I made a small series of rings inspired by the volcanic crater lake where my parents live part of the year. You can see images from my visit to this beautiful lake called Santa María del Oro (in Nayarit, Mexico), in my previous blog post. These rings are now in my shop. I have always been fortunate to live in incredible places. When my parents married, they settled in the pine covered mountains outside Mexico City, which is where I grew up. They lived there for over 20 years, until my mother's brother, John, discovered the lake. Uncle John was a recluse who loved water. Mother has memories of him as a little boy getting lost for hours along the north England shore when the tide was out. Later, he lived on boats in Florida, Hawaii, California and islands in the Caribbean. As he grew older, he ventured out to Mexico and searched the coasts for a quiet place to settle. In his travels, he discovered a small crater lake three hours inland from Puerto Vallarta. He bought land, and for the next few years, the lake of Santa María del Oro became his home. A place as pristine as the lake of Santa María del Oro -or Samao, as the locals call it- is a rarity in Mexico. It has lush semi-tropical vegetation, clear waters and lots of wildlife. It was preserved in part because the actual town of Samao settled several kilometers away from the lake, and because it is far from major cities, and the toll roads to get there are expensive. When we visited John for the first time fifteen years ago, my parents fell in love with the lake and decided to make it their second home. My father (an architect) built a gorgeous sculpted house, a studio, and guest loft, and my mother created a wonderful garden combining plants with found objects. They planted lots of fruit trees, and grew passion fruit vines along the entire fence. The lake has brought joy and peace to their lives ever since. I went to visit my parents at Samao lake a few weeks ago, and took lots of pictures so that you could also experience such beauty. My beautiful and talented mother, Julia Musi, turns 75 this Sunday. To celebrate her creative and thriving life, I decided to give her the best present I could think of: a new website to showcase her magnificent work as a textile artist. The website project began with a rooftop photo shoot to document her current collection of felted wool and silk creations. Our dear and gorgeous friend, Daysi Urtecho modeled, my mother and father assisted, Lucca (Daysi's dog) kept us company, and I took the pictures. Once the pictures were edited, building the website was also a treat. Creating simple websites is something I've learnt to do out of necessity to show my own work, and now I almost enjoy making them as much as I do creating jewelry! Below are a few of my favorite images from the site. You can see all of Julia's incredible Art to Wear, and read more about her life and craft at: www.juliamusi.com I find that working with stones is an interesting challenge. It is a dialogue between metal and mineral, smoothness and texture. As I work, I try to frame a stone in new ways, but I also want to make jewelry that is wearable. What results is a combination of both intentions. Chrysoprase and sterling silver. Chrysoprase druzy and sterling silver. Chalcedony and sterling silver. Lapis lazuli and sterling silver. |
welcomeI am Jennifer Musi, the jewelry artist behind MUSIBATTY, and this is my blog archive.
Here you can find posts from December 2013, to May, 2016. I will no longer update this site. Please click on the link below to see my recent work. @musibattyOn Social Media
ConnectRespectI made this blog to share my work with you. I believe in generosity and I want to live in a world where we all inspire each other.
All of my designs and photographs are copyrighted. If you would like to reproduce them in any way, please email me first. Archives
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