Desert Inspirations

I have lived in Arizona my whole life. A good portion of the time, I long for a bit more lush and green in my surroundings. I go through life, stay busy and sometimes forget to stop and take a look around. When I remember, I realize how beautiful the desert really is.

Last weekend Rob and I got to go to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum for teacher appreciation night. This was my reminder of the beauty that is Tucson, AZ. Rob got some beautiful photos of the animals and some of the surrounding area. Since we went in late summer, we got to enjoy the rare green of the desert from the rains. It was beautiful.

Here is a sleeping coyote that we came across on one of the trails.

The Desert Museum has an awesome habitat of Prairie Dogs. It is a big area with a ton of holes and tunnels and they all just hang out. One big happy community. This guys looked like he was meditating! He was in this pose for a really long time.

Mountain Lion Exhibit! They are so beautiful.

Cacti! This is a beautifully vibrant flowering barrel cactus. See, the desert occasionally has some vibrancy to it!

In order to get out to the Desert Museum, you drive through Saguaro National Park. It is an amazing stretch of desert densely packed with Saguaros. This protected land is always a stunning site to see. If we weren't trying to get to the museum before a rain storm hit us, I would have suggested stopping for some pictures in the park. Since we didn't, here are some of the desert shots that we took at the Museum from the trails.

The colors of the beginnings of this sunset were so soft and pretty. The middle ground hill in the right portion of this photo was a deep purple from the colors of the sunset. Of course, photos never quite capture what we see with our eyes but still a great shot!

This shot isn't from the Desert Museum but from the Tortolita Mountains out by where my Dad lives.

After driving through the Saguaro National Park, I wanted to create a piece of jewelry that is a little more representative of my roots. The shape of a saguaro has always been synonymous with
Arizona and the desert so that is what I wanted to represent. I added a tube setting with a CZ to represent an emerging star in the dusk.

The background of this pendent is a matte-finish circle of copper. The saguaro and the tube setting are sterling silver.

 Stay tuned for my next post where I will show you the process I went though in creating this pendent!

Monsoons!

Our beloved desert monsoons will be officially over very soon. This makes me very sad. I am enjoying every second of them while I can though and will forever be dreaming of living in a place where it rains more!

I tried to get some shots of the last rain that we got (without drowning the camera or my phone!).

I think one of my favorite parts of the rain is watching the rain drops make their water waves when they hit water.

Our little gardenia plant was very happy!

I think I would spend hours staring at clouds, especially stormy ones!

The rain is somewhat of an inspiration to me and my jewelry.

In my shop, I have a little mini-line of necklaces that pay tribute to the rain. I have my rain drop cloud necklaces as well as my lightening bolt designs.

These started early last year and have evolved substantially since.

These were the original. I loved them way back when but absolutely love the newer design.

The cloud design started off with one necklace, purchased by the owner of Wooden Tooth, a shop that carried my work. She wore it around the shop a lot and apparently got a ton of complements. She asked me if I would be willing to create these as an exclusive piece for her shop. I was thrilled to have such interest in a design that I would get a request like this!

Sadly, the Wooden Tooth closed but not before all but one of my clouds sold.
I got requests from a couple other shops, Black Rose Tattooers, Bohemia Tucson and Church of Satin for the clouds and took that opportunity to revamp them. Here is what I came up with.

There isn't as much movement with this design as the lightening bolt is soldered onto the cloud but I think it makes for a much sturdier piece.

I decided to add to the cloud theme and came up with my "Dancing through Rain Drops" necklace. I also have a mini version.

I titled this, Dancing through Rain Drops, because that is what I do every time it rains. I can't resist.

What is your favorite weather or season and why?

©2011. All images property of Sara Moore.

Inspirations — Architecture

Every time I go on a trip, I come home with more pictures of buildings then anything else. Don't get me wrong, there is the occasional picture of a family member or of my husband and I but mostly, it is the architectural elements of a city that really capture my attention. These buildings and the history of them are what make a city or town stand out to me. They are what I remember from my trips. As an artist, I have always been drawn to geometric shapes. Buildings and city-scapes are the epitome of that. The solid and clean lines of ultra modern architecture and the beautiful and whimsy flourishes of historic architecture draw me in and make me all warm and fuzzy! I wanted to share some pictures from my travels that inspire me. These inspirations don't necessarily come out in my jewelry designs but in my profound appreciation for art in all of its glorious forms.

My collection today comes to you from Denver, Colorado; Rome and Venice, Italy; London, England;  Paris, France and New York City, New York.

Hope you enjoy the architectural eye candy!

The Denver Art Museum in Colorado is an awesome example of modern architecture.
The gravity defying lines and sharp angles are what makes this building special.

Denver Public Library. I absolutely love all of the different shapes and color and "towers" that this building has. It reminds me of a drawing that I would do when I was younger of crazy shapes all overlapping each other while inserting rows of rectangles as windows, effectively making them buildings. What a fun place to go read!

