Assignment Creative Growth

Starting yesterday,  I am going to do one mixed media "sketch" a day. It's time for some creative growth. Often the only way to do that, is to work outside of ones usual creative zone.  Here's the completed Stitch Sketch - Day One.  Number two is in progress.

I also made cupcakes yesterday, ordinary cupcakes by anyone's standards, but I love the macro shot that shows the natural color crystal sugar topping by India Tree.

A sketch of sorts

mixed media improv

New Necklaces

Two new hearts for my Joyheart Shop

and one new Oak Leaf necklace for the Knitsteel shop.

Rituals and Jewelry

The blog carnival this month is about rituals- studio rituals, the things we do to get ready to work.  I'm not sure I have any rituals.  I do have routines, routines that involve lots of procrastination and planning/agonizing.  I start off my day with all of my domestic duties, social networking, then shipping, then designing if necessary.  When I finally get to the shop, I usually do some vacuuming.  Then I work.   But I don't do anything that I would consider a ritual.  To me a ritual includes some sort of centering or spiritual activity, maybe burning incense or lighting candles.  I really don't do that sort of thing.  For me, it's enough to just get my coffee and get into the studio.  To see what the other members said, please visit

Participants:
Lorrene Davis
Marco Fleseri
Tamra Gentry
Lora Hart
Angela Crispin

So- for my studio progress:

1.  I finished another section of the never-ending railing trade.  There is one section left to go.

2. I finished up a set of 14k gold maple leaf cufflinks, for a special order.

3.  I finished some little sweetheart necklaces, adorable felted hearts hanging on cotton cord necklaces.

details here http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21256826

Here is my daughter modeling the one that I made for her.

4.  I got my belly button pierced!  Yes, I needed another place on my body to make jewelry for. You can see a photo, take from my cellphone, here if you are interested.  Right now it looks like a navel piercing with a simple surgical steel barbell.  After it heals, in 3 to 6 months, you can expect to see more pictures, with some of my own creations.

Stephanandra

Have you ever heard of a plant called Stephanandra? Neither had I, until I found it in a little reference book I have, for leaf identification. I often use my little book of leaf line drawings as inspiration and design reference. I do not plagiarise the drawings. I do not trace, scan, or even re-draw the designs. I do use the designs as references for my own leaf drawings, so that I get a shape that is at least based off the original leaf form.

I find that in using reference pictures, it is very important to do your own freehand sketches, several of them. Then you are definitely getting your own perspective on the topic, rather than a copy of the reference material. Then be sure to work from your sketches, rather than the original reference picture.

I based this new bronze chasing, a stephanandra leaf brooch, off a design I found in the book.

Here is a close-up, so you can see how I obsessively texture the surfaces with my little chasing tools.

I originally thought it was a variety of oak or even a maple variety. I did a google image search for stephanandra later and found a wide variety of garden shrubs, with really great leaf shapes, perfect for jewelry and ornamental ironwork. The most frilly stephanandra leaf shapes are quite reminiscent of some of the traditional stylized acanthus leaf forms.

For the full details on this brooch, go to http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21046977, and to see a few others, go to the brooch section at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=20486&section_id=5127286 .

Oh, I almost forgot!
Go check out these hydraulic press forging videos by Randy McDaniel of Dragonfly Forge.

You'll be able to see what it is, how it works, some tooling for it and what it can do.

Just click on these links:

Part 1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl_A4mRGFZk

Part 2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW2G-zxTwKs

Randy is a great guy, a talented blacksmith, and also a great source for lasercutting. He'll even prep your files, which means a lot to someone like myself who has no desire to learn CAD.

Oak Leaf Chasing and Chained Hearts- Shop Update!

I am working on some long term, and not particularly exciting, projects in the studio. Ok, one is more exciting than another, but it's a gift commission, so you won't see the pictures for awhile.

I thought I'd show you what else I've been doing. This is a small oak leaf chasing that I must have finished last spring or summer. I just got it photographed and listed in my Knitsteel Etsy shop yesterday.

I usually make at least one steel oak leaf a year, when I am teaching chasing and repoussé workshops. It's a great form, to look at and to teach. You can find all of the details on this particular oak leaf here in the chasing and repoussé section of my Knitsteel etsy shop.

I've had some time in the house to work on my fiberart hearts, this time combining them with just a touch of metalwork, to make necklaces.
I call these my Chained Hearts and sell them in my Joyheart Etsy shop. Take a look at those pretty handcrafted copper S clasps. I really enjoy making those.

d

1. Blackheart Necklace, 2. Vivid Pinkheart, 3. Plush Pinkheart, 4. Pink Bound Heart Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Find all of the details in the Chained Heart section of my Joyheart Etsy shop.

Questions about Pitch

elegantrockart left a comment on the post "Pitch Pots and Workshops":

Kirsten, If there's an ideal working point re: temp, does that mean the pitch needs to be rewarmed periodically during the chasing process? Whenever it starts to get too stiff/brittle again?What do you think of the practice of filling your pitch pot part way with plaster of paris then finish filling with pitch for the top couple of inches? I read that somewhere but not sure if that's a good idea or if it's just asking for trouble somewhere along the line.

Thanks for asking the question! I needed some stimulus to write.

Warming pitch- Yes, the pitch does need to be rewarmed periodically as you work. There is not one ideal working temperature. You need the pitch to be warmer when you want to move your metal a lot. You need the pitch harder when you are working on details and need a lot of support. Yes when the pitch starts to seem too brittle, then warm it up. I use a heat gun to warm up my pitch gently and slowly, being careful not to let the pitch burn or smoke.

Pitch pots and plaster- Filling a pitch pot halfway with plaster is common practice for American jewelers. Our Japanese artist friend was horrified by the practice. I don't do it myself. I find that I hit the metal so hard, eventually the pitch and plaster both fall out of the pitch pot! That's incredibly frustrating and annoying. I keep my pitch bowls completely filled with pitch. If I needed to conserve pitch (or money), I could weld a false bottom into my pitch bowl, or use Charles Lewton Brain's method of converting an old bowling ball into a pitch bowl http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/jeweler-pitch.htm .

p.s. Thanks Linda for pointing out the typo!