Lisa Flanders Studio

2011-12-10T06:58:00.003-05:00

Hi Everyone! At the Winter Market today and every Saturday until Christmas. I'll be next to James and Lori from Fertile Fields Farm instead of my usual spot up by the front windows. Stop by and say hello!

2011-11-19T05:42:00.003-05:00

Will be out at the Winter Farmers' Market at the River Garden today, 11.19.11. My Etsy shop, closed for the day so that the links to the right and at the bottom of the page appear blank, will be back open later this afternoon. And just a quick heads up about future Saturdays: I will likely miss the Winter Farmers' Market on 11.26 and 12.3 due to other commitments, but will be there the remaining weeks before Christmas. As always, people needing gifts who are unable to be at the River Garden can come to my studio - just call first to schedule! Thanks and see everybody at Market!

2011-11-12T06:16:00.002-05:00

The Winter Farmers' Market season at the lovely River Garden in downtown Brattleboro begins! See you there! Etsy links appear blank while my shop is closed for the day. Back open this afternoon!

2011-04-30T13:51:00.021-04:00

Back to work after a long hiatus!

2011-01-04T18:01:00.010-05:00

I am excited to announce that I will be participating in the exhibition, Shades of Purple, at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen's Gallery 205 in Concord. The exhibition runs January 14 - March 23, 2011 and will include these sterling silver earrings with amethyst, African glass and freshwater pearls.

2010-12-14T09:51:00.012-05:00

Thanks so much to Olivia of OneOfAKindSites for including my "Artifact" necklace in her beautiful Don't Ever Change collection of verdigris copper!

2010-12-11T07:31:00.002-05:00

Farmers' Market at the River Garden today! Etsy may be shut down during this time and if so, the links to the right and at the bottom of this page will appear blank.

2010-11-13T06:33:00.004-05:00

I'll be at the Winter Farmers' Market at the River Garden today. My Etsy shop may be closed during this time and, if so, the links to the right and at the bottom of this page will appear blank. Check out my photo album from the opening day of Market last week!

2010-10-30T10:15:00.024-04:00

OK! After the last couple of whirlwind post-Acadia-road-trip months spent adjusting to huge changes in our family schedule and routine (which have included having my scrumptious grandchildren a lot), during which time I have barely worked in the studio, I'm back! It's a bright, sunny autumn day, the valve in my acetylene torch is open, the pickle's heating up, with the quench bowl freshly washed and full of clear, clean water, and I've got a sharp new blade in the saw and a new bit in the drill! I'm ready to go! [The perfectionist in me is just screaming because Blogger changed the blogspot format and the text colors (the choices of which are now fairly gruesome), and I can no longer get the shade I've been using all along. This might call for radical changes ; ) ]

2010-10-18T13:01:00.007-04:00

I had already been a longtime reader of shelter magazines when a friend recently posted photographs of his home on Facebook. I loved having that personal glimpse into his world and thought he had a really brilliant idea. Thus inspired, and having just completed my fall housecleaning to get ready for time spent indoors during the upcoming New England winter, I decided to take a few photos and post them in this Facebook album entitled Home.

2010-10-16T09:30:00.003-04:00

Autumn In Brattleboro...

2010-10-12T19:53:00.000-04:00

So honored to have had my earrings included in this beautiful collection by Dante Acevedo!

2010-10-09T08:05:00.001-04:00

Hey everybody, I'll be out at the Farmers' Market today! My Etsy shop will be closed during this time, so the links to the right and at the bottom of this page will appear blank. Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you at Market!

2010-09-23T12:22:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was the autumnal equinox, and tonight is the Harvest Moon! Happy Autumn, everyone!

2010-09-12T17:40:00.004-04:00

This has been a truly great weekend - spent mostly with my granddaughter, Arya. Yesterday morning we went and picked apples, then spent the rest of morning at the wonderful Brattleboro Farmers' Market, where we had an awesome vegetarian lunch from Shital, listened to live acoustic music and saw some kids and parents from the Garland School (the nurturing Waldorf preschool Arya attends). Then, after nap time, we went and hung out at the Green Street playground. After that we came home and made pasta with homemade sauce and a big salad for dinner. This morning we went up to the Newfane Flea Market, where we got all sorts of cool stuff, then stopped on the way home and had a picnic lunch on the bank of the West River by the Dummerston Bridge. Life is good!

2010-09-04T17:51:00.005-04:00

Gorgeous Copper!

