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Now that the crazy busy holiday season is over it was time yesterday to get some inspiration for the new year. My husband Thomas and I headed into NYC to spend the day at one of my favorite places, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

I am planning on adding a little color to my jewelry with the new collection by enameling the silver through a variety of enameling techniques that I am currently experimenting with.

The botanical artwork in these gorgeous kimonos was breathtaking and the composition of flowers is perfect. They made me want to ditch my wardrobe and fill the closet with kimonos!

      
Here is a close up of Japanese fabric swatches along with stunning calligraphy.

   
Texture, shape and patina inspiration.

  
And, I am always fascinated with Koi fish. Our pond is too small for them. The dream is to create a huge pond on the property and fill it with Koi, lotus flowers, lily pads and frogs.  

Some breathtaking Tiffany stained glass masterpieces. And I couldn't resist a selfie with Tiffany!

    
Calder's mobile sparked some ideas as did this Jasper Johns encaustic painting.

  
I am always drawn to Japanese design elements. This Noguchi fountain will make you forget about all your stresses. So peaceful and calm. We have about five Asian lamps in the house, maybe time for a hanging one.

    
This detail of a marble sculpture also was incredible. If I can figure out how to get that texture in silver, that may be another new direction. 

It was so great getting recharged artistically by the extraordinary artworks at this world class museum. You really need a week, or more, to go through the museum because of its size and the amount art and artifacts that are there. We had total sensory overload after four hours! Loved it all, such a great day. I'm ready to sit down with my sketchbook and begin another new jewelry direction.

I just spent the weekend in Brooklyn taking a 'Torch Fired Enamels' workshop at Liloeve which was fabulous!  Emilie Shapiro was the instructor of the class and she was amazing, extremely knowledgable and a great teacher. I have been looking to learn how to enamel for the last few years and was very excited to actually find a weekend workshop that I could squeeze into my crazy schedule.

Enameling is the art of coating metal with powdered glass which is fused together with heat. Normally this process takes place in a kiln, behind a closed door but, with the torch firing technique, the entire process is able to be seen.  

We learned how to use the acetylene torch to enamel copper pieces by firing the pieces on a trivet from below. You are able to pull the torch away at the exact moment that you like the finish of the enamel. Very exciting. I played a lot and experimented with all kinds of sample pieces over the two days. Lots of mistakes and disasters were made, along with some keepers! I plan on adding some color to my jewelry and hopefully by the summer I will have a new line to show.

And, I would like to thank my fabulous cousin Colleen for letting me crash at her Brooklyn apartment as well as giving this suburban girl her garage parking space and a delicious sushi dinner! A great weekend in Brooklyn.