Silver Flowers and Pearl Necklace by Jim Foley

My husband, partner, jeweler, and all together exceptional person, Jim Foley, made the above necklace last week. Isn’t it beautiful? Yes!! (Of course it sold almost before it was finished).

I’m sharing the picture with you in order to acknowledge Jim on his birthday tomorrow, February 1st. (yes, our birthdays are close together, I’m three years older.) Jim has been a metalsmith since college, when he apprenticed to a German Goldsmith. Jim learned jewelry making from Horst the old fashioned way, starting with how to clean the shop, and gradually learning jewelry techniques, from designing, metal working, soldering, fabricating, wax modeling, lost wax casting, stone setting, and more.

Jim was a natural, and even his first pieces were original, beautiful, and well made. I know, because I met him right around that time, and bought a ring from him. We’ve been together 36 years now. Many, many pieces of exquisite, award winning jewelry have sprung from his fertile imagination and out through his skilled hands.

In 1990, at age 42, Jim was diagnosed with “Early Onset” Parkinson’s Disease – a progressive, degenerative neurological disorder, with no known cure. The three cardinal symptoms for P.D. are: rigidity or slowness of movement, tremor and postural instability or imbalance. In other words, Jim sometimes could barely move, sometimes went rigid or “froze” in place, sometimes shook uncontrollably, or sometimes fell over unexpectedly. Among other things, P.D. stole Jim’s ability to make jewelry from him. Gemstones fell out of fingers that couldn’t close correctly, the torch shook in an arm that couldn’t quit shaking, delicate wax used to make models couldn’t be guided into place.

We gave up our jewelry store, and set off to sail around the world instead. A crazy thing to do (read the first chapter of our book here). Medicines helped some of the symptoms, didn’t do anything for others. Jim made lemonade out of the lemons life had dealt him. He volunteered in programs searching for a P.D. cure. We went on with life, completed our circumnavigation. Each year we checked in with Jim’s neurologist, always hoping for any new medicine or treatment that would help Jim as the awful disease continued its march through our lives.

In 2001 one of the experimental treatments helped Jim enormously. Many of his symptoms were reversed – he could pick up small objects again, like pennies. He could button buttons again, zip zippers. So in 2002 when we moved back to land, he decided to try making jewelry once more. Some days he still shook too much to hold a torch, or a gemstone. His hands didn’t have the control to guide the wax as before – but still, he persevered. Techniques that took him minutes before P.D. took him many attempts, sometimes hours, to accomplish. He couldn’t use gold as he did before – his P.D. afflicted hands burned the gold up too quickly. So he turned to silver, and once again beautiful jewelry appeared.

Jim never gives up. He rarely complains, even when he has fallen down for the umpteenth time in a day, victim to the P.D. loss of balance that throws him unexpectedly to the floor. He puts his torch down, and waits patiently until a tremor passes and he can solder again. Just the effort of sitting sometimes overwhelms him, and he naps until his strength, zapped by P.D. returns.

Jim, in spite of P.D. is a master player of life, playing full out, with joy and love. And look at this latest beautiful nceklace he created in January. Jim, I salute you, and wish you a very happy birthday. I love you, and thank you for being in my life.

In the Pink Bracelet

Red Flowers and Hearts Bracelet

Two bracelets that practically jumped off my bead board – full of my glass beads, and other accents. Just perfect for a Valentines Day gift, don’t ya’ think? Made with lots of love. Enjoy!

Lyn, the Medicare Bead Babe

Today I am 65, yup, 65.

I used to think 65 was ancient – until I got here. And until I look in the mirror, I’m sure I’m only 39. I don’t feel 65, that is until I try to get up off the yoga mat without using both hands to help.

Mostly, though, what 65 means to me is Medicare! I’m thrilled to be on Medicare, because my husband and I are two of the millions of Americans with health insurance worries. We’ve been self-employed artists most of our adult lives, which means no benefits of any kind, unless we provide them for ourselves. No retirement plan, unless we create it. No overtime pay, no holiday pay, no nothin’, honey, unless we provide it for ourselves.

We’ve saved for years. We especially saved every penny we could over an eighteen year period in order to sail around the world. We invested some of that savings, and by the time we left to go sailing, we became debt free.

