Weekend Eye Candy - Stress Edition

1. RAD #70, 2. artist balls detail, 3. Bracelet 2.4 (2007, IT) The Cellar Locker Bracelet (iron), 4. Stress Ball.., 5. Stress 1, 6. Spinning Stress Ring - 3, 7. String Theory Ring 1 (RAD 84), 8. Maria Fomich, 9. Stress - detail

Images found through a search for "stress" on Flickr.

As I get closer to moving from the city I grew up in (Los Angeles) to a new town that I'm admittedly not very familiar with (Richmond, Virginia), I'm feeling the stress a little more each day. Where will I live? How will I adapt to new temperatures and landscapes? What am I thinking???

The reasons why I decided to move at the age of 55 are all still valid. I want a larger living space/studio and real estate prices in Los Angeles are prohibitive, I've been craving a change of scene since the turn of the millenium, and a I have a burning desire to shake up my complacency to see where it leads.

But those reasons don't make the reality of my move and all that it will entail any easier to deal with. Cousins. Cousins will make the move easier. And I'll see them in April when I go out for a test run of the Visual Arts Center where I hope to start teaching full time next fall. But for now, I'm feeling a little flummoxed with all the terrors of moving myself, my car, my belongs, and mostly the kitties. I'm overwhelmed at the thought of leaving the wonderful metal clay community and teaching venues that I built from scratch over the past ten years. But at the same time, I'm looking forward to all the wonderful opportunities that I'm about to encounter. Just waiting for the anticipation to blossom into reality.

Weekend Eye Candy - March FAM Edition

1. to the point, 2. FAM Feb, 3. FAM 3/2012, 4. A whole lot of Gemmy Goodness :), 5. FAM/Jan/4of4, 6. FAM - Février, 7. Bracelets, 8. FAM, Month #1, Exploring Spirals

The Four a Month challenge is inspiring such wonderful work! I'm proud of every one of these makers. Have you joined in? It's not to late to ramp up your creative spark!

Today's the Day!

My CraftCast class is going live at 5pm Pacific time, 8pm Eastern time. I'm really excited about this new experience and I hope you'll join me to learn how to make Slip Prints with metal clay. I'll show you how to make stencils and templates, how to use commercially made stencils in a way that will make the design unique to you, how to make a fire-in-place movable bail, I'll demonstrate 2 different precision rolling techniques, and more. And if you attend the live class (as opposed to buying it as a download) you'll be able to ask questions about anything on earth. Not that I'll have the answer for the meaning of life, but I'll do my best to help out on almost any metal clay topic.

I had a run through with our Mistress of Ceremonies, Alison Lee, last Friday and I think it's gonna be a pretty darn good show! Will I see you there?

Weekend Eye Candy - Slip Print Edition

Slip Print examples. I'll be demoing the one in the middle of the first row.

I've been crazy busy preparing for my first online CraftCast class this upcoming Monday evening (after a little break in Texas with my artsy gal pals).

I know the pdf is going to be fabulous. I've been writing handout sheets and step by step articles for years and years. I think I've got that down! But taking video is a whole new adventure.

My very professional video set-up.The camera is clamped to a gadget

that is clamped to one leg of my soldering tripod, which is weighted 
down with my bench block. An Ott-Lite provides white light illumination.

 One needs to figure out a way to suspend the camera, keep one's hands in the middle of the lens (amazing how often they'd stray out of bounds), make sure the image is well lit and in focus, make sure you're telling the story you want to communicate... Sheesh! I have a whole new respect for those of you who regularly do 'how-to' videos.

Now I can get ready for my first teaching engagement in my soon-to-be new hometown of Richmond Virginia. I'm offering "The Art of the Bead" at the fabulous Visual Arts Center, and I think there are still about 4 seats if any of you on the east coast would like to meet up.

After that - I'll be swamped again with plans for my seminar at the last ever PMC Guild sponsored conference in June. Topic? Teaching 101. I think I know a bit about that too.

Then packing, moving, feeling guilty about trapping the cats for the 5 hour plane ride, unpacking, feeling guilty about freaking out the cats in a new space... sigh. It's a busy year! And I'm so grateful for all the wonderful new experiences that have come along with it.

