From the Classroom

This past weekend I taught a Level Two Certification class. My students worked very hard for two days to design beautiful pieces that would incorporate all the techniques and design elements in the required projects. As sad as my photography is, their talent shines through.

Leslie Esterrich made a credit card sized pendant for the Three Texture Pendant project. Her mirror finishing was flawless, but as soon as I evaluated it, she dropped it back down to a brushed surface. In fact, this is the correct way to produce an even, soft, untextured finish. First, sand out all flaws, divots, and scratches and then use a brush or fine finishing/sand paper to apply the finish. This is the way jewelers have been doing it for eons. When you simply wire brush a piece of metal, whether it's kiln fired metal clay or milled sheet, you're just putting a shine on flawed metal. Taking the time to remove anomalies means the final look will be professional and long lasting.

Leslie also opted to curl a corner of her piece, which added to it's visual interest.

All of the ladies created beautiful enameled pendants. Two with a scratch foam texture, and one with a Photopolymer Plate that she had made in a separate class.

Leslie Esterrich, Jane Stark, Kathy Kennedy

The other projects were equally successful. The photos less so. Looks like I need to take some classes to improve my skill set too.

Visit to Somewhere

This past weekend I went to Atlanta to visit an L.A. based cousin who happens to be staying there this summer. It was amazing to see Joan and her husband and catch up on all the family happenings. One of the first things we did (after having lunch) was visit a wonderful craft gallery called Signature, and it formed the tone for the rest of my stay. There I discovered a wonderful sculptor named Kirsten Stingle whose figurative work is at once thought provoking and whimsical, vaguely disturbing (depending on your point of view) and engaging. Kirsten uses mixed media objects to bring her beautiful sculptures to life, including an antique riveting machine that she found at the Nashville "American Picker's" Antique Archeology store, a bottle washing rack, vintage millinery feathers, Ostrich eggs, and other interesting rusty bits and bobs. Right up my trash collecting alley!

When I got back to the hotel, I started stalking her online (better watch out what you post!), going to her website, then to her blog where I learned that she was preparing for her first museum show, then to a link to the gallery I had just visited that featured the work that would be included in the show - complete with a buy it now button. So I did! Buy something that is. The piece is in the show, so I won't actually receive it until after December 15 when the show closes. Ahh... sweet anticipation.

Character Block by Kirsten Stingle

Reading Kirsten's blog all the way back to the beginning (it's relatively new) was just as inspirational and thought provoking as her work is. Earlier posts were matter of fact observations of daily happenings, but soon she began to focus on this show and the preparation that was going in to it. She documents the building, finishing, decoration (glazing), and construction of each figure. The way Kirsten incorporates found objects into her character's narratives is so beautifully handled that a viewer/reader can't help but be struck by the thought and planning that she obviously puts into the design of her pieces right from conception. I'd love to look through a window into her brain - or even into her sketchbook, so I could observe each decision and choice. (Does that sound a little scary? I told you I was a stalker.) 

Kirsten is sharing the museum show spotlight with an encaustic artist named Lorraine Glessner whose work is equally engaging. If you're in the Atlanta area I encourage you to take a trip to see their work in person. I wish I could.

Reading Kirsten's blog has also reinvigorated my own creative proclivities. Although I'm not necessarily preparing for anything - no shows or sales in my near future, the urge to create (other than teaching samples) has been re awakened, and I'm itching to get into the studio.  

Eye Candy

From my 'Hands' pin board

It's been another blog drought and the truth of the matter is that my hands have felt bound, wooden, uninspired, and lazy. And so has my brain for that matter. One of the 'benefits' of MS is the lovely side effect of fatigue. Which affects almost everything I'm discovering. Body, mind, will, and spirit.

Now I'm a very lucky girl as far as multiple sclerosis goes. I have full bodily function, live on my own terms, 'suffer' only very slight symptoms, and feel very grateful for my mobility. And the fatigue I feel is really not debilitating, as it is with other sufferers. It's just enough to bug the hell out of me. And make me long for days gone by when I actually had a creative idea in my head! Or more accurately the days when I had more creative ideas than I could produce.

I don't think my muse is gone forever, and I know there are things I can do to entice her back. But sometimes "Just Do It", just doesn't work. I'm taking life one day at a time. Today I'm in the studio, working on an Exploded Lentil sample (it's in the kiln or I'd show you), writing this blog, and prepping for my first day time class at The Visual Arts Center. Six weeks starting Thursday morning from 10:00 to 1:00 if you're in the area.

I've taught individual 8 hour daytime workshops, but this is a month and a half, 3 hour format that mirrors my evening classes. I've just never been sure that anyone would commit to a long term daytime class. I'm really excited that 5 people have signed up! So today is a good day. I'm looking forward, feeling the creative impulse, and am really happy to be here with you.

