Edgar Allen Poe Raven and Little Chickadee Art !

I love trawling through second hand and charity shops, and recently found this tattered old vintage music book dated 1901.

The book was falling apart, but I have a weakness for old books of any kind, so took it home to see if I could salvage something and use it for art.

I felt that the pages, laden with music notes, would make a perfect backdrop for a little bird painting.

I decided to experiment using a stencil, so as to create a similar artwork many times. Because one of my favourite birds here in midwest America is the chickadee, this is the bird I chose.

They are such cheeky, busy little creatures, but also have the most adorable lilting song and gorgeous markings with the little black cap and beady, bright eyes.

I’m doing many versions, including a stylized one, and a more natural one – depending on the layout and type of music notes.

I’m putting them into these just-as-cute frames, and they are for sale in my online shop: LizaPaizis.com

They have been very popular in the galleries, so much so that I’ve explored doing another type of bird: The Raven, and what better backdrop than Edgar Allen Poe’s dark narrative poem of the same name?

Using a base outline giglee print of my raven sketch over an excerpt of the poem, I paint an original artwork of Raven, Moon and Flowers. Again, each one is different, and comes in a budget frame, available in my Shop.

This, and the Chick-a-Dee art, would make wonderful gifts for bird lovers, or an Edgar Allen Poe aficionado!

A Summer Butterfly Design

I’ve recently created this pewter butterfly moth jewellery piece inspired by Folk art and Art Deco. Last year, I developed the concept of a stylized butterfly – moth hybrid design as seen in a previous blog post

 

I wanted a fun, quirky design that I could make into bracelets, pins, necklaces, chokers and keychains.

 

Butterfly Statement Necklace

 

As with all my pewter jewellery pieces, this started life as a delicate wax carving, from a special hard green jeweller’s wax.

The rose coloured bits is wonderfully versatile repair wax that is used to fill in and fix parts of the sculpture: Wolf Wax 

 

The carving is then cast into bronze via the lost wax process into 8 master pieces.

Bronze is a very hard metal and withstands the vulcanization process of making the pewter silicone molds in the next step.

 

 

These bronze pieces were sent to my centrifugal / spin caster to be cast into the lead-free pieces. The spin cast circular mold is typically 8 inches in dimeter.

 

Once I received the pieces back, I assemble them into my various jewelry items:

Butterfly Moth Pin

 

Butterfly Moth Keychain

 

Butterfly Moth Bracelet

 

Butterfly Necklace on Chain

 

To celebrate my new butterfly design, and also the arrival of the beautiful Monarch butterflies to our area in North America, Please visit my butterfly themed jewelry & art on my brand new website LizaPaizis.com.

Thanks for visiting !

For the Love of Trees : Drawings Paintings and Jewelry inspired by these noble Nature elements

This is my latest Tree artwork  “Tree of Love”

It is available as a beautiful print here.

It is also available as a gorgeous tattoo design here.

~ I have a thing for trees, as do so many people. I’ve depicted Trees in many forms and media; they are such integral elements of the environment, and resonate so strongly with humans. They are truly one of the great nature archetypes and possess much symbolism and sacred energy. You can see my Tree Range of art & jewelry here.

“Tree Spirits”

~ this lovely image depicts two lovers, growing from separate roots, into one beautiful canopy filled with life.

The print, as well as the original watercolour painting, are available for sale.

“Tree of Life”

This is my business logo, but was originally created as a T-Shirt design, which you can buy here.

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“Dryad”

This powerful image of a woman in a tree has resonated with many women who have bought my art. She represents the feminine divine energy in nature, linking earth and sky. It is available as a beautiful print here.

I also have made a lovely little whimsical drypoint etching of a Dryad (or tree spirit)

And, of course, there are my Tree of Life jewellery pieces,  which have been cast into lead free pewter from my original wax carving     –   all for sale here.

Tree Choker Necklace

Tree Keychain

Tree Brooch

Tree Pendant

My love affair with trees continues. I am blessed to have lived in nature reserves surrounded by trees, both here in the Upper Mississippi valley, and also in the stunning Blue Mountains, Australia.

They will continue to inspire me, and keep me company as I journey onward in my creative endeavours!

“Foggy Trees” Pikes Peak, McGregor, Iowa, by my husband – round the corner from our little home..

Thanks for stopping by!

Butterfly sketches for wax carving and a New Jewelry Design!

I’ve been pretty busy with some new projects which I’ll be writing about soon.

One of them is a new jewelry design of a butterfly / moth hybrid. I’ve nearly sold out of both my Art Nouveau Butterfly and Art Deco Moth jewelry design which come as gorgeous brooches, keychains & choker necklaces.

At the moment I have 10% discount on all my jewellery in my Etsy Shop, so don’t miss out on one of these very unique pieces as I will no longer be making or selling them when they are sold out.

Butterfly Art Nouveau statement necklace

Art Deco Moth Brooch

These are some sketches I’ve been looking at for my new design – butterflies and moths make for wonderful subject matter as there is so much variation with wing shape and size.

 

I’ll post more updates, in the meantime, here are some more lovely jewelry designs that are perfect gifts! They are all available in my Online Shop, with free USA shipping for orders over $40.

