Order Out of Chaos

My workbench turns into such chaos when I'm working.  I was thinking that I needed a bunch of small containers to hold all the little pieces parts and then I remembered I had something that would work.  I was cleaning out an empty lab a few months back and found these tiny petri dishes.  They were headed for the dumpster so I brought some home.  I knew I would find a use for them.

A few pieces that came out of the studio this week.

And what bench would be complete without some phallic beads?

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Steal Like an Artist

A while ago I stumbled on Austin Kleon's blog and a post called How to Steal Like an Artist.  A number of his points resonated with me. Nothing is original.  What we create is a distillation of the things we have been exposed to, the things that we are drawn to and the things that we collect.

When looking for inspiration, grab that thing that sets you on fire...that thing that Jim Jarmusch refered to as "speaking directly to your soul" and run with it.  Or as Twyla Tharp put it...."run like hell".  Use it, refine it, revise it, riff on it until you are sick of it and then move on to your next inspiration.

Austin recently gave a talk at The Economist's Human Potential Summit.  I thought I would share it.

New Lickables....Beads That Is.....

I mentioned before that I'm throwing non-metal beads into the mix when I'm designing.  And with all the beads that I have in the house you would think that I could find some that would work.  But my beads are all sparkly and shiny and colorful.  My current work is matte and earthy. 

So I blew out of work and rushed to my FAVORITE bead store....Bead Paradise ... before they closed.  I picked up some new lickables.  Ruth showed me some fantastic strands of rare antique brass beads from the Ivory Coast. The were so amazing.  I would have licked them but she probably would have thrown me out of the store...LOL.  Unfortunately, I will have to love them from afar since they were way out of my price range...for now.  I borrowed a picture from her.  Here is one of the strands.  You can see more on her website under Baulle Metal Beads.

So I bought a stash of very earthy beads to design with.....

and a few metal beads as well....I have no self-control....it's just sad...

These babies are bronze and awesome!!!

I've been in the studio for about 2 weeks straight.  I took a break the last two nights.  With this new stash I will be back into the studio for another couple weeks and should be ready for my November show. 

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Is it true you are DEAD??

Sometimes I just love spam e-mail.  I got this one today....

Re: Payment Notification:

We are writhing to know if it's true that you are DEAD. Because we received a notification from one Mr. Bob Chantler of USA stating that you are DEAD and that you have giving him the right to claim your US$ 5.5M funds. He stated you died on a CAR accident last week. He has been calling us regarding this issue, but we cannot proceed with him until we confirmed this by not hearing from you after 3 working days. Be advised that we have made all arrangements for you to receive your funds of US$ 5.5M without anymore stress, and without any further delays.

Kindly reconfirm the below information’s if you are not dead and also get back to this Office for immediate delivery of your fund at your home address.

1. Your house address
2. Your Full name
3. Phone Number,
4. Age
5. Male/Female
6. Occupation
7) A copy of your ID

All we need to confirm now is your been DEAD or still Alive. Because this Man messaged brought shock to our minds. And we just can't proceed with him until we confirmed if this is a reality OR not but if it happened we did not hear from you after 3 days, and then we say: MAY YOUR SOUL REST IN PERFECT PEACE"

YOU'R JOY AND SUCCESS REMAINS OUR GOAL. May the peace of the Lord be with you wherever you may be now?

Yours faithfully,
Rev Father Augustan Goodluck.


I never answer these but I couldn't resist this one.  I answered....

YES, I am DEAD.  Now let me Rest In Peace!!
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New Shows, New Work

I've just listed two shows that I have coming up.  In November I will be at the By Hand Show at the IX center and in December I'm at the Last Minute Market.  So I've been busy designing pieces.  Every night after work I'm in the studio.  All weekend long I am in the studio. 

Mostly I'm designing the finished pieces but every now and then I hop over to the metal clay bench to make a few extra accent beads.  The kiln is firing right now with pieces parts. 

I'm really liking the things I'm designing right now...that's sounds funny.  For about a week I was blocked....artistically speaking.  I sat in the studio and just stared at things.  But then it started to flow.  I had to pull all the beads down off the wall and start mixing and matching.  The pieces are really coming together nicely.

Here are a few pieces from this week.

BIG NEWS!!

You've heard me talk about the Bead and Button Show before.  I've been going to it for the last 8-9 years.  I've learned a lot of what I know from classes at this show.  I have friends around the country that I've met here....including my best friend Cris Leonard.  With Cris and I it was practically love at first sight.  We are so in tuned that the joke at the show is we are connected by an invisible umbilical cord.  Going back to the show every year is a wonderful combination of learning new things and catching up with old friends.

