2024 Paris

Such a fabulous 9 days. My first trip and it was so nice seeing so much art I had only seen in arthisory books. I was fascinated by the history of France and found the entire trip a visual delight.

New York

France

Such a fantastic trip. Began in Avignon, a charming medieval town within a wall. From there to explore a Roman aqueduct and see a 2000 year old tree.

First hike to the Abby, By way of olive trees, fields of lavender and a village of hand built borrows.Our fearless leader Emma from Van Gogh tours lead the way.

Our hike led us through villages and countryside with churches and remnants of farm equipment, and we did make it to the top of that ridge.

The trip to St. Remy and the Asylum where Van Gogh spent his last year painting was moving and interesting. We had watched the movie “At Eternity’s Gate “ by Julian Schnabel, which had been filmed at the Asylum which gave us some reference to the area and buildings. One of my favorite things was finding the spot where Van Gogh painted the painting “The Olive Trees”. The day before we had hiked to the mountain with the eye like openings. Another village we hiked to, through the mistral winds, housed the luminaries of Van Gogh’s retrospective of paintings projected on the walls of a huge Bauzite cave. The music playing during the last part of his life was a song by The Animals, “Don’t let me be misunderstood”. We both got a little choked up.

So many memories, the colors, the smells, the tastes, the air. Honestly this journey satisfied me on all levels, it was physically challenging, educational, cultural, social ,spiritual and entertaining . Looking forward to a return visit .

whew, that's all I can say.

This little cartoon became very important to me this year.  George suffered a very serious cardiac situation that forced us into future planning decision making, he retired, and suddenly our lives were supported with necessary medical intervention. You realize very quickly though your life as you know it has paused, life around you keeps on moving. Raleigh is growing like crazy, every where you look there is a construction site.
Finally getting home, from the hospital, the winter was cold and wet . Spring finally got here. Things became more normal. Work kept me grounded and it seemed like the little things were truly enough.
All the changes at home and work have been difficult for me to navigate.

I decided to set some goals for the year, a jewelry challenge helps me regroup, and the accountability keeps me focused. My goal was to make a body of work using my favorite tin. 5 months in and I'm trying new shapes and putting together some ideas I will be able to develop and replicate in other materials. I hope to see these colors and shapes in enameled pieces . There will be an exhibit of these pieces along with the other 5 Artists that are doing this challenge with me. 6x12=72




So all in all, I know how lucky George and I both are to have gotten through the first part of 2019. We are moving forward with things we weren't sure we would be able to do. He paints at Artspace daily, walks everywhere and started biking again..Im figuring out and finally settled in at Sertoma Art Center. Enjoyed a nice trip to the beach with family and pup. Baxter opted not to go.

Jojo's first swim in the sound, she is a natural, Dog walking in the neighborhood and on the many trails in the area remain a favorite activity.
Yep, taking charge and making decisions to enjoy the the ride.
Strut Show, my current obsession, probably the most involved event, I have done lately, started as an idea and grew into a reality, lots of team effort on this one.
Front yard reflecting , someone from Pullen gave me these Red Irises right before we closed, made me happy to see this bloom. Peering out through our maple tree. Grass is plenty green right here in my own front yard.

Life is good, lots of kind and supportive friends and family. A house full of animals and plenty of dreams and adventures to realize one day at a time.

Look Book

Look Book for 2019
Model Kendal Draper, Images Brian Sappie
New Year off to a good start with images using model. Necklaces, every day, casual and evening. Silver, Gemstones,Tin and enamel. One of my favorite aspects of making jewelry is completing the piece by seeing someone wearing it. Id like to think my jewelry is versatile and appeals to multiple generations.



