Just for Fun

When I was starting to work on the "Screw" necklace I came across this doll leg.  (I found it when I was looking for a bone from one of the grandchildren's old games.)

Since I took so long getting the other necklace started I felt I should do something extra for my customer.  So........ just for the fun of it I made this "leg necklace" in honor of the broken leg.

It was fun!

Wired up earrings

On August 3rd I did a post about playing around with wire bending.  Wire is something I haven't done much because I'm basically all thumbs and I have no desire to do detailed wire wrapping.  (Although I have to admire people who can do that.)

Since then my college roommate I did some during her visit and yesterday I got around to finishing some of the test pieces by making them into earrings.

Just thought I'd share......

Just Wondering!

Remember Rub 'n Buff?  I found several tubes in some of my stash the other day and wondered if Gilder's Paste is just a revised version of it.

Gilder's paste is a colored, oil based paste (at least it smells oil based) that is used to add color to a variety of media. So far I haven't had much luck using the paste.  It's not so much luck but that I don't like what I've done with it.  (But it seems likes a really good idea and the range of colors is great.)

At the conference this past June I received a couple of charms that had Gilder's Paste on them.  I apologize for the quality of the pictures and the fact that I don't have the names of the artists who created them.  But, it is 2:23 in the morning and I am sitting on the tub in my daughter's master bath with my laptop on my lap.   My husband is in the next room sleeping soundly, which obviously I am not.  (And the artist's information is at home.)

( I like what they did with the paste.)

It's been a few days since I posted and what better time to accomplish something than when I can't sleep.  Well, better get back to bed.  In four and a half hours I have to get the grandchildren off to school.

Just a little grandchild note......the   granddaughter greeted us with "Yay, the Grandpa with the chubby belly is here."  What are the chances he's going to eat lunch tomorrow?  Speaking of eating..... I'm hungry.


Foot note :  The top charm belongs to Candice Kiesaw at CC designs art jewelry and the bottom charm comes from Barking Dog Gallery

Nine Square inches

Cindi and I made it back into the studio today to finish up our copper etched pieces.  It was a long and strenuous afternoon.

First, my studio is messed up since I needed to have some ceiling bulbs replaced and had to move everything out from underneath them.  So..... we were not as organized as we should have been and had to keep weaving our way through.  (Yes we could have cleaned it up before we started but that would have been too easy.)

We ate breakfast and went straight to the studio, working so hard that we missed lunch.  (That made me tired, cranky and all thumbs...... Damn I'm not a wire worker!)

My pieces are not finished yet.  They are cut out and some of the small pieces have a green patina on them, but that's as far as I got.  It is amazing though how many pieces I got out of a three inch square of  24 Ga copper.  We used the Joyce Chen shears to cut out the pieces.  (So much quicker than the jeweler's saw!)

Patina added using Liver of Sulphur,

Color patina added by heating the copper from the back with a torch.

Another liver of sulphur patina

Cindi did get her pieces done (We had to get them done as we are heading to Erie for the final four days of her visit. ) 

Cindi's pendant.  We are still working on connecting the looped wire to the main piece.  (That's what was stressing me out this afternoon.) The cross is connected with rivets.  (Used my drill press again.) 

Cindi's earrings which incorporate pieces of copper with a green patina.  

It's that time of year.

This is my annual post around this time of year.  As mentioned in previous posts, my college roommate and I get together over the Labor day holiday and catch up on the past year.  I'm not sure how long we've been doing this but it's been a long time.

We shop, go out to eat, watch movies, play games and of course do art.  The first year I taught her how to do metal clay.  Subsequent years we've done such things as kumihimo beading, polymer clay pens, combining beach glass with metal clay, and this year we are etching copper sheets.  I've never etched metal before.  (Strange that I never came across etching in all my college art classes.)

So we both were beginners.  Armed with my latest book purchase (and my latest Rio Grande purchase) we set out to teach ourselves etching.

