The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Funny last Saturday... I felt terrible with a cold but I needed something to do so I worked in the studio.  Played with some bronze.  I had etched up all that copper and I wanted to see what the designs were going to look like.  I also worked with some molds.

The good...the molds came out nicely.  But molds usually do.  I've been using the actual object that I molded to give the backside of the piece a mirror image design.

This came from a mold of an African gold weight.  This is the front side.

Back.  I like that it's not perfect.  And is has my fingerprints on it. 

Another gold weight mold

The one on the right shows the back side.

This came from a mold I made in a Holly Gage class.  This is from an ancient coin.  It's the head of Apollo.

The bad....The copper I etched looks really great but in my rush to etch all the sheets, I didn't etch them as deep as I wanted. They etched about the depth of a tear-away...which is OK but I was going for just a little bit of a deeper etch.

The ugly....well..I love the shape, love the texture and love the faux rivets.  But....the texture is too shallow and some of the faux rivets fell off.  I am going to try to attach and refire them.  If that doesn't work I will drill out the spots and add real rivets...maybe with some screws to make it different.

Well...back to the drawing board.  I am going to etch new sheets so I can get a deeper texture.

Bead and Button Registration Opens Tomorrow!!!

Cristina Leonard and I are happy to be teaching classes together again at the 2014 Bead & Button Show! We will be offering 6 metalsmithing and metal clay classes.  Below are the pictures of our classes.  We guarantee you will gain new skills and techniques and have a great time doing it!!

Hot Forged, Twisted Bronze Bracelet ‪#‎B141347

Bronze Metal Clay Pendant Necklace ‪#‎B141445‬ 

Carved Wood and Fine Silver Pendant and Earrings ‪#‎B141568

Metal Clay Embellished Bracelet ‪#‎B141553‬ 

Mixed Metal Layered Acid Etch Earrings ‪#‎B141551‬ 

Metal Clay Tube Bead Bracelet ‪#‎B141351‬

Sorting the Bead Stash....

Spring is never the time I clean the studio.  January is usually the time this works best.  There are no shows and all the holiday obligations are over.  I've had this very large basket of beads in the studio.  Over the past year, every time I bought something it went into the basket.

Today I emptied it out on the floor.  Ben was impressed.  You can see it in his eyes. This pile is 5" deep in the center.
 

 



So I started to sort them out by color.  I hang the beads on hooks on the wall above my assembly bench.  I decided....I need more hooks!!

 

 

Sophie decided to hide in the corner while I was going this.

 

 

Browns, blacks, wood, ceramic, bone

 

 

I still have greens, blues, roman glass, oranges/reds to sort through.  I'm really going to need more hooks. 

Annual Review

I've had a raging cold the last couple days and no desire to do anything physical....so a little contemplation is perfect right now.  I found a website called Marketing Creativity written by Lisa Jacobs.  She has a 7 day, step-by-step process for reviewing 2013 and planning for 2014.  Just thought I would share the website.

What is it about New Year's....

I seem to always get sick.  I had 10 days off and luckily it was just in the last two days that I got the crud...headache, sinus pressure, sore throat, stiff neck and my voice is all squeaky.  I did go to work today but left early to avoid the grid locked traffic that always occurs on bad weather days.

The snow was so deep it buried the Baby Jesus...only the cow made it out of the snow drift.  Oh the humanity!!

Called Mom and she demanded that I take some aspirin and go to bed immediately.  Seriously....she said "Listen to your Mother".  That was at 6pm.  I haven't made it to bed yet.  Sorry Mom.

What I did on my Christmas vacation...

I've loved having time off.  Visited with family, did some shopping, and got some work done in the studio....well...dining room actually.

I have been working on some new designs to etch in copper for texture sheets.  I finally got most of them onto copper sheet and ready for etching...which will happen today.  Using the bench shear is so much fun.  The metal cuts like butter.  All this time I've been cutting the metal by hand...which is OK in a pinch....but is very hard on the hands when doing a lot.  And it curls when cutting by hand.  The shear cuts clean and neat...makes me wonder why I didn't have one of these a long time ago.

Well...time to set up the etch solution.  Once I have these done I can't wait to see how they look in clay.  I usually grab a wad of polymer and start pressing into the texture.

