can keep moving forward that is good. Anything not moving forward is only going backwards. You might say you are not an artist. I believe we are all artists in our own way. We all express ourselves in our own way. So let's all keep moving forward on this wild journey of life and art.
My family in Utah Snow
How are things going with you and your family? I hope well. Weeks ago we went to the Phoenix zoo. It was a cold day and even a bit rainy. We enjoyed walking around seeing all the wonderful animals. My youngest daughter loved it the most since it was her first time getting up and close to animals this big. I captured this orangutan relaxing and keeping warm. I thought it was just so cool. At times we need to take a break from our daily schedules and spend time with the family doing something we can all enjoy. The zoo worked out great for us. I always enjoy visiting animals as they can have a huge impact on our lives. I hope to do more fun things this year with my family and so should you. Have a great year everyone!
My first car is this blue 1967 VW Bug. I even took my driving test in it and I've owned it for 28 years. As my main car for 20 years it had a lot of wear and tear put into it. Also this Arizona heat did not do nice things to the interior. Although I've had a different engine put in at one point it died on me about 8 years ago and has been sitting in my garage. I got it fixed and it's running now. It has front end damage from a few crashes, but the rest is in fixable condition. My goal is to slowly fix it up with my son. It won't be a full restore or anything, but a fun project that will bring the car back to a better condition and a little father and son bonding time. I'll try and share images as we work on it. Our success and failures. I would love to get it to a point of safe so that my son possibly can drive it. My first car - his first car. :) So many memories.
My 67 VW light blue bug
What a great time of year. I love getting together with family and enjoying this time of celebrating Christ’s birth. With all the gifts and the way Christmas is promoted it’s hard at times to teach our kids why we have this Holiday. My 5 year old wasn’t quite connecting this holiday with Christ. After we’ve been exlaining it she now knows, but still is excited about the rest of the holiday. I hope we can all enjoy this Christmas season and to remember the true meaning of Christmas.
I love this season. The fall colors. The leaves that start to fall off all the trees. Where I live I only get a glance of that depending on where a good tree with leaves is, lol, but I still enjoy it. The cool weather is perfect here in Arizona.
Thanksgiving always reminds me of my childhood and mainly my Grandma and Grandpa's house. Cousins would come and we had a great time playing together. The smells of the turkey, mash potatoes, squash, etc. were so enjoyable while we played. All the adults in the kitchen working hard while we all played. Such great memories. I really wanted something similar for my kids while they grow up. To my surprise my situation is not even close to mine growing up and I don't know why I thought it would be. Maybe I just wanted to hang onto the memory and create a similar one for my kids. Well that's not going to happen. They dynamics are so different with my own family is a whole new memory for my kids. I hope I've been able to create a fun time for them so that they'll be able to have fun memories with family during this holiday. Let us all remember and cherish family and the good times we have together. Happy Thanksgiving!
No I don't mean get away from me or anything like that, I mean at times we need to get away from our daily routine and re freshen up. That is what I did this past week. Just my family and I went to enjoy Pinetop, AZ for a bit. Loved the cooler weather and the pine trees everywhere remind me of my home town, but smaller. We enjoyed bike riding, horseback riding at Snowy Mountain Stables, and hiking trails. I completely forgot about my normal life for a while. That is how it should be. Forget and refresh. Here are are a few images of my time there. I can't wait to do it again. The worst part of leaving reality is coming back. lol.
Horseback riding at Snowy Mountain Stables
Red Barn
I love taking portraits. They are fun and can give a good story about a person along with some personal character. I was just having some fun with my daughter as she was posing for the camera. She always has a great smile and does great with pictures. That's the best way to be able to capture someone in their comfortable natural state. Whey posed too much it can be awkward or unnatural in some cases. I'm glad I was able to capture this moment in time. That's what photography is all about. Those little moments caught in time to help us remember. That's another reason I love photography so much. Moments in time...
Solar Eclipse 2017. I was not fortunate enough to be able to be in the spot of totality. I was at work and did not even have my good camera. So I used what I had, an iphone 6. This is what I got. It was still exciting, but I really need to make the effort to see it in totality on April 8, 2024. Either way these are a few shots I got. the lower one the camera didn't capture it, but the lens flare did. Kinda cool. Anyway, I hope anyone watching had a great time. I know I did. :) Nature is just exciting.
