Seeking Cover

A hike in the Adirondacks last August, a walk along the Santa Monica promenade last September. As the temperatures here rise, I begin to think about escape hatches. I think I know in which direction I am heading.

Family Portrait

This is a portrait of my great aunt Cloe painted by her sister, my grandmother, Catharine. This is the living room mantel of a family summer house in the Adirondacks, where they went during their childhood and where we all still go when we can. I adore this painting.

This little piggy

lives at El Tacorrido. A hole-in-the-wall drive thru taco joint that I love. And I love the piggy mascot. And I love pretty much any taco lately, it's all I want to eat. What is wrong with me?

Dream State

This is the chandelier on the ceiling of my bedroom. In real life it looks much bigger and sparklier and frankly a lot more garish and over the top (part of what I like about it). Hipstamatic has taken it to a much dreamier place.

Hipsta-fun

This is at the W in downtown Austin. I was waiting for a friend to finish her meeting and join me. Meanwhile, my car was parked under the tree where apparently every bird in Austin lives and getting crapped on. It was of Biblical proportions. No photo of that, I am still too traumatized. After a $55 car detail it is slowly becoming a distant memory.

Anyway, anyone who knows me knows that I have something of a one-track mind. And for the past 7 months I've been on the jewelry design track. I'm still wholeheartedly on that track (www.isabelborland.com) but am slowly reintroducing other things. Yesterday it was the Hipstamatic app which has been around forever and I'm not sure why I never downloaded it before. Apparently apps, like parking, is a category I am irrationally cheap about.

So what I love so far about the Hipsta-app is how it encourages me to focus on simple formal considerations, abstracting things into shapes and colors. But I haven't yet mastered the unpredictable nature of framing the photos - its a crap shoot and a gift when things do come out as I intended. Not unlike the old days when you'd get your prints back and most of them were nothing like the shot you thought you were taking, but instead included 5 feet to the right and below that were not in the viewfinder.  

back to blogging

For those of you who used to visit this blog for the actual blogging, you'll be happy to hear my blogging self is staging a return.

For those of you who come here for the jewelry updates, I've created a dedicated spot for that at www.isabelborland.com, and Isabel Borland Jewelry on Facebook.

(http://www.facebook.com/pages/Isabel-Borland-Jewelry/119943654753664 come "like" me there!).

To all of you who stop by now and then for whatever reason, thank you!

Make a Wish

wishbone bracelet in sterling silver

A thinner, lighter, more delicate interpretation of the organic oval bracelet.

Bracelet Deconstructed

organic round bracelet, 10k gold

I love the contrasts on this one: simple form, rougher finish, cool bright 10k gold.

Organic Oval Bracelet

organic oval bracelet, 14k yellow gold

The lines and marks on this bracelet are subtly different and unique every time I make it. Each time is like the first time.

His

large off-center ring, sterling

large off-center ring, sterling

large off-center ring, sterling

large centered, large off-center rings, sterling

medium off-center, large off-center rings, sterling

More designs in process, coming soon -

Green

organic oval, organic round bracelets, 18k green gold

bauble, sliver rings, 18k green gold

I'm so in love with this green gold.

Less is More

The minimalist Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe originally said this, and for me it is a guiding principle for most things. But as is often true, also with jewelry design I'm finding that it is easier said than done.

It can be much easier to file and sand and buff the cr*p out of a piece to get that "perfect" blemish-free finish. And on the occasions I've done this, I've been disappointed to find I have worked the heart and soul right out of it.

For me the joy is in finding the uniqueness of each piece, deciding which marks to accentuate or smooth away for the overall balance. I like to see evidence of the process, the human hand and the character of the metal. The challenge is knowing when to stop and let the piece just be. 

organic oval bracelet, 18k

organic oval bracelet, 18k

Faux Bois

Finishing these pieces in 18k gold is so exciting for me -  this is how I envisioned them in concept and design.

I embrace wabi sabi in all things, also in my line of jewelry. Some pieces are designed with a smoother more perfect finish, others are intended to be a bit rougher around the edges. I love the delicate marks and shadows that make each piece unique.

This ring is called Round Angle and it is a wabi sabi-er one. As anyone who endeavors in anything creative knows, you see new things about your work through other peoples' eyes. Like when a friend was ordering this ring, she said - "But mine will look like wood too right? You'll keep that wood texture on mine?"

Of course! And so this one is nicknamed Faux Bois. Everything sounds better in French.

round angle (faux bois) ring, 18k

round angle (faux bois) ring, 18k

I am so grateful for these first orders, several of them placed from afar based only on a few photos and a promise. I appreciate the encouragement and excitement so much in all of the various forms it has taken. Thank you!

Organic Round Bracelet and a Tease

This completes the suite of three bracelets for the initial line and I confess, I'm madly in love with this one too. I'm also posting a few (not all!) of the new pendants.

Happy Birthday to me!

organic round bracelet

organic round bracelet

organic round bracelet

paddle, amoeba pendants

Fried Green

My new happy place. Around the corner (S First and Live Oak) and boy oh boy are they good. Though hours of operation are erratic. After swinging by a shuttered trailer more than once, I asked the (very cute) guy about his hours. He was sheepish - said 11-2 and 5-8 - and then he explained how sometimes he closes it down if its too slow. Why isn't everyone lining up for his fried green tomatoes? They are the best I've had. And the grilled sandwich/wrap place next door is also pretty incredible (I was sitting in front of it waiting for mine to go when I snapped this).

Snowball

I've been knitting fiendishly which I'm sure explains why this particular merchandising vignette caught my eye. Still, I thought it was festive and creative. Let the holiday season begin!

Charmed

The magic of a nighttime taco at the Trailer Park Eatery never gets old.

Cowboy

A slice of life from the overwhelmingly massive and sprawling East Austin Studio Tour. I'm pretty sure this cowboy is also the artist in his studio. I'll be back at it tomorrow. Impossible to see everything, you can only hope to get a good glimpse.

Eastside

I'm trying to figure out why this photograph speaks to me. I think it's the Fall light. The sky of course. The idea that the elements in and of themselves are nondescript and generally ratty, but somehow work as a whole. And the notion that barely a few yards to the west is I-35 and then downtown Austin, and just behind me is a hipster strip of cafes and creative small businesses. You'd never guess it.

Park

Fun with parking structures.