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Wednesday, Jul 25, 2018

There are few things in life that are more precious than making something that brings joy to others.

In July, I am usually putting together jewelry for gifts for upcoming August birthdays. I started some projects to learn how to take leaves from the garden and make them into silver jewelry. Painting leaves with PMC clay slip or paste didn't turn out as I hoped, because I didn't paint on enough to get the right thickness. Next I tried making leaf molds by pressing leaves into silicone mold making media. You mix two equal parts of plastic together and then quickly press the leaves far enough in to leave a good relief of the shape and veining. The polymers harden, you take the leaves off the mold, and you then roll out PMC and press it into the mold. This worked much better for me, although I think I could make the leaves thinner than I did the first time. The leaves I used came from my neighbor's yard, a ginkgo and several climantis leaves, so it made sense that I should make her jewelry for her birthday with the molds made from her plants. She seemed to like them...

Friday, Jun 29, 2018

Beyond the normal yield of glass beads, bottles, and metal findings, I have continued to practice working with precious metal clay. The gallery tied to this blog shows some of the items I made this month, including an angel bell charm and several pendents. So far I've been mostly using EZ 960 (sterling silver) clay--which I love. I've also tried FS 999--which I kinda hate. (It is like working with glue and sawdust! It crumbles and flakes and sticks and UGH!) :-\ I'm going to try PMC Flex next, so I'll let you know how that goes in next month's blog entry. There may be some tricks to using these clays, but I haven't found a trick for the FS 999 yet.

I have also been painting leaves with PMC this month. This is an easy project to make metal copies of leaves from your yard. One note, you really should layer on a thick amount of PMC paste. I have made the mistake of not layering enough and now have very beautiful leaves that bend easily and have sharp edges. I'll refine and harden them in the tumbler and hopefully they will be strong enough for jewelry.

Friday, May 25, 2018

May and June are historically crazy months around here--we have dance recitals, rehearsals, orchestra concerts, end of the year events, summer job set-ups, and kids going in all directions! This year, our calendar had the addition of my niece's wedding and making decorations for the reception. One of the projects our family worked on was a collection of dragon eggs. They turned out pretty cool actually, but making them did require a lot of learning. In the end... craft concrete mix, balloons, paint, and a good deal of experimentation created some very fun table centerpieces. Jewelry and glass took a back seat this month.

Wednesday, Apr 25, 2018

New adventures...

I've wanted to try cloisonné, champlevé, basse-taille, and enameling on metal clay, so this month I went ahead and purchased equipment and supplies. Learning new things is exciting and a little scary. You invest in yourself to gain new skills, but you know that there is going to be a certain amount of failure involved in learning those new skills. The important thing is to try though, right?

The components pictured here are made from EZ690 Sterling Silver Precious Metal Clay. You utilize normal clay techniques and when you fire the dried clay in a kiln, the binder burns out and the clay becomes solid metal--it is a pretty cool trick actually! I had fun learning and I can't wait to develop my own tools to help in this process. Textures made from items around the house and yard, cutouts, layers of pieces too create dioramas... I have all kinds of ideas swimming around in my brain right now. I'll be continuing on my path to greater knowledge over the next months. Check back to my metals gallery in the future to see what I'm up to.

Friday, Mar 30, 2018

Some months are better than others--March is a tough month.

My birthday is in March, so I annually face the fact that another year has past in my life. Even with the benefits of growing wisdom, the aging of my body is a real drag! Also, the weather is still cold here in March, so I get fewer days to work in the glass studio.

On an up note, this month does bring a local holiday called Dragon Day to Ithaca, NY. Cornell University has a day when architecture students present a dragon they have created for the year and parade it through the campus, while the engineering students jeer artistic design and defend structure with a battle phoenix exemplifying strength in math, science, and technology. Don't you just love a good rivalry? You can read about the history of this event and see pictures of past dragons. Some creations have been small and some huge! Some have been abstract and others authentic. The dragons and phoenixes really take on the character and commitment of the classes that design them.

In the "old days," Dragon Day was even more exciting, at least in my opinion. The engineering students actually threw oranges, apples, and eggs at the dragon to try to dismantle it before it got to the Arts Quad. The architecture students defended against the rabble-rousers while chanting "Dragon, Dragon, Dragon!!! Oi, Oi, Oi!!!" Once the dragon made it to the Arts Quad, they lit it on fire! It was so much fun to watch and the fire really gave a grand finale to the event.

Then there were the safety police... :-(

Environmentalists in the area complained about the possibility of burning toxic fumes from certain materials and new fire codes limited activity near campus buildings, so the cost to provide appropriate materials and insure safety measures made the event more civil. Cornell did have one creative year when students lit a dragon on fire and released it on a raft on Beebe Lake to burn. Another year a student slayed a dragon, symbolically cut out it's heart, and then burned the heart in a little fire. Again...the safety police shut that down and now the students have rules to follow. Dragon Day is still a fun tradition, albeit it feels more mildly festive.

Dragons are a lampworker's muse and mascot, because they breath fire and love shiny trinkets. So, it makes sense to make dragons in my own flame. I am not great at them yet, but I do keep trying.

Thursday, Feb 22, 2018

February is usually cold in Ithaca, NY and my studio is in a garage with limited heat. What this means is that I have to schedule my studio time around the weather. This particular February, 2018, had us seeing some really good temperatures and I was able to make some beautiful beads and vessels. You can click on the picture to the left and within the linked gallery of photos you can click through this month's favorites. In future entries, I will probably give a description of a technique I used or reflect on a color scheme or something like that. I'm new to the blogging and I'll just have to see what unfolds as I add to the website.

Monday, Jan 1, 2018

Once upon a time, in a flame long, long ago...

In creating this new website, I had to let go of the old one. I loved the look of the old site, but it didn't resize properly on different devices and it was so complicated to update that it sat stale for a few years. As I looked through the photos of older beads, I felt a little sad that they were going away, so I wanted to offer a last look here. One bead in particular stands out to me as a turning point in my work--the purple, pink, and teal flower bead. When I started out making beads, I found florals to be too difficult and I vowed I would never make them to sell. Never say never... This particular floral bead was the first successful encased floral I had made with "EDP" glass, or "evil devitrifying purple" as it is known to beadmakers, and an overlay of heat-striking rubino. I remember saying out loud before I started that session, "If this doesn't turn out right, I'm done with these little beasts!" The session was a test of concentration, flame control, and timing to get everything to work, but once I had that bead as a prize I found myself making a lot of florals. Florals have become the focus of my work, although I do make many different types of beads, vessels, and off-mandrel sculptures. Floral beads require a lot of time and patience to make and many, MANY layers of glass! They are a challenge, but they are so worth every bit of effort when they turn out.

By the way...

I'd like to take this moment to thank my husband for helping me update my website and adding the blog feature in a way that I can place text without loosing my mind! He is a computer programmer who specializes in building automation and controls, so my world is a bit of a turn and a ride down the street from his world. :-) Joel has offered constant support and endured many long emotional conversations about the development of my glass and metal work. He has taken my latest vision for the new website and somehow made it real in code that I do not understand. We can all actually click on things and the right stuff happens. Amazing! Thanks Joel!!!