The June 2012 show will be a whole new experience.  Cris and I will be TEACHERS!!!  We submitted three classes and they have scheduled us in for FOUR.  They want us to teach one of them twice.  The show draws 14,000 people from all 50 states and 40 different countries.  It is the premiere show for this industry.  I'm stunned, giddy, honored, excited, speechless (well...maybe not speechless).  Cris called me on Friday to let me know and we were both screaming on the phone. 

It's going to be fun...because if there is anything that Cris and I are...when we are together...it's FUN.  The classes are great.  We will teach students the basics...sawing, riveting, drilling, etching, texturing, patinas, and more.  Below are the pics for our classes.  Come join us.  Have some fun and learn a lot!!

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Full Circle

When I started making jewelry, I created beaded necklaces...seed beads, Czech glass, silver daisy spacers.  My signature style was three-stranded necklaces.  They were verrrry symmetrical. 

I moved on to making bracelets and necklaces with lampwork beads.  I still have a number of pieces that I want to put up on Etsy.  And I have a ton of lampwork beads I still need to do something with. 

When I started working with bronze metal clay, I felt like I had really found my voice.  Over the past three years it has evolved little by little.  This weekend it felt like I came fill circle.  When I go to the bead store I'm still drawn by the beads and recently I picked up a few strands and they ended up in this piece.

 
And this piece.....where I mixed up the beads with chain and bronze accent pieces. 

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How You Doing??

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Let the chaos begin....

This is a picture of my workbench. As much as I try...I can't keep it clean while I'm designing. Neatness and creativity don't exist at the same time in my world.
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Check out the beads Lenny Kravits is wearing...

YEAH....like I'm looking at the beads.....LOL.

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Holly Gage Classes in Cleveland...Seats Available

In this 2-day class, learn the secrets of transforming original photos or drawings into highly detailed, low relief images, which look similar in style to traditional Repoussé. Discover how to wet-work a reverse polymer mold of your image; manipulate silver metal clay and use tools to create different hand-wrought textural effects; and to carve details for the finishing touch.

Dates: October 27-28 & October 29-30, 2011

Cost: $195

For more information: http://www.metalclayclassesincleveland.blogspot.com/ or contact Katie Hanrahan at katieskreations@yahoo.com
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Big, Big, Big...Bad Ass Beads

These are spindle whorl beads. Here is the description of them.

These come from ancient Mopti-Djenne (Niger and Bani River area). Reports coming from the 1300s say that one could not speak in a normal tone due to the noise of the weavers' looms at Djenne during the time of the great King Sundjata. There are written comments dating to the early 1400s about Djenne and the great number of weavers there. Although often collected and strung as beads, these were originally spindle whorls used to help spin thread. Made of clay and stone and incised with geometrical patterns, they are recognizable by their enlarged central hole. Recent excavation in the old city of Jenne-Jeno, near the modern town of Jenne, show these whorls to have been used at least since AD 1000.

I got these in an auction. I’ve been looking at similar beads and finally decided to go for it.  I didn’t realize how big they were. Of course I should have paid attention to the description that stated they were "HUGE".  They came in a large box and I thought…”Oh how nice, the company really took a lot of care in packing them".

I pulled out all the packing paper and finally got down to the package of beads...the size of a dictionary....like the ones they have in libraries.....the ones that weight like 20 lbs. Well, I knew we weren’t in Kansas anymore. These ARE huge. These are "one bead to a necklace" type of beads. Otherwise you'll end up with a dowager hump.

I told you they were HUGE!!!   HA!!  But they are awesome.  I made some bronze end caps with a mud cloth decoration on them to go with them.

I ran across a link to a pictorial on The Making of Modern Spindle Worls in Mali.  It's really interesting and reminds me in many ways of working with metal clay...but on a much larger scale.  Check it out.  make sure you click on the arrows at the bottom of the pages so you see all the pictures from start to finish.
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Laundry Room Carbon....

I've long had this theory that my carbon gives colors because I keep it in the laudry room, just sitting in a bowl absorbing all the smells in the laundry room.  I also occassionally keep it next to the cat litter...absorbing whatever...LOL.  I've had two people e-mail so far to say they are getting colors since they moved their carbon to the laundry room or next to their cat litter.  Carbon absorbs and when it gets fired it puts all that it absorbs into the firing.....at least that's my theory. 

Here are some of the pieces I fired this weekend.

All polished up.....

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The gods have been appeased.....

....or maybe it's the fact that I left my carbon sitting next to the litter box for a few days.  Honestly all the talk about storing carbon air-tight, priming, sifting....I just let mine lay around and it just keeps on giving.  Candice left a comment on yesterday's post....she read my blog and left her carbon in the laundry room.... and got great colors. 