~ Thanks for stopping by!

Twin Celtic Cats a creation in many forms

Wax carving with design sketch

Silver master casting

Signature on back

 

A few months ago I posted about a wax carving for my new jewellery design. You can read the post here.

The carving was cast into silver master copies; those were used to create a vulcanised rubber spin cast mold for centrifugal casting in lead-free pewter.

I have made these pewter castings into a range of adorable cat jewelry items and accessories.

Twin Cats KeyChain

 

Two Cats Statement Ring

 

The two little twin cats are sleeping with their tails entwined in a Celtic style knot. i was remembering how my two cats used to sleep together…. This is one of the smaller jewelry designs I have attempted – I like it’s simplicity and the fact that it can be translated into quite a few different designs.

 

Twin Cat earrings

 

Cats remain for me the most delightful animals to depict artistically ~ whether in paint, sculpture, jewelry or etching. Their enigmatic beauty is so peaceful, and being able to wear these totem animals as a piece of jewelry is something quite magical !

Two Cats Necklace Cat Pendant

 

Twin Cats Bracelet

 

 

Twin Cats Pin Two Cats Brooch

 

These would make beautifully special gifts for a cat lover, and you can purchase any of these on my website shop : LizaPaizis.com

 

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave any comments below !

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Two little Cats a wax carving for jewelry casting in pewter

Those of you who are familiar with my art and jewellery design know how much I love painting and designing anything to do with cats.

I have been working on a small wax carving for a new jewelry design, which will be cast into lead-free pewter, with spin casting, after the initial master copies have been cast in silver using Lost Wax casting.

 

The wax sculpture is nearing completion – it is rather detailed, and depicts two little sleeping cats entwined with their tails in a Celtic-style knot.

It measures 1 1/2 x 3/4 inches ( 3cm x 1.5 cm ) which is quite smaller than my last Cat jewellery design. This lovely delicate design will be made into brooches, pendants, chokers, keychains and even a bracelet.

Keep an eye on this blog for the finished product – you can subscribe to the left for updates !

Thanks for visiting 🙂

Autumn Poetry & Inspiration

The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry’s cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.

The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.

Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I’ll put a trinket on.

~ The Inspired Emily Dickenson ~

Autumn Angel & Fairy Art and Moth Art Deco necklace © LizaPaizis.com

Sketch of the Day

Recently I bought a beautiful sketch book from Barnes & Noble – just the right size not to be too daunting to work in, with lovely ivory coloured paper. I’ve been sketching away, and putting some on my new Instagram account @lizapaizisart . I have been neglecting my sketching practices of late, so this is good motivation! It also reminds me of a wonderful book “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron in which we are reminded how therapeutic daily creativity is….

Today, I just felt like the first sketch needed to be a heart design – perhaps a tattoo design. The world definitely needs more love, and beautiful hearts right now….

I used a nice new Galaxy Marker for white highlights, and one of my favourite Caran D’Ache colored pencils, for this Filigree Love Heart sketch .

Humminbird tattoo design sketch, inspired by the hummingbirds outsude my window :

Red Dragonfly tattoo design sketch :

– hope to see you on Instagram, and thanks for stopping by!

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A little mermaid and a barn owl original pewter designs

I have created many original and whimsical jewelry pieces from the lost wax casting method, and here are two new ones!

As described in my previous post  I carve the originals from wax and get them cast into precious metal. Here we have a beautiful barn owl totem charm, and also an exquisitely detailed mermaid. The mermaid is actually double sided – there is a different mermaid on each side of the charm.

This has been my most detailed small wax carving to date, and it was such a joy to do as I always love anything to do with mermaids . This mermaid is available as different items in my online shop including a lovely keychain with seahorse and shell, a pendant necklace and a wonderful pair of earrings – perfect gifts for a mermaid lover!

The owl is my interpretation of a barn owl, and this totem animal jewellery is available as a keyring, pendant, pin, earrings and even a ring. You can also find these exclusive pieces and wonderful owl gifts in my shop.

Both the mermaid and the owl, like all of my original jewellery items are cast in lead-free pewter, but can also be custom made into copper,and silver. These are unique, original creations.

This is the Owl cast in beautiful red bronze, for a special beaded necklace I am creating with semi-precious gemstones, Czech glass beads and pearls…

     Owl pewter pendant necklace

I’ll be creating more owl and mermaid art next year – I just cannot seem to get enough of either of them as a subject matter, as they really resonate with my imagination and creativity – so keep an eye out!

Gorgeous Lizard and Cat bracelet cast in pewter from my original design

I love lizards, and this bracelet was one I just had to make from an original design of mine. It is cast in lead-free pewter and has a beautiful curve that sits snug on the wrist. It’s inspired by the sinuous designs of Art Nouveau jewellery, which drew so much on Nature’s creations.

It has chain on both sides that allow for shortening or lengthening, and is finished with a little silver finding.

A perfect jewelry gift for any other lizard or gecko lover ! It’s available for sale in my online shop here and the price includes free shipping.

I have also transformed my cat design into a bracelet for cat lovers :

…you can buy it on Etsy here !