My favorite pastime/obsession these days has been jewelry making. I was at the Canton Flea Market with some friends a while ago, and there was this one shop where the artist had taken pieces of vintage and antique jewelry and had recycled them into some beautiful jewelry.

I started thinking more and more about what I had seen, and soon found myself taking my first jewelry making class at the Artful Bead in Ft. Worth. Since then, I've taken others, and gradually I'm learning more and more. For more about this, see Lessons Learned.

As a photographer, this path into jewelry making has given me another dimension to working with color, shape and composition.

I frequently get my ideas for jewelry design from my travels, looking at paintings, other jewelry in magazines, etc.

Often I start with just a general idea of colors and shapes, or sometimes I'll start with a single focal piece and work from that.

Organizing the Chaos

When I'm making jewelry, I tend to pull beads out and play with their color and shapes. Sometimes, I start the concept with a large bead.

Although my table may look like pandemonium during a project, I actually have my jewelry very well organized.

I use several large carry cases that I fill with plastic boxes. I get these at the Container Store. The large case costs between $13-$15 and the little plastic boxes are between $0.49 and $0.59 cents each.