Kinda raining with clouds around yet letting the sun shine through. I had to stop the car. I got out and took this panorama of a double rainbow on my way home from work yesterday. Magical and breathtaking. It's like the road leads right under it or to the pot of gold at one end. To me just seeing it was my pot of gold.
Taken on the street curve of Higly and Hunt Hwy in Arizona
I've been going through all my old packed up belongings and I have come across some of my old pottery and gourd canteens. Sometimes I forget what I've done in the past and move one. Well sometimes, like this time, I can look back and get inspired by my own work. lol. It gives me new ideas and ways to make new things. I love it. It's like a whole cycle. Maybe forgetting sometimes is a good way to be inspired by the old. The old becomes new. :)
Old Gourd Canteen
I love being an artist. Coming up with new ideas and seeing how they turn out. Sometimes they are cool and other times they should be thrown away. Either way it's just fun developing ideas. Well a job can kinda ruin that. Maybe not all jobs, but some can. For example you actually can't design anything because the customer is the one designing it (or a sales person). In the end you have to make it they way they like it and it's still art, but for me sometimes that kills creativeness. Yes it can also bring about better ideas and development so don't get me wrong. Lately I just feel that at my day job I can't be an artist. I do as they say like a robot. Yes I get to build jewelry, but not how I want to or how I think it should be. It's always how everyone else wants it to be. So would I be considered a designer? Not in my opinion. I feel I can only truly be a designer when I have the freedom to put my thoughts into a new design. Otherwise it's like an assembly line to me. This is why I love DanaArts. I am able to freely create anything I want without someone telling me what I need to do or how to do it. That is what it's all about for me. That's why I keep on going and keep on pushing forward even when no one knows who or what DanaArts does. I will continue on forever creating what I enjoy doing. It's what keeps me going and pushing on in new ways. If you are feeling the Artist Shove Down then take a break and do something creative. It will inspire you to create beautiful things.
The feeling when being shoved down and you have to shine to overcome it.
I miss working with clay. I've mainly only mixed my natural clay and built coil pots and fired them in an open fire. I really don't have access to natural clay anymore so I have tried buying some pre mixed clay that seamed to be similar to what I would mix. I have not had time to test fire it yet, but I miss mixing and working with clay. I think I have too many hobbies that I just can't get enough time for. I bounce around between them and never get to fully fulfill my intentions. I don't have time at the moment to build any coil cooking pots, but I hope to very soon (just like everything else, lol). This image shows a pot I've done in the past. It has a red ocher slip on the outside. It came out great. I truly wish I could continue to gather my own clay and do it all from scratch. There's nothing like finding a clay source and testing it to see how good it is. Or to try and make not so pure clay still work. To make it easier for now I'll have to use the premixed clay. Well, here's to hoping for more time. :)
Red slip coil pot. Fired in an open fire pit.
I like to try and go camping with my son and daughter a few times a year. This year I have not been able to do anything till this past weekend. Mainly it's that I don't trust my jeep anymore now that it's getting old. I prefer going with someone just in case. So we (my son and I and Red our dog) went on a Father and Son's camp out. We really enjoyed our time together. We hiked down a creek bed that was not too easy and had lots of areas that we had to climb around to keep going. We would even pass the dog over to each other through some of the boulder climbing or tough areas. It was a good experience for all of us. For me just being out there with my son is important. It gives us time to be with each other in a different way than in regular everyday life. We make decisions together and are more united. After our fun hike on a nice cool day, we shot a hand made bow made from tamarisk . It was not very powerful, but we had fun just playing around with it. These were good times and I hope we all can create them with the ones we love. Here are some images of our time together.
Father and son's outing
This is something I enjoy very much. I've never fully done or made all that I've wanted to or I haven't learned everything I want to learn about it. I've usually only made things out of soft leather, but would love to start learning how to work hard and thick leather along with tooling it. I might also try and mix leather with material. Maybe this year I can get back into leather work because I miss it. If you read this and don't see any postings of images with leather in them, then please reach out and tell me to get on it. Thanks, :)
Ideas are always around, but sometimes it's hard to get inspired. I shot this in my backyard of a sunflower that has not yet bloomed. Well it has now, but not in this image. So Sometimes when I don't have any inspiration or ideas coming for designing something or for photography I have to just do something. By doing something and not standing still, eventually I'll get inspired to move in a certain direction. Then it grows and I start getting a little passionate or obsessive about it. Then I exhaust that idea and move on to the next and let my old thoughts and ideas sit on the back burner. Ideas come, but you have to open up and let your surroundings inspire you. Be grateful for what you have and be humble enough to see the most basic of ideas that can come to light if you just experiment a little. Don't just sit waiting, be active and creative.
