Welcome to the Studio

Hello, I'm Penny Ward Marcus. Welcome to my studio blog.  This is the place where I will show works in progress for my jewelry shop on my website, which is coming very soon. As I expand what I do on my website, it will be discussed or announced here.

The studio is my place to make, paint, write and dance where no one can see me. This is it in full-on mess mode. Yes, that is a bagel on the counter.

It isn't exactly like the arts and crafts spaces pictured in Houzz or Pinterest. First, I haven't figured out how to keep paint off the counters or walls (or myself), so those all-white odes to creativity wouldn't look that way long with me working in them. This is where I make, paint (usually with alcohol ink, not pictured is my full face mask), create jewelry, cards and whatever else I feel like taking on.  Sometimes I even write blog posts here.

This is the setting for my studio, though. Yes, much, much more Instagram-worthy. 

I live in the heart of the Cascade Mountains. This is the actual view from our back yard, but, sadly, not from my studio. We live in Packwood, Washington, home to elk herds, the famous Blue Spruce Tavern, many skiers, and several members of my family. A lot of elk and mountains make it into my art and jewelry, the family not so much.

I love color and shine in my art. Maybe the shine is my fondness for sun glinting on snow and water, or maybe it's just the magpie in me. I do love metallics in paint and glass and metallics in my jewelry, though.

At the end of all the play time with paint, I do need to find things to do with color studies or pieces that just didn't come out as I hoped. The jewelry came out of searching for ways to make use of my bits and pieces that looked pretty cool, but were not really frame-worthy. Most of my jewelry starts with a piece of an original painting, framed to be a wearable piece of art. It may be mixed in with glass shards or German glass glitter, pieces of broken ornaments, glass bits, shiny hardware, and some are full-on collage in miniature, making every piece unique.

My hope is that visitors to my shop will feel like they are visiting my studio, or better (and neater) a favorite aunt's home where they can snoop through the jewelry box and memorabilia to find treasures they have never seen before. Enjoy!