Clementine

Glaciers

2013-05-10T14:11:00.001-04:00

Along the south coast of Iceland lies Vatnajökull, Europe's largest icecap. Dozens of glaciers slide from the icecap towards the ocean. We stopped at two distinct glaciers. The first was near Skaftafell. Game of Thrones watchers will know it as "beyond the Wall." The second stop was Jökulsárlón, a glacial lagoon where the ice cap breaks off and slides out to sea as icebergs.

Inside a cave, inside a glacier


Beyond the Wall

Jökulsárlón

on the left, beyond the bridge, is the ocean

the day was bright and sunny and the icebergs moved so fast you could see them sliding to the ocean.

South Iceland

2013-05-09T14:46:00.003-04:00

One day, 14 hours. Just a taste of the gorgeous southern part of the island. The weather was so clear we were able to see three major volcanoes in one vista—apparently, that's pretty unusual. I went with GoEcco, and the tour was wonderfully tiny: just me, a young couple from NYC, and our guide, Jonas. It was such an intimate and easy-going way to see the sights.

Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano that erupted in 2010, and the farm it buried in ash at its base.

In the black lava desert, Jonas recently uncovered this crashed US Army plane.

a hidden hot-spring-fed swimming pool

lava flow covered in thick moss

a river cuts through black lava sand

What's missing in this post? Glaciers. So many glacier photos, I had to split the posts up.

But I'll leave you with the Blue Lagoon. And lest you think it's too romantic to stand, the last photo gives a better idea of the reality.

Reykjavik views

2013-05-08T16:02:00.000-04:00

On my way back from London and Paris recently (more on those stops in later posts), I stopped in Iceland. It has always been on my wish list, but never at the top. I added it to my itinerary on a whim—a three-day solo visit to a place I'd always been curious about. And it was just soooooo beautiful. And really freaking expensive.

jumping the gun

2012-03-27T11:18:00.000-04:00

You know when it was in the 70s for days and days on end here on the East Coast? Yeah, I'm afraid I got a little carried away. I convinced myself spring was, in fact, here to stay. I planted things. Outside. I know, I know—terrible rookie mistake. Last night it got down to 12 degrees. We'll see how my kale and spinach fare in the days ahead, but it sure was nice having summer in March.

sometimes.

2012-02-03T11:06:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, in the dead of winter, you have to go out and get a begonia. Bring it home, and stick it in a planter that looks like a lady's head.

Holiday Sale!

2011-11-22T11:21:00.000-05:00

It's that time again - to shop till your fingers fall off in an all-day, online bonanza from Black Friday to Cyber Monday. Or something like that.

Enjoy FREE SHIPPING on all US orders in the Clementine shop from now thru Monday, Nov 28th, and use the code TURKEY20 at checkout starting Thursday at midnight to save 20% off your order!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my US friends and customers, I'm ever-grateful for you!

Stack 'em high.

2011-11-16T15:25:00.002-05:00

The Clementine labradorite ring Jennifer now wears.

My new Odette leaf ring.

Jennifer's mix-and-match stack.

While at the rousingly successful pop-up shop hosted by Melissa and Marichelle, I got to do some shopping for me. I already have a large collection of pieces by Jennifer of Odette NY, but clearly I needed more. And she needed a new labradorite and goldfill ring that I just recently finished. So we traded. Gotta love that. I also pulled all the rings off Jeni's wedding ring finger for up-close oggling. So much pretty! There are some Satomi Kawakita pieces in there. I am a firm believer in the mix-and-match, stack-and-stack-some-more philosophy when it comes to rings.

Flora and Mineral

2011-10-26T10:52:00.000-04:00

I've been experimenting with something totally new and strange—in a good way. Born entirely of a suggestion by Lauren (of Lauren Haupt Jewelry) who came up with the idea when she saw my moss- and mercury-glass-filled display at the May Bust Craftacular show, it's a combination of flora and minerals—a gemarium! After a lot of research and experimenting, I've produced something I'm pretty excited about. And they will be debuting exclusively at the Melissa Loves Pop-Up Show on Nov. 12th. If you're in the NY/NJ area, you should absolutely plan to attend, it's going to be a great day of shopping and eating with a very cool array of artists and makers. And maybe you'll snag one of these gorgeous, mossy wonders.

LeWitt.

2011-10-06T12:56:00.000-04:00

3 floors full of wall drawings - the Sol LeWitt retrospective at MASS MoCA is huge and impressive. The colorful later work is what everyone recognizes, but I really enjoyed his earliest work, which was so focused and minute and cool - just a blank white wall and a graphite pencil.

