Today's Lessons

I'm still prepping for the By Hand show.  Took yesterday off to get some work done.  I spent the day making some bits and pieces of bronze metal clay.  When the kiln hit 700 I opened the door.  I let it sit for about 15 minutes but then got impatient.  So I decided to sift the carbon to find my pieces.  Lesson number 1....don't sift hot carbon through a KitchenAid plastic pasta scoop.

Damn...I loved that scoop.  It's just the right size to sift the carbon out fast and leave even the smallest pieces behind.  Luckily I can get a replacement through Amazon.

The next problem came along when I decided to tumble the bronze.  At the same time I was putting a patina on some brass washers.  Instead of pouring in a capful of Supersheen, I poured in a capful of brown/black patina solution from Rio.  I only tumble for about 10 minutes to knock the the color down.  I opened up the tumbler expecting all the suds...what I had was black....all the bronze had turned black.  At first I was baffled..then I realized what I did.  I flushed it out and replaced it with Supersheen. After another 10 minutes of tumbling, the pieces came out beautiful.  Lesson 2...pay attention to what you are doing... actually turned into a happy accident....so maybe the lesson is to be open to the unexpected!!

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Busy, Busy, Busy

Getting ready for the show.  As I put together pieces I realize I need more of one thing or another so I've been hopping back and forth between the production bench and the metal clay bench.  I made a bunch of spacers and little pendants....and some big pendants.  I ran a couple of batches in the kiln and got two different sets of colors.  This never ceases to amuse me when I open up the kiln.

I've got all my little pieces parts sorted out.  One of the labs at work were throwing out these little tiny petri dishes so I brought them home.

And put together these pendants... pretty pendants all in a row...this is a pendant I learned form Mary Hettsmansperger. 

With fabulous beads by Angi Graham.

So I'm in the studio all weekend long.  I have four weeks to finish up my inventory, card the earrings, price everything and make sure I have everything I need for a three day show.  So I'm going to be.....busy, busy, busy.
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By Hand Show...

Hi All....I will be exhibiting at the By Hand Fine Art and Craft Fair in November!!!!

 

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Gallery Show Pics

I have pieces in a show at the South Wing Gallery in Cleveland Heights.  The opening reception was on the 14th.  I took a couple pictures of the displays. The did a nice job of displaying all the artists work. 

All the artists were introduced and we were asked to speak about their work.  I stumbled my way through a few minutes of how I make the pieces and what inspires me.  I gave the camera to Lou and asked him to take a few pictures while I was speaking....this is what I got....

Ansel Adams has nothing on Lou.........LOL.
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Anatomy of a Design

Years back I took a bead stringing class in Santa Fe from Marla Gassner.  I remember she described a design technique she used called "puddling".  In creating a new design she would put together puddles of beads so she could decide which combinations worked best. 

When I create my jewelry, my bench usually ends up with multiple puddles on it.  When they all converge into one large puddle I know it's time to clean the bench. 

Recently I put together a necklace around a large lentil for my gallery show.  Here are some pictures of the puddles I made.

I put beads in and take them out until I have something I like.  Here is the finished necklace.

 

 

 

The cats were hard at work being puddles of fur...........

 

 

 

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Photography...UGH!!

Most artists I know cringe when it comes to taking product shots of their work.  I'm one of them.  I've taken classes and tried a number of different set-ups including shooting outside.  Most of the time I shoot inside with a light tent.  I've tried using one light source, two light sources, three light sources....the variations have been endless.  So once again I'm trying something new.  I have been shooting against a black background.  It's actually a black shelf I bought at Target.  It's a bit reflective and it's flat.  When I take a long shot or a picture of something tall I end up getting the back of the light tent in the picture.  I have twisted and draped and arranged myself in a number of positions to avoid this.

So now I am trying another variation. I finally found some lights with small stands on them that I can position on the table.  Before these I had lights with clamps on them and I was clamping them to chairs and to the overhead chandelier....and hoped that I wouldn't bring it crashing down.  I also got a graduated back sweep which blocks out the back of the tent. 

Tonight I took some pictures of a copper cuff....a big ass copper cuff that I am putting in the South Wing Gallery show. 

 

 

I still like a black background even though most magazine photographers tell you to use white or a graduated one.  I can see I still need to play with this a bit.  The pics taken on the white background look a little washed out to me.  They looked better in Photoshop. 

 

Guess I will keep plugging away at it.  I wish photography was something that I had a handle on.  This continuous tweaking takes up way too much time.

 

Which photos do you like best???

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Tuareg Jeweler of the Desert

Tuareg Jeweler of the Desert from Christian Peacock on Vimeo.

Gallery Show!!!!!

If you are in Cleveland please stop by the South Wing Gallery between September 14th and December 2nd to see the show.

And Lou wanted you all to know that he formatted the show invitiation as a jpg so I could put it on my blog.  He's such a child!!  And I have beat him appropriately.

What I did on my summer vacation...

