On a Roll!

It's been a couple of days since I talked about the Hard Candy class at ArtBLISS. I promised at the end of that post to talk about the second class I took with Melissa, her evening 'Roll Playing' class, which was all about learning to use a rolling mill and trying out various textures on metal.

If I wasn't a total tool junkie before, I sure am now. Must. Have Rolling. Mill.

Oh my goodness, so much fun!! I had no idea that you could put such cool textures on metal just by running it through a machine that looks like a pasta maker on steroids!

For those of you who are uninitiated, this is a rolling mill:
The picture doesn't show the arm of the mill, but it's long, and physics is your friend here, because this sucker puts some *serious* pressure on stuff! Pretty much everything that gets run through here is destroyed (except your metal sheet!) when it comes out the other side. About the only thing that managed to not get totally obliterated by the rolling was a spiral of 16g bronze wire. It survived at least my two rollings, and at least one other person rolled it. Even still, it got really flattened.

So, Melissa explained how to use the mill, and what and how to put through the rollers. Then we were off to the races, annealing metal sheet, and running it through with all kinds of added "stuff". I LOVED this! It was so amazing what you could do!

Here is one of my favorites, a piece of annealed bronze with a skeletonized leaf impressed on it:

After I milled this, I punched holes in the top for linking into a necklace, and then I hammered the edges and background area around the leaf. A dunk in some liver of sulphur and done! Nice, huh? I already have a vision for the necklace that goes with this. :)

Next I rolled some sheet copper with a piece of plastic onion bag, and some small leaf stickers, and got this:

I love the onion-bag texture! And I was amazed by how thin something can be and still make a really good impression! Amazing!

And here is this, one of my very favorites:
Some leaf stickers and a piece of tulle! I had to burn the stickers off with a torch, they were practically embedded in the copper!

And finally, the bronze wire I was talking about:
I actually ran both these metal pieces through with the wire sandwiched in between. one piece of copper had some wallpaper on it, which is how I got the texture on the piece on the left.

Cool, huh?

I can think of about a gazillion ways to use the patterned metal, and it's just so much fun to try different things! And because I certainly AM a class-A tool junkie, this new tool has gone on my wish list. Santa probably won't be bringing it to me this year, because I have need of a few other things first, but definitely next year, my goal is to get one. Contenti has one (the one in the picture at the top of this post) for about $200, which really isn't bad when you think about how heavy and massive a tool this is.

Oh, and tomorrow, my hole punch and soldering stand should be here! I have some enamels, some copper discs, I got a small torch at Home Depot, and look out, it's gonna be ON this week!

I can't wait to make some cool stuff!

Hard Candy!!

More about the ArtBliss retreat.....

So, when we last left me, I had attended the Meet and Greet reception for instructors and students. After the reception, in which a glass of Chardonnay and a huge brownie was consumed, I retreated to the utter silence and calm of my hotel room. (side note: if you have not stayed in a Hampton Inn recently, you should. Beautiful!) I poked around on the internet for a while, submitted a piece of jewelry to another magazine, and watched some of a Will Smith movie. It was a bit of heaven for me.

When the alarm went off early the next morning, I was ready and SO looking forward to my class.

Melissa Manley is a fantastic instructor. I can't say enough great things about her, so you're just going to have to listen to me gush about it all for a while. I was lucky to find Melissa Meman was in my class, too, so we grabbed a table together and bemoaned the fact that we did not bring all of the tools we wish we had!

Note to all you who may attend a retreat or other jewelry class like this: BRING YOUR TOOLS, even the ones not officially on the 'required tools and supplies' list!!! I was so clueless, and I didn't realize I should have just loaded the darn entire toolbox up instead of paring down to the bare minimum, especially since I drove to the event! I wasn't without the necessary tools, but having mine would have helped, since we shared a lot of stuff.

But I digress...

So, here we are, all ready to start metalsmithing in a hotel conference room...


(That's my friend, Melissa Meman on the left!)

We listened to Melissa Manley talk about metals and her background and a bit about what we were going to learn, and then we just got on with it!

