2018 ~ 52 ring challenge - week 3

Ok- this has been a frustrating week. I was supposed to go out of town for the 3-day weekend and spend some time communing with nature. I need it. I need to get down and take up close photos of turkey tails growing on fallen logs, bark textures from bare trees, black reaching branches silhouetted against a crisp blue winter sky. Unfortunately, mother nature had something else in mind and instead of heading out Friday night after work (Saturday morning if I was too tired), I worked from home Friday as I was iced in. I was outside trying to scrape the ice off my car when I watched a much larger, heavier vehicle go sliding through the intersection down from my house. After over 30 minutes of working on my car, and I still couldn't see through the windshield, I gave up. In time to watch another car go sliding past my house and fishtail as they tried to pull into the driveway across from me. I decided NAH..

So.. I was stuck at home. I made it out on Monday and wandered the gardens to get a little bit of nature (and I did at least get a few photos of cool textures and the Big Bugs were still out) And thankfully I worked some studio time in.

Unfortunately, snow moved in again and we got some serious little drifts here at the house. The street was completely covered and I again, enjoyed/cringed-at the sound of cars sliding down my street as I worked from home again today.

Week 3's rings:
1st set were technically done at the end of week 2 as I forgot I was doing this from Monday to Sunday- two men's bands done in 16 gauge sterling silver. they're high polished and quite shiny.

And the other 2-

Ring 1- Bronze cast piece (leaf impression) on hand stamped sterling rectangle band

Ring 2- Unicorn creations Dichroic glass satin finished bead, torch pinned in a sterling silver stamped 16 gauge U band. The bead (and two sterling side beads) spin around in the setting and the bead is reversible with lovely flashes of purple on both sides. The wire that holds it in the U frame was balled up with the bead in place with my Little Smith torch- I think this is the first time I've successfully pinned something with wire this thick.

And because I'm not *just* making rings in 2018, here are some other pieces I've made this year:

Small sterling nebula pendant. It's reversible. I'm trying to decide if I like it shiny or if it needs some patina.

Sterling and Bronze pendant- currently unnamed (but leaning towards Shattered).

The back is as fun as the front. The bronze bits are held in place by oversize textured prongs.

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.

Master Metalsmith Linda Threadgill at the Metal Museum

The exhibit is amazing. It's up through December- get yourself there! My photos don't do it justice- the patterning is something that must be seen to truly appreciate. So much gorgeous, intricate texture. the natural forms are stunning. the flow is out of this world. i bought the catalog and i don't often do that. :) the leaf platters' textures are just WOW.. the hammered and the electroformed bits... so very cool. (words fail me i am so impressed by this exhibit- i loved the Eleanor Moty exhibit- this is on par with that one)

Weekly Challenge - Week 36

Cooper young festival is quickly approaching and i've been building up stock of my less expensive 'fashion' earrings and making some cute colorful stretch bracelets for kids, teens and raver chicks. :)

To combat all that 'assembly line' making, i had to do some artsy fartsy making, so i made these pieces. The necklace is asymmetrical and can be worn in a few different ways. the long earrings have some lovely kyanite ovals at the bottom. I've also been working on my super secret commission project and having a lot of fun with the challenges presented by it. I feel i am really growing as a maker and learning/creating new techniques to get metal to do what i want it to do.

I've got a lot of things going on this fall - especially demonstrations. i have to figure out the best way to make my equipment mobile for these events... time to get the focus back on the MMWS! :)

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 6.75

I tried out some new techniques this weekend while i was supposed to be making stock for my upcoming show. i needed the creative boost of trying something new, because while i love making spinner rings, and stacking rings, and antique button pendants and fold formed earrings, i can get a little stagnant with my designs and my execution without a little injection from something different... so i played with some larger scale (wall jewelry size) air chasing and some enameling techniques that i had set aside many years ago and never quite gotten back around to exploring further.

No finished work yet, but here are the preview pics. :)

air chased copper with wood, art glass and paper. still working on the layout.

  

Graphite on enamel. 2 layers of opaque enamel were laid down and fired, then stoned smooth so i could draw on it. Then i doodled :) this is before firing.

 this is after firing. :) 

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

Jewelry a Week Challenge- New Work

I've finally completed the piece i started back in February using a lovely artisan cut Lepidolite in quartz rounded triangle cab and Amethyst pear CZs. It was intended to be a brooch/pendant but after i melted one pin setting and flooded another, i decided the piece was telling me that wasn't the direction to go. 

I envisioned a modernized take on a Balinese granulation technique- so i made big, bold fine silver 'granules' to adorn the piece. By the time it became a pendant, instead of a brooch, i knew the chain was going to need to echo the streamlining of the pendant's design. So i paired sterling mod components i fabricated with strong, sleek rosary links featuring spiral cut amethyst beads. 

The toggle closure is fabricated to match and the cross bar has balled ends to keep the circle/dot theme going. the entire piece has my signature sea foam patina. (here's a pic of what it looked like before polishing- the black and purple are really striking!)

This piece was a challenge to me. I had to let go of my idea of how it was supposed to be and let the piece (and apparently my skill and patience levels) direct the development. Once i decided to just go with the flow, the piece became something that i enjoyed working on again and finished as a lovely piece i'm proud of. :)