elrhiarhodan

Day 5

In your own space, share something non-fannish you are passionate about with your fannish friends.

We are awesome in our passion for fandom but we are more than that. We are vibrant multi-faceted people. Yes, you too. Share a little bit of that, if you can, according to your comfort level.

I am passionate about a lot of things - and I could break the character limit describing all of them. But for the purposes of this challenge, I'm going to limit myself to just two.

Japanese Art Deco Porcelain

I am a collector, which should not ever be confused with being a horder. I collect a number of different things - crystaline glaze pottery, hand-blown perfume bottles, early 20th century Scandinavian enamel jewelry, various types of art work. But these are small collections - with the exception of the jewelry (which fits into two smallish archival boxes), the number of items in each collection is less than a dozen.

My big collection is my porcelain. I'm not talking about the dinnerware/dishware that you may have included in your wedding registry. What I collect is called "Fancyware" - small items (vases, trays, vanity and smoke sets) that were made between 1926 and 1931. I've been collecting since the early '90s - it started with a small, and to my eyes beautiful-funky, wall vase that I bought at a country auction, and exploded during the heyday of eBay as an antiques/collectibles marketplace.

I am so passionate about this stuff that I publish a quarterly newsletter about it.

This is one of the most prized pieces in my collection:

The Seated Lady

Jewelry

I've been fascinated with the sparklies for as long as I can remember, and when I'm fascinated by something, I have this urge to create.

While I have taken classes in the basic metalsmithing arts, my love these days is for beading. I am a self-taught beader - having picked it up as a hobby after graduating law school. I work mostly with natural materials: semi-precious stone and pearls. While my style is on the raw and organic side (a friend occasionally describes my creations as "carnivorous"), my technique is old-school. I use silk and hand knot:

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A few years ago, I "discovered" the technique of kumihimo - 8-strand Japanese braiding and have been exploring how to best integrate it with beading:

This is one of my "tamer" pieces:

And my more advant-garde work:

So, yeah - I'm passionate about a lot of things - mostly expensive things. One of the nicest aspects of fandom (other than the people and the creativity) is that it's so darn cheap!

NOTE: I had no entry for Day 4 of the Challenge because it didn't require a journal entry. But for the record, the challenge was to reach out and friend/contact someone you admire. I "liked" Patricia McKillip on Facebook.