Always Rushing....

Here are some candleholders that I quickly photographed before shipping them out to Pennsylvania. As always, click on the photos for a larger view.

Gingko
  

Grape Leaves

No time to rest...... a local sale coming up this weekend....huff puff puff.... bamboo project almost done..... name jewelry asap.......huff puff puff.....a rush commission...... because.....well......it's always that way. 

I had to take a break for Thanksgiving, with relatives visiting and all.   I still find time to make cookies. 
Chocolate Crinkle cookies out of the Betty Crocker Cookie Book - If you undercook them a tad and eat them while they are still warm, they are just like rich mini chocolate pudding cakes.  Heavenly.

Gingko Sneak Peek

Gingko leaves drying, after applying the sealant.

 

I've got 2 sizes.  The small size is about 4 inches across the leaf.  The large size is about 5-1/2 inches across the leaf.  Some of them have looped stems for hanging.

Studio Update - I'm still working on bamboo, new leaves including gingko, chasing tools, drawer pulls, hooks, and planning for some jewelry. In the meantime, I leave you with some wallpieces.
For price and details click here

For details and price click here

Exhibit in Hudson, Wisconsin

My work is on display at Hudson Hospital in Hudson, Wisconsin, very close to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. It will be up officially from Nov 14th until February 10th. There is a reception on Friday Nov 16th from 6pm to 8pm. I won't be able to come to the reception. (I can't spend that much money on gas twice in one week!)

My work is in the specialty clinic, on display with a ceramist's work. You can get to it through the main doors to the hospital. It's a beautifully designed hospital with art and handmade touches all over, even in the lighting fixtures.

There is work by other artists displayed in other parts of the hospital.

Let me know if you go.

Now back to the 4 things I've promised to get done immediately after I delivered that work.....

Metal Bamboo - the whole story

Sometimes the themes I am most resistant to result in the most interesting pieces.  Why is that?  Is it the unfamiliarity that causes me to stretch and look for more pleasing outcomes.

When I first started to work with the bamboo motif, I really didn't want to do it.  There really is only one feasible way to forge it, which means not a lot of visual variety.  It's not a native plant or a familiar plant.  It's a bit trendy.  It just wasn't in my design vocabulary.  Then I got a request for it.  For some reason, I couldn't say no.  I had to plunge myself right into it. 

I didn't have the tools for the forged version, so I tried a welded version.

That was ok, but took a lot of work- first forging, then welding, then hammering some more.  So I took the plunge, set up a fullering tool, and tried the forged version. 
Oh let me tell you how I moaned and groaned, swore it wouldn't work, swore it was too heavy and swore to go back to the welded version.   I did the welded version again.  I moaned and groaned, complained, and thought "there must be a better way."  (Notice all the complaining that goes on in my work development?) 

 Well there is a better way, the standard way that everyone else is doing.  I set up the fullering tool again, rearranged a few tools, cut some manageable sizes and broke the process down into reasonable steps.  Amazingly enough, I got these results (posted here already.)

 
Click on each picture to see the larger version.  If you want to see a discussion of how to make the forged steel bamboo, click here or go to http://www.metalmeet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9509  Scroll through the entries to get to some explanations and links to another website with photos.

I am still working on the actual commission and should finish it before Thanksgiving.  In the meantime, I created a wallpiece using some of the extras, to go in the exhibit.  It's photographed on the floor, a bamboo laminate floor. ( I haven't yet dedicated a wall to big-nail-photography.)

I love it.  I didn't want to do it at first and now I love it.  It's simple, yet there's still so much room for expression- in the simple lines, the few leaves, and the negative space.

As a part of the experimentation, I also created some of the bamboo and bamboo leaves in bronze.  I'll show you those results in a few more days.  I had some extra leaves to turn into these lovely forms.

Now think about it.  I never would have done any of this if someone hadn't asked me to create something that I'd never done before.  I never would have done any of this if I hadn't said yes and made myself follow through.  I never would have tried something new and come up with something as lovely as those pieces. 

The moral of the story?- Keep saying yes and then figuring out how the heck to do it.

this and that

My upper body is sore from playing Wii sports. Yeah, I could just swing punches wildly in my room for 20 minutes without a game system, but it's so much more fun to do it as a block figure on tv, with fun sound effects. I don't even have to wear exercise clothing. The character does all that for me.

Now, back down memory lane...
I looked back through my owl work, since I'll be finishing those other two this week. These owl faces are actually ones that I rejected back in 2004 (maybe) when I was working on another owl face.

I like them much better now. I may revisit the forms, in a jewelry format later.

Here are some silver bunny cufflinks that I think I made back in 2000, but I'm really not sure. They were a commission.

They were quite small, maybe a little over an inch each, in the longest direction.

Back to the present day. I finally started knitting again. I gave up on the thought of starting another complex lace project. I started using the yarn (originally bought for a lace sweater) to make a funky neckwarmer for myself.

I'm making it up as I go along.

I went to the library fundraiser craft sale and book sale today. I got all sorts of great deals.
This was really too good of a deal for the amount of work that must have gone into these little beauties- 1 evening bag and 4 ornaments.

$11.25 for all 4. Now I wish I'd gotten more, for gifts and our own tree. I may have to look up her name and call her.

And look at these books, for .50 cents apiece. The embroidery book is great. I already have my own copy, but plan to give this one away as a gift. The soft toys one, I'm not sure. I want to make some soft toys and dolls, but I don't know when I'll ever get around to it.

off to knit a few rows before bedtime...