How to impress your girlfriend!

This post should have taken place in 2013, but as I mentioned in my last post...... I fell behind.

If you've been reading my blog, you'll remember that this past summer I had a young man (Alex) who has muscular dystrophy come into the studio to make his mother a ring.  When he came to the studio his cousin (Brandon) came with him to help him out.

In late November Brandon texted me wanting to know if he could come into my studio and learn how to make a ring.  He needed to have it done by Christmas as he was making it as a Christmas present.

Alex made a by-pass ring which is made flat.  Brandon's ring was made to size on a ring mandrel.  (He had his girlfriend's roommate check her ring size when she was out.)  He wanted the ring to have an organic feel.  At first he was thinking branches and leaves but ended up making vines and leaves.

His mother stopped by to take pictures so he had proof that he did indeed make the ring.  (I figured that his girlfriend wouldn't believe it.  He did such a nice job.)

How much more a gift means when it's made from the heart.  

(One of the nicest things my husband ever did for me was take the money out of the church envelope and buy me a dress that I wanted.  Now I know that sounds bad, but he didn't have any money and I was certainly surprised........ Sorry Lord!)

Happy Birthday

Yesterday I taught my first class since March.  A fellow Oil City music teacher, Beth Orris treated her daughters to a metal clay class for their birthdays.

This isn't the first time someone has given one of my classes as a present.  Another teacher friend gave her daughter and son in law a class for Christmas.  One Easter, a mother gave her son and daughter a class instead of candy.  They even used her own stones in their pieces.  And a fellow artist's husband gave her a gift certificate for a class.  Can't remember what the occasion was.   If you ask me, I think it's a great idea......... a tangible gift "and" knowledge.

Anyway, there were five students.  Not only did Beth and her daughters take the class but also Beth's sister in law, Amy Krumich and a good friend, Vicki Scherr.

What a great group.  Lots of fun and laughs (and lots of picking on each other!)   I felt right at home.

What always amazes me is the variety of work that comes out of a project.  Everyone adds their own flair and truly designs their own personal pieces.  

Unfortunately the photos I took of the finished pieces were rushed and most of them did not turn out.  (There were men watching little ones back at the house .......... need I say more?)  So, my best shot is the unfinished pieces as they were prepared to go into the kiln.

Julie and her mom brought leaves and ferns that they incorporated into their fold over bail pendants.  Others tried a variety of shapes and texture variations to make their pieces unique.  

As many times as I make pieces and teach it, it is still like Christmas when the kiln is opened.  Everyone surpassed their expectations.  Besides the pendants, we used the remainder of the clay to make a pair of earrings.  

This was the only decent photo of a finished piece.  These were made by Vicki.  Her earrings kept breaking so she ended up making a delicate necklace for her grand daughter. I wish I could show you the rest of the pieces but the pictures just don't do them justice.

Fun in the Forest Area

My motto has always been "Have kiln, will travel."  And last Saturday that's exactly what I did; pack everything up and head to Tionesta to teach an Intro Class.  It only took me two trips to load my car (thank goodness the elevator is working at the Transit Building!)  I thought I did pretty well at packing everything.  I really didn't think there was anything I missed until I couldn't see the details as closely as I needed to.  Of all the things for me to forget, I forgot my visor.

Made new friends, hooked a few on metal clay and saw lots of creative pieces being made.   I wanted to share photos of every one's work (there were so many nice pieces) but for various reasons only a few of the pictures will work.   

Nancy's "Two peas in a pod", Snake, and curved piece

Carol's face pendant

Unfortunately I can't remember the name of this artist.  

(or the last names of the artist's who created the other two pieces.)

After 35 years of remembering hundreds of names, my brain refuses to remember anymore names.  

(Faces yes, names..... no!)

Tionesta has some upcoming festivals if you are in the Forest County Area in Pennsylvania. 

June 16...... Festival in the Forest

August 11-19..... Tionesta Indian Festival

Check them out and meet some very nice people!  

New classes

Finally I'm getting around to setting up some classes.  This summer was very, very busy.  It was a good busy but busy just the same.

Upcoming classes include inlaying bronze into copper clay.  This class is using Hadar's powdered clays and a technique that Hadar uses.

It's been a long time since I've offered an intro course so it is back in a shortened version.  The class will be shorter and focus on learning how to work with the clay in a variety of ways.