Sunflower reaching for the sun
Sunshine is here. It's already going to be in the 80's here in Arizona. One good thing is that my garden is doing well. Here is one of the sunflowers starting to do it's magic. The little bee is helping too. So yes, it looks like it's all sunshine from here on out.
I've been busy with projects for other people. Maybe soon I can work on some new designs. :)
It's so fun to sketch, but I'm not great at it. Sometimes things will turn out great and other times they don't. Sometimes I have to work hard at it and other times it just works out. I guess it all depends on the type of sketching taking place, but I'm talking in general. Either way I like it and it's fun. Here some old sketches I've done over the past year. Not sure what they are. lol. So yeah lately it's been patterns. They are what I like to do best. I'll have to try and post something other than patterns at some point. Sometimes sketches, for me, are a way to take a break from thinking too much. They help my brain go free since at times I have very structured art when it comes to ring design. Let your mind be free.....
Progress is important in many ways. That is how we move forward. If we are not progressing then we are only going the opposite way. My progress is slow since I only can work on Dana Arts a few hours a night and not every night. Either way I do my best to progress and move towards my goals. This year I really hope to be active and share as much about what I do as I can. As new designs come out I'll be adding them to my site and non produced rings will be rendered in an obvious way to know it's not a photo. I also will do my best to keep some videos going. It's always hard for me to find the time to get them going, but I really must try harder. I will also post them on my YouTube channel as I make them. If I'm slacking in any way just let me know.
Maybe these Cacti will push me. No sitting down. :)
Always moving forward even if it's only baby steps.
I love to hike and I have a job where I sit all day. I love winters here in Arizona because they are not that cold. So at lunch time I go for a 45 minute walk on a small trail that leads across the top ridge of the small mountain. It's a great view and at least gives me some movement in the day. Exercise is important to me so this is the way to do it. Take advantage of all the time available. Lets all start the new year with being strong and moving along and never quit.
ahwatukee foothills
So I took this picture of Red with the help of my daughter. It wasn't easy because red is very active. We at least got this one cute shot of him. It has been difficult or tiring for us having a new puppy, but he is doing great. He's growing so fast. I hope we don't teach him any bad habits as he grows. Lol
Red 12 weeks old
So I've been thinking about some of the designs I have done and have never been made before. I have quite a few. Not all of them are great, but some of them are pretty cool. I do not like putting up the rendered images of my designs because it can cause a little confusion about what the finished product will look like. I do my best to render them like the real thing, but the overall finish is never the same. I'm talking about the overall shine, blackening, and hard to reach places. The renders are too perfect or not accurate. All the images on my site as of now are all photographs of rings I have already produced. Well I'm going to start posting renders of rings I've designed, but have never produced yet. I will render them with a darker background so you can tell the difference. I leave the overall finish to me so to some degree if you are the first to purchase one of these rings in silver you are the guinea pig. In so doing I will discount the ring to whomever is the first buyer of that ring. The normal price $250 and it will be discounted to $200. That's a great savings and deal to get the first ring ever made of that design. After the first time the ring is purchased the price will go back up to $250 and I'll add real photographs of the ring to the listing. So look for the rendered rings and save $$$$. Not only that, but you'll have a cool ring to wear.
What a wonderful time of year. I just wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas!
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!
Anyone else out there have a dog?
We are excited to be getting a dog. We are naming him Red. We will pick him up this coming Saturday. I have to get ready for the sleep deprived days ahead. :) It's our first dog so this will be fun for the whole family. I had dogs growing up, but I never had the responsibility of the overall care and expenses that goes in to having a dog. This is all new to me and I'm a bit nervous. My kids are a blessing in my life and help challenge me in new ways. Thanks to them we will have this new life form join our family. Welcome Red...
Red Miniature Poodle at about 4 weeks old
I'm having some fun with these designs. They are some of my earlier designs that never get old. The square came from the round version just to change things up. I've always loved creating these and wearing them because they are not your standard bands that you can find anywhere. These are just solid designs that are not just found anywhere. I love to come up with new patterns. They don't always translate from sketch to reality so in the design process I have to adapt as needed while creating them. Hopefully you'll have able to enjoy wearing them as much as I enjoy making them.
