THANKFUL

It's been a very hard couple of years for my family. Still, I am thankful. I'm thankful for all of the people in my life who I love and count on. I'm thankful that I've had such loving relationships with my parents, and I wish with all of my heart that they were here. I'm grateful that I was lucky enough to have them as my parents. I'm thankful for my sisters and Paul and his family and all of our friends scattered near and far. I'm thankful for my sweet cats. I'm thankful that I live where I do and that I get to make jewelry as my job. I hope all of you have lots to be thankful for too. Happy Thanksgiving all!

DREAMING OF RIVETS

Bronze and copper with brass rivets

German silver and brass.

Jasper, copper and fine silver.

Rivets on a very old Illinois Central engine (in Independence, Iowa)

Rivets from the South end of the Golden Gate Bridge

Lots happening here. Working on new jewelry. I'm on a riveting kick lately. Probably due to the fact that I've had rivets on the brain since Gail and I submitted our Bead and Button classes. There will be a lot of riveting happening in Milwaukee. I swear the other night I dreamed of rivets. Aircraft, bridges, robots, you get the picture. I really enjoy soldering and I'm actually quite good at it. It's a satisfying part of my tool box. Having said that, I like the look of a rivet. Rivets make it clear to the observer what's going on here. They make sure that you understand how a piece was constructed and more importantly that it was constructed by human hands. I never realized how much I employ rivets in my own work until I started to think about it. I spend a lot of time thinking about weird things.

THANK YOU VETERANS

Thank you for your service. All of the freedom that the rest of us enjoy is because of you.