December 2018 Reflections of spring summer fall and winter

So much fun meeting Great Niece Kora
Baxter and Baby JoJo



    Exhibition in Motion SNAG Inspiration for upcoming Strut  Runway Show of Extreme  Ornament
                                                      Japanese Garden Portland Oregon

Wrightsville Beach Summer Fun
Garnet and Eudialyte Pendant
Ilseboro Maine


Baxter on the Ball field


Ipswhich Salt Marshes

Lots of Cherry Tomatoes, Outsmarted the Squirrels
Maine Beauty
JoJo all grown up
Wildeness Weed in Glacier National Park
Fields of amber grains





December Snow
Happy Holidays
    New Work Looking Forward to what 2019 will bring








    winter-spring 2018 old news on to new


    Safe to say we have a full house ... Finally spring has sprung. New things happening, settling into all the changes 2018 has ushered in. Bean and Mitsie seem to get along little better. Baxter and JoJo are BFF. George and I keep on plucking away at painting and jewelry.


    said goodbye to my Subaro of 13 years got another one charcoal grey this time.


    Planted 50 tulip bulbs they were striking, First time with Bearded Iris.



    Visited Gregg Museum for some interesting art shows



    Seems a lot of things got broke and had to get fixed, teeth, appliances, cars... Did a good bit of decluttering, more to do. 

    Sertoma is finally starting to gel for me, semi retirement agrees with George.
    Because  my blog is a way for me to document these images I will put it up. Since Im picking up in December there is quite a gap. All in all 2018 has been a good year. Made some nice jewelry, traveled, saw old friends, tried to keep up with current friends and family.



    I 

    dec 2017, trying to start the ole blog up again. Last post of 2017.

    Central Park near Strawberry Fields.
    What a great trip. Saw so much art, jewelry, ate delicious food and walked, navigated subways. saw a play, enjoyed the Christmas store windows, decorations and the Rockerfeller
    Plaza Christmas tree.

     3 of my favorite pieces done this year. New Years Eve always a good time to reflect. Mostly looking forward. New ideas and directions for my work and my everyday life.
    That's about all that's left in my office. Starting 2018, I will be going to Sertoma Art Center everyday running a much smaller jewelry program. Mostly enameling, cold joining and alternative materials. I welcome the challenge, it will definitely be different. I have been working at Pullen for 20 years. I will miss being there but am excited about the new jewelry studio that will be the result of the renovation. I have been trying to teach myself enameling since that will be a focus of the new program.
    This was hard to do,
    a step up from sifting on a disc. Not sure what direction the enameling will go but I enjoy the process, the drawing, the color selecting, mostly the enamels are treated like gemstones set in my favorite design formats.



    This painting by David Hockney is such a great color pallet. Always looking around for ideas and inspirations in this department.
     this was summer : Wrightsville Beach

    fall : Shenandoah Valley
    spring : New Orleans




    Winter :NYC

    update.almost spring ,tho i started this in the fall of 2016

    Clearly November-Feb was a blur, if you erase politics. This blog never got posted. And since this blog is about jewelry and the things that inspire me,  I will blame the political distraction for my remiss. Finally trying to get back on track. Actually this old post reminded me of my attempts to stage my jewelry for the shop section of my website. Within the next few days I will have posted the  pieces I have left as I am aiming for a new collection this year.


    Since I'm getting ready to update my website, I wanted to also get my blog in sinc with what I'm doing. The date for closing Pullen for renovation has changed to November 2017.  My first co-curated exhibit is hanging now at Pullen, "My Precious: an Exploration of Materiality in Contemporary Jewelry."
    Fun trips to NYC, Vermont and Philadelphia, DC & Richmond , all art related. I will be teaching a class at the NC Museum of Art, Simple Metal, Cold Joined, Silhouette Brooch using The current Venetian Renaissance Art Show as a point of reference.








    Fall 2016 post
    Unique, wearable, timeless the new three words I'm using to describe my jewelry. Summers gone, Fall is here. Had the last Larkspur last summer I will miss that show. Went to the beach several times and really lucked out on good weather. Though it was such a hot summer, my grass is finally growing and I've completed my fence. This was a summer of organizing and purging and dealing with rearranging households to accommodate extra furniture and new living situations. I just participated in the Bluegrass Art Market in downtown Raleigh, Very well attended, next up CDC, Concord and Boylan Art Walk. Work at Pullen full steam with preparations for renovating. Still have a great lineup of workshops and shows before the April 30, 2017 closing. The new building and jewelry studio will be fabulous. So now to try and sum up the time that's gone by in pictures.
    And so the cycle continues

    May Post

    back of pin wheel brooch
    Halstead Challenge Brooch
    This show will be at the Blue Spiral Gallery during the SNAG conference in Asheville
    swap pins in the making
    New work for Larkspur

    belated fall and chritmas post. Today it feels like Winter.

