One little acorn

Busy, busy today with a little obsession that involves one little acorn. And it looks like someone really needs to do a bit of work on her cuticles. A little hand cream might be in order too.

But this story actually starts with these leaf pendants. Yesterday started out well enough until I started making leaf buttons. Now call me a fuddy duddy if you will, but I think buttons are quite nice when they are flat. And these little monsters kept coming out of the molds twisted. Frustration, cross words, I walked away for a bit and noticed the carpet of old pecan leaves in the corners of my deck. I also noticed how much that leaf shape echoes the shape of the pecan leaves and zap of inspiration, why not just make leaf pendants with that little twist that nature provides so well? I've made these as flat pendants before and never liked them much but after making 17 of them in this new way, I was feeling a bit more friendly to the shape and in need of a break.

So I walked out to the front garden and hapened to look up at my oak tree. Now this is a Texas red oak which I am told is special for reasons I can not recall. I did not plant this young tree but I did save its life. A while ago, the very nice arborist who was tending my neighbors pecan trees told me that the tree was infected with some sort of insect and that was why it was losing branches. I dutifully poured the required nasty chemicals on the roots of the tree and hoped for the best. I am actually very fond of this tree. It consistently has the most amazing blaze of glorious red in autumn for just a few days before the leaves come off the tree. It is a sight to behold.

While I was looking up at my tree I saw what I thought might be another tell tale sign of bad health in my lovely tree. I wandered over and low and behold it was an acorn. This tree has never had acorns before. This tree was either too young or too sick or both to have acorns. I felt jubilant, really truly over the moon. Yes, I know it's only a tree, but it is my special tree whose life I saved. AND zap....another bolt of inspiration. Just abandon those leaf buttons today. There is always tomorrow. Make acorn buttons.

My neighbor and friend happened out at about this time and plucked the acorn off the tree for me. She's much taller than me and almost never comments on the disarray of my clothes or the clay in my hair when I come out in my studio gear. Thanks, Liz!

A little mad frenzied carving of models later I had poured plaster molds to celebrate this one little acorn. BTW it is not the only acorn on the tree. When you look closely there are quite a few up there just waiting to become little oaks or most likely squirrel food.

So this morning I started making things. The molds were a bit to wet yet to use, so, ssshhh don't tell Peter, but I dried them in the oven. Very handy things are ovens. I don't bake much but they do very nicely to dry all sorts of things.

What started out as buttons became a whirl wind of other things. It went something like this:

Oh, as a cabachon that large acorn might make a nice autumn brooch....

Those little leaf charms could become connectors in a bracelet or necklace...

The fat little acorn charms might be nice as shank back buttons...

Curved properly that large oak leaf might make a nice large focal in a bangle type bracelet...

Maybe little sets of acorns and leaves....

So a few hours later my work surface is a forest floor of oak leaves and acorns. About those leaf buttons? Tomorrow, really truly tomorrow.

Have a great weekend everyone!