organizing the thousands (yes, thousands) of photos that i’ve taken since coming south of the equator, i came across this one from our neighborhood back in uruguay. i passed this great sign on the way to the panaderia we often visited for bizcochos, our favorite chocolate filled pastries.  being about as in your face as advertising gets back in uruguay, do you think i’ll be in shock when i come back to the states? grin…

to preserve + + + to keep in perfect or unaltered condition; maintain unchanged. how to better remember things than by wearing them?  i’ve wanted to incorporate text and drawing into jewelry, as a way to cross boundaries between mediums and experiment. so i thought i’d start with fashioning a mixed media necklace from few of my favorite things. the loops and curves from good old fashioned handwriting, imaginative ink formations onto tissues, graphic pastel coral shapes, an antique postage stamp, cutouts, lace-like paper and remnants from watercolor sketches make up the rest. some of my favorite things, tied up in silk strings…and seafoam satin ribbon.  preservation necklace.

a tale of 12 kitchens, or, the gorgeous item to have in hand when a girl confesses she brings home arm loads of cookbooks purely for reading enjoyment. (do you read cookbooks too? does this make us odd? perhaps we should start a club…)
(more…)

long cool shadows of trees that resemble miniature train set toys. the anticipation of landing somewhere foreign, the turning of butterflies reveling in the excitement of exploration. i love the moment when, from high above in the air in an airplane, you are so close to someplace new that you can almost reach out and rearrange the landscape.

there was something so symbolic about seeing this new landscape from an aerial point of view. ever since that first landing into south america almost a year ago, i’ve wanted to explain what it was like. it wasn’t just a new place, but a new everything. flying up thousands of feet in the air and looking down put the changes i was making in incredible perspective. words come short for this feeling. but i think that view says everything i can’t. and maybe you’ve felt it before too. where have you been? what is the charm of travel for you? where are you wanting to journey? morocco, prague, berlin…my list of next places is long, but patient.

you can now find this painting and other original artwork at natural historie.

earth science has never looked so gorgeous! i’m excited to announce that my geode necklaces will now be available at natural historie. check back often for the color, cut and slice that you love as i gradually add more pieces. i admit they are hard to let go since i hand selected each one in uruguay. they are by far my favorite design to wear…

standing slightly above floralis generica on a gentle sloping pathway that curves all the way around the sculpture is one of my favorite places in buenos aires. at the favorite spot, i feel just right. perhaps it’s because, despite being right in the hub of urban life, all i feel is a collected hush. i feel it in the green trees and lush grass mirrored off the petals. i hear it lapping in the soft ripples the wind creates on it’s reflecting pool. and i think i hear a whisper from the words of coco chanel, “the more feminine a woman, the stronger she is.” which is exactly how an icon as delicate as a flower can be 18 tons of aluminum and steel and stand in the contradiction of delicacy and strength.

lying in the grass underneath floralis, you would think you weren’t in the city…but drifting in the passing clouds absorbed in the shiny flower. and no matter how dismal yesterday might have been, floralis reminds you that each day is different with a chance to bloom. every morning the petals wake up, by hydraulic mechanisms, opening with the coaxing of the sun. closing it’s petals every night, it glows with pretty warm lights. it’s especially beautiful at sunset.

eduardo catalano, the architect, made my favorite spot possible when he was 82…he still works today. in the 1950s he built the great catalano house in raleigh, north carolina, which won the admiration of frank lloyd wright, who was known to rarely praise the work of other architect’s work.

the first time i saw the adorable illustrations on lena corwin‘s travel themed plates, i knew i wanted to use one as a display tray for my jewelry. she was so sweet, she threw in an extra! thank you lena… they’re perfect. (get yours here.)

here’s a little peek into the wonderful apartment we’ve been renting, a place that didn’t take long to feel like home.  if you came over to visit, after i buzzed you in and we rode up the 13 floors together, i would show you how the window boxes are blooming like mad and how green the buds look on the bare trees outside in the plazas.  and then we would point out all our favorite buildings from the masses to choose from, ending with a sigh of  admiration at the church wearing the seafoam green roof.

of course you would be a polite guest at first, but i know that you would be hungry.  so something sweet would come out of the kitchen and we would sit at the table and realize that we were having a very rear window moment watching the activity displayed before us.  at the fourth or fifth cookie i think we would still be talking about grace kelly and her hushed voice.

then, feeling full, we would migrate over to the couches, where we would leaf through art books and magazines, while the afternoon sun changed the sky into a million colors.

yes, you’d make a good guest.

thought i would share just a couple pictures taken my first week in buenos aires inside the biblioteca nacional.  where sadly, no books can leave the library, personal items must be checked into a locker when you enter and you must request to see a book, only the references are out on the shelves.  i was eyeballing all the great old wood furniture inside, thinking of how nice they would fit inside a studio for art supplies.  the old card catalogs with hundreds of handwritten cards was a treat to finger through.  i’m a sucker for old calligraphic writing.  swirly, inky cursive words penned in elegant loops and waves…yummy. in the basement of the library lives a pet dog. he’s lived there for many years!

the city has been rainy and windy all week, and to go with it i’ve been under the weather with a cold.

i guess…if every day was glorious and beautiful and inspiring, then we would take all that beauty for granted. and we would lose it. best hold onto it on the dismal days.

i leave you all for the weekend with this little video i made back in uruguay of my dear boys. besitos, jenny