Finally!!!

No, I don't have my computer back. But, I 'm on my daughter's computer and I know how to download (upload?) pictures to it.

So.... here's a couple of pictures.

The first picture is of the copper (sort of) fiasco. It wasn't a total loss as the underlying copper was fine. But what a mess the rest turned out to be.

The other picture is an example of a piece I made as a demo during a water etching class. I'm very pleased with the final design of the whole piece. But, that wasn't always the case.

During the Arrowmont earring extravaganza, Linda Kline showed us a technique that included a tab designed right into the piece. The piece was fired flat (like the by-pass ring) and the tab was bent into a round bail after firing. I didn't get a chance to try it, but my friend Nancy (who was sitting right next to me all three days) did. She made a water etched pendant and was nervous about bending it; but it worked slicker than you know what. It turned out beautifully.

So, I never did a test piece (that would have been too logical) before my class. Instead we dove right in (thank goodness I only had one student), made our pieces with the tabs and fired them.

Then came time to bend them. (You know where this is going. Do you see a bail on my piece?)

Yes, they snapped off. Both of our pieces broke.

My student drilled a hole in her piece and hung it with a jump ring. I pasted the broken bail onto the back and re-fired it. For months it laid around my studio, while I tried to decide what else I wanted to do with it. I was listening, but it wasn't talking. Finally, one of the other jewelers in the Transit building, said she liked it just the way it was. So I took another long look at it. Looked in my basket of beads and this is what I came up with. I do really like it now. It has a South Western look.

Another unfinished piece done. Finally!

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.