Wearable art - my new distraction

#11 Carolina cherry burl, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

I have a confession to make. I'm an earring junkie. I love dangle earrings - especially handcrafted, wearable art. I can't go into an art gallery that carries jewelry without buying some beautiful handcrafted earrings. Thus, I've been percolating an idea of my own. My internal dialogue has gone something like this:

"I'm an artist. I work in wood. I love earrings. Why don't I make some carved wooden earrings?"

So, I'm starting to dabble in wearable art in addition to my wood turning and sculpting. They're actually pretty challenging in many ways - the small scale, carving symmetrical shapes, and capturing the organic beauty of the wood.

I'm starting with burl woods that have been hanging out in my shop - mostly scraps left over from other projects. I'll start buying some nicely figured woods dedicated to wearable art projects in the future.

If you click on the image, it will take you to my Flickr album where I've posted some other examples. I would really like some feedback at this early stage of my experiments. Thanks for taking a look.