Mother Daughter Pendants

I had a custom request for Mother-Daughter Heart Pendants for Mother's Day and just got those shipped off. I did a couple of others while I was doing these (pictured), and will get them onto Etsy .... great last minute Mother's Day gift!

Word

Learn something new every day. Great advice. I'm wondering right now what I learned today.

Let's see.... I learned you can re-attach a metal clay bail if it didn't adhere well during the first firing. Not as neat, but it seems secure and strong now. Whew.

I also learned that RoadRunners really do run like in the cartoons. They can run on the ground up to 19 miles per hour, and two of them can kill a rattlesnake. They grow up to two feet tall and live in the temperate and tropical areas of North America. Not in Wisconsin. I'm kinda glad.

Etsy Showcase

I'm going to try my first Etsy showcase. I just came here to talk about it and then to get to work on organizing my showcase for TOMORROW....then when I checked on it, I found out it was TODAY. So shoot, then I had to get some things organized and get enough in there to use the showcase. So, I sorta blew it. Should have been more organized and with it. Here's a link to the showcase - I don't think I can do a direct link to the Pendants Showcase. Got to the showcase, then to the Jewelry, Pendants category.

Happy Earth Day

This is a great book to read on Earth Day. Beautifully illustrated. Root for the trees! Yaaaaaay!!

Inspiration

Inspire: a verb, meaning 'to breathe,' or according to most sources, in the archaic form, 'to breathe life into.' That's what we have going on in Northwestern Wisconsin right now with the almost indescribable green of the new buds on shrubs, shoots bursting from from the recently frozen ground and the swell of people that have left their cold weather cocoons and once again walk the sidewalks and parks of the area.

Somehow I never put the literal meaning of the word (taking in breath) to the more artistic meaning, to get inspiration for new work. It's perfect, though, as these things mostly are, whether or not I've thought about them. Sometimes I eventually get around to appreciating the nuances of meaning in our language as they apply to me.

I harvested a few more pieces from the kiln yesterday: some small charms, a flower pendant that will have a post-firing cz placed into it, some hollow hearts made over cork form (a technique learned from Sherri Haab's book on metal clay - I'll add the title in her later when I look at it) and some scallop shell pendants using a mold made from the actual shell. Will be working these into shape, and posting soon!

No Growing Season

in Wisconsin in April .... the food items that are in season now and are shown on the map at this link has got that right. I hear that many artists draw inspiration from the natural world around them, and this is true for me as well. Winter has certain appealing forms and ideas, but when nature erupts into bloom, the possibilities expand exponentially. Along with more ideas to draw from, we also have more to bring to the table.

If you click on your state, you get information about what's in season for you ... with links to more information and recipes. Buying in season is moore economical and eco-friendly. I'm waiting for the Wisconsin growing season to buy something. Looks like dormant season ends in May, and I can get asparagus (yum), rubarhb (yum), nettles (um, better click on some recipes here), and sorrels (um, better click on the more info link).

Bring it on!!! Inspiration, new artistic forms and food! I'm ready!!!!

WIST-Etsy
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Creating Vibrancy

"Our thoughts and feelings can determine the frequency at which we vibrate, and our vibration goes out into the world and attracts to us energy moving at a similar frequency"

I am going to try an Etsy showcase, for the first time. I had looked into it, but the slots had always been filled. To that end, I need to create some additional pendants within the next week or so. I would like the pendants to radiate vibrancy. The showcase should be in time to attract some Mother's Day sales. To me, the word and concept of 'mother' is deserving of intense vibrancy.

Images: bright green, ivy (Celtic), mountains, branches, heart, sun, stars, strong lines, color, pink

Pasta-ronis off!

The pasta beads are complete, patina and all, and are being mailed out today. Reference early March tags noodles, pasta, etc. to see experiments regarding this. I never succeeded with the wagon wheel. I tried painting it on, and firing, but the pieces all broke. I tried making a rubber mold, but it was too deep to get the clay, both wet and bone dry, out of the mold in any shape that could be repaired or saved. A metal mold, with molten metal would probably be need here, but that's not what PMC is all about!