A Certifiable Weekend

This past weekend I taught the first class in my (not so) little, private studiolo here in Richmond Virginia and I'm pleased to report that it went swimmingly. It was so nice to have everything I needed right at hand, without the muss, fuss, and struggle of lugging all my tools and equipment to another location. I have two small rooms that border a larger conference room. One is my working space where I have a table for metal clay and a bench for hard metals fitted out with a Foredom, soldering station, and bench pin. The other room holds bookcases of supplies and a lovely table from Harbor Freight supports my two kilns (an SC2 and a brick Spitfire One). The conference table is large enough to accommodate 7 students with me at the head. I had 4 students this weekend, so they could all spread out while still being close enough to bond as they worked.

The projects were a three stone ring, woven PMC sheet,
Pillow bead with carving and syringe drawing.

3 of my students were very experienced, and one was a total newbie! I was so proud of how well each one of them did in this very fast paced class. A certification class is not really the place for a beginner as Kathie discovered. Certain skills were difficult for her to master, and learning the idiosyncrasies of the material was a bit more challenging than she had imagined. To her credit, she decided to think of the workshop as a learning experience and opted not to try to finish the projects. The lentil bead and one stone ring she made were really well done for a first timer and she's determined to become more proficient with metal clay. Each of the students learned a new skill, and Pam found that she liked drawing with syringe!

Jane Stark, Pam Duska, Kathy Kennedy. Syringe Drawing.

I'm really looking forward to working with them again in November's Level 2 and am excited to be working on other advanced classes that I'll offer here. I like this teaching in my own space! I think I'll do it again. :)

Eye Candy - Patina

A selection from my 'Wonderful World' board

Oh, the beauty of patina! I'm known for my use of pure, black, patina's in my work. I use a hydrochloric acid type solution, like Black Max - often applied with a toothpick to get into tight spots. I've found that if I apply patina to fine silver and then use a polishing pad to remove it from high points, the pad may take off too much color, but the porous metal clay retains enough under the skin that it looks more like sterling than fine silver, making the surface more uniform than I intended. Because I love high contrast, I apply patina only where I want it so that the polished fine silver stays as 'white' as possible.

How do these images inspire you? Isn't the black lion spectacular? His coloring is due to a condition called 'melanism' - the exact opposite of albinism. Nature never ceases to amaze me. 

Eye Candy

Pinterest board: Decreptitude

Isn't it so interesting how, at the height of our technological prowess, we as a society seem to be reaching towards the past for inspiration? And not just the past per se, but the poor, falling down, ready to return to nature past. The appreciation for 'Shabby Chic' focuses on not only old worn design elements, but on pants that simply must hang down to the lowest common denominator (born out of hand me downs from elder siblings), depression era oversized dresses (remember the dress clips we wore in the 90's? Just like they did in the dust bowl depression?), peeling paint, broken statuary, abandoned estates... the list could go on and on. 

It seems we love the aesthetic (me included!), but romantically delete from our frames of reference the actual living conditions and day to day hardships that people from the chosen era had to endure. Would reenactors really like to fight in a civil war battle if they had to rely on 19th century medical practices? Would we find ancient Roman and Greek sculpture so elegant if it were painted with the lifelike (perhaps garish) colors scientists have found evidence of? These thoughts are what drive my personal design ethic. They are what compel me to pick up bits and pieces of flotsom and jetsom, to use found objects in my work, and to decorate my home with architectural salvage and hundred year old family photos.

How do you feel about looking to the past as a way to inform the present?

The Return of the Eye Candy

I spent a couple of hours today cleaning up and rearranging my Pinterest boards. I think I made my first pin sometime last year, and now I have 2,721 pins on 66 boards. Wow!  Very prolific. But as often as I find beautiful images to upload and re-pin, I seldom take time to review and renew their inspiration. Today's exercise was a treat. With a purring kitty on my lap, and so many images to re visit, I almost didn't want the organization to end.

I found so many stunning images that I had forgotten about, that I thought I'd share them with you. One per week, with a little added commentary. Now, don't let me tempt you into looking at all my pins! Anticipation is a good thing, and waiting to be surprised each week will bring it's own kind of pleasure. But if you find yourself with time on your hands and a sketchbook in your fingertips, Enjoy.

Niebla combeoides (syn. Vermilacinia combioides, "bouquet fog lichen")

I thought this image of lichen clinging to a rock somewhere on the California coast would be a perfect inspiration for a brooch or pair of clip earrings. Wouldn't those little floral forms be wonderful with some powdery enamel? Fabricated from bronze or copper a verdigris finish would add the perfect realistic touch. This image is from my "I see Jewelry" board.