Weekend Eye Candy - Play Date Edition

FAM February. Enamel trials, a photo by lorahart on Flickr.

Last week I went to Texas to for a long distance play date with Vickie Hallmark, Lorena Angulo and Laura Wood. It was one of the best vacations I've had in a long time. A practice I highly recommend to anyone in need of an inspiration boost.

These enamel on copper samples were made under the expert guidance of Miss Vickie on Saturday. We used a 'crow' pen (similar to a traditional quill) to draw black outlines on prefired white enamel. Then we went back with a paintbrush and watercolor enamel to add color and fire a third time. This was all done using a Little Torch.

I've enameled before, but never with a torch, never with a pen, never with a paintbrush, never with this kind of imagery, never with such a detachment to the outcome, never with such delight in the results.

These little disks are destined to become some sort of brooch and each will be gifted to the other ladies of the play date as a reminder of our time together.

Just a small sample of the fabulous food made byLorena's husband Jorge. Between his feasts and
the ones prepared by Vicky, my Texas experience was a gourmand's delight!

We might even make this a yearly thing. Next year in Richmond, after I move. Although the food won't be nearly as yummy with me presenting it. You notice I didn't say cooking...

Weekend Eye Candy - Texas Tarts Edition

Weekend Eye Candy - Texas Tarts Edition, a photo by lorahart on Flickr.

I'm packing up for a little jaunt to Texas to see my dear friends, Lorena Angulo and Vickie Hallmark for a prolonged weekend play date!

I'm so excited to be able to see these girls in person again. I last spent time with Vickie last year at Idyllwild's metals week, but I haven't seen Lore since the 2010 conference. Woo hoo!

While I'm there I'm also thrilled to be able to meet a jewelry artist that I've been stalking in cyberland. I think I first became aware of Laura Wood's gorgeous work at an exhibition at Arrowmont and later on CraftHaus. She's a wonderful fabricator who uses handmade paper and sterling silver in her work.

I'll see you all on Wednesday with a full report. In the meantime, Have a creative weekend.

First Four a Month - Check!

I've taken lots of classes. Most of the time I never actually complete the proposed project, but I absorb skills and techniques from each teacher I meet. I also 'take classes' during my day to day activities by practicing what I call 'Mindful Observation'. While looking through books, surfing the web, and handling work in galleries, I look at construction details and try to see if I could recreate a setting, clasp, or other working element. I don't think that appropriating the mechanics of a design is the same as copying or usurping another artist's voice.

Joanna Gollberg, 'Reds to Yellow' Brooch.

I recently made four brooches for an online personal challenge by adapting a prong design that I first admired in Joanna Gollberg's work. I tried to replicate her technique in a ring I made last year for Ring A Day. But it felt too similar to what she is known for, so I decided not to make it again. I've since seen other artist's use the same design - there's nothing new in the world - but I'm still not comfortable using it in exactly the same way that Joanna does.

My attempt at Joanna's setting technique

This year I decided to adapt the design to marry a metal clay element to a hand made porcelain shard for my first entry to the Four-a-Month challenge. To make each setting, I first bent 20 gauge wire into a loop that would support the porcelain shard. Then I soldered prongs to capture and hold the shard in place - some horizontally, and some upright. I was able to solder them together using a butane torch, but I have to say - as simple as it looked to me at first, completing so many joins at once is not an easy task. I'd get three finished and move the flame to the fourth - only to have the first lose the connection! These settings were a study in patience for sure. But I really liked doing them and was much better by the fourth brooch. I'll definitely use this technique again.

Brooch skeletons

After I made the backings I soldered a metal clay piece to each setting, a 'scatter' pin to two, a fine silver tube to the others, patinated them, and set the porcelain bits. Then I inserted steel wire into the two tube sections to make double pin stems. I'm really thrilled with this design and can't wait to expand on it. I'd love to make a multi piece neck collar, earrings and perhaps even a bracelet to fill out the series.

I'm really excited to be teaching the texturing technique I used on the metal clay elements for Craftcast on March 12! Hope to see some of you online in 'Learn to Stencil Using Metal Clay'.