Creative Life 2016- week 15 part 2

Spring is in the air and i've had monkey brain most nights, leaving me groggy in the morning and grumpy in the early afternoon.

However, since the night time is my-time, i have been getting some work made and i have a slew of sketches that i can't wait to get started on. I'm trying to make work in cohesive 'collections' now, for a few reasons-- 1- it makes my work easier to display as things go together and make sense instead of being a visual testament for my artistic ADD and 2- it makes it easier for me to enter into competitions, scholarship opportunities, etc because my work makes sens to a juror, judge, etc.

I'm still focused on my fold formed pieces, but i've branched out into enameled fold formed pieces over the past year and now i'm adding enameled beads to my fold formed focals. this lets me pull my enamel only work seamlessly into my current offerings also.

I'm really wanting to get back to my enamel 'sketch' work- where i actually draw on the enamel with a graphite pencil and fire it all together to create a permanent 'doodle' on jewelry. i have a giant focal i did almost 2 years ago that i love, along with my smaller pendant pieces, and i think there's some great possibilities for me there- both in the finished work and in the artistic process.

The other 'line' i'm working on is a narrative set of pendants inspired by words from http://other-wordly.tumblr.com/. The first in the series is Werifesteria (to wander longingly through the forest in search of mystery) and has a dendrite stone as its focal.

Here's what i finished last night- it's the only one i have right now in silver. While i love copper and i love working in copper, i love silver too, and sometimes something a little fancier is needed. :) the chain is random lengths of this lovely twisted figure 8 link connected by hand wrapped links with tiny labradorite. The focal is dauphine and harvest blue enameled pieces with organic wrapped sterling bits and a big chalcedony tear drop (i've had these in my stash for *years*- they were one of my first big splurges- i paid more for the strand than i was normally spending on a whole order of other beads. I've slowly been adding them to special pieces and this was a match made in heaven!)

Don't forget to come by and see me at the East Buntyn art walk this Saturday from 1pm-6pm! The commemorative glass this year is a pretty red and once you buy the glass at headquarters, you can get pours from all the artists around the neighborhood as you browse and buy one-of-a-kind art!

Creative Life 2016- Week 7 - Continued!!

Look at me.. making twice in one week! {sarcasm} if i had the energy, i'd be in the studio every night again, making a dozen pieces a week. The weather is absolutely beautiful today though- i rode the scooter back to work after lunch (and was tempted to not go back to work) and am looking forward to riding around this evening, before the chill sets in after dark.

Last night i got a few pieces made :) To be fair, they were mostly doing the final assembly, clean up or whatnot of pieces that have been sitting around for a while- the large copper piece has been tossed around my office for almost 2 years. BUT- i'm going to take the victories i can get and i will be content in knowing that these pieces are not 100% complete and ready for pricing and display.
Yes- i tweaked the image strangely, otherwise, you wouldn't be able to see the three earrings at all. one pair is a wire fabbed triske- Sterling, one is mold cast fine silver trilobites and finally, the bottom set is made from water cast pieces that have been soldered together to create a harmonious pair.

The leaf is a fine silver peperomia leaf with liver of sulfur patina (sealed) on a metallic bronze leather cord with sterling clasp. And of course, that big honking statement piece is solid copper- coated to protect the brightness.

Creative Life 2016 - week 7

BOOM! Finished piece. finally. (other than the competition piece and class samples). Indian Kammererite, Australian mint chrysoprase, sterling silver. hand made matching, removable chain. Satin finished. 2/2016.

That's the positive- what's below is the whiny, emotional, artsy-fartsy stuff that goes through my head all the time. If you want to skip it, that's fine. Scroll back up and look at the pretty. :)

2016 has been a rough year, creatively speaking. I am realizing that I need to take some things off my plate in order to be more effective at the things i need to keep. I got distracted by the 'business of art making', the networking, the groups, the functions, and forgot that at the end of the day, i need energy for the actual art making. It always gets hard during the winter months, when the energy is scarce to begin with. I'm sure by late spring, i'll be back to my old self, getting involved with this guild, or working with that group for a show. and i'll be delighted by my connectedness, my sense of belonging to a bigger community, and my ability to make progress in the 'art world'. Right now, i just want to curl up under the blanket with the kitties and sleep.

There have been a lot of external circumstances that have made me feel less than my normal self over the last few months. I have looked back over my writing, my sketching, my finished work (what little there is) to see how my state of mind has been going. the lack of content speaks volumes. even my blog posts have been of lower quality and certainly less frequency. I really hope Blogger gets their app fixed soon so i can blog from my phone. I spend most of my workday on the PC, and honestly, getting on it when i get home is one of the last things i want to do. (also why i have a pile of invoices to enter into QuickBooks.... hmm... )

I think i just need to hibernate from like December to April. come out for food and showers and then retreat back to the blankets. if i live tweet it and cast it, does it become performance art? { sarcasm }

Weekly Challenge- Week 41

Pink Palace Craft fair was AMAZING!!!! it was so much fun to get to demonstrate, hang with my metalsmith BFF Virginia and interact with people that *loved* our work! I was in the studio each night after the show making new stock to fill in all the stuff we sold. It was a wonderful validation of what i've been doing and i am beyond thrilled.