2010-09-03T16:55:00.000-04:00

I wasn't going to do the Market tomorrow (I'm leveled after two weeks with the grandkids, after my daughter started school two weeks before they did!), but now I am (Simi, are you reading this?!?), so I'll be working til the wee hours tonight putting some new stuff together. Sometimes it's hard, having a schedule that's opposite everyone else's, but in the end I really love the life! I love the whole mood, the spirit, the camaraderie that exists with other artists and farmers and all the folks who make their living doing shows...setting up in the cool of the morning, working with people all day, breaking down as the crowds disperse...and all the while sharing that special connection that only exists with others who live the same life! See y'all at Market tomorrow!

2010-08-22T08:54:00.000-04:00

There is some compensation for having the kids and grandkids away for the weekend...Grandmother is taking off to IKEA in New Haven!

2010-08-15T03:11:00.001-04:00

3 A.M. and, large cups of hot, strong, creamy coffee in hand, we're out the door and hitting the road to spend a week on the ocean in Maine at Acadia National Park!

2010-07-24T12:26:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Jennifer of the shop Lynchgirl for including my carnelian earrings in her lovely Made In New England collection!

2010-07-11T20:12:00.015-04:00

As a metalsmith, my passion is forging and fabricating silver into organic shapes and beautiful textures. I often use gorgeously colored gemstones in my work as well, which take center stage, so to speak, along with the metalwork. Occasionally, however, there are stones which are so spectacular that they stand on their own, calling for nothing more than the simplest and most minimal setting possible. Here are a few such stones, in pieces I made this weekend. The pendant and the two pins are luscious Sierra Madre agate cut by lapidarist John Bajoras of Gloucester, Massachusetts.

1 7/16" x 2 1/8" on 20" Chain

1 1/2" x 2 1/4"

1 1/8" x 2 5/8"

5/8" x 1 3/8"

7/8" x 1"

2010-06-07T19:02:00.001-04:00

The Etsy community is full of such wonderful artisans who support and promote one another's work. I really feel grateful to be part of such a community. My sincere thanks to Leigh Moss for including my earrings in her very cool Head to Toe collection.

2010-06-05T19:17:00.000-04:00

Thanks so much to Glow for including my frosted quartz and Nepalese fertility seed earrings in her beautiful collection, A Waking Dream. Check out her cool stuff!

2010-05-27T09:58:00.002-04:00

I hardly know what to say.....another pair of my earrings was chosen for the Infinity collection compiled by one of my all-time favorite artisans, Sabrina Acevedo from the brilliant Mocahete team. It was these jewelry artists and their gorgeous, creative work that inspired me to begin working in copper. More on that to come!

2010-05-21T18:42:00.000-04:00

Wow! I am completely honored to have had one of my pieces included with the work of some of my favorite, ultra-talented Etsy jewelers in Renee Gardner's collection, Bold and Beautiful Jewelry. Check out Nay's shop and her blog!

2010-05-15T19:33:00.007-04:00

A beautiful day at the Farmers' Market Saturday!

2010-05-14T20:18:00.002-04:00

Getting ready for the Farmers' Market tomorrow.....listed a few new things on Etsy this afternoon.....

2010-05-12T15:55:00.010-04:00

Every once in a while in life, you come across something extraordinary. The exquisite face planters of Brattleboro potter Shari Zabriskie fall into that category. Not only are they beautiful, but they exude a deeper, spiritual quality that reflects the heart and soul of the maker. Amazing!

2010-05-10T13:35:00.004-04:00

I listed lots of new work on Etsy this morning - new designs as well as new textures emerged in the pieces I made last week!

2010-04-30T18:53:00.000-04:00

Well, I think after that last little spurt of winter (it was snowing heavily on my way to Keene and back on Wednesday) that spring is finally here! And during my three decades of living in the South, the flowers that I most missed were lilacs. So I am really happy to have one blooming outside my studio window now!

Please come see me at the Farmers' Market tomorrow, May 1st, and at the River Garden for the Meet the Potters show on May 8th if you're in town!

2010-04-23T17:59:00.001-04:00

Thanks so much to Beth Cyr for featuring my work on the Etsy Metal blog!

2010-04-17T17:11:00.004-04:00

I just received a note that photographer Judy Stalus of Walpole, New Hampshire has included a pair of my moonstone disc earrings in her Whispers collection. Thank you, Judy! I am very honored! Please check out Judy's shop on Etsy.

2010-04-10T13:50:00.001-04:00

After taking last summer "off" to pursue other jewelry-related interests, I am very excited to have once again joined the Brattleboro Farmers' Market for the 2010 season! As I have always said, the Farmers' Market truly represents "quintessential Brattleboro" in its top-quality offerings of fine local craft (beautiful pottery, weaving, turned wood, ironwork/blacksmithing, handmade soaps and other items), gourmet prepared food and live music in addition to local produce. I'll be there this year as a "Daily Vendor," so please check with me from week to week if you need something specific and want to make sure I'll be there!

