This Life in Knots

J.Babcock Medicine Bag 2006 There’s something special about a little pouch made of velvet or silk or deerskin. Maybe it’s because of the size and that you can only fit something small and significant or maybe even precious inside. Deerskin Medicine Bag After moving to New Mexico in the late ‘80s I first became aware of Native American medicine bags – these are usually made of soft deerskin and containing personal items of protection and power such as stones, fetishes, sage, bones, hair or fur, roots, leaves or feathers. J.Babcock Medicine Bag circa 1992 Around that same time I also began noticing other types ofRead More →

One of the most frequent questions that I’m asked by people who see my work is “How long did it take you to make that?”  After all these years of creating and selling jewelry, I’m still somewhat flummoxed by that question, because the answer isn’t as apparent as it would seem. There is so many aspects that go into creating a piece of artwork and each of these takes time. First there’s the ruminating (or you might call it the gestational) period when an idea is taking shape in your mind. This is an undetermined amount of time but I suspect it can take anywhereRead More →

Woven Rose Window Pendant Last week I got my complimentary copy of the Spring 2012 WireWork magazine. I  contributed to the issue with my project “Woven Rose Window Pendant” (page 50). I think the issue’s been out for several weeks now – as a friend mentioned a while back that she saw my article, but I think it’s still on the newsstands until May 19th. I got interested in weaving with wire after being awestruck by the work of artist Marilyn Moore. I was honored to meet her at BeadFest Santa Fe in 2011 and buy some very skinny wire from her. I wish I’dRead More →

“Spiral Fibers” 2012 , by Joan Babcock About two or three years ago, I saw my first example of soutache embroidered jewelry on Annika De Groot’s great blog, http://micromacrame.blogspot.com/. The necklace was by an artist named Annetta Valious, www.annetavalious.com/and I thought it was very striking and unusual. The seed was planted. Of course, soutache isn’t macrame at all, but it is fiber, so it’s not surprising that it catches the eye of fiber artists. Another fabulous soutache artist that I admire greatly is Dori Csengeri, www.doricsengeri.com/. Soutache seems to be one of those trendy things lately – I noticed that Bead & Button will haveRead More →

OK, I’ll come right out and say it …. this blog’s all about me. Sure, it’s title, “My Life in Knots” refers to the type of art I’ve devoted much of my creative life to and what I’m mostly known for – the oft underrated craft known as macrame. But it also hints at my day to day life as someone who earns her living in a creative field. And while I’ll surely include some macrame related posts from time to time, this will not be an “all things macrame” blog. Oh no, I go on all sorts of creative tangents! My primary purpose isRead More →