I'm a Featured Artist in May!

I'm going to be the guest artist at VIVA in Viroqua, Wisconsin in May. Join me at the reception this Thursday.

To-dos, a kimono pin, and a featured seller

I'm back.

And I have far too much to do.  I realized that I have about one month to complete these tasks, before I fly off to teach a 2 week workshop at Haystack in Maine.  I think it's all doable, except perhaps the railing.  This list is not truly complete and does not include all of the endless lists that my family makes for me as well.

I've been waiting awhile to tell you about my first (and only so far) alchemy commission on Etsy.  Greygoat had posted a request for an "obidome", a kimono pin.  Obidome are tied to the sash of a kimono, so they use 2 loops, like a belt buckle, rather than traditional pin findings.  My husband and I are fans of Japanese kimono pins and related sword ornaments, so I just had to make a bid on it.  Greygoat decided on a bronze ginkgo leaf and it turned out beautifully!  She took some photos of it modeled on one of her kimono costumes.  Take a look.

It's wonderful to see the piece in context.  Thanks Greygoat for giving me the opportunity to make such a beautiful piece and for letting me see it in on a kimono. 

Greygoat is also a very talented clothing designer and seamstress.  Take a look at her satin knickers, well not exactly hers...  They are waiting to be yours  .  I really like her vintage scarf shirts.  Here's the one that I want



Ria vintage scarf top - russet, orange and golden leaves on olive green - size S-M

by greygoat
or maybe this one



Ria vintage scarf top - yellow and gold Canadian maple leaves - size S-M

by greygoat

Blog Carnival! - Monthly Jewelry Series

It's a blog carnival!  This month's topic is

"would you make jewelry even if you didn't need or plan to sell it? why or why not?"

My answer is simple - Yes!  I started off making jewelry so I could have exactly what I wanted.  It took me a long time to develop the skills to make the heavily textured nature leafy jewelry that I love.  So I would definitely keep making jewelry, for myself and my loved ones.  

To see the answers at the other participating blogs, visit the links below.

http://lorahartjewels.blogspot.com/

http://www.creativetexturetools.com/news/

http://www.kaskiles.com/

http://www.fleseri.com/blog/

http://angelacrispin.canalblog.com/

http://penny-candies.blogspot.com/

http://gentrydesignco.typepad.com/jewelrydesignchronicles/

Cattail Railing and a Vacation Announcement

The kids and I are leaving for a little vacation today, going to Disneyworld  for 5 days.  I should have internet access, because you know I'm addicted to my blogs, flickr, email, Etsy, and various metalworking forums.  If I can figure out how to upload photos using my itty bitty travel laptop, I will post some updates while I'm there.  If you buy something from my shop,  I will ship it out on Friday or Saturday. 

For now I leave you with the cattail railing.  These photos show my progress over the past week and a half, starting with the railing ingredients and ending with it pretty much ready to go.  You can click on the linked photo titles in the description to see any of the photos in detail.

1. Small Railing Ingredients, 2. checking the angle, 3. finding center, 4. setting up for a weld, 5. Did I miscalculate?, 6. setting it up again, 7. coming along now, 8. still in progress, 9. Me grinding, 10. more welding Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Ideally, this is all you will see of this railing.  I am not doing the painting or the installation.  I do not have a safe or clean painting set-up. I worked according to the architect's measurements and delivered the piece to the Contractor, ready for painting.  They will check the fit, call me for adjustments if necessary, have it painted, and then install it. 

and that's that.  Next railing starts when I get back, another marshy theme, but with more plants and a bird accent.

Improvising my own satin or scratch finish buffs

A lot of metalsmiths use abrasive nylon pads (3MScotchbrite or Norton) to create a scratch or satin finish on their metalwork.  The abrasive nylon is sold in all sorts of forms, from household to industrial use.  I've bought the prepared buffs, but find them to be rather expensive and short-lived.  Once they are used up, all I can do is throw them out.  I can't re-use the mounting shaft.

So I decided to improvise my own, with re-usable fixtures and abrasive nylon pads. 

*safety note:  These pads are very gentle when handheld, but they are NASTY once they start spinning on a rotary tool.  Those suckers cut!  So use all of the recommended safety precautions for your tools, including good eye protection.  Remember that gloves are not usually recommended for use with rotary machines because of the potential for being caught in the tool.
The pads will  grab on to sharp edges, pull in your piece, and throw it violently around the workshop- potentially injuring you or someone else.  Take all of the standard precautions that are recommended to avoid being sucked into and injured by your machine.
Also, research the recommended respiratory protection.  All of that abrasive and nylon is getting thrown out into the air into your workspace and your lungs.

Here is the worn out buff next to a spindle adaptor.

I cut out the replacement pieces.

I'm working with two different abrasive grades.  The grey is softer than the red.

Here are 4 of my improvised buffs lined up, with the new ones in front.

The ones in front are set up for my buffing unit.  The ones in back are set up for my pneumatic tool.  The red one in back shows quite a bit of wear.

I use the red buffs on steel and non-ferrous metals.  The gray pads are more effective on non-ferrous metals.  They don't make much impact on steel.

Ahhhh

Now this is why I started making jewelry in the first place..... so I could make work like this mainly for myself at the time.  These days, even when I make jewelry to sell, I'm still envisioning it on myself.

Two sterling silver feather pendants- first handsawn, then hammered, then defined and refined with chasing tools over pitch.
 
For the finish, I tumbled the pendants for a few hours, oxidized them with liver of sulphur, and then burnished up the highlights with a 3M green polishing wheel.

This bracelet might be sold.  I have to wait to hear back from the client who suggested it.
 