The rest of the shapes, including the bow ties, worked fine. The entire process was an excellent learning experience.

It was a workday

but a good work day. Did not cook dinner until 7pm and it was easy, and watched the Celtics lose, and got to work on the Nancy Botwin. Something seems a little off-kilter thinking about Nancy .... and the meanings behind the lotus leaf .... it seems more meditative and serene. Oh, well, here it is, pictured.

Nancy Botwin Necklace

Ah, a fellow weeds enthusiast has commissioned me to make a necklace 'like the one Nancy Botwin wore on the DVD cover of Season 1 of Weeds.' In collaboration and searching, we found a concave lotus leaf shape that seems to be very close to that necklace, pictured.

The customer wants just the inside and plans to hang a few of her own gemstones from the bail. I'm posting this photo for my own reference as it shows they curved shape better than the one she found.

I like it with both pieces. Very simple, classy.

Bronzclay Bracelet Finished!

The bronze spiral bracelet is complete. Looks like an ancient piece unearthed. The look is clunky, but the bracelet is not heavy. Learned about hinges and more about using the bronzclay. I did have one piece that broke, and I had to remake it. I tried to repair, but the repair did not hold after firing. Perhaps did not use enough new clay - I used some slip, and didn't really pile it on.

Spirals Bronzclay Bracelet right from the Kiln

Last time I forgot to photo how the bronzclay comes from the kiln - it's very interesting looking. I was struck at how variable the colors are. The bracelet links are similar, while the earring blocks are way different. I wonder if it is because I handled the spiral links a lot more ... adding the hinge pieces, filing edges for bracelet, while the other two pieces I mostly left alone. Hmmmm.

I used the following firing schedule:
Ramp the kiln at 25o per hour, to 1490 degrees, then hold for 2 hours. Fired in a stainless container, with coconut shell as the activated material. Let cool in the kiln overnight, then removed.

New Pendant - Bronze River Rapids

Inspired directly from the Little Falls rapids and rocks, just a short kayak trip down the Apple River outside my house.

Studio Update

I have the day off work today, so time to work on some projects. Bronzclay again today - finishing up a spirals bracelet and it's going into the kiln. The client wants spiral squares, but not big spaces between each square. I thought to do this with elastic cord, but it's not one of favorite techniques and the buyer did not want this. So I designed hinges to go between each .... only problem right now is I don't know how I am going to attach the hinges. Hmmmmm.

Pictures are the pieces before firing. Don't look like much, huh.

Also putting together a pendant from my last bronzclay firing.

gotta be an idea here....

I love the names of full moons. This month (April) is the Full Pink Moon, after the pink phlox flower that spreads over the landscape in spring. Other names are Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, the Full Fish Moon, because this was the time the shad swam upstream to spawn.

Spring is creativity! Think of the pink moon....

We rest here while we can, but we hear the ocean calling in our dreams, And we know by the morning, the wind will fill our sails to test the seams. The calm is on the water and part of us would linger by the shore. For ships are safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.

— Song "Ships" by Tom Kimmel & Michael Lille

Ahhhhhh

Saturday. A day to work on my jewelry, go for a long bike ride, walk or run with the dog, bake some cookies and enjoy a more leisurely paced life than the 8-4 work week day. Maybe leisurely is not the word, but certainly filled with more variety and things I enjoy.

Right now I am sitting with coffee, uploading pictures for a vintage-style ring with an amber colored stone to Etsy. I've sold several items recently (yay!) and need to get some more substance to my listings.

Motivation

Another Wisconsin beader, from Green Bay, recently began a 'motivation' blog'. Motivation does ebb and flow - and it's something that I often struggle with. I begin with high enthusiasm, get tired, get discouraged, get whatever and find myself blocked. Many times it begins with simply being tired. It's difficult for me to work creatively when I am tired from the day at work. Inside, I thought it was more of a 'just me' problem than something that others struggle with. It may help to know that others face similiar challenges and to check in with this blog periodically.