The installation will be up for 25 years, so don't feel like you have to rush on over there or anything. But you might want to add it to your "someday" list.

{all photos taken on my phone. again.}

Suck it, Madonna.

2011-09-20T15:27:00.000-04:00

I don't know if you heard the news, but apparently, last week Madonna announced that she "hates" hydrangeas. I think my late-season beauties clearly convey how very, very sad and soulless Madge must be. Look at the selective, gorgeous decay; the dusted quality to the coloring! Perfection.

Grosse.

2011-09-15T11:09:00.000-04:00

Katharina Grosse, "one floor up more highly" at MASSMoCA.

The installation is enormous and shockingly, vibrantly colorful. Vertiginous cliffs of styrofoam contrast with piles of dirt and rocks, sprayed a rainbow of color. To me, it questioned what we consider precious: the things we pull out of the earth, the things we adorn ourselves with and the things that we discard. It was a striking display.

Air and space.

2011-09-12T11:01:00.001-04:00

What do you do when visiting friends in D.C. during a withering July heatwave (I mean, besides going out for Ethiopian food, which seemed obvious)? Go to the Smithsonian Air and Space hangar at the airport, of course! In keeping with the subject matter, the best views were from below, looking straight up.

(all photos taken on my phone!)

demolition derby

2011-09-07T14:53:00.000-04:00

Nothing says 'late summer fun' quite like crashing some crappy cars into one another, right?? While it's not as down-and-dirty-enjoyable as the one at the Cummington Fair (which I missed this year), the derby at the Tri-County Fair in Northampton fit the bill.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Departing Penland

2011-08-31T10:21:00.000-04:00

We took a little detour for some bad news posts there, sorry for that. I have a final round of photos from my time at the Penland School of Crafts to share with you, though - a little more up-beat, no?!

We spent many and long hours in the studio, each following our own direction - trying and failing and trying again. But we also spent many hours socializing, laughing, and generally embracing the whole "camp" thing. Except this time there was booze.

On the final full day of the session, there's always an auction to benefit the scholarship fund at the school. I created this ring to be auctioned off. The glass piece was made by a student in the stained glass studio: white with an etched arrow. I created a double band - sterling inside, copper outside, then made a two-tone bezel (sterling and copper) for the arrow. Finally, I affixed the arrow to the band using a rivet, which allowed the arrow to spin. NICE. The piece sold for $160, which I was super happy about. I felt like I really went out on a high note, after all the frustrations I encountered midway through. All in all, it was an exhausting, overwhelming, amazing experience.

Flash Flood

2011-08-29T14:54:00.001-04:00

It poured in buckets yesterday. Torrential barely begins to describe it. I talked to a neighbor who said she measured 14 inches of rain in 12 hours. So that would explain the flash floods we experienced. It explains them, but it doesn't begin to describe them. It was like something you watch on the news, mudslides in Chile or sink holes in Guatemala. The epic power of mother nature to deposit an unfathomable amount of water in just minutes. The road here was washed out in both directions. (that photo above shows my road being washed out from right to left, an enormous amount of rainwater that had nowhere to go but down). You can see a couple videos I took during the storm here and here. And today, all that's left is the damage; all that water is just gone. So bizarre!

Some ingenious neighbors (who happen to own a logging company) built a bridge from timbers to cover the gaping hole left after the flooding subsided. And yay! We're officially accessible again.

Good Dog.

2011-08-14T19:56:00.000-04:00

My sweet boy Tucker is gone. He was struck by a car and killed on Saturday morning. I went to find the post I'd written when he first arrived almost a year ago, but it looks like it got eaten in the great Blogger Erasure of 2011. Tucker was a challenge and a total joy. He came as a stray from Texas, covered in tick marks and underfed. He carried the streets with him in the way he ate—he would snarl at any dog who came too close to his food. But he had a carefree joy and and an incredible athleticism that was just astonishing. And he was such a snuggler! He'd recently started making nice with the cats, and Tess even let him on the bed with her just a couple days ago.

He was the Jimi Hendrix/Jim Morrison/Amy Winehouse of dogs. His drug was speed—literally. Live fast, die young. I miss him terribly.

portraits from penland

2011-08-03T15:32:00.000-04:00

I hit a bit of a wall this weekend and into this week- an intricate prong setting collapsed on the final solder and two flush setting bands went all wrong. Thank god for sparkling spanish cava and new friends with whom to drink it.

Summer Camp

2011-07-27T09:45:00.000-04:00

Day 3 of my 16 days in the metals studio at the Penland School of Craft. The days are long in the studio, and I've been getting up for 7am yoga (I know! Hardcore, people. Hardcore.) The school is nestled into the side of a steep hill in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The fog burns off quickly and the cicadas drone early.