    Haven't been keeping up with blog lately, mostly because I switched websites and need to be doing blog there instead. Using Square space now, slowly getting that all together www.bettymckim.com This blog is more like a journal for me I think I have been keeping it for about 5 years now. It allows me to keep track of events and things as they happen. October, Nov and December all ran together. Full of workshops at Pullen, a hurricane that altered my show season. New photography, new work and new galleries. Home show in Charlotte,  kitchen renovation, baby shower, trip to Boston, Brevard and Asheville. All fun and so nice to reunite with old friends.

    George and I cooked this Christmas, mostly warmed up but none the less spent alot of time in the  kitchen
    Added a snow owl to our christmas tree

    My favorite pictures from the fall
    the warm wet fall created alot of this on downed branches
    more fungi
    little gem like leaves

    The shows were good I appreciate all the support, from customers, friends and family. Thank you !
    Christmas eve walk on beach
    New display idea

    I truly enjoyed watching this tree this fall it is a Ginko Tree at Pullen being protected during the construction that is going on right now.

    Jennifer's maple tree, We went to Asheville during leaf season. Raleigh had a pretty spectacular show going on here. I heard a Bob Dylan line today that said "Don't keep looking at the house across the street and thinking its paradise".

    Decided to bring back the "sexy earring" this winter Jennifer wears it well
    all grown up 2 now
    necklace to match coming

    Still blooming
    Christmas full moon
    Edward
    Star Wars
    Devin graduates mfa this spring
    Mitsie portrait

    We actually stayed up past midnight... here's to a Happy New Year, hopefully healthy and mixed with adventure and meaningful good times. Peace to you in 2016




    More Bliss shots for "look book"

    Sticks n' Stones
    Rosemary
    Spokes and Ring
    Classic Pearl Drop
    This is my first time working with a model. I chose work that is wearable and can easily be worn by any age person. The work is classic not trendy somewhat organic with an industrial rugged touch. Most of my work includes patterns and or texture. I have elaborated on the sticks and stones line. New colors and new designs, incorporating bigger stones, and I plan to rename this collection the "Bliss " collection, These pieces will be at Carolina Designer Crafts Fair which will be held at the convention center  in downtown Raleigh this Fri, Saturday and Sunday. Come see me in booth D-3 This will be my first year with a corner booth. I have new work and always enjoy the response these pieces get :)

    some shots from photo shoot with Bliss

    slide locket
    ring, necklace, and hoop earring

    ebony and gold choker
    bracelet 

    More of these to come in my "look book". I am slowly trying to get my images to my new website. I am now www.bettymckim.com  Hopefully I will eventually figure out how to coordinate all these
    network sites.  But for now it was great seeing the jewelry being worn and photographed with a model. Becky Parker did the photography and she was also very nice to work with.

    Lesson learned Sept/October

    Started out feeling good about the focus. Truly put all my eggs in one basket. Sort of backfired. Cancelled show due to Rain. The good side, got the ball rolling and some new work done . Had a fashion shoot with model wearing my jewelry. That was exciting, the photos will be on my new website  under "Look Book" Got new images made on a white background. So all in all, though I was so looking forward to branch out and try a  different audience, a lot of good things have come from the pressure of getting ready for a show. Reinforces the idea of how unpredictable things can be. Here's a peek at some of the new work.
    Brought back the rosemary
    Slide Lockets
    and a few surprises