The summer seems to have disappeared and I spent most of it hiding indoors trying to avoid the oppressive heat.  The last two weeks have been heaven.  We've been able to open the windows and doors and enjoy the fresh air.

I thought I had blogged more...LOL.  Guess not.  So now I will do a report on what I did on my "summer vacation".

Soon after Bead and Button, Cris and I headed down to the PMC conference in Kentucky.  It was great to meet up with people that I had only know on Facebook and to catch up with old friends.  I didn't take enough pics but here are some of the ones I have.

Katie and Elizabeth 

Cris and I...I think someone called us "The Twins" 

Donna, Kim and Trish

 

Trish with Cris and I

 

Late in July my nephew Matt got married to Teresa. The weather broke that day and we had great weather.  It was a pretty wedding overlooking Lake Erie.

 

Matt and Teresa 

 Dave and Mom

Ed and Mom

 

My niece, Jenny, and her husband Chris

 

I love a wedding where you can go barefoot!!

 

I played with fast fire bronze....I know...I'm late to the party on that one.  I just haven't been able to make it work.  So I ran lots of test fire pieces.  I haven't found one temperature where I can get all the pieces in the kiln to sinter.  Either it sinters in the back and not in the front or it sinters in the front and bubbles up on the back.  Yikes.  So I'll continue to work at it.  I do have some of the new Goldie Bronze from Europe.  Hopefully I will get a change to work with that soon.

 

More later....I'm only half way through the summer...LOL.

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The work week from HELL!!

I'm so glad the week is over. I prepared the 2013 operating budgets this week.  It's usually a 2 week process but this time I had grants to submit at the same time....four grants worth $2 million each and a $11 millon operating budget.  Good thing I like to work with numbers. Budgets aren't so bad except when you have to predict the spending patters of 14 different labs with multiple grants, all with different fiscal years.  But I was able to finish it off today.  After it was done I turned on my music and cleaned my office...which I destroyed just as badly as I do my jewlery bench. 

I think I look pretty good considering how stressful the week was............

At the same time, Cris and I were submitting classes for Bead and Button.  Five classes this year.  Etching, fabrication and metal clay.  Everything was due this week too!!  But that's all done.  Now we just wait to hear if we get accepted. 

My next deadline is at the end of the month.  I will be in an exhibit at the South Wing Gallery in Cleveland Heights.  I need 12-14 pieces...and of course I want to make new pieces.  I have this great collection of beads and stones and I want to make the next step in evolving my work by incorporating more of these into my pieces. Evolution takes concentrated time so I"ll be spending all my nights in the studio for the next few weeks.

These are some of the stones I want to work with....

So much to do....so little time.  Were is my winning lottery ticket when I need one????
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The Bench of Chaos

The picture says it all....I've been busy.  This bench was clean on Friday.  This is what is looks like after two days.  What a mess.  I need to clean it up because tomorrow night I'm going some metal clay work. 
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Happy Bastille Day!!

I'd like to take this opportunity to say Happy Bastille Day!!  And to put up pictures of some of France's most treasured monuments.

Beautiful fireworks around the Eiffel Tower

The Arc de Triomph displaying the French flag

and half-naked French Firemen!!!....Let the party begin baby!!!



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The rest of the stash

OK.  Now I have the time to show you the rest of the stash.  One of these days you will see me on an episode of Hoarders.  They won't be able to get in the door because of all the strands of beads I'll have hanging from the ceiling.  They will find me unconscious in my studio under a pile of Gary Wilson cabochons.  Whatever happens....don't let them take my beads!!!

Thai beads from The Bead Goes On 

 Rough emerald from Jewelry by Kia.  Unfortunately she doesn't have a website.  If you ever see her at a bead show... stop and talk to her.  She's very interesting and has some great gemstones.

 Amethyst from Kia.  These look like dinosaur teeth.

Heliodor from Kia.  These came out of Namibia.  I found a website that says Heliodor in Greek means gift from the sun.  The site also said the stone is used as a talisman for people named Hugh....go figure. 

 Leland Green from Gary Wilson.  It is slag glass that was dumped into Lake Michigan from the iron ore refineries in the 1800s.  Over the 4th I picked up bunch of stones from Lake Erie that look like they might be blue slag.

Ammonites from Gary

More slag.  These were drilled as beads and are so primitive

Kyanite from Soft Flex...Yum.  These are so pretty. 

Viking beads from my friend Karen Elmquist.  These are so rustic and primitive.  They go great with bronze.

Petrified palmwood, Sonoran sunrise and dalmation jasper from Joe Jelks of Horizon Mineral.  I picked these up at the PMC Conference.  

So much stash and so little time.  I need some very, very rich bazillionaire to support me in my quest to use up all my stash making jewelry.  Someone like Bill Gates.  Hey...Bill...don't you want to help support a lovely, young woman in her quest? 

OK, OK...maybe not so young.  OK, OK...maybe not so lovely.  How about an average looking middle aged women who is sick of working a day job and wants to spend the rest of her life exploring the depths of creativity.  I just need a couple million...a drop in the bucket for you Bill.  Bill...Bill...??

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