2010-04-04T17:49:00.005-04:00

Well, for the Spell Check event last Saturday night, I misspelled "lacertilian" (I thought it was laecertilian) and my teammate misspelled "concatenate" with two T's instead of one : ( With two mistakes we were eliminated from the competition and taken backstage and beaten, as our celebrity emcee, National Public Radio's Tom Bodett, threatened we would be. Just kidding about the second part. The most mortifying thing was that I took Latin for a hundred years, and lacertilian comes from the Latin word lacerta. I misspelled a Latin word by mistakenly giving it a Latin spelling with an "ae"! Anyway, we had a lot of fun and the event raised money for the Brattleboro Arts Initiative and the Latchis Theater!

2010-03-30T17:43:00.000-04:00

So much to catch up on!

First of all, I had been hoping to post photos of the gem show, but, alas, cameras were not permitted in the show. The most spectacular wares, in my opinion, were gorgeous African glass and metal beads from Ebrima Kabba and amazing cabochons from John Bajoras of the Sierra Madra Mining Company.

Secondly, I invite all of you who are going to be in the area on Saturday evening to attend Spell Check, the cool spelling bee for grown-ups to benefit the Brattleboro Arts Initiative. My illustrious team mates will be Jerry Goldberg from the Chamber of Commerce, and Lou Zopf.

2010-03-25T19:08:00.000-04:00

Right now I'm working on posters for the CSA program (Community Supported Agriculture) for the Winter Farmers' Market on Saturday, and getting ready for the gem show tomorrow in Springfield, MA. Yay!

2010-03-20T15:50:00.000-04:00

Happy Vernal Equinox!

2010-03-17T13:27:00.004-04:00

I came home from my walk this morning to find a bag of my friend Roz Buckley's lovely, fragrant goat milk soaps and a note saying, "Happy Spring"! Roz sells her heavenly soaps at the Brattleboro Farmers' Market, so go see her and treat yourself to a few bars if you're in the area!

2010-03-16T18:44:00.001-04:00

Signs of spring outside my studio.....

2010-03-12T18:57:00.008-05:00

I completed a couple of pieces today for an upcoming exhibition at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen's Gallery 205.

The necklace is made from a spectacular one-of-a-kind 27mm x 50mm (1 1/8" x 2 1/8") triangular Kaleidoscope Jasper cabochon (stone is from Oregon and cut by lapidarist Nathan Christensen) which is bezel-set and hung on a heavy 20" sterling chain. (This piece will be available for purchase through the LNHC. If you are interested in purchasing it please contact me.)

2010-03-07T15:57:00.001-05:00

It's a glorious, warm, sunny March day with the freshness of spring in the air! As much as I love the New England winter, I am definitely ready for spring! I just swept the back porch and put out the wicker chairs and some clay pots that will soon be filled with magenta-colored geraniums and other plants!

Jewelry-wise, I've spent the last couple of weeks doing more organizational stuff than actually working in the studio, but I did just make a big metal order with some cool new materials and so I am looking forward to getting back to work and making some new pieces!

2010-02-16T15:45:00.005-05:00

View from my studio:
the perfect, quintessential
Vermont winter day.

2010-02-12T15:25:00.003-05:00

No new photos or jewelry updates today - I blew off working in the studio to spend the day with my darling 3 1/2-year-old granddaughter :) We went shopping and then spent a couple of hours in the magical Brooks Memorial Library children's room. Now we're heading out for a walk downtown to the Common, and after that we're going to cook dinner and watch movies! And I'm sure I won't get in the studio after she goes to sleep, either, because I checked out the new Patricia Cornwell novel!

2010-02-08T16:37:00.000-05:00

In these earrings I used the "salvaged metal" mentioned in my January 26th post to texture sterling sheet. Dangles are sterling silver and faceted hessonite.

2010-02-05T21:17:00.013-05:00

I got word today that I've been admitted into the juried Etsy Metal Street Team, an international group of metalsmiths who sell their beautiful work on Etsy. Yay!

And I finished some pieces - and there are more on the work table ready to go where these came from!

2010-02-02T10:29:00.000-05:00

I'm on my third cup of coffee (which is a little scary because I think this mug - clear glass and so pretty with the creamy coffee showing through it - holds more than 16 oz.!) as I catch up on way overdue business emails. But then I'm definitely going to get to work! I recently got some gorgeous cabochons from talented lapidarists (Hans Westermark, Robert Allen and Nathan Christensen) who sell on Etsy, and I am meditating on how best to set them!