All of that saving years ago is saving us now. But even so, I had a $5,000 deductible on my health insurance – largely because I couldn’t afford the premiums on any other type of plan with a lower deductible. Even with the high deductible my insurance costs alone were about $500 a month. (and I’m the super healthy one in this marriage). Last November when we were in Albuquerque for a show I was zipping up the tent for the night when the wind blew the flap and zipper into my eye. I had the worst pain I think I have ever had. Long story short, I went to the emergency room since we knew no doctors in Abq, and it was late on a Saturday night. It took the emergency room staff about 15 minutes to figure out I had bruised my cornea in two places, give me some pain meds and an eye patch and send me on my way.

In December I received the bill: $1,821.00!!!! None of it covered by my expensive insurance. (Meanwhile, I went to my own eye doctor here at home. Charges for the exact same exam and treatment: $24.00). Something is wrong with this picture.

So, Happy Birthday Lyn, you are now on Medicare.

Beads from my Bead Soup Partner, Cindy Wimmer

Here are the beads from my Bead Soup Party partner, Cindy Wimmer. If you click on the photo you can go on over to her site and see the terrific jewelry she makes using her own wire work and other beads. She makes really fun jewelry, and she writes articles for several magazines. I was in the grocery store the other day, and wanted to treat myself to something, so I picked up a copy of “Easy Wire”, mainly because I really liked the bracelet on the cover. Guess what? The bracelet was Cindy’s!

I don’t usually do wire work – if any of that happens around here, it is done by Jim. And his style of work is entirely different than Cindy’s. So, I learned a lot from her articles in the magazine, and as a result have decided that my necklace for the Bead Soup party will have some wire work by me in addition to Cindy’s meticulous yet fun links. She has inspired me to step outside my own jewelry making box, and party! Stay tuned.

All of us in the bead party will be posting our results on February 10th. Read more here: The Bead Soup Party

Flower Necklace in Black and Pink

Here’s a necklace I finished making yesterday. I’ve been working on the filigrina (black and clear glass) flowers for a while, with their solid pink centers and black glass leaves in between. I haven’t priced it yet, as I’m stewing over whether to enter it into a gallery show at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. If I do enter it, and if it does get selected, it would be committed for a year. I’m not sure I want to do that – basically just for the kudos. I have a few days to decide.

Any thoughts on the subject?

Just completed this fun necklace this morning. I usually don’t have the patience to string seed beads, but these glass beads I made just up and demanded them!

No mail today, so I haven’t received my Bead Soup Beads yet. I’ll keep you posted, meanwhile, back to work with some beads I made a few days ago.

Spring Bubbles & Seed Beads Necklace

P.S. The Chili Cook-Off was a big success in spite of the MUD and cold. Here’s a photo of me (in the middle) and my friends Harry and Kathy at one of the ticket booths.

Harry, Lyn & Kathy at the Cook-Off

It’s been raining here in Round Top for the last two days (and nights) – which is great, except that the Chili Cook-Off will be outdoors in what is now a very wet and soggy Henkel Square. So wear your boots, and come on out anyway to support the Round Top Family Library. Chili’s on!!

I really got on a roll making these chili pepper beads – so created a second necklace AND six pairs of earrings.
Get ‘em while they’re hot.

The first fund raiser of 2010 for the Round Top Family Library is this weekend. Those of you who follow my blog know that I support charitable organizations that I am involved with by donating my jewelry. It’s a totally win-win situation: I can’t contribute as much money as my jewelry can raise when it’s auctioned. The winner ends up with a great piece of jewelry, and the satisfaction of having contributed to a worthy cause. The organization, in this case, The Round Top Family Library, receives much more money than I could give. And in turn the entire community benefits from a library they would not have without outside funding.

A full, wonderful circle. If you are in the neighborhood, come on over, enjoy some great chili for a good cause – and bid on the necklace. It’ll be a great party (and may the rain gods keep the rain at bay at least for Saturday).
P.S. If you want to bid on the necklace, and aren’t in the area, e-mail me before 11 am Saturday, and I’ll have your bid put into the pot.

Hey, I’m joining a Bead Soup Party!  We’ll share beads, and then post pictures of what we make. Come back February 1st to see what we all create. Watch my site, and follow the bead party link too!