A year later...and no time to waste.

It has been almost a year, perhaps not the most productive year of my life but changes in my family and good feelings abound. I can't quite get my head around my age but I'm working on that and I kind of feel like this picture of Josie looks."queenly".

i have been making simple structures and have been happy with them. That is very good.

preparation .....

I like this theme so far. In fact I love this theme. Smooth untextured areas with something added. I used no patina on this, and have not decided whether to keep it or not ..and the way to keep it is an entirely different story. Several choices there. Size is 1 3/4 x 3/4 inch.

The world is still in an uproar and it feels a little strange. Perhaps I need to get out a little more. Of course, I say that and tomorrow I will be out all day and all evening so I will be so ready for my studio on Thursday. Girls night...going to Stevie Wonder...and dinner. I am actually going to a painting group tomorrow morning also so ... new things! Taking my pastels instead of watercolor.

it's all about the finish.....

One thing is for sure. Until you actually work with metal clay it is very difficult to know exactly how you are doing as far as finishing and designing work. The few pieces I did last week have become guinea pigs and that is good because now they are much better. I have resanded, refired and worked on them the hard way.....after firing them. Believe me ...not the way to accomplish the best in a decent amount of time.  Also, because of them,  the pendant I just finished is much better in every way. The photos are of the front and back, 1 1/4 x 3/4's of an inch. Almost all the work was done in the greenware state so that I only had to soft burnish with my brass brush after firing. What a difference it made! I think reading Barbara Becker Simons book more and more has made me very aware of how important "the eagle eye", as Barbara puts it, really is,  for a great finish.

I also refinished my hinged pendant and it is much better but it took forever and will never be perfect.  The door is gold leaf on  polmer clay. I'm not sure if I like it better without the colored door??

This week has flown by.......

It is Friday night and I have been in my studio all week except for two shopping trips (my least favorite thing) and this is what I have to show for it.

First of all I decided the earrings I made were boring so I covered the fired pieces with paste type and used the syringe for some very loose squiggles. I think what I came up with is younger and they are a great  mother's day gift for my daughter from her daughter. Fine silver and pearls. Then,

 after watching Hadar Jacobson, so generously,  on her video do a hinged pendant I was determined to do something similar in type so I have these... 

Eventually, there will be a colored and gold toned door in the front of the pendant and I am thrilled with how they came out. I do not have my finishing down yet but now that I see how

 every little mark shows I will work on that. 

I am amazed at the generosity of the metal clay community. They have made so much information so very easy to find and that makes it possible to learn and practice a lot on your own. 

Tomorrow King Tut exhibit and then,  on Sunday, some weekend fun with my girls, tea at the Botanical Gardens..daughters and grandchild. A nice, actually perfect, Mother's Day!

 

I also had to change the little charms...The Sakura opaque pens work beautifully on fine silver and I smudged the star a little with alcohol. Happy with those now.

metal clay....moving into it.

I remember when I first received my Hothead torch and my kiln in 1998. That is the year I started to make glass beads. I was terrified. I just knew that whatever I attempted would never work out and I was afraid of the torch but too excited to wait so I just lit it.  Then,  I moved on and went from a minor to a bobcat and an oxygen concentrator or two it got easier and easier.

 Why, I ask myself, is metal clay making me so nervous? There is no tank of propane, no oxygen ...I had to finally admit that I was simply afraid of failure and the only thing to do would be to jump right in....preferably head first. So, I spent a week or so very slowly ordering things....very slowly. I was crazed. I spent a week moving my kiln around to different places in my studio....I ordered a few other things and on Monday I said...Damn it,  Ann, sit down, stop running around, stop moving the kiln, stop reading the 13 books on metal clay that you have. Get to work. This is my first little piece and then I did a pair of earrings and now I will

 attempt to do things better because I have an idea of what I am doing. Thank God I got started. The process is so full of varied creativity and I love it!

kiln arrival

I have to admit I already have two great kilns, bead annealing kilns, that I love, but as I made less and less beads and began to work more with clays and various mixed media I found metal clay. I now have a third kiln, a hotter kiln,  and I can do the magic. This magic consists of changing clay into fine silver, gold, copper and bronze. I am amazed and delighted.

Metal clay is something else again. I am in love with the process and in love with the look of the finished art. I really should say the look of the many, many different finished creations that one can achieve. The process seems to me to be beautifully solitary and deep. I love that.

I do have most books that have been written about metal clay but my newest is from Barbara Becker Simon, and it, along with books by Tim Mccreight, have inspired me to the point where I am almost panicked to begin, I don't want to disappoint myself. I will start slowly and take more classes as needed.

Here is my first piece, from a class with Barbara McGuire. I'm sure I posted this when I made it,  but now that I have all the equipment and I'm about to work, it seemed a good time to look at it again.

A beautiful spring day to everyone tomorrow!