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?

Going UP!

The Transit Building is actually two buildings.  The original built in 1890 and the Annex built in 1896. They are connected with a walkway bridge on the second floor.  (My studio is at the beginning the main building side of the bridge.)

One of the most impressive pieces of architecture is in the annex and that is the steam elevator.  It is not in working order and probably never will be.  I've been told there are only two such elevators in the world; the other being in the Eiffel Tower.  This elevator went to the top floor and opened up into John D. Rockefeller's penthouse.  (Hard to imagine how plush that penthouse must have been when you see it now....... fit only for critters.)

It is a wrought iron masterpiece full of design inspiration.  I've done two designs from the elevator so far with more to come (there is just so much detail in it.)  

 The elevator design just seemed to lend itself to silver more than the other metals.  I made a variety of necklaces and earrings from this design.

This is one of the elevator pieces which was given as a prize for the scavenger hunt.  

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.  

That's cheesy!

      My New Year resolutions of drawing everyday, designing something note worthy and entering competitions were based on good intentions.  And, like lots of good intentions, they haven't gone anywhere.  (At least not yet.  The year is not over!)  

    Although I did enter a pair of earrings for a book about creating earrings in 30 minutes or less.  My design didn't get chosen, but that is okay.  I'll try again another time.  It could have been the design itself or it could have been the picture.  I didn't realize it at the time, but my photo showed some less than craftsmanlike rough edges.  I need to learn to really look closely at what I do.  (The photo below is improved due to the wonders of PhotoShop,)

   Anyway, I thought it was a clever idea.  The earrings look like a piece of swiss cheese and were made totally in 30 minutes, which included firing time.  

   Plus, they opened themselves up to many variations.  Resin could be poured into the holes to give them a stained glass effect.  A back could be added behind the "cheesy" form and the holes could then be enameled.

   These were given a brushed texture as a quick finish, but a more pronounced texture could be used instead.

   Another variation is to go with a completely different shape for the cheese slices and 

do something different with the holes.  These are derived from the idea, but go in a different direction.   I thought the possibilities were endless.  

Waste not.... Want not

       Metal clay is so politically correct because it is "green."  Silver is recycled and put into a binder then made into jewelry.

    The nice thing about metal clay..... nothing is ever wasted.  Sand the green ware and save the sanding to be turned into metal clay paste.  Dried up clay?  Add a few holes, a little water, leave sit over night and knead back into lump clay.  Don't like what you made?  Add some more, re-fire and try again; over and over if need be.  

   I've got lots of metal clay pieces I don't like or don't know what to do with.  They sit in a little drawer of my jewelry box, waiting for a spark of inspiration to turn them into something I do like.  

    My very first attempt at metal clay was at an art conference years ago.  We had a two hour workshop which included a one hour demonstration.  Needless to say my first attempt was pretty shaky.  I expected it to act like ceramic clay.  It didn't.  I expected it to stay moist as I worked with it.  It didn't.  I panicked and my first piece was pretty scary.  It was thin.  The bail kept breaking off on the corners.  The back looked pieced together (badly pieced together.)  There were cracks everywhere.  But I brought it home and hung on to it.  Just last summer I finally decided to pull it out and do something with it.  I like it now and actually wear it.  The back got covered with a round piece.  I broke extra pieces off the bail until only the sturdy parts remained.  I added a round element that was molded from a button. Combine that with beads and a citrine drop and the piece now gets compliments.  (Although the picture isn't too good....darn!)

   My latest cover up was a pendant I was making for a commission.  (Remember I always make more than I need.)  In the process of sanding, I managed to break off some letters on the pendant and wasn't able to use it as is.  This save was a much easier fix than my first piece.  I took a pointed tool and hammered around the inside edge of the pendant to give it texture.  Then I pasted on a little frog that I had molded this summer and re-fired.   Add some jade beads (since Kermit is green) and voila, another save.  

   I use the scraps from the paper clay to create my negative space pieces.  And when those get too small, I chop them up and roll paste covered beads in them for a sparkle effect.

   Waste not..... want not.  Especially at the price of silver!