Here's some of the stuff i made this weekend that went into the booth. My next show is going to be River Arts and i'll be demonstrating in the Artists @ Work tent and my work will be for sale in the Artist Marketplace there where the demonstrations are. I'll be doing some air chasing demos for sure, most likely cuffs and 6x6 wall pieces.

Weekly Challenge- Week 39 continued

 New earrings... the silver ones are an example of what we'll make in the Gift Workshop class at the Botanic Gardens on the 20th of November. 

 Air chased sterling silver with Boro glass cab pendant. I'm trying to decide if i'm going to make a chain for it or just slap a fancy bail on and go. :)

Overview of the stuff i've been working on.. that large ginkgo leaf is *heavy* - lots of fine silver there. i'm debating on adding some patina to the leaves.. they look a little flat all shiny, if that makes any sense. I'm trying to build up stock of some new awesome stuff for Pink Palace- which is only a week away!!!!

And because kitties make everything better- here's Willow snuggling. :)

Weekly challenge- Week 25

this week's piece came together very quickly and exactly like i had hoped (very close to the sketch i made on Monday). I bravely assembled a 3 inch by 3 inch sheet of 24 gauge sterling silver, 18 inches of 12 gauge sterling square wire, fine silver bezel wire, 26 gauge sheet, a Wild Horse Canyon agate cab and a dark aqua larimar cab into a statement neck piece.

The forming of the metal was finished in one 3-4 hour session and it would have been completely finished in less than an hour more except my perfectionism kicked in and i tried to 'fix' something that no one would have ever noticed and made another 4 and a half hours of work for myself, cleaning up the damage i did. Check out the progress pictures below with the finished piece down at the very bottom.. I'm wearing it today to try to make adjustments to the neck wire for comfort. I think the wire will need to be trimmed a bit as the ends overlap now that i've put bends in it for the collar bones.  It is very comfortable so far - the air chased piece is extremely light (but super strong) and the 12 gauge square is a very comfortable size, especially since i took some 500 grit sandpaper and rounded the edges a just little.

The finished piece.. now to decide if i will oxidize or not.. 

Weekly Challenge- Week 19

I misplaced my sample for my upcoming Jeweler's saw class at the Botanic Gardens, so i had to make another one :) This piece was designed, pierced and cleaned up in 2 hours, using only one sawblade and my beloved Knew Concepts saw. Those super tight cuts were all made using the saw, not notched with a file.

Here's the class description if you're interested:

Sawing sheet metal or: How i learned to love my jeweler's saw May 30th 10am - 5pm

In this workshop class you will learn all the ins and outs of one of the most basic and useful of jeweler's tools, which incidentally, is also one of the most hated. 

 

You'll learn about proper blade loading, which saw blades to use for what, how different materials respond, how to mark your material for sawing, inside cuts and more. I'll have a variety of saws on hand for you to try, including the Knew Concepts saw, which has helped turn many an anti-jewelers saw person into a sawing master!

 

Our projects for the class will be mostly about learning how to use the saw and will be technique based, however, there will be a small pendant project that you can complete in class or at home, depending on the speed at which you work, and your practice pieces can be turned into charms. 

 

If you do NOT have a jewelers saw and bench pin, PLEASE let us know when you sign up for the class. Neither tool is required to take this class, but I need an accurate count of how many to bring. I will assume you have both if nothing is noted, so for everyone's enjoyment, please provide this information. Sharing is caring, but I would rather everyone have dedicated tools :) 

 

Blades, practice pieces, and templates are provided and you will have a reference handout to take home chock full of useful information. We will be using twist drill bits, center punches, scribers, sharpies, burlife/beeswax, and adhesive in class. (You are welcome to bring your own if you have these- some will be shared in class) Some tools and extra materials will be available for purchase at class as well. 

Please contact Laurie at the Memphis Botanic Garden to register : 901.636.4128

What I've been working on- December Update

I've had a lot of stuff going on lately on the artistic front. I created a piece for a challenge and actually submitted it (it didn't win, but that's not the point), I've been doing a fair bit of teaching, and I've been invited to teach a weekend workshop in Metal Clay at the Appalachian Center for Craft. I am participating in a show this weekend at the Brooks Museum- the Holiday Artist Market- and i'm pretty excited to see how that goes. Shows this year have been very positive experiences so far, decent sales aside, and i've learned so much from them. the shop is full of new stuff- tools, blanks, beads, chain and of course, finished jewelry. :)

So- yeah- I've been a busy little bee! Here's some Eye Candy for you. :)

Sterling Triskelion Earrings

Iris Fine silver button pendant with LOS background patina

Torch Fired enamel beads

Various rings

Infinite Love necklace

Ginormous garnet ring