All these pieces below were in the same run...single layer.  Below is a piece that I molded from a Gary Wilson fossil.  I haven't polished this piece yet.  I think I might just try to seal it as is.

I have been trying to master bracelets with mixed results.  This time I rolled out and textured a strip of clay and placed it around a wooden bracelet mandrel.  Take a look at the mandrel below.  Close to the bottom you can see two faint parallel lines.  This is where I placed the clay to dry.  When it started to dry and pull away from the mandrel, I pushed it up and off so it could finish drying with the constraint of the mandrel.  Look how it shrunk...it tightened up...a lot. 

Check out the texture in the unfired clay. This is from one of the etched copper plates that I made. The text is from a picture that I took at the Louvre. It has a much sharper texture than the polymer tear away sheets.

The fired piece...again...in the same batch as that bright red piece above. The texture really held up well in the firing.

Another dilemma piece....I carved a hole in this piece after it was dry.  This is always risky because the pressure of cutting into the middle of a piece could crack it...but I liked the ragged edges on the inside of the hole.  Well...it wasn't the carving but the fact that I dropped it that made it crack.  So I tried to patch it together with a pseudo staple on the front and the back. 

But it split anyway and you can tell that my cutting wasn't all that precise because it started to split in a few other areas.  I am gong to try to rivet this together with metal straps and then lace it together with leather.  

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The Kiln Gods Must Have Been Feeling Blah.

I put a few things into the kiln last week and the result was all tans and pale greens.  I figured the kiln gods were feeling blah that day.  Or there is a possibility that the carbon was exhausted.  I remember being told that the carbon will eventually lose it's abiity to produce color.  So far I've not seen it.  I've had tans before and then have it produce amazing colors in the next batch. 

I picked up a fosillized sea urchin from Gary Wilson at Bead and Button and made two molds...the front and back. 

A couple of amulets that I molded. 

A couple of new shields.  The second one broke so I will see what I can do with it by lacing the top and bottom together.

A clean studio

I've been cleaning up the studio....a reoccuring theme.  It never stays clean but it gets to a point where it is so disorganized that I have to clean it.  I found a new tool bag at Home Depot.  This one had all kinds of pockets so I could stand up my hammers and saws.  It makes it more convenient when I'm looking for something.

I also bought more hooks so I could hang up the strands of beads.  Lou took one look at this and told me I could start a bead store....if only he knew.

The workbench is so clean now that Sophie has a place to sit while I work at the other bench.

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International Metal Clay Associate Discussion Minutes

Below are the minutes from the discussion that took place at the Metal Clay World Conference about a single metal clay group
Two volunteer facilitators, Sherry Chaples and Mary Ellen Giffels, drew up an outline for discussion and created ground rules. The notes reflect the discussion that took place.


Proposed Agenda:

- Introductions
- Background/Purpose of Meeting
- Ground Rules
- Discussion Areas
o Purpose/Mission of the Organization
o Services Provided
o Customers/Members
o Geographic Scope
- Next Steps
o Who
o What

Ground Rules
- Cell Phone off
- One person talks at a time using the microphone
- There are no bad ideas
- Each speaker is limited to 2 minutes
- Introduce yourself when speaking

Purpose/Mission should be:
- Brand free
- Single source for certification and educational programs
- Professional organization to educate and be the professional face to the public
- Marketplace for teachers/students to find each other and classes
- Independently gather information and provide education needed to grow
- Neutral education and teacher support
- Conferences – share knowledge, network, bring community together
- Will need resources – video, web, etc.
- Will require time to develop
- Promote Metal Clay
- On-line publications
- Advancement of knowledge and excellence
- International/global in scope

Purpose/Mission shouldn’t be:
- Certification focused. Current certifications are company/brand owned and operated and should have nothing to do with the organization
- Not-For Profit vs. Non-Profit vs. Profit….discussion tabled until a later date.

It was acknowledged that this is the beginning of a very long process and we must go slowly to achieve what we want the organization to be. In addition, we will need a lot of planning, work, volunteers and money. Everyone needs to actively work for this organization to happen. Questions that should be asked:
- What can a brand neutral organization do for the members?
- What can a brand neutral organization do for metal clay?
- Will the organization promote instructors or the clay?
- Will it be education based?
- Is a brand neutral organization a logical venture?