    summertime

    and the living is easy, a few of my favorite things for July heading into August
    kayaking down the Neuse
     this little sugar fired enameled piece, feels like the beach
    new bracelets in the works
    sterling version of commission
    becoming a favorite bracelet, accompanied with basil which grew like crazy on my deck this summer
    the complete set 18 k gold plated over silver  "vermeil"
    Drunk bee sucking the life out of cone flower, for some reason I can't get them to grow... though  I try every year.
    sugar fired
    orchid silhouette
    kitchen window with black eyed susan
    Scarf I started 25 years ago finishing last block of green
    lots of butterflies this year
    So been wanting to redo my website, but of course not now! Lost my website, it  expired unnoticed and someone bought it in hopes to resell it to me...Well, I will be  starting over gathering images and info for a new sqaure space design. I am trying to keep the name similar:  bettymckim-jewelry.com
    Once in a Blue Moon

    one more trip to the beach,   Lots more jewelry to be made, getting ready for a photo shoot of jewelry on models, a first for me.
    Australian Boulder opals, simply elegant

    better late than never

    Loved Boston saw so many great things, saw an old friend hadn't seen in years. Saw fabulous jewelry. Walked and walked, really enjoyed the public transportation, the museums, historical sights, public art, beautiful parks  and quaint neighborhoods. The SNAG conference is always stimulating, thought provoking, and entertaining....  Got right back to an Anne Havel workshop. which was super, Larkspur Show which was great. Lovely weather, big crowds. Then a trip to Manteo's  College of Albremarle and Pocossin. Studying ideas for future of Pullen Art Center. Followed by hosting a workshop with Ben Dyer, doing cold forging, also excellent and well received. A fathers day trip to mountains again visiting with college pals our dear friends Jo and Bill  from Brevard. Now time to get back to work catch up with some commissions and start getting ready for fall shows. I will be doing a show this Fall in Wiiliamsburg called "An Occasion for the Arts" trying to branch out  a bit. My website disappeared, actually expired unnoticed so I'm having to get that redone.  And now its July. Lots of shark attacks in NC. second thinking swimming in ocean for now.  It has been extreamly hot. Heading that way next week so we will see. Plan on spending a good part of holiday weekend working in studio, as I have been distracted. I did get some new work started for Larkspur and those pieces are ready to be  expanded apon.
    Boston Museum of Fine Arts
    Susway
    Swan Boats
    Edgar Alan Poe
    pop up
    pop up
    Gallery Walk

    Reflections
    At The Commons
    Neighborhood street Mural
    Boston Harbor
    Stuart Davis,  this painting is so much better in person than a photo in a book- exquisite
    Robin and Betty best buds from way back, Chowan College days:)
    this is a brooch selfie K Osgood brooch pin swap (i owe her one0
    15th year at Larkspur
    Brevard Fathers Day
    Tiffany

    May, trip to Charlotte, Mint Museum and The Beckler

    Recycled necklace by Bob Ebendorf


    Charlotte downtown
    Book illustration by George Braque

    Hand  carved, wood, amazing detail
    Mint Museum, jewelry by Miriam Hiller

    Jamie Bennett
    Bob Ebendorf

     New work by me for Creative Metalsmith &getting ready for Larkspur :)
    Gardening has begun

    april

    George and I judged a show in Rockingham, North Carolina, this was the"best in show" black and white photo,  I love the horse's eye and emotion that comes through in this photo.
    First time setting pear shaped stone, John Cogswell's stonesetting book had some helpful tips, very sparkly with star of saphire and tube set diamonds.
    I still cant believe my orchid rebloomed, I totally left it alone, I might try the fertilizer for next year and see what it does
    George got a painting in the June section of "Carolina's Got Art" the opening will be in charlotte the first friday of May so we will plan to go. Looks like a rather large show.
    Ive been getting alot of new work done, I now have my pieces in the Little Art Gallery at Cameron Village.
    These are some more pieces that are going  to the "Creative Metalsmith" in Chapel Hill. They will be carrying my work as of May:) I will also have work in the "Artspace" gallery store starting in June. These are all new opportunities, so the challenge is on to be more productive.
    Been working in the yard sporadically, finally got the other side of the fence up, Spring has been very welcome here in Raleigh.
    this is actually the 20th anniversary of Larkspur, time flies I think I have been doing that show for probably 17 or eighteen years, there will be lots of new "In the Garden "jewelry there first weekend in June.
    I'm still inspired by the Pullen Baptist Church Rosette
    I see it every morning on the way to the Y
    Winter was long, glad spring is here