Internet withdrawal

I'm having internet with drawal. There is no internet at our condo, so I haven't been able to post anything. Right now I'm in the library, and using their computer.

Arrowmont has been a great experience. The first three days were information packed. We made earrings and learned water etching (loved it), slip trailing, bezel setting, soldering, adding liver of sulfur, investment setting of an unfireable stone and making ear wires. The attitude when taking these kinds of classes should be one of education. Worry about the process and not the product. (Takes a while to sink in when one is dealing with an expensive media.) I'll post pictures and info when I get home.

Today I had a class with a NY sculptor named Vera Lightstone, a delightful little lady. Instead of metal clay, we worked with terra cotta. It was a very prolific day as we made seven pieces for reference. The focus was on faces, hands and figures. It was a nice change from a three day intensive metal clay class.

Tomorrow, I'm making a wide cuff bracelet. And wait until I post the really neat display boxes that I bought from the vendors. (Those will have to wait until I get home too.)

Tonight, there are demos on broom casting, melting swarovski crystals into PMC and dry construction link bracelets.

Last night there was a Raku firing class. People had to undress and put their smoky clothes into a bag as soon as they got back to the cabin. I guess it is a smelly process (and dangerous).

The most dangerous part of the retreat has been the vendor room. I knew it would be and swore to stay away, but we all know how that works. I tried!

Okay, that's all for now. Will share photos and info next week.

I'm here

    Well, I'm almost there; only 138 miles from Gatlinburg and the PMC Retreat at Arrowmont.

Don't know if I'll have internet access or not, but if I do, I'll post the days events.  

     I've always wanted to go to Arrowmont and now I get to do metal clay there.  Life doesn't get much better.   

    Tonight there is a texture swap.  I made some last night in the hotel.  It was fun finding things to make textures with; a shoe, a chain, a paper clip, and a fish skeleton (a toy one.)  Think I'll have a texture swap party at the studio when I get back.  There is also a speaker tonight who will be talking about marketing.

   Tomorrow I'm signed up for a three day class called An Earring Extravaganza.  There will be lots of new and old techniques covered in those three days.  Thursday the class is on figure sculpting.  We'll be working in ceramic clay for that class.  On Friday my class was supposed to be in polymer clay, but due to a family illness that class was canceled.  Instead I'll be making a wide cuff bracelet.  I brought my camera, and I know that the pictures won't be the best, but I'll be sure to share.

   Wish you were here! 

It is! It is!

      Yesterday I was showing my husband my new ring.  (Which actually was a replacement for a ring I sold, right off my finger.)  He looked at it and said it looks like 100% silver.  I told him it was.  He said no, it's clay.  Arghhh!  If my own husband can't get his mind around the concept that metal clay work isn't clay, how is anyone else supposed to.  I think I've told him several times how the process works, but he keeps forgetting.  (I need to be more tolerant, I've got those senior moments too.)  Until it sinks in I'll just keep telling him..... it is!!!!

   

     

Lollipops and heaven

   My middle grandson and I were sharing suckers the other day.  (Not literally, we each had our own.)  He wanted in the worst way to take a bite out of his so he could get to the gum in the middle.  (Mine was a tootsie pop, love that chocolate.)  So, we sat at the kitchen table and talked while we sucked.  Everything from breaking teeth (if you bite the sucker too soon) to heaven.  

   We used to have two little finches that sounded like a dog's squeaky toy.  They were nice little birds that were calming to listen to.  (Nothing like our cockatoo.... whoa!)  They died last year, but my grandson still remembers them.  He likes to tell me every now and then that they are dead.  (Just like my dog.) Yes Ethan, they are dead.  He asks if they are in heaven.  I tell him they are.  He wants to know if he will see them when he gets to heaven.  Yes Ethan, you will.  (Now I know that animals don't have souls and that they don't go to heaven, but I'm not going to tell a three year old that.  Anyway, I kind of like to think that my dogs will be waiting in "the Light" to greet me.)

   Then he looks out at the empty flower pots on the patio and says, "Grandma, your flowers are dead."  (If I had a dollar for every time I heard the word Grandma, I would be rich.  Every sentence begins with Grandma.  He'd be rich if he got one for every time I say, "Yes, Ethan.")

"Grandma, do flowers go to heaven?"  I did tell him no on that one.  But hey, why not?  It would sure make for a beautiful sight.

No eyeballin!

