Pretty Baubles from Ellen Dooley

Many of you know that I am a lampwork bead addict. I don't make them myself but I have scoured the planet and found a few artists whose work I really like. Ellen Dooley has been in that group for years. She sent me an e-mail about a week ago telling me that she had a few beads that had my name on them. She dropped them in the mail and I got them a earlier this week. My reaction when I opened the package was....well...a kid on Christmas morning would describe it best. These beads are beauties!!! Don't take my word for it....LOOK.....





Now look at them next to some of my bronze work........

The beads are a mix of colors...gold, green, blue, purple and depending on how you hold them to the light and what colors they are up against they look different.

I'm likin' these!!! I think Miss Ellen needs to make some more and put them in her Etsy shop (check it out) for all you who like to combine your metal with glass. These beads would look great with silver or bronze....and great with the new cooper metal clay. Oh la la!!

I am going to make some large bronze medallions this weekend to go with these beads. There will be pics later.

Craftfair at Hathaway Brown

My summer is filling up. I was accepted into the Ohio Designer Craftsmen Craftfair at Hathaway Brown. I did this show last year. It was my initiation into the world of outdoor art fairs. Once I got one outdoor show under my belt I had the courage to apply to more. I got into 3 summer shows and they are all within a one month period. I am going to be really busy through July.

I am close to acheiving a goal this year. I set a goal of doing 6 shows a year and I am one show away from that goal....still waiting to hear about some shows for the Holidays.

Everything I need for a perfect Sunday.....

My laptop, the Rio Tool catalog, and Sophie. Notice how Sophie has wedged herself into my work area. She has this need to be the center of attention.

Jason and Magie were over last night. Sophie had to visit with both of them and climb in their laps. Ben took part in the action too. He climbed in between them on the couch and fell asleep.

I didn't get any clay work done yesterday. The weather was gorgeous and we opened up all the doors and windows. I ended up spring cleaning. Today I am just going to play with the things that I have made so far and think about some designs. It's one of those lazy Sundays.

Molded Pendants

Pictures of the original and the bronze piece I made from the mold.

An old key.


Bali Coral made into a round pendant.

The next two are pieces that I picked up from a vendor of African beads and artifacts.

These are drawer pulls that I picked up in Tucson last August when Cris and I went to visit Anne.

Of course when I polish these up they are going to lose most of their color. Maybe I won't polish them too much...just a little to bring out some of the bronze.

The weekend is here so soon and even sooner it will be over. Most of the weekend I am free to work. I have a cuniform tear-away that I want to work with and a couple of new shapes I want to try. Hopefully I can get another batch in the kiln tomorrow night.

I'm molding

not molting, not moldy....molding...just about everything I can get my hands on. I went through an entire shipment of Belicone. Not it's time to put them to use.

Shiny bits

My little pieces parts all shined up.....

A two layer pendant with two different sides. I fired it vertically and each side came out a different color. Strange...you never know what you're gonna get....isn't that right Forrest.

Another pendant...this one will be combined with leather to lace up the hole in the piece.

Bronze...in pretty colors

Pulled these out of the kiln this afternoon. I leave the bronze in the kiln until it is cooled to room temperature. Usually because I fire overnight and don't get back to the kiln until after I get home from work the next day. Now I have it in my head that I get better colors if I leave the bronze in the kiln until it cools. I have no proof that is the case....but I guess I'm superstitious about it now.

Lots of little dangles to make necklaces and bracelets.

More pieces from the molds that I made. I have something in mind...but I'm keeping it a secret. Once it's made I'll post pics.

But really....aren't the colors great!!!

Art and Power

For once we didn't go to a family dinner for a holiday. Is it Instead we went to the Cleveland Art Museum to see the Art and Power in the Central African Savanna. It's an exhibit with 60 central African scultures whose original purpose was to mediate between the human and spirit world. It was really amazing. Apparently I wasn't suppose to be taking pictures...but I did...until I was told not to. Here are a few of the figures. They are amazing. If you live in Cleveland or close...you should go see them.