I love how it turned out.  The oak leaf and acorn theme seems to be timeless.  I textured the metal first with hammers, then created the image with chasing and repousse, and finally formed it to the cuff shape with hammers again. 

The heat oxide is so beautiful on bronze.  Bronze gets a bit of copper plating on it after repeated heating.  There is so much copper in the alloy that the copper somehow comes to the surface during the annealing process.  So when I start to burnish back the surface, I go through a range of colors from black, brown, red and then finally the goldtones of the bronze.
I used a variety of 3M Scotchbrite brand buffs and wheels to get the right finish, burnished but still rugged, with lots of texture and color tones.

Working to Use Less Propane

I am working with some different thicknesses and metals for my leaves, in order to reduce my use of propane.  My forge runs on propane.  As you might imagine, the cost of propane goes up as the cost of oil goes up.   This could be a huge strain on a business that runs on propane- but I'm flexible.  There are so many ways to work with metal!

Copper and Bronze Ginkgo Leaves.  I use propane to anneal them, but they don't need constant heat.
 
Wax as a final surface treatment really brings out the heat colors on copper.

 
These are steel yes, but a thinner steel.  I pay special attention to the edges and surfaces, to maintain the feeling of strength that I give to all of my work.  Look at the difference in surfaces.  The one on the left has been burnished back much more and highlighted with brass goldtones.  The one on the right keeps its true forged steel black.

And of course a few more pendants, another copper oak leaf and a forged steel maple leaf.

back to the studio now.  It's a welding day- for cattail railings and branchy shelf brackets.

Copper Oak Leaf Jewelry

I've got some nice big copper oak leaves that I've been making into talisman-like pendants.  The leaves are my design, well nature's design, about 4 inches long from the top of the stem loop to the bottom of the leaf.  You may click on each picture for more details.
 
I have a local friend cut them with his computer aided plasma cutting system.  This is my first time to have non-ferrous (copper and bronze this time)  metals plasma cut and there are size limitations.  The surfaces are more rugged, as the plasma cutter sort of burns away the cut lines.  Of course I like the way that looks.   Smaller shapes and other metals will still need to be sawn by hand.

I had to have one of the oak leaf pendants for myself.  I like large bold pendants on long 24 inch endless chains that slip easily over my head with no clasps.

I am finally starting to own a nice selection of my own jewelry!

2nd Butterfly Finished!

 The 2nd butterfly pendant is finished!  It is created with chasing and repoussé, no molds or forms, completely one of a kind.

and a side view, just because

Both the first and the second butterfly have been claimed and will be flying off to their new owners very soon.

I love it when new owners claim their pieces even before they are completed.  Then I know the pieces have a story to tell and will stay close to someone's heart for a long time.

More Ivy Art, Butterfly progress, Cattail Progress, and a Shop Tip

More ivy?  Yes, of course more English Ivy Art.
#5    #6 

What's in progress?
The 2nd butterfly is waiting to be soldered

The cattails are welded up!  Now do they look like cattails?

I'll be forging the leaves early next week, along with textured steel branches, and some new coat hooks - all special requests.

And finally, the shop tip for other metalsmiths.  I was about to throw away some sticky chewed up dirty playmats from the playroom.  I realized that they were just the right resiliency to use in metalforming.

I use them for anything that I would have used sandbags for.  I can lightly dish or form metal over them.  I can work harden without marring a surface.  I can block my chasings in progress, whether small or large.  No more dusty sandbags for me.  Recycle those foam playmats or alphabet squares.  They're cheap and incredibly useful in the metalshop.

Butterfly, Ivy, and Wool Play Food

Do you think maybe I've got too much going on?

I finished one of the butterflies

I'd like to finish the second before I put them up for sale.  When I first started making jewelry, I made jewelry that I would love to wear but that I couldn't find anywhere else.  Now I'm doing the same and it's hard to part with these pieces.  Yes, I think I'm definitely entering into a jewelry phase.
(I still have to finish a few railings, but after that, it will be jewelry galore.)

I've been listing pieces from my English Ivy Art Collection.
#1  

#2 

#3 

and finally the felt play food
I looked at my wool and said "I don't know what to make next."  Of course the kids come up with all sorts of ideas for kitchen play.
 
I loosely needlefelt the forms, then toss them into the washer to firm them up.  Then I go over them again with a needle for shaping, more fuzzy color, and for the banana, to add the peel.  I have no idea what I'm doing.  I just keep jabbing it with a needle until it looks passably like an edible fruit or vegetable.

Felting is kind of like chasing and repoussé that way.  Sometimes I feel at a loss when I teach a workshop, because once we make the tools, I just want to say "now hit the metal until it looks like a leaf."  Use the little tools to pinch, pull, squeeze, and coax the metal into the shape you want.  No formulas.  Just do it, like you would if you were using your fingertips to mold clay.

Chasings, Butterflies, and Cattails - so much!

I have a lot of things to show you!

First, the exhibit pieces that are now in my online shop.
Remember "My Heart in December", the piece I did while teaching a workshop in Minnesota?

The Steel Bamboo Leaf Cluster

and the Bear

I am still slowly working on my silver butterflies.
 

And the marshy piece...
Now you can see how pipe transforms to cattails

I use a fullering tool to pinch in the pipe all the way around.  I work my way down the pipe, making what looks like a length of link sausages.  I'll break them all apart and weld on round bar above and below the seed pod shape for the stems. I'll be sure to post another photo after they're welded up.
Here are some of the leaves before I form them.  The tips are too pointy, so I'll make them more blunt first.

This is going to be a busy week, so keep checking back for more wall art, jewelry, and cattails in-progress.