2010-01-26T18:49:00.001-05:00

A great day! I found three beautiful vintage children's books for my granddaughter and a sterling silver snake chain for $1 at Experienced Goods.....found some awesome salvaged metal at ReNew.....then came home and cooked pasta mixed with fresh roma tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and garlic sauteed in olive oil. Now I'm going to list a couple of new items on 1000 Markets, write a couple of letters and then hopefully get a little reading in : )

2010-01-25T10:29:00.004-05:00

I just finished reading The Lost Symbol. What a cool book! Dan Brown's core message, set within a fictional narrative but based in historical fact, of the essential unity within the world's diverse religious and philosophical traditions is inspiring and compelling. Also brilliant is the manner in which he "brings to the mainstream" via a popular novel the fact that the effects of ancient mystical practices are now being definitively proven within a scientific context. If, as according to Time magazine, he is one of the world's most influential people, that is a good thing, because - to use a new-agey term that seems to be the best way to put it - he is definitely a messenger of light.

2010-01-21T21:50:00.024-05:00

One of the things I love about what I do is the opportunity it gives me to meet the most delightful and interesting people. Yesterday, a seemingly mundane necklace repair led to meeting a wonderful woman who works as a Reiki healer, among other ancient healing arts, and I had the opportunity to create several pieces of custom jewelry for her.

Rioghnach's Bracelets:

2010-01-18T10:05:00.003-05:00

View from my back porch:

a lovely winter morning,

the living artistry of nature.

2010-01-17T16:59:00.002-05:00

My studio is just a block from the train tracks, and every day I hear the whistle as the train pulls into the historic station on its way to glamorous places like New York City and Montreal. But I wouldn't rather be anywhere else in the world than beautiful Brattleboro, Vermont!

2010-01-15T21:44:00.000-05:00

I just started reading the new Dan Brown novel, The Lost Symbol. It's fascinating how the power of the mind and consciousness, as understood in ancient metaphysical teachings, is finally beginning to be accepted by modern science in the field of noetics.

2010-01-14T18:07:00.002-05:00

The surface of my work table is laid out with more than a dozen pairs of earrings that - textured, sanded, buffed, patinaed and polished - neared completion today. A very successful day! But, alas, in the winter months it is a race against time to get pieces photographed in the afternoon light before the sun fades. Most of the batch will have to be photographed tomorrow, but here are today's offerings:

2010-01-11T19:15:00.001-05:00

I never cease to be amazed by the endless variety of beautiful stones that come out of the earth. Creating jewelry around the treasures of the earth is, for me, a privilege, a joy and a delight.

Many stones have unusual colors, or have combinations of multiple colors in one stone. So sometimes people wonder what to wear with a particularly unusual stone. And often, when it comes to coordinating one's jewelry with one's wardrobe, there is the idea of purchasing a particular piece of jewelry to match or go with a particular outfit.

But when it comes to amazing gemstones, why not create the outfit around the jewelry?!? I think that spectacular gemstones merit such an effort. But, whether or not one endeavors to find articles of clothing in just the perfect shade to match a piece of jewelry, one outfit that goes with anything is the classic and classy combination of a fitted black knit shirt and jeans. This combination is what I consider to be a "perfect outfit." And add a black belt and black sandals or boots, depending on the season, and you have the ultimate perfect outfit!

So, the next time you come across a piece of jewelry with a beautiful, unusual stone and are not sure if you have anything in your closet that it will "go with," remember.....a classic black knit shirt and jeans!

2010-01-09T15:03:00.009-05:00

As you can see from yesterday's post, I had a few challenging moments in the studio. I had a really cool idea, but just couldn't seem to execute it. Lots of metal got melted and ended up in the scrap box.

But the day wasn't a total loss, and I did manage to complete these prehnite spiral earrings, which I just got photographed and listed on Etsy. I absolutely love the color of prehnite!

2010-01-08T14:09:00.005-05:00

Um, this new design is not going so well.....

2010-01-08T09:28:00.001-05:00

Outside my studio windows, the sky is gray and the snow is falling. A perfect day to make jewelry!

2010-01-06T12:42:00.021-05:00

It's a bright, sunny, sparkling January day in Vermont! 2009, a year of change and tremendous personal growth for me, has come to a close and a new year - a new decade - is beginning. With the rhythm of the seasons and the passing of the winter solstice the days are lengthening, and life in Brattleboro is wonderful. I am grateful for my family and friends and for all the folks who inspire me in my art, and I am looking forward to blogging here about my adventures in life and jewelry.