One of the things I like best about her classes is that she is a very epxeriential learner and teacher -- always ready to try stuff out and not get caught up in "what you're supposed to do".

So, we annealed metal, and cut it, dapped it into domes, enameled it, and then learned how to tube rivet it into beads. Along the way, we learned annealing, pickling, torch-fired enameling, sawing, filing, hole-punching, decorative techniques, tube riveting, and probably a zillion other things! It was amazing! Here are a few action shots compiled together in a collage....


From left to right, top to bottom: Melissa demonstrates sanding the discs; Using the disc cutter (note the hydraulic press and rolling mill!); Dapping; Pickled and halfway finished; Enameling; Assembling; More tools!; So very happy!; Finished work!


And here are my finished beads! I can hardly believe *I* made these! I mean, really. I am on a creative bender now, desperately searching for and ordering all kinds of tools so I can do MORE of these! And the jewelry and wearable art possibilities are amazing! I cannot stop sketching all the fabulous ideas I have that pop into my head pretty much all day (and probably all night, too). My sketching skills are....well....sketchy, at best, so I hope that what I've been drawing still means something to me when I finally get around to making everything.

My actual life keeps getting in the way, though. Very annoying.

Well, not my kids. Or my husband. They aren't annoying (ok, maybe sometimes...).

By lunchtime on Saturday, I was so completely full of adrenaline and creative energy...being there in that workshop and meeting and talking with so many creative souls was like feeding every appetite I have. Well, almost all of them. I felt like I was hyperventilating all during lunch, trying to take everything in, process it, learn, watch, listen, talk, dream, think... talking to people about what we were doing and what *they* were doing, seeing everyone's work from the morning, and dying to get back into the room to do MORE! It was overwhelming, but it a really, really good way. That kind of energy comes from a pure place in my soul. It's exhausting, and I can't live there every day, but when I can get to that place...oh! It feeds me and fills me, and makes me more ME.

I sound slightly insane, don't I?

I wish for a long, uninterrupted stretch of time over several days to get some of this banged out (pun TOTALLY intended!). That's not going to happen, so I really, really, really need to sharpen my focus and hone in on what needs to be done step by step so I can actually make progress on this work, and not just flounder around in a sea of creative angst.

And Barbara Lewis has re-ignited the fire about a book idea I have had for a long time....I need to make that proposal and get it out to someone who can actually help me make that a reality.

And the copper....the metals are just calling me. I have SO MANY ideas.

Thank you, Melissa, and thank you Cindy and Jeanette, for facilitating a wonderful experience!

(and I haven't even talked about the evening class, 'Roll Playing'....but I will. Soon.)

ETA: Most of these pictures were taken by the wonderful Cindy Wimmer, of Sweet Bead Studio and the cofounder of ArtBLISS! Thanks for the great shots!

Getting back to it...

Okay, so I think I took the month of August pretty much off. Too hot to make beads, too hot to do much, kids running around, work stuff needed doing, and frankly, I was out of inspiring ideas.

But fall is (finally!) coming, and it's on, now, baby!

My first big (real) art show is on September 26 (Arts Around The Lake at the University of Richmond), and I am in "make" mode, planning the inventory I am going to need. Thankfully the preschoolers go back on the 14th, and I know that I will be spending every preschool morning at the torch, making the beads, and at the table, making the jewelry.

Halloween is right around the corner, and so is Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's early, for the September show, but I am planning to have all 3 holidays covered in some way for my displays.

Right now, I'm working on a series of bracelets and some necklaces in "theme" colors....I am making bead sets in specific color palettes that will be simply strung and turned into earrings.

For example, the 'Hallowscream' line palettes are:
lime green/orange/black/purple
black/white/grey
lime/orange/black
orange/black/purple

I'll make sets in these color schemes and do a simple bracelet, earrings and necklace for each, and then a number of single sculpted pendants: ghosts, pumpkins, bats, etc.

Here are some of the beads from the first go-round:
I'm planning to do a Fall palette, a Christmas palette, and a Winter palette. I think I can manage enough beads to have 6 bracelets, at least 6 pairs of earrings, and 6 necklaces for each palette, plus any sculptural single pendants I think of.

