what a wonderful wednesday!

i've been waiting over 2 years to go to storm king art center.
why? i don't actually know. but what i DO know is that anyone who lives within driving distance (2 hours?) MUST GO! 500 acres. a tramride. amazing sculptures. what more do you need?
(click on pics for nice, big version)







the goldsworthy was the highlight for me. what he does with rocks, twigs, ice, and leaves makes my heart skip a beat and my eyes fill up with tears. for sure we will be going in the fall when the leaves are half-gone and i can see the structure of the wall stretching up the hillside better.

this was how i knew it was about time to go!!!!

logo, in metal

well, finally, here it is!
my logo, in metal.
a few posts back i talked about receiving my stamp from babette cox (www.babettecox.com), but i had only tried it in polymer for a test.

so, here are a few pictures of how it looks on the back of earrings.

i tried pressing it into pmc paper. it didn't work. i tried re-wetting dry clay to impress the stamp. not so much.

so, i roll out wet clay to 2 cards, stamp it a bunch of times, use a blade to trim down to tiny squares and dry. couldn't be easier. if there's a piece i don't want to put the logo right on (2 sided pendant, for example), i can cut out a larger border, make a hole and when it's fired it would be a nice tag to hang at the back near the clasp.
i must say i'm pretty tickled about how professional it looks!

bronzclay

i've found a new appreciation for bronzclay!
finally, after several firings i'm getting some interesting colors...a little TOO interesting, in some cases!
perhaps this bud shape will be combined with silver in a pendant...

ovals...as insets for silver rings...

circle circles-earrings.....

pinched out ovals...not sure, but they won't stay bright orange, for sure!

the small ovals at the top will be combined with bronze findings that are coming to me from rio grande as we speak and made into earrings immediately; both the colorful and the brushed...

close up of ovals and those long guys are for earrings, too....

i used hadar's 2 phase firing schedule because although it's been a long time since i fired bronze, i seem to remember things getting bubbly and misshapen. none of those problems with these 2 firings.....

1000 things to do INSTEAD of saul bell

1. obsessively make polymer models of earrings you might SOMEDAY create.

2. make polymer models of earrings you will surely make very soon with your new EMBEDDABLE fine silver earring wires.

3. construct many doo-dads to be used with earrings you will make soon, or someday.

4. make polymer models of shawl pins you'd like to make out of bronzclay one day. draw several versions of this q-tip shape in your sketchbook in case you forget all of the design opportunities inherent in the fascinating q-tip shape.
5.daydream about how you might possibly be able to incorporate that lovely, shiny, triangle-ish sea stone into a pendant someday.

6. imagine how cool a puffy leaf shape would be as a pendant. draw several versions on graph paper and cut the good one out of polymer to see how it will look draped on a lightbulb.

7. avert eyes repeatedly from a call for entries for the pmc conference exhibit next summer.
8.make excuses that you only have 1 packet of clay and want to wait for the order of 4 more to arrive before you get started.
9.write goofy blog entries.
10.think about new ideas for goofy blog entries.
11.stay up late so then you can say you're "tired".

ok, i can only come up with 11 right now....suffice it to say, i should just get started on the darn project.

water etching

these are pendants i've been working on for a little while. could actually be months. first i made the etched portion. you'll notice the shapes (and floral elements) are similar. i was trying to figure out if my new bezel technique would be easier on curves or corners, so i tested it on both. answer...equally easy. the new bezel technique-3 layers of pmc paper, laminated together. it makes a chunky, flexible strip that blends together nicely at seams. next test-2 sheets laminated for stone setting....
have i mentioned how much HATE beading? really. this is the maximum amount of beading i can tolerate, and i was totally aggravated when i was finished. i suppose if my favorite beads were bigger than 3mm, i might not hate the process so much....
the bottom photo has iolite and freshwater pearls. mom's birthday present.
the top photo has iolite, peridot and freshwater pearls. going to etsy.