Bling it On!

Fun stretch bracelets for 2016

Copper-plated beads with patina

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Spirit of the Southwest talisman bracelet

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This Little Light of Mine bracelet

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Heart on Your Sleeve bracelet

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Ring in the New Year

Green Mosaic Ring. Sterling Silver.

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Flower Power Southwestern Style

Yep, this is my style

Southwestern style dyed howlite stretch bracelet
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Forged Bracelets

Forged Copper Enamel Cuff
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Forged Copper Cuff
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Forged Red Brass Bangle
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some new rings

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water blue enamel stacking ring

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small enough to stack

pretty enough to wear alone

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enamel band rings

Just a quick post to show off what is new, and to see if I still remember how to navigate around my blog dashboard. I updated my profile. My husband surprised me on Valentine's Day with a kiln, but these rings here were fired with my torch. 

lightening storm

the view from my front porch tonight

tiny little loveknot

I've been slowly using up materials that I have on hand to make our budget stretch just a little farther. That makes my ideas for projects jump around a bit, so my theme for the month is "practice." Soldering is still getting the best of me on most days, and I spend a fair amount of time doing fault isolation procedures, cleaning my work area, checking my equipment, reading resource literature, and then I usually melt something. This little ring is attempt # 4. The wire is 20 gauge, which is pretty thin. I like how it looks in this photo, but I think it would be more practical to wear if it were made of heavier wire. I'll try some more tomorrow. I'd like to make interlocking knots, too.

sterling silver loveknot ring

still here

I'm still here, chugging along and trying to make ends meet, just like everybody else I know is doing. Here is a peek at what I made this week. I love being able to go out to my little cluttered space and make things.



Homage to Frida Kahlo's painting
Hummingbird and Thorn Necklace




Forged copper hoop earrings

with Chrysoprase and Aquamarine drops

the latest from my workbench

This necklace is basic, but I think it turned out to be pretty. It was fun to make, and now I have had more practice at making jump rings.

Forged-links necklace, fabricated.
Copper and sterling silver.
Closed loop with no clasp.

metalsmithing class notes

Today in my metalsmithing class, I worked on making what will hopefully become links in a chain. We are learning basic forging techniques, and I am attempting to master making a "transition." My classmates all seemed to make this sample fast, and move on to the next. I did not. I produced all varieties of mistakes. Today, time seemed like it flew by. I was so engrossed in what I was doing, I had to look at the clock twice to grasp that class time was over. I packed up my clumsy samples, home I went, got out my little bench block and a heavier hammer, and kept on trying.  All at once it seemed that I "got it." My hammer strokes were smoothing out the shape as they went, almost erasing my previous blows, leaving a lovely satin sort of finish, even before sanding. The hammer wasn't hitting the block, and with each blow the block gave back to me a little pinging sound. I never imagined I would like the feel of the metal so much, or that I would care about hammers. Fun times.

torch-fired enamel

Jewelry components in progress:
Upside-down hearts for earwires, enamel blossoms. Assembly by riveting comes next.

Tiger!

my optimized photo of a life-sized paper mache tiger

I think he will look great on a t-shirt.

Halloween

I had some fun dressing as a sugar skull, then turning my picture into a poster.
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Happy Halloween!

soldering practice

 Etruscan link hand-forged copper chain

sacred heart earrings

this is my first attempt at sweat-soldering

I have been practicing soldering, and these are my results so far. It is fun and engrossing.

when it rains it pours in a good way

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Paula in July

This month I've had

some daily adult "me" time free from parenting obligations...

some unexpected extra time to spend with my husband...

time to take a class about chain-making...

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two back-to-back unplanned opportunities that were too good to pass up involving positive changes to my art studio space.

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so this month I

like the parks and recreation department...

am thankful for good doctors, modern medicine, and good benefits...

am still a bit scared of my torch...

&

hope I can work hard enough to bring this plan from concept into existence.

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Do you like my hat?

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love from the garden

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rose petal heart beads in progress

idea journal

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Birth of a Daisy

small study for a larger painting

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I keep an idea journal.

It is a kind of a tear file and visual reminder of things I see in the paper or anywhere that give me any kind of a creative idea or good thought about life in general. I like being kind of messy about what goes in there, just glueing it with the glue stick, not all that carefully.

The purpose of keeping it is for jump-starting myself when I don't know what to work on next. It is still that, but it has also become just for looking at and feeling good.

I began making entries in 2006. My book is small and black, and smudged on the cover. It is warped. I keep cutting off the year from the calendar in my desk drawer and adding that to the front. I usually get around to that in May or so. No rush.

My pages are filled with a collection of pictures of various green items, next to the face of Jesus with black skin, next to the obituary of my favorite high school Spanish teacher. I have quite a few dog pictures in there, and some lakes and kayaks because I might go kayaking someday. It has recipes, paint textures, pictures of rust, and many, many trees and flowers and pathways in the woods. It has sterling silver jewelry, pictures of Santa Fe, and the words of a cancer survivor who said to get up and fix yourself up and proceed as best as you could.

Sometimes when I look at a page I cannot find one single reason why I chose it, and then I wonder what I was thinking about on that day. Usually there is something in there that makes me cry.

This week I have been computer-generating some small working studies as the starting point for large acrylic paintings, so tonight "Birth of a Daisy" goes into my journal too.

bye, Buddy

R.I.P. Buddy

July 11, 2010

This was truly one of the nicest dogs God ever made. He was one of the seven that lent this blog its name, and he left us peacefully and suddenly without warning. You will be remembered and missed, Buddy.

working study

small study for larger painting

Tonight I created this small computer-generated sketch as a preliminary study for a much larger acrylic painting. My original photo was a macro shot of a bougainvillea blossom, manipulated and filtered with Photoshop beyond recognition. It retains the organic feel and vibrant color I love, and I think it would translate really well into brush strokes. I like the speed and multiple variations I can generate using software as a "sketching" tool. It clarifies my thoughts and frees up time for working on the final project.

my starting point

bead stash

beads in my "new" thrift store jars and bottles

Yesterday I organized my art studio again to make the available work space be larger than the supply storage space. This seems to be an ongoing trend.