Water Etching

    This charm is an example of water etching.  The technique is fun, easy, and can be used to create different levels of depth in a work.  

    The technique is done by drawing a design on a dry clay piece.  Then, using nail polish, the areas that are to be raised are painted.  The polish acts as a resist.  It is a good idea to paint the back of the piece too as it can get water on it.  The edges can be painted to create a raised effect or left unpainted to recede.  Since this process removes clay, the original clay piece should be made several cards thicker to make sure it doesn't get too thin.  When the polish is dry, take a damp sponge and begin wiping across the surface of the piece.  Rinse the sponge and repeat until the desired depth is reached.  (Be sure to save the dirty rinse water..... there's silver in there!)  Texture can be added to the recessed areas (while they are still wet) with a stencil brush, using a stippling effect.

   

Swarovski melt

    I've added another new charm to my education bracelet, (actually three more which I'll share over the next few days.)  Two of the techniques I learned at the Arrowmont retreat.  The Senior Instructor from South Africa, (sorry I can't remember her name.) showed us this.  It only takes a few seconds and can add a spark of color to your metal clay creations.

   Drill a hole in the piece you want to decorate (of course it is easiest to do in the dry clay before firing.)  Also, make sure the hole is fairly large.  (This helps the crystal to melt down into the hole better.)  After the piece is fired and cooled, position the crystal on the hole.  I used a 4 mm crystal bead.  (Metal backed swarovski beads and AB swarovski beads are not good for this technique.)  Using a torch, begin heating the area around the crystal and over the crystal until it begins to turn orange and balls up.   That's it.  That's all there is to it.  How cool is that? 

   My charm has held up (which for me was a test of the strength since a bracelet gets lots of pounding.)  I did not tumble this piece as I liked the white inside the dish shape.   I also tried it in a by-pass ring I made but the holes were too small for the bigger crystal to melt down into.  It might have worked if I had used a smaller crystal. 

  

 

And baby makes "Five"

   Our newest (and final) grandchild arrived May 22nd at 2:15 AM.  It took 18 + hours but Baby Beau finally made his entrance.  So, we now have one granddaughter and four grandsons.  

   Being a grandparent is one of the greatest joys (at this age there aren't a whole lot more joys around.)

 So, here are pictures of all our little darlings.  (Well, most of the time they are little darlings.)

   Baby Beau does a lot of sleeping (that will change!) and we haven't been able to get a good picture with his eyes open.

Wide cuff bracelet

   Originally I was scheduled to take a polymer clay class on my last day at Arrowmont, but due to a family illness the class was canceled.  So, I had to make another choice for Friday and chose the Big Cuff Bracelet by Sharon Gillespie.  Since I already knew some basics about polymer, I was glad I was able to take the bracelet class instead.

    This is the bracelet that we made in class.  We cut out our rectangles and formed them on a metal bracelet mandrel.  The center piece was laid across the top of the mandrel and the side pieces were laid across the side of the mandrel (it was laying on it's side.)  I chose the orange CZ's to go with my ring.  

   We used the embeddable bezels from Metal Clay Findings.  I had used them once before and they curved the piece I used them in, but that didn't happen here.  (Maybe it was because the piece was already curved.)  My judgment on the use of the embeddable bezels is still out.  I was not able to curve the bezel over my largest stone and had to glue it in instead which is against my better judgement but so far so good.

Keum-boo

   I had heard about Keum-boo before but never had the opportunity to do it.  Keum-boo is the technique of adding 24K gold foil to hot metal.  It is cheaper than using gold clay, (although at $54 for a 3 1/2 inch square it isn't cheap.)  I finally got to try it during the earring extravaganza class at Arrowmont.  

   These earrings don't have the wire added yet and like the by-pass ring they were made flat.  That made it much easier to burnish the gold foil to the hot metal using an agate burnisher (and of course gloves.)  I think I remember the instructor saying that the metal had to be 900 degrees.  I didn't burn myself (on this pair of earrings, which is to say that I did burn myself on another pair...... didn't realize the torch had not gone off.)  They are a little heavy and I used way too much gold on them to be profitable.  (So they're mine!)  Since it was my first time at keum-boo I didn't try anything fancy.  Of course, every little left over scrap was saved so I can try more detail the next time.  (Once I buy myself more tools.)

    Once the metal cooled, we wrapped them very carefully around a ring mandrel to shape them.  And then tumbled the heck out of them to make them strong, otherwise there is a little too much give to them.  It would be easy to bend them out of shape when polishing  but the tumbling made a huge difference in their strength.  

Bezel setting

   The lacy red agate stone can not be fired in a kiln, so it has to be set another way.  Bezel setting is the traditional method, although not the only method.  

   In the Arrowmont earring class, we had to bezel set a stone and set a stone using an investment stand in.  This pair of earrings demonstrates the traditional bezel set.