   A few weeks ago I taught a two day class in making a Kumihimo woven bracelet.  The first day we made our own bell caps (which are really hard to find otherwise) and our own toggle/bar clasp (which is really easy to find.)  Making the toggle and bell caps from metal clay is rather expensive but worth trying as they add a personal touch to the bracelet.  The second day was devoted to learning the kumihimo technique using beads and finishing the bracelet by adding the metal clay bell caps and toggle.

   Every class is a learning experience for me too (usually not to assume anything!)  After my last class I made myself a "Last minute check list" to make sure I didn't forget to mention something. (Like.... don't forget to clean your stone with alcohol.  A fine layer of silver dust over the stone gives it a glow.  Which is kind of pretty if it covers the entire stone and not just part of it.)

   During this class I did mention that the bar needs to be more than two times the width of the hole in the toggle.  All well and good, but I forgot to mention that the hole in the bar needs to be centered exactly.  It wasn't that I forgot, it was that I didn't think of it.  So, one of the students eyeballed the center point and made her hole.  Usually, I would have done the same thing, but I've discovered that my eyeballs aren't as good as they use to be.  (Maybe they never were good at that kind of thing.  I can't remember.)   If it isn't centered, it will slip out of the toggle.  And it's amazing how fast that happens too!  Another learning experience for her and for me.  (You know, I have too many of those "Learning Experiences".  When will they end?)

    Anyway, I had to go back to my handout and make some additions.  Moral of the story..... No eyeballin.   Measure it!

National Transit website

Check it out!  The National Transit artists have a website!!!  It's a great site that was set up by Joann Wheeler, who did a beautiful job.  Visit the site and see photos of the artist's work plus find out about upcoming events.   It's really cool!

Here's the site.........http://nationaltransitstudios.ning.com/

Finally!

  Well, I finally made something!  Since I got home from Florida, I haven't really accomplished a lot as far as metal clay goes.  Today, I finally feel like I'm back in the groove of heading to the studio and getting some work done.  

   Two weeks ago, I taught a class in making metal clay cones and toggles.  The next day we learned how to weave a kumihimo bracelet and added our cones and toggles to the bracelet.  (What I learned from teaching that class will be the subject of another post, later.)   I made a couple extra cones that day and used the longer set to make a pair of earrings.  

   The cones were made over the "Kreative Kone making kit" or over cake decorating tips.  The cake decorating tips are not aluminum so they are okay to use.  This particular set of cones was made using the kit.  Then I used the cake decorating tip to make holding the cone easier to sand and decorate.  They were decorated first with paper clay and then syringe clay which I sanded down to give a flat surface.  Adding a liver of sulfur patina really added the needed touch.

   It feels good to finally get a piece made.  It's been two months.  Hope this puts me on a roll.

Got Rocks in my head

    I stopped in the Appalachian Rock Shop on Route 19, north of Pittsburgh yesterday.  Haven't been there for a while.  Not sure why, as it is such a neat place for geology and art lovers.  They carry lots of Geodes, fossils and gems; along with finished pieces of jewelry.  And, they offer classes in silversmithing, beading and wire wrapping.  (And, if you are a dog lover, have two adorable dogs!)

    My daughter and I have taken a couple of beading classes there, (probably nine years ago.)  The class was fun and I learned some things I use with my metal clay pieces.  One thing I remember when taking the class was how little I knew about rocks and stones.  (I did take a geology class in college and did very well.  But, like my silver fabrication class, that was so, so long ago that I don't remember much. Except that if you bite sandstone it will be gritty and don't build your house downhill from the neighbor's outhouse.)  Anyway, during those classes the other ladies were all talking stones and they could tell just by looking at it what kind of stone it was.  I felt very stupid and tried to crack some kind of joke about the stones in my driveway, but they didn't see the humor in it.  

     Now that I'm into jewelry it is probably a good idea to get to know what certain stones and gems look like and what their properties are.  (There is just so much darn stuff to know!)  So, I bought myself "The Crystal Bible" which will be my new bathroom read.  (Sorry to share that with you, but that is my favorite reading spot.)   Did you see the Seinfeld show where they wouldn't take back George's library book because it had been read in the bathroom?  Funny show.  Guess I'll have to keep my new book.  

   Hopefully this book will make me more knowledgeable.  For now, any stone I don't know I usually classify as a jasper.  I can't even remember which stones my CZs are representing.  Now that is sad.