Then we went to Sweet Melissa's for an early dinner. It is on the site of the old Max's deli in Rocky River. It was very good. I had a blackened crab cake sandwich with corn salsa, avocado, tomato, lettuce, chipotle vinaigrette chive sour cream and Monterrey Jack cheese......YUMMY.

New Pieces

Earrings...aka test strips. I put a few of these in each run and test them for strength when they come out. If they break I put the batch back in the kiln. If they don't I have a pair of earrings.


This is another piece from the mold that I made. I put holes in both ends on this one...hmmm...I'm getting an idea.

This is another mold that I made from pieces I picked up from Africa...not in Africa...but from a vendor that sold African artifacts.

Another mold...this one was a piece of fossilized turtle shell. It's thick. I rolled the bronze out at 11 card and then squished it into the mold. That's a technical term...squished.

My Kitties
Have I mentioned that I have 2 new cats :) I have fallen totally in love with them. Sophie needs to be around people. She is always in one of our laps. Saturday she took a nap with me. She curled up and put her head on my shoulder.... right next to my face. We both fell asleep.

Ben is all boy. He is bigger than Sophie and has muscles. You can feel them when you pet him. But he turns into mush when you gently pet him and scratch his chin. He is also part dog. He rolls over and lets us scratch his belly.

All nice and shiny

All shined up. They came out quite nicely.

I'm still loving the crack in this one.

Ben helped me with my drawings and did some filing and polishing for me.

And Sophie slept.

Nothing says lovin' like somethin' from the oven....

I worked in bronze this week and managed to get a load in the kiln before I went to bed last night.

These are from a mold of a fossilized ammonite. I'm always surprised by how much the bronze shrinks and the colors.

You can't see the detail on this one. I'll need to brush it up to bring out the highlights.


The next two are the new tear-aways that I made. They are tracings from ancient coins. Love the crack in the first one.

This is a mold from an African piece that I picked up at Bead Fest in Santa Fe. Scroll down to the March 20th entry to see the original.

Smaller pieces for earrings from the coin tear-aways.

Cain Park Arts Festival

I have been letting my mail pile up all week. Late...really late... last night I shifted through it and saw a response from one of the shows I had applied to. I was accepted into the Cain Park Arts Festival in July. WOO HOO. I told Lou this morning. His comment...."You've hit the big time". Now I have to get serious about production.

Once again...

the week has gotten away from me. Work has been soooo busy. The NIH received $10 billion in stimulus money and at least $8 billion is to go for research. Everybody wants a piece of it so there are numerous grants and supplements to existing grants that we are processing. The tough part is that they all have to go through my office before they move out of the department. Luckily my new assistant is wonderful and she is able to jump right in and help. The days have been flying by.

I worked a little in bronze on Monday and Tuesday night. Tonight we went out to dinner with our daughter Rachael and grandson Matty. It was nice to spend time with them. We don't see the kids often enough...every one is so busy. Life seems to fly by. Of course Lou and I are terrible at inviting them over. Thankfully they call to tell us it's time to get together. If left to our own devices I am sure we would become hermits...both in our own little rooms working away...only coming out for food, water, and an occasional shower :) The kitties would be fine with that. They have already found their places in my workroom. Princess Sophie has a spot on one of my shelves where she can watch what I'm doing. Ben Diesel has claimed the ottoman.

Tomorrow is Thursday and what I consider the start of the weekend. Once I get out of work, I start to feel it....the weekend is close. I'll have a chance to work in bronze both Thursday and Friday night...and all weekend. Life is good.

Back to Bronze

"I'll help you with your taxes ... VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV"

Sophie sat on my laptop and watched the V's scroll across the screen. I did get a chance to work in bronze today....barely. The cats wouldn't let me work at first but then they each chose a spot in my workroom and took a nap. I'll have pics later in the week.