   In metal clay it can be done in two different ways.  One is to make the bezel and push it into the damp clay.  This method can cause a distortion to the clay and possible cracking.  During my Level 2 class, we used this method and five out of the seven pieces cracked.  But all was not lost as necessity is the mother of invention (as they say).  Those five pieces now have beautifully decorated backs which cover up the cracks.

  The other method, which I did here, is to make the background piece and fire it.  Make the bezel piece and either solder or fire it, then join the two pieces together with lavender paste and fire again.  This method allows the background piece to stay flat (or domed as in this case) without distortion.  

Trail slipping

    Actually it's slip trailing, but I get tongue-tied every time I try to say it.   

    We did a pair of earrings at the retreat using the slip trailing technique.  I did slip trailing once before (it's even hard to type it) but I think I made my slip too thin when I did.    Basically the technique is one of thinning down the clay so it will drip through an empty syringe.  We were told to take the tip of the syringe off, but I found it works better for me if I leave it on.  Then it is time to just play with the drippings onto a dried piece of clay.  It's best to let the drippings run off the edge and clean the edges off when the slip has dried.  That way the pattern is more random.  Pretty simple and not much thought, but fun.  

No adjectives

  My husband has always been on my case about my weight and he's always after me to exercise.  He's prided himself on walking 4 miles everyday and working out at the Y.  So when our oldest grandson told me I had a big butt, that was fuel for more pressure from him.

   Well, yesterday he got his.  The middle grandson (only two more weeks can I call him that) was playing in the backyard with Grandpa when he told him that he had a big belly.  If that wasn't bad enough he followed that pronouncement up with ..... it's a HUGE belly.  

   Grandpa says little kids aren't allowed to use adjectives.

  

Cold Connection Earrings

  The Retreat in Gatlinburg was all about metal clay, but back at the condo there was even more learning going on.  The eclectic group of women staying at the condo all had their strengths in different mediums.  Last year we learned some wire wrapping, kumihimo and chainmaille. 

   And, true to form, we spent our evenings learning from each other once again.    This year we made earrings using cold connection techniques.  Pam Levi, (who is so generous with her knowledge.... and tools), taught us how to make earrings with copper, silver and brass.  We sat around the dining room table, cutting, filing and hammering.  (We didn't think we had neighbors, but found out differently the next morning.  No complaints though.)  We all had basically the same look to our earrings, but each of us made different shapes and had different bends to our wire and we wore them proudly to class.  There were many compliments as we explained how we made them the night before and told everyone the story of how we came together at the Retreat.

   On Friday, Donna (who hadn't taken any classes yet) was wearing her earrings, when someone excitedly exclaimed.... I know who you are!  Her earrings gave her away.  I guess our story got around.   I think that is a good thing.

   The only bad thing about learning new things.......... I need more tools!!!

   

    

A workshop philosophy

    I could be a perpetual student.  I literally love taking classes (my pocket book doesn't though.)

    Being in a class setting can sometimes be stressful (not stressful enough though to keep me away.)  Everyone worries about their abilities in comparison to others in the class.  I use to tell my art students that there will always be somebody better and somebody worse than you.  That usually seems to be the case.   It was no different this week.  We all worried about our abilities

    On Tuesday I ate lunch with Lora Hart, a senior teacher from California who was teaching a class.  She said that when she is in a class, she does what the teacher does and saves the creativity until she gets home in her own studio.  That was good to hear and took some of the stress off the week.  

   Thursday I had a class with Vera Lightstone, a senior teacher from New York City.  She was talking about how everyone worries about the product and not the process.  

   Taking classes is all about the education and that should be the focus.  What can be learned during the class.  Then take what has been learned, work with it and make it your own on your own time.  

    It was also nice seeing the senior teachers taking classes from each other.   I have always felt the more effective teachers are also perpetual students.

Arrowmont Retreat

      First off, I do have internet service at the condo.  Only took me four days to figure that one out.  (Of course it was after I spent time in the library using the internet.)

        This is a bracelet done by Sharon Gillespie from Waco Texas.  Sharon was our instructor for the wide cuff bracelet.   Below is a photo of Sharon (on the right) and Gayle who is also from Texas.

    I finally took a few photos of Arrowmont.  We were so busy all week that I just didn't get around to taking many pictures.  This is a fountain on the second floor where most of the classrooms are located.  Above this fountain is a catwalk that looks down into the classrooms.

     The photo above is the resident artist gallery.  The classrooms open into this gallery.

     This place is so great.  There is definitely an artistic atmosphere and it is so peaceful.  This was the first time that PMC  held it's retreat in Tennessee.  The Senior instructors loved it and the setup of the school allowed people to come closer together.  The food was pretty darn good too.  They're going to do it again in two years, and I know I'll be back.