Services Provided
- Conferences – info oriented presentations
- Retreats – demos, hands-on workshops
- Education
- Expand into other demographics like high schools to capture the younger generation
- Advocacy
- Outreach / Charity to give back (as with Shelter Box)
- Advancement of knowledge and excellence
- An Annual where excellence in metal clay is showcased
- Website

Who our Customers are:
- Metal Clay Artists
- Galleries
- Educators
- Museums
- Everyone who is interested in working with or advancing the medium of metal clay
- Levels of membership
o Artists (active, students) – different payment structure, potential scholarships to students
o Corporate members
o Local guilds

Who our customers are not:
- No one
- Corporate members should not influence the organization. There needs to be transparency in membership and sponsorship. No hidden agendas.
- There should be no “masters”

Geographic Scope
- Multi-cultural
- Global in scope

How will the new organization affect the existing organizations and corporations?
- Many people are already members of both Art Clay Society and PMC guild. As artists, many are already brand neutral in that they use all brands of clay.
- PMC Guild and Art Clay Society are very supportive of all metal clay artists regardless of brands of clay used.
- Art Clay Society has never been brand specific. It is, however, based at Art Clay World. Once a brand neutral organization is created, Art Clay Society would be willing to merge with it.
- The companies, Mitsubishi and Aida, will always be separate corporations.

Currently there are many sources of support
- Art Clay Society, PMC guild
- Yahoo Metal Clay list,
- Metal Clay Artist Magazine,
- Metal Clay Academy
- Metal Clay Today.

Next Steps
- Get ideas from other similar guilds on by-laws, etc.
- Enfold PMC Guild members
- Figure out what happens to Art Clay Society and how does this impact relationship to Aida
- Members to help guide the organization forward
- Survey regarding what we discussed today (PMC guild, ACS, Yahoo, other venues)
- Consider having someone from the business community on Council/Board
- Legalities, where to incorporate, etc – Sandra Graves
- Put video on You Tube for 3 months – Jackie/Tom Truty
- Written recap of meeting – Katie Hanrahan, Judi Weers, and Gail Lannum. Gail will consolidate the notes and send to Mary Ellin D’Agostino. Those who have blogs are encouraged to post the notes on their blogs to get the word out to as many people as possible. Also place on Yahoo board.
- Google Doc outline – Mary Ellin D’Agostino
- Website Plan – Signe Lalish-Menagh
- Translation into other languages
o German, French – Verna Sowersby
o Spanish – Elizabeth Del Monte
o Dutch – Inge Verbruggen
o Are there others who can translate?
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Book Review Saturday

I have so many jewelry books stacked up in the studio that I want to read or study....but this book showed up on my doorstep yesterday and I had to sit down to look at it.

Ring a Day: 700 Photos from a 365 Day Jewelry Challenge



It's a cute book about the size of the moleskine I keep in my purse...I love moleskine's.  And it's printed on glossy graph paper.....I love graph paper.  I know....I'm a nerd.  When I was in college I loved to take notes on graph paper.  So without even looking at the contents of this book I was in love.

I had heard about the Ring a Day project.  This is a 250+ page collection of some of those rings...obviously 700 of them.  There are pictures...lots of pictures... on every page with a few quotes from the artists on their designs.  There is lots of inspiration in this book.  Some of the rings are fabulous, some are unusual and some are just weird...LOL.  But when you've challenged yourself to make a ring a day... no matter what.... sometimes you grab the twist tie off the bag of bread and get to work. 

One of my favorite jewelry artists...Sara Westermark...has work in this book and some of my metal clay Facebook friends...Lorena Angulo, Angela Crispin and Lora Hart. 

This is going to be a book I'm going to pick up again and again.... write and draw in the margins....put sticky notes in.... and get tons of inspiration.  Making rings has been one of my goals so maybe this book will help me take those first few steps.

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A nice day for weeding

After weeks of 90+ degree weather it is finally in the 80's and tonight it will be in the 60's....great sleeping weather.  I left work early, threw open the windows and doors when I got home, then went into the backyard to weed for two hours.  It was so nice to go outside and not wilt. 

The summer has flown. I still have half the flower beds in the back yard to weed. I haven't touched them in a couple years since I'm usually doing art shows. At this point I might be better off just plowing them under and starting over.  Anyone want to help me weed???  I can pay in jewelry :))

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Metal Clay Classes in Cleveland.....Seats Available

The NEO PMC guild is hosting Lora Hart and Gorden Uyehara on August 25-29, 2011.  Our own Cathy Davies-Paetz will also be teaching.  Besides metal clay classes we will have classes in photography and use of the flex shaft.  I have created a page with the class brochure.   Just click on the Metal Clay Classes In Cleveland link over on the right side of my blog under PAGES. 

If you want to sign up for a class, contact Katie Hanrahan at katieskreations@yahoo.com
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