Fancy Free

My neighbour John brought down a box of his late wife’s jewelry the other day. He had given me a few pieces before but this box had some beads and things that he wanted me to pass on the the Corsage Project, a group that donates dresses and accessories for girls to wear to their formals. A former colleague is a beader and she volunteers her time to remake old beaded necklaces.

I’m curious so I went through the box and one necklace stood out. It wasn’t broken and it the beads were made of semi-precious stones and silver. The piece was signed T. Singer. A little light googling revealed that the piece was made by Tommy Singer, a prominent Navajo silversmith who pretty much invented the “chip inlay” technique in the 1970s,

I’m struggling with whether I should keep it a give a donation (along with the rest of the bits in the box) or give it too the group to fundraise with as they see fit.

On the weekend, I went on a long amble with my mom and we passed a yard sale. It was mostly stuffed animals and other kid stuff, but we spotted this gorgeous piece of studio pottery. My mom recognized the artist as someone whose work she’d seen at the Canadian Clay and Glass museum. The seller confirmed it was by Barbara Murphy. And then she gave it to us for free. My mother won the custody battle but I made her promise she’d leave it to me in her will.