Our choice of metal was copper as it is cost effective for experimentation.   We started working on Thursday but found that there were still some basic supplies we were missing like, rubber gloves, duct tape, a funnel, and a brown glass container..... so it was off to the Dollar Store.   It's hard to find anything in glass anymore, but A-1 Sauce is still in a brown glass bottle and luckily I had an almost empty bottle in the fridge.  The brown glass container is to hold the used etching mordant. (That's what I needed the funnel for too.)

The basic procedure is to clean the copper, apply a resist (we used permanent black marker), soak in an acid bath and stop the etching reaction with baking soda.  That's a "nutshell" explanation.

Top design is Cindi's 

Soaking in the acid for 30 - 60 minutes.  We did 40 minutes and will probably do longer the next time.

The longer the metal sits in the acid, the deeper the etching.

We plan on cutting the pieces into smaller pieces.  Then combining them with other copper shapes that have a green patina and turning them into jewelry.  We will play with some cold connection techniques when we combine the pieces.

Thursday we had to do more shopping.  Today we got a little more done, but since it was Second Saturday at the studios we had lots of visitors and didn't accomplish as much as we wanted.  So, it's back to the studio tomorrow to complete our jewelry.

As usual, I'll post the finished pictures when we are done.  Then it's off to the camper to do more shopping, eating, movie watching and game playing.  (Combined with looking for beach glass on the shores of Lake Erie..... now that I know how to drill it!)

A Paradox

 In my Artful Success class we were asked to think about who we are, why we make the jewelry that we make and how our jewelry shows who we are.  In the past I've been asked to do this in other classes but never really took the time until now.  Instead of just thinking about it I started to write it down.

Here is where the paradox comes in.  Do I really know myself.  I say my decorating style leans towards the mission style (actually it's mostly eclectic but I like the mission style.  Except when it come to dusting in between those little slats!)  But my jewelry does not have the clean simple lines of the mission style, it's very organic.   This contradiction, I've noticed before.

But with this new class I've discovered another contradiction between who I think I am and my work.  We have accountability buddies in the class and I told mine that my ideal day would begin by waking up in the mountains and seeing the mountain tops shrouded in mist.  So..... why do I have so many pieces that deal with water?  I'm not a beach type of person (although if someone wants to give me a free vacation on the beach I'm not about to pass it up.)  My latest piece "Diving for Pearls" pendant is about water.  I haven't actually counted the number of water pieces yet (but I will.)  I have a feeling I'll be surprised.

So what does this say about me?  Oh, too much to think about!

It's Christmas tomorrow

Finally got around to firing my finished copper pieces. I only had three of them done but decided that I might as well get them fired. If I waited until they were all done it could be next year.

Copper clay is fired in coconut charcoal (no, it's not acorn charcoal!) The charcoal has to be fired for three and a half hours before using it. Not sure why, that's just what I was told.

I've heard all different methods of firing the copper clay, but went with the method that Jan Durkin (from my metal clay guild) used. I fired the pieces flat on a shelf for one hour at 500 degrees F. As soon as they were cool enough to handle, I put them in the stainless steel container on top of one inch of the charcoal. All the pieces were laid around the center. Then I poured the rest of the charcoal on top, (used a one pound bag) and ramped the kiln at full speed to 1650 degrees. I fired them for three hours and forty-five minutes. (The directions were for one hour and thirty minutes but I just thought I'd be different.)

I did learn that my kiln won't get to 500 degrees and hold for one hour if I use full speed. I had to use speed number two (500 degrees per hour) for it to work. Using full speed kept shutting my kiln off as soon as it reached temp. (Hopefully this isn't an omen of more problems with my controller. The book never has my problem listed.)

Now begins the wait. The kiln is supposed to cool down on its own, so I just left the studio without peeking. Hopefully all works out well. We'll see tomorrow. The anticipation is just like Christmas. I'll share (hopefully good news) tomorrow night.