Taken in Venice, Italy, this shot pretty much shouts Venice. I unfortunately haven't been to Venice, My father-in-law took this image, but just looking at it makes me want to go there. I love all of the buildings and how they are attached and look like one continuous entity if it weren't for the subtle differences of each building. I also love how warn the buildings are from the age and constant exposure to water.

This image was taken in Rome, Italy. Italian architecture is so magical to me. The antiquity of it mixed with how well preserved most of the buildings are is just astonishing to me, especially given how long ago they were built and the methods in which this was carried out. I find it very interesting that so many European buildings are attached to one another yet still maintain their individuality by their styling. The small flourishes and the detail is what makes Italian architecture something I could stare at for days. Guess I need to go back pronto!

Big Ben! Ok, not the greatest image in terms of detail but the Gothic styling is still evident. When I studied Gothic Art in one of my art history classes in college, I was always so impressed with the intensity of the details that went into the design of the buildings. So sharp and beautiful. I was in absolute awe of the architecture in London.

This image was also taken in London.  This building was such a contrast to Parliament and Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham but London actually has a few very drastic modern primarily glass buildings. I haven't been able to find out what this building is but it is so pretty and unique, not to mention colorful. Stunning!

Pairs, France. Old. Weathered. Amazing. We only spent about 11 hours in Paris which of course is not enough time to appreciate such as place but I did see this beauty of a building. No idea if it is a residence (it strikes me as such) but I am just in love with the layers of this building. I would have loved to see the interior and seen how the buttresses look from the inside.

Pyramide du Louvre from the inside out. I personally love the harsh juxtaposition of the Louvre Pyramid and the Louvre itself. I can't really say why, I just think it is visually interesting. I love the pyramid, mostly because it is glass and because of its functionality. The Louvre's underground lobby is beneath the pyramid which allows for much larger crowds that the original entrance. Trust me, they need as much room as they can get, as amazing as the Louvre is (and I don't even know a 10th of its glory) man, is it crowded!

Another image of the exterior of the Louvre. Such amazing detail. So fancy and whimsical. I think I enjoyed the outside more than the inside but that is just because of the crowds, time restraints and the vast overwhelming feel of the place. Did you know the Louvre has approximately 652,300 square feet of exhibition space. Wow!

Paris, France. I just love all of the shapes happening here. Everything crammed together and piled on top of one another but somehow it still manages to look classy and elegant. I think I want to live in one of those flats!

NYC, NY! Where tall buildings are everywhere you turn! Lines and shapes, all sizes and heights! Love it!

NY. I love the detail here. It is just so beautiful.

The diversity from building to building in New York is awesome. I love the reflective quality of this one. So sleek!

What a perfect image to end on. Sky lines and the silhouette of them are part of what I love most about architecture. The different shapes and sizes all clumped together to make a memorable visual. Can't wait to see this view again. Love New York. It is so breathtaking.

I should mention, I have never formally studied architecture aside from the occasional piece in art history. My terminology may not have all been correct but I do have an appreciation for the artistic expression of man-made beauty of this particular craft and have so much respect for professional architects.

©2007-2011. All images property of Robert Moore, Allen Moore and Sara Moore.

Fabulous Feature!

Today the Green Eyed Monster Blog featured my jewelry! I am so incredibly excited for such a respected site to help me share my passion with the masses.  I contacted Ash & Kimmy about featuring some of my work and they have been so incredibly kind and gracious.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing my work with those who appreciate and enjoy handmade crafts.  If you haven't seen the feature yet, go check it out ASAP!

Beginnings

Why not begin this blog with the beginning of Spiral Finch?

Back in 2008, sitting amongst the piles of bead boxes and Tupperware full of beading and jewelry making supplies that I acquired from my super artsy mother-in-law, I flipped though a jewelry design magazine. Seeing a project that involved wire, a bench block, wire cutters and a hammer, I said "eureka! (ok, I didn't really say that, who actually says eureka?), I have all of those items!" I started out with very simple loops and spirals bent out of wire and hammered. I started out being self taught, just tinkering around with my stash of glorious supplies. I started my etsy shop in August 2008.

I did my first craft show in 2010. It was at La Encantada, a high scale shopping center in Tucson. This show gave me the courage and confirmation that this was something that I wanted to pursue. I had a wonderful response!

A lot of time went on with me making these original designs before I decided that I needed more knowledge. I enrolled in a beginning metal smithing class at Parks and Rec. This class soon became the highlight of my week.

I learned to work with sheet metal, saws, a blow torch(!!), silver solder, bezels, disk cutters, rolling mills, tubes, gemstones, and cabochons. At this point I couldn't get enough of this craft. My design aesthetic was evolving with my new knowledge and I couldn't have been happier. I took the class and Parks and Rec twice so I could get more lab time and polish the skills I was learning.

A local shop (The Wooden Tooth) which was located on 4th Avenue (an artsy strip of town), started carrying some of my work. It was super exciting! It gave me the exposure that my online shop wasn't getting.

I now have items in four shops (three in Tucson, AZ and one in Bisbee, AZ). Bohemia, Church of Satin, Black Rose Tattooers (the 6th Ave. location) and Bliss Bee!

Click on my shop tab to see what designs I currently have out there!