Ink Blot test

I spent a little time in the studio today, after the Arts Revitalization meeting and before heading home to make appetizers for the "Dark Arts' opening tonight.

I was working on adding metal clay shapes onto beach glass.  As I was sifting through my scraps of metal clay sheet I kept picking up interesting negative spaces left over from previous punches.  (As you can see there are lots of them.)

So, I pulled out a few and started to play with some designs.  For now they are just ideas, but I plan on completing some of them into finished pieces.  I'll be using textures on the back and adding embellishments to the front.  Think I'll add some CZ's (they are always good for sparkle.)   

They look like ink blot tests don't they?  What do you see?

Time to be creative

 As I mentioned in my last post, I was heading to Pittsburgh to take a class in using the Silhouette Cameo to create bezels in metal clay.  That wasn't the only class I was taking this weekend though.  I also took a copper and bronze class from my friend Carol Scheftic.  (More about that in a later post.)

Wanaree's class was so much fun (and of course informative.)  We learned her technique for creating intricate bezels with metal clay sheet.  (We also learned how much patience she has when it comes to embellishing her bezels.)  I got a chance to spend time with some of my guild members and meet new people.  It was a great group and we all got along.  (That doesn't always happen in a class.)

 Wanaree helping Pete Barrett (with my Silhouette machine in the foreground.)  Pete came all the way from Canada to take Wanaree and Carol's classes.  She and I both stayed at Carol's house.  Pete is such a fun person that she fit right in.  Everyone hated to see her go back to Canada.  

Everyone got their pieces fired and some were able to insert their stones.  A few of us had to take our pieces with us and re-fire them as they did not shrink enough.  We think the reason for the small amount of shrinkage was because our pieces were close to the door in the kiln.  That area of the kiln sometimes is not as hot.   Carol was nice enough to re-fire my piece for me and the shrinkage was  considerably different.  Except......... for some unknown reason one of the bezel loops disappeared.  

So......... it's time to be creative (and patient.) 

Here's the piece out of the kiln (the first firing.)  I'll try to work on it soon so I can share the finished piece.  

Sorry the pictures aren't better.  They were taken with my phone (but at least it gives you the idea.)

Can you draw this in ice?

Before I explain the title of this post I want to show another one of the charms from a Japanese artist, Mika Tajiri.  Mika is a Senior Metal Clay Instructor in Japan.  Her charm was so exquisite I just had to put it on a chain to wear as a necklace.

Mika's Charm

Mika's Card

My ancestry is Irish (among other things) so I'm obviously not going to do origami because it's not in my history.  But I did buy some square metal clay sheet at the conference so that I can give it a try.  For me, the most obvious origami to do is a "Junk Boat" as it was part of an assignment I gave to my students years ago.  

I can't take credit for coming up with this assignment.  (I would give credit if I could remember his name. )  This was one of those inspiring things I picked up at an art education conference.  (My students always dreaded when I went to a conference because they knew that meant more work for them when I got back.)

This was about a 1600 point assignment which took the entire six weeks grading period.  They first learned how to fold a junk boat.  Then they had to draw a schematic drawing of the process that would teach someone how to make one.  The rest of the assignment could be done in any order they wanted but they had to do five or six drawings of a junk boat as if it were made out of another material, such as ice.  (Hence the title.)   They also had to do five to six drawings of a junk boat as if a famous artist had drawn it.  (Let's say..... how would Van Gogh have drawn this?)  The choice of art material was their own.  Lastly, they had to design a working folder to keep all their work in.  The folder had to have a cover that made the viewer want to look inside.  It was an exhausting assignment that lead to a lot of complaining along the way but a sense of accomplishment when they were done.  (The students out did themselves on this assignment and I wish I had more pictures to share.)

Comic paper junk boat

It was also an assignment that lasted for years.  Even though the students complained, several of them kept the "Junk Boat" alive.  They continued to make them smaller and smaller, until they were smaller than a penny. (How they ever did that many folds with that small of paper is beyond me....... but I guess I will find out.  They were about the size of earrings.)  Then they went the opposite direction to see how big they could go.   One of my seniors even made one hundred of them (from McDonald's fliers) and hung them in a mobile.  

Small, smaller, smaller and smallest

Bigger

Biggest  (Probably could have handled 8 students in it...... if it hadn't been so flimsy!)

I guess that time does cycle around.  Now it's my turn to do my assignments.  

Gone fishing!

PMC standard has to be fired at 1650 degrees for two hours; nothing less. It also has a 30% shrinkage rate and is the weakest of all the PMC clays.

The high shrinkage rate is nice because a design can be created large and shrunk to a smaller size while keeping all the detail.

If PMC + or PMC3 is applied on top of PMC Standard the piece will curve. I have used this technique in the past with the syringe clay and knew it could be used with the paper clay.

In the Rio Certification class we wove the sheet clay before applying it to PMC Standard. It was best to keep the shapes simple as the curve could distort the shape, so I cut a long oval in half.

I really do like the earrings that I made using this technique but when I look in the mirror they remind me of anchovies or smelt. I think it is the patina that reminds me of that. To my daughter they looked like crescent shaped cookies dusted with powdered sugar. (I think she was hungry. I don't like fish, so I know it has nothing to do with me being hungry!)