I'm still a Pisces

Yesterday I did a post on the making of my piece for the Tionesta Art Auction.  That post was about the making of the fine silver fish.  Today's post is about the final piece and how it came about.

My original intent was to make a necklace for the silent auction.  But I got to thinking that I was already donating a butterfly necklace for the regular auction.  Also what usually happens with jewelry, is that it gets set on a table and gets lost among all the large paintings that are hanging above and around it.   No one really notices it, until it is held up and brought around before the bidding starts.  I knew that would happen with the butterfly necklace (although I put it in a large box, hoping that would help.)   I also put a note in with it that signified that it was fine silver.  Last year someone wrote on the tag that it was pewter.  (Big difference between silver and pewter.)  That's what led me to "hanging" the jewelry like a picture.

I procrastinated and the final piece came about around 10:30 the night before.  I was sure I would have to pull an all-nighter because things were not going well.  (I really wasn't sure the direction I wanted to take.)  Earlier in the day I ran to the Dollar store and bought a couple of frames and some glass cabs (clear ones, blue ones, big ones and small ones.)  Didn't know what I would need so I figured it was best to have more than not enough.

I played around with the positive and negative traits of the Pisces by typing them out.  I thought I would cut them out and paste them like a collage.  Wasn't working.  My mind was blank.  Printed some on white paper.  Didn't like it.  Printed some in different fonts.  Didn't like it.  Couldn't figure out how I wanted to arrange the words or if I even wanted to use words.  At one point I decided I would just chuck the idea and make the fish into a necklace.  I had brought home the beads from the studio and the tools.............. but not the beading wire.  Damn!  It was getting later and later and I was mentally blocked.

Next I tried typing the words in Photoshop.  Naw!  I would be able to type around a path if I used Illustrator.  Naw........  haven't used Illustrator in years.  Couldn't remember how to do it.  So....... back to Photoshop.  Decided to use blue paper to print on, typed out my words and manipulated them with Photoshop.  It looked pretty good to me.  I put the positive traits at the top and the negative traits at the bottom.  Then I distorted the negative shapes so they were not as easy to read.  Next step was to figure out where I wanted to glue the glass cabs.  (As you can see I didn't need the blue ones or very many for that matter.)   I tried all sorts of placement before I decided to just put them on the bottom.

The next hurdle was attaching the fish to the picture.  Thought about cutting a space for the bail to slide through to the back but the backing for the frame was too hard.  (I'm such a wimp,)   I decided to take it to my studio the next morning and drill a couple of holes with the drill press (hoping it wouldn't chew up the paper.)  I made a test piece to drill through first.  It worked, clean as a whistle.  I threaded a wire through the bail and into the holes.  Gave a little twist to the wire in the back and my fish was attached.  Ready to go.

Well not quite.  The fish didn't hang the way I wanted it to.  Now what to do?  Time was running out.  I needed to get on the road to deliver it.  My cousin and I tossed around a few ideas and we came up with the idea to glue something to the background behind it.  A few clear beads glued in strategic places and it was finally done.

I had a student one time who said  "Art is hard work.  You just don't know it."   

Believe me..........  I KNOW IT'S HARD WORK!  (But I can't quit.)

I'm a Pisces

 I see my last post was over a month ago.  Sorry!

As usual this time of year I get into a funk.  I've just spent several months in Florida and developed a new routine.  Then I come home and it takes a while to get back into the old routine.   Plus it was 27 here this morning and 68 there.  Need I say more?

Anyway, I tried to get somethings done around the house before I went to the studio.  I straightened up, put things away, swept and dusted......... Then my husband decided that now was a good time to put in a new tub.  So........ now I am straightening up every day, putting things away every day, sweeping every day and re-dusting.... everyday.  So...... I've decided that now is the time to get back to the studio and get out of the house while this remodeling is going on.  I can keep my sanity better if I only have to deal with the aftermath

I volunteered to donate a piece for the Tionesta Art Auction and to make a piece for the silent auction.  The theme this year is the Zodiac and since I am a Pisces, it just seemed logical for me to do that particular sign.  Needless to say, I knew about this since back in early March(?) but procrastinated until the week it was due.  (Oh how working under pressure drives us.)

My original thought was to do a necklace with the two fish we usually associate with that sign.  I used a  Koi fish texture plate for the back of the piece and cut it out in a water droplet shape.  (Clever, Eh?)  Then I used a texture plate that had native American style fish for my two fish.  (Didn't think of it at the time but Tionesta has a rich Indian heritage.)    The original design didn't have the aquamarine in it (that was an afterthought.)  Here is a picture of the piece before firing as I envisioned it. 

I really liked the look of this and planned to put a hidden bail on the back.  Then I decided to add the stone............ that's when things started to change.   Once I added the stone it looked like an "eye."  I tried to ignore the eye.  But it wouldn't go away.  All I could see was this eye which looked like the eye of a bigger fish.  As much as I tried not to think about it, I knew I had to put a tail on this bigger fish.  It was no longer elegant (what I was aiming for) but now became whimsical.  (Which is okay.  I guess my jewelry this time wanted whimsy.)

This is a picture of the finished fish.  (But not the finished piece for the auction.)  

Oh how he changed.

Stop back tomorrow for the trials and tribulations of finishing the piece for the auction.