I love to Render objects I create in CAD. It's fun to try and figure out how to do it well. This is a scene that I created for a design contest many years back. It did not win anything, but I had fun building the scene. The water is what I am most proud of. I was able to create pretty good looking running water which for me is hard to do. Hopefully this year I can try and do another something cool. We'll have to see. This was more about the render than about the jewelry. Hope you like it...
rendered in V-ray
It's here! Such a fun time with family and a break from work. I've always enjoyed this season with getting together with family and well, food. Now that I have kids of my own it's fun to see them with cousins playing around together. It seams as if the retailers always skip Thanksgiving holiday and jump right into Christmas after Halloween. Well I'm certainly celebrating this time of thanks and I wish you all the same. Relax and eat up!
Now is the time to place your orders. Well you have maybe 1 weeks before it won't make it in time for Christmas. This is a busy time of year and packages can have a hick-up because of weather, etc., so please order soon to make sure there is no delay in receiving your items.
A few Rings I just finished
I've always have loved to make things with my hands. All growing up I found things to make from woven string bracelets to leather work. I preferred staying home to make things rather than go out to a party or have fun in other ways. Now that I'm all grown up and still growing up, I still prefer to stay at home when ever I can to make something rather than go out and tour the city. The only difference now is that I don't have much time to do the crafts that I enjoy. Work gets in the way of my hobbies as it does with most of us and when we have time we are tired and have less energy than we once did especially if you have kids like I do.
I feel I have even less time now with a job and a family and my side art that I make and sell. My crafts are more of a hobby because I can never find the time to work on them and selling them may cost too much for most people. The time that goes into making some things I don't feel I could ever get paid what it's really worth. Either way I don't want to not offer it for sale either. I will start to add crafts to my crafts section as I finish projects. There will be very few and the price may or may not reflect all the time put into the project. I'll have to decide that when I list it.
My crafts will consist of a variety of things. Leather work, coil pots, gourds, or any other mixture of materials used to make them "my way". They are made with love since they are done in my "spare" time and I do my best to use natural materials. I hope you'll enjoy viewing them if you are not purchasing them. Fun Fun Fun. :)
This is a new design from old parts. I took a few old parts and combined them into something new. Wings are always cool. This one has 4 wings or 2 sets of wings with decorative patterns in between them. The is just a simple CAD render and not exactly how the finished product will be, but should give a good idea.
The design process is very interesting with any design. They all start in different ways. This one started off as a simple drawing. That didn't work out. I scratched everything except for the long lines that go along the edges. Then I just jumped into CAD and started with a band. I inset the middle surface and started to try and get ideas for the rest of the design. I pulled out the wings and just loved how it went with the long stripes. I then made some new patterns to go in between them. That is the quick version of how one thing led to another. :)
I don't really like the idea of Halloween, but taking all the meaning out of it it was always fun to dress up and get candy growing up. The same is true with my kids.
My younger kids love to dress up and Batgirl wins again. I hope you all stay safe out there this year and have fun.
Batgirl with a smile
So things are still moving along with Dana Arts. I'm working away at the site and as always figuring things out and keeping myself busy. It's that time of year where it's starting to get darker sooner and cool off a little here in Arizona. Still in the 90's, but not bad at night.
My wife planted sunflower seeds in our back yard. we already have 10 of them starting to grow. I can't wait till they all bloom at the same time. It will look so cool. I'll take some pictures once they grow up a little. So if you are in my area, it's time to start planting your winter crops. :)
So I've managed to start the process. I thought, "what the heck!". So for now I have a few libraries and a few more coming. The shanks have over 30 in it. I have parts and also some nice halos. These really save so much time if you work with t-splines and CAD to make jewelry. Most rings may need pieces from each library. Mix and match is the game. Have fun. They are listed in the new CAD section
I'll add some related videos on how to use parts to build a ring in more depth or more specific soon.
For any Martrix 8 users out there, I've been thinking about selling some T- spline library folders. They would be priced according to each folder and may have 10-15 pieces in each library folder. | just need to prepare them properly. Stay tuned it still might take me a month or so to prep everything, but the idea is there.