The final class for the month is based on the box ring I made in Gordon Uyehara's class.  But in this class we will be making it into a pendant and exploring different options for hanging the piece.  It includes a pearl or learn how to make a faux pearl in a color.

Check out the dates and times in the right hand column of this blog.  For questions, email me or give me a call.

Time to renew the spirit!

Has your summer been as busy as mine?  I hope so and I hope not (depending on where you want to be.)

This is one of the reasons the posts this summer have been few and far between.  Hopefully you'll hang in there with me until life settles down and I can get back to work.

Keep an eye open for upcoming classes this fall.  Fall is always a good time to take classes and renew the spirit.

I plan on renewing my spirit this coming Sunday with a class with Gordon Uyehara.  Anyone in metal clay knows who Gordon is.  He does phenomenal work and you can't miss his style.

The Cleveland Guild is hosting a retreat this weekend and Gordon is one of the guest teachers.  He is offering three classes (one is a bracelet class that just didn't work into my schedule.  Darn!)  I'm taking a boxed pearl ring class with him.  (And I love, love, love making rings.)

I'll be sure to share a photo next week.  Until then I'll be hoping the rain ends so I can enjoy a week with my family.

Maybe I'll share some Grandchildren photos.  They're always good for a story!

Double the fun

Today, my other cousin's grandsons came to the studio to make their Mom a Valentine's present. (I don't think they're going to wait until then!)

Once again it was a fun time. I really do enjoy seeing my students succeed. They did their own cutting, filing, sanding and drilling. Everything went smoothly.

I allowed Nate, the older of the two to do his own torch firing. I wasn't really worried, but the fire extinguisher was nearby.

And, since we forgot to sign our work before firing I pulled out the engraver to sign the back. (What a noisy tool!) It was nice to see big brother Nate helping little brother Matty.

They should make their Mom proud!

Took the plunge

Debra helping Cathy with her piece

We dried our pieces in a dehydrator, but also used this very formal method of drying our pieces. It was a good thing it didn't rain.

Some of Debra's unfired examples.

Well, I finally took the plunge and tried copper clay. (Bronze may be next.)

I had been putting off trying one of the other clays because there seemed to be so many variables and all the kinks weren't worked out yet. Besides, I really hadn't explored all there is to know about the silver clay. But thanks to Jan Durkin, one of the founding members of the Western Pennsylvania Metal Clay Guild, we had the opportunity to take a class on copper clay on Sunday from Debra Weld. So I went for it.

Debra is well known for her addition of color to metal. She offered just such a class on Saturday and I would have taken that class too, except for that important factor of money. But on Sunday, when I saw people wearing what they had made on Saturday, I was sorry that I didn't take it.

Oh well, I got to take the copper clay class on Sunday and that was great. We learned lots, made lots of copper pieces and just plain had a good time. It was a fun group to work with and Debra fit right in.

Debra and Jan both took work home to fire. I brought mine with me as I've had the necessary equipment for a year and decided it was time to try it.

Another thing that kept me from using the bronze was the amount of time needed to fire the clay. Copper takes more time than silver but not as long as the bronze. There is no need to ramp the kiln up slowly when firing the copper and once it hits the temperature (sorry, too lazy to go down stairs and look at my notes) the firing time is only 3 1/2 hours. That I can do.

Copper clay only comes in the clay form. But, compared to silver clay it is soooo much cheaper. 100 grams costs around $20. When was the last time we could buy 100 grams of silver clay for $20? Since there is no syringe clay in copper, we had to roll tiny little snakes for our linear elements. Paste had to be made from the lump clay and only lasts a couple of days before it begins to oxidize. It is important to make sure the seams and joins in copper clay are thoroughly joined. Otherwise they might pop apart during the firing. (Hope mine are stable.)

Like silver clay, moisture and pressure are key elements when combining pieces.

I'll probably fire my pieces later this week. First I have to fire my coconut charcoal (which is the best kind for copper clay) before I can fire the copper pieces in it. I made sure I had a special set of tools dedicated to copper only. I don't want to cross contaminate the clay with my silver and ruin anything. I'll be sure to share photos, once the pieces are fired.

The class was wonderful, the instructor was first rate and the people were so much fun. I'm glad I took the plunge.