The Magic of the Trunk

It's been awhile since I taught a class in metal clay, but today that changed.  It was a small intro class..... only two but sometimes those are the nicest ones.

"Hey!  Are you taking my picture?

(That's my friend Helen with the surprised face.)

Both of them were a little hesitant about their skills but as you can see by their finished pieces they didn't need to worry at all.

Helen made earrings and a charm to be finished as an anklet.

Jennifer started with a basic charm, surrounded it with a coil and added three cubic zirconia as an embellishment.

During the creation process it is often common for students to  dislike their pieces.   I've seen this from my high school students.  Holly Gage warns her students that pieces go through an "ugly" stage and not to judge the piece too quickly. 

I think some of this comes from knowing every little flaw and the struggle to make the piece look like their mental vision.   It influences how the piece is perceived.  I use to tell my high school students to put their work away for awhile and not look at it for several days. 

Helen said she had a painting teacher who told them if they didn't like their paintings,  put it in a trunk and leave it for a few days.  She called this "The Magic of the Trunk."  More often than not, it looks much different after you haven't seen it for a few days.    

Finally a face

Not only was the conference informative and fun, but it was also a time to hook up with current and old friends and finally put a face to those we've only known from a picture on the web.  (Which made it all the more sad to realize that we may not get the chance to share time together again.)

I met many new friends but will share just a few pictures from Saturday night's Gala.

Zoe Nelson was one of the friends I've made over the Internet.  She reads my blog and I read hers.   We comment often on each other's blogs (just to let each other know that someone out there is reading us.)

Zoe was as nice as I envisioned her.  Visit her at zoenelsonartwear.blogspot.com/ 

Coral (on the left...... and darn I can't remember her last name.  It's a good thing Jeanette Landenwitch is sending us an updated list of conference participants.  I won't accidentally delete this one!)  Anyway, Coral is from Pittsburgh and one of Carol's students.  (Strange that I have to go to Kentucky to meet her.)    Carol Scheftic is on the right.  I've mentioned Carol in a previous post.  If you want to know anything about metal clay (particularly the base metal clays and firing) Carol is the one to ask.  

http://convergentseries.wordpress.com/

Saturday's Gala included a photo booth where friends could wear an accessory and have their photos taken.  Dona Miller  http://www.donamiller.com/ is someone I met at the PMC Connection Retreat at Arrowmont last year.  She is now a Certified Instructor with PMC Connection.  We both took Holly Gage's class in metal clay repousse' and I was interested in the piece she worked on in that class.   Dona and her husband own and raced Siberian Huskies.  (Search for her finished piece in a previous post on this blog.)  I too am a lover of huskies (RIP Sasha Mariah and Hanna Jane!)  Besides the Arrowmont class we are both alumni of Tonya Davidson's first Artful Success class.  

Through Face book, blogs, websites and special interest groups we can all still stay connected.  But it was sad to see the conference end and everyone go their own way.   Was much fun while it lasted!

Making Progress

Friday was the last day for the Retreat and since I didn't have any classes I stayed back in the cabin and worked on my repousse piece. It still needs more work but I'm making progress. At least it's out of the "ugly" stage.

Third time's a charm!

Yesterday was the first day of classes at the PMC Retreat being held at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN. (One of my favorite places.)

My first class was "Metal Repousse" with Holly Gage. (Check out her website.) Holly's work is amazing both technically and artistically so I was really looking forward to this class.

Day one (Sunday) was eventful because of our alarm fiasco.

Day two (Monday) was also eventful. Our class was supposed to start at 9:00 AM. It didn't start until 3:30. Poor Holly was held up by problems with (I think ) a couple of airplanes. She finally was able to get out on the third plane but that didn't include one of her bags with most of the supplies, her make-up and toothbrush. That bag arrived at midnight.

While we were waiting for Holly, Janet Alexander (one of the new Senior Instructors) filled in with a demo on carving a rope border and a demo on how to use a variety of torches. She did a great job.

Holly is quite a trooper and teacher. She was determined to get class going and not dwell on the stress of the morning. We were able to get our pieces started and we all stayed later to make up for lost time.

The process is interesting and challenging. It involves carving a mold in different levels and then carving and refining on the metal clay that comes from the mold.

Mine is not finished (for another eventful reason that I'll post about tomorrow) but the pictures give you an idea of the process. Holly says the piece is in "the ugly stage" when it first comes out of the mold. That's where mine is right now. "Ugly" Hopefully I can get mine to look as nice as the rest of the class. There were some pretty impressive pieces. I'll post more pictures after I refine it (in other words..... in a few days. It's pretty intense work.)