So I was working on my site of course and I ran into a snag. I could not get the shopping cart to work with variant options the way I needed. I found a workaround that has to do. So when selecting a gold ring to buy you will have to just add it to the cart and then a popup will allow you to add the metal color. Just that simple. It's one of those hidden simple things that hopefully doesn't confuse anyone.
So I'm still working on it. It will be a while, but the latest is a lot of rearranging and planning. I'm just throwing up the basics and then I'll slowly refine it. Nothing is permanent yet. I am starting to add some jewelry products that I already have listed on Etsy. It will take a while to add all of them, but I'm excited to finally start selling from my site for the first time. Sorry if there are any bugs. Still working things out.
I love this ring. Just woks.
You know none of us have enough time for everything. We have to pick and choose what's a bigger priority and go with that. Everything else just waits and gets pushed back till we are able to get inspired enough to feel it's a bigger priority than something else.
Well, time or no time, I have been wanting to redo my website for years now. I built the first few sites from scratch. I never wanted to use a template because they were all too constricting and didn't allow for my freedom of artistic view to be expressed. Well, technology has gotten better and I don't have time to keep rebuilding my site. It took over a year to get to the point of starting on it again. I also knew in the back of my mind that I would never finish for years to come. A little here and a little there. Just no time. So I'm bending my rule and am jumping into the template realm. This way I can actually get it done and spend more time on what I more enjoy doing and that's jewelry and photography.
So bear with me as I slowly build my site. Even with a template site it will take me some time. I hope you'll enjoy it as you see it develop. Give me 6 months and hopefully all the bugs will be worked out too. Time is an interesting thing. Wish I had more of it. :)
I thought I'd post an old video I made of a ring that I handmade. I hope to have time to make more videos. Here it is. It's an engagement ring. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tumdkoyqtl0
I just thought I'd update what's been going on lately. I found a little time to work on a video. Still a lot to do and still not finished after a few years. I need to find more time to work on it.
So far this past year I was able to make new business cards, a few new designs, receive honorable mention in the render category of the Gemvision design symposium 2012 and have lots of fun. Work is fun so I never know when I'm working or having fun. It's the same to me. :) This year I hope to work on the video, shot more photography and practice some more art. I'm getting into digital art a little more. I feel the key to it is drawing directly on screen. Without that it's not as much fun. I'm inspired to keep moving along. If I ever create anything worth while to share, I'll share.
This was my most popular ring for 2012.
I'll try and post more often. Until then, bye. :)
I always try my best to do everything. There is a lot to do and I get behind (videos still coming like I've mentioned in the past). Well, I thought I need to start marketing my work now that I have quite a few bands done. I'm doing my research and I'm going to start experimenting with it. I hope that I can figure it out. Wish me luck. :)
Lately I have been thinking a lot about wilderness survival. I have made a note that isn't quite finished on Facebook. I will be adding more photos and experiences, but for now I thought I'd share it. You may need to be a friend of a friend or my friend to see it, but if your interested in it and can't see it then let me know. I share how to start a fire with the bow drill. It's very fun and an exciting way to start a fire. Here is the link. Note on Making a fire Make sure you are logged into Facebook.
Recently I have been inspired to make more bands. This past year I have been working on a series of bands with patterns on them. I have broken them down into different categories on my site. Hopefully this will help when looking for certain rings. I first started out with my his and her series. This series is very unique in that it connects couples with matching bands. I plan to keep working on new rings and themes for this section of my site.
I also have added lots of textured bands that are very different. These textures should not wear off and they look very cool. I have gone crazy and have added many textures to the rings that come to my mind while designing. I hope you can enjoy them too.
I have a few more sections with other bands. They too are unique with patterns. There is no theme to these bands, but they are truly neat to see and wear. Check out my site to see my newest items. Dana Arts You can also follow me on FaceBook where you'll see the most recent designs. I hope to see you there.
Lately I've been wanting to do lots of videos. Videos about jewelry and just videos in general. I for some reason just love to make them so I will start out with a project to make a promo video. Stay tuned to see it. It may take me a month or so, but it will come.
The Art of Jewelry and CAD can be a combination that creates jewelry never able to be done by the average person like you and I. Now with new technology CAD jewelry can help you create things you never thought were imaginable. I love to create beautiful art. Using CAD has enabled me to push the limits of Jewelry Art in a way that I never imagined. Feel free to look around at my work. www.DanaArts.com