The focus of the class is rings. I've been experimenting with texture and width so far and am really looking forward to expanding my stonesetting knowledge. One of these three rings will be going to my mom. I want her to guess which one. :)

Shaker

2011-07-20T11:03:00.001-04:00

On a gorgeous summer day last week, I made a visit to the only preserved Shaker village in the world: Hancock Shaker Village.

When people think Shaker they think clean lines, simplicity, and austerity. It's so hard to try to reconcile that with the religious fervor that lead to such an extreme lifestyle. Dancing worship, strange rituals on mountaintops. And then you look at their workshops and the things they produced: orderly, utilitarian.

Inside the iconic round barn? PIGLETS. Not even 24 hours old!

The village was established in 1791. This was their Utopia. At its height, there were about 200 residents, all celibate—not the best longevity plan. In the end, during the early Twentieth Century, there was only one man left. One man to farm and maintain and do all the things the Shakers believed were "Man Things."

And when he finally kicked the bucket, that last man - Brother Ricardo - came here. A neatly trimmed square fenced in wrought iron with a single obelisk marker in the center honoring the lives of all Shakers. Easily the most beautiful spot in the village.

(all photos were taken on my phone. I know, right?!)

Feather Edition

2011-07-12T11:50:00.000-04:00

Things I've Found in the Woods: Feather Edition.

One Hawk, two Grouse (I think?)

I found that middle one, above, on the road and I tucked it into Tucker's collar so he could carry it home for me. He looked so proud and regal wearing my feather find. I think he knew he looked extra handsome.

Peanut recycling

2011-07-06T10:39:00.000-04:00

YOU GUYS! I found a use for that giant stash of used packing peanuts I've been collecting in the basement. I know, I know. Super exciting.

Behold: packing peanut planters! These sweet galvanized steel planters from CB2 are really good-looking, but they have a ton of dead space and no drainage holes. Fill them halfway with old packing peanuts, though, and taaada! Recycled planting mojo, complete with built-in drainage for the soil and plants above (or something like that.)

Plant deets: Victoria blue Salvia (I'm totally ready for a visit from Lindsay Lohan!) and savannah grass. (The blue salvia is only hardy to, like, zone 8 or something crazy like that so I just treat it like an annual.)

last of the peonies

2011-07-04T10:05:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th of July! I picked the last of the peonies yesterday. I think you know what this means: summer's over. I know, it seems crazy, but it's true. It's all downhill to winter from here.

(the title of this post makes me think of oiled leathers; long, braided man-hair; and Daniel Day Lewis. "No matter what occurs, I WILL find you!" I used to have the soundtrack to that movie. I played it A LOT. )

Bumper crop

2011-06-22T13:58:00.000-04:00

I just can't eat the kale fast enough. It's overflowing the little raised beds, so happy and hearty and green. I scoop it up in huge handfulls and use it for a daily lunch smoothie. If you put enough fruit in there, you never taste the kale. Which is basically the only way I eat it.

My typical smoothie will have a banana and kale, almond milk, maybe some nonfat greek yogurt or whey protein powder, some carrots, and some frozen fruit- blueberries, strawberries, maybe mango. Yummers. And for some reason, frozen berries taste better in a smoothie than fresh to me. Anyone else find that?

Things I've Found in the Woods

2011-05-10T13:29:00.000-04:00

Native wildflower edition. Early May is peak native wildflower time 'round these parts. The only thing missing from this all-star line-up is the native Lady Slipper Orchid - those will be out a little later in the month, the real MVPs of woodland beauties. I mean, hello. They're orchids. That grow in the woods. In New England.

Marsh Marigolds

Jack-in-the-Pulpit (I let it get pretty wilted, sorry buddy!)

Trillium (I would normally never cut this many, as Trillium plants can take years to recover from having their flowers picked, but I found a mega stash of these pretties, so I went a little hog-wild.)

Things I've Found in the Woods

2011-05-03T13:55:00.000-04:00

Here it is, the long-overdue, possibly anti-climactic return of Things I've Found in the Woods. I've been gathering bits and bobs of grossness for you, skins and feathers and bones. The things I have held for miles through the woods just to bring them home to photograph! Most of them recently deceased.

These are, I believe, from a fox. There was a skull along with them. I jammed a stick into the brain cavity and started home with my bounty. It didn't take long to realize there was a horrible, barf-inducing smell coming from the skull and a swarm of flies were following me. Even *I* don't like bones enough to deal with gooey brain cavities.