How can it be Christmas again...

This weekend was spent getting ready for Christmas.  I went to the Last Minute Market on Saturday with Deb and Brenda.  We spent time talking to Katie and Eva who have studios at the Screw Factory.  I also managed to pick up a few things....



The lamp is Lou's birthday present.

I picked up a scarf which temporarily became a cat blanket.



"What'd ya mean it's a scarf....seems purr-fect for me"

And a sweet little bracelet from Theresa Loomis



I'm loving this.

I've been in the studio...a bit...making potato chips....bronze potato chips.

These are in the tumbler right now.

Today we were out toy shopping.  I kept finding toys I wanted to play with.  Off to wrap them!!



Back in the saddle....

To be honest...I haven't worked in the studio since before June.  I've been away from it for 6 months.  No idea why.  At first it was to take a break and then I just got in a rut of coming home from work and sitting in front of the TV surfing the net....a really bad habit that I need to break. 

And then I saw a black-out poem by Austin Kleon...if you don't know Austin... you should check out his website.  A very techno-savvy, creative guy.

So off to the studio to PLAY.  I say PLAY... loudly.... because there are some who think if you refer to your art as "playing" then you are not serious.  I work at a serious job all day long.  When I get into the studio...I want to PLAY.  I want leave behind the rules and regulations I deal with everyday. I want to smile, laugh, sing, and have fun.  Serious and anal is the last thing I want to be.  Am I going to be a world-renowned artist??  Probably not....so very few of us ever will be.  I can practice my art, hone my skills, and have fun doing it....otherwise...why bother.  Life should be filled with joy whenever possible!!

Anyway....I didn't do anything ground-breaking.  I just pushed some clay into molds...but it was fun and I got back into it...and I had to start somewhere. 

Still getting amazing colors with my laundry room carbon

So now my challenge is to get into the studio at least a couple day a week.  I have some new textures I want to work with and some ideas for new pieces.

Speaking of pieces....when I was out in Santa Fe I picked up a few pieces for myself.  I don't buy jewelry often but when I do...hahaha...I sound like the Dos Equis beer guy....anyway...I buy from people that I admire.

So here are a few pieces I picked up.



Carolyn Morris Bach - this was my anniversary present.

Holly Masterson - this was present to myself

Victoria Stoll...um...another present for myself :))

Pictures from Canyon Road

We don't get up to Canyon Road nearly enough.  There is one gallery in particular....Chalk Farm....that we love to visit. They refer to their art as visionary.  I guess I would call it fantasy.  Visiting the gallery gives me a sense of wonder...like I had when I was little.  A time when bears played with butterflies, rocks came alive, and a girl could have a tiger as a guardian. 

 

Robert Bissell



Tomasz Kopera



Michael Parkes

Some other art up on Canyon Road...

I love the sense of motion in this

This one is for Nancy

Mermaid outside the Chalk Farm

 

I can get Lou to do anything.  "Hey Lou....go stick your hand in the basket"

Shadow art....the light in Santa Fe is amazing!!



Santa Fe is always a good idea....

Last weekend we were in Santa Fe with Tony and LaVette (Lou's uncle and aunt).  We had a great time.  We stayed at La Fonda...which is wonderful.  The rooms have gone through a renovation and they are lovely.

We had a small sitting room off the bedroom

The restaurant is surrounded on all sides by these painted windows. 

The fireplace.  We always end up here at the end of the day.

The stores in Santa Fe are interesting...expensive...but interesting.  Shiprock is a great store on the plaza.  They have gorgeous Navajo rugs and a huge collection of jewelry.



This was stunning.  Of course you don't put these rugs on the floor.



There were a few here that I wanted...OK...I wanted them all.



Another room of gorgeous rugs.



And the jewelry!!  I've been playing with the panorama function on the iPhone.



Overland Sheepskin Co. has the most amazing coats....and some pretty cool hats.  This time it wasn't me modeling the hats. 

Lou...in Steampunk mode.

Cowboys and Indians had these great tables that were inlaid with turquoise. 

We went into the Torres gallery to look at the Robert Rivera gourds.  These are amazing.

I didn't catch what he calls these....I call them Worm Warriors.

Turtle Gourd.