I'll be making many more beads for the 'Bloomz' line I've been doing, and trying for 8 or so bracelets, earring pairs and pendants. Then there will be the rest, which will be my one-off designs, and the work that has been published recently.

God, I hope that is enough. It might not be, but there is my plan, not having done the show before.

I pray that my sales will be sufficient to allow me to buy my new torch, pay (off?) my kiln, and start paying for an oxygen concentrator.

The sales needed for those goals approaches the $1K mark. Realistically, can I do that in one day? I don't know. Should I try for it and set myself up for it? Absolutely.

And so, I pray.

Please let me stay positive throughout this incredibly busy September, let me get done what needs to be gotten done, and please let me not get to stressed out while doing it. And please help me to see the path clear to the goals I have set up for myself so I can finally, finally get to where I want to be.

And I cross my fingers, and I plan, and make, and think, and create, and design, and set-up and tear down and rearrange.

Wouldn't it be something? A new *real* torch, an oxygen concentrator AND a kiln by the end of 2010?

Wishcasting Wednesday

Today is Wishcasting Wednesday again on Jamie Ridley's blog!

"How do you wish to spend some time?"




Reading












Exploring my beautiful city


















Hanging out with my eldest daughter













Making jewelry

Making beads, too!














Riding my scooter!










Spending fun time with my little ones



Being with my family....spending some time alone with my husband (a desperately rare commodity these days!)....creating....that's how I wish to spend some time.

Make a Wish....

Today is Wishcasting Wednesday, over on Jamie Ridley's blog.

We could all use the power of good wishes in our life. Not only for our art and our creative leanings, but for our families, our friends and our life. Does us, as people, wishing all together *really* make them come true? I don't know. Does the power of positive thinking -- which is really what wishing is --really work? I think it does.

And anyway, it certainly doesn't hurt anything.

Today's Wishcasting prompt is....What do you wish for your creativity?

Wow. I have actually been thinking about this a lot recently. Especially as I find out just how unfocused and scattered I can be in general, not to mention in my creative life.

I wish.......that I had more ability to focus, REALLY focus, on my creative work....spend the time, the mental, emotional, and metaphysical energy, and the physical effort on all the things that swirl around in my brain all day and all night long. I feel like I get distracted, and bored, and wander around creatively too much.

I wish.....that I could feel as though I have found my voice in my art-making, whatever the medium. I know that whatever art that comes from me *is* me, but I don't feel like my message is carrying through the work.

I wish...... that the work I make in my head would transfer to the physical world more easily. What I see in my mind's eye is so very often not what ends up on the page, or in the kiln, or on my worktable.

I wish.....that I could learn to work more efficiently and effectively in the small chunks of time I DO have for creative work. It is so rare that I can spend hours immersed in art-making of any kind, and I really wish that I could accept my current creating parameters, and feel accomplished and satisfied with what I can do in the time I have.

Four wishes is already probably a lot, especially if I were to find a genie in a bottle, but one more wish I would make is this:

I wish that I could find a way to make my creativity my livelihood. Truly. More so than just making my art self-supporting, more than just being able to buy my silver wire and glass and paint and paper and fabrics, I wish that I could turn my creativity into my career.

I wish I could figure out exactly what the heck that means.

What do YOU wish for?

wet blanket

Oh you know us artists, always all angsty over something, right?

Heheh.

I haven't had much to say or to show of late, mostly due to the fact that it is a HUNDRED FREAKIN' DEGREES here most days, and honestly, I think my Muse has gone out in search of a walk-in freezer or something. Gah!

Summer is great, but only if it doesn't go above 90. Then I hates it, I do.

The result of all this dreadful weather we're having, besides keeping one in a continual state of inelegance, is that I haven't felt much like glassworking. No lie, I fired up the torch the other night, and all I could think about while working was how soon I could stop. It was miserable.

So, the upshot is no new beads. No new jewelry, either, really. Ugh, I just don't feel inspired by anything, and pulling out my materials is just overwhelming. Which means I sit there and stare at them and get anxious because I don't know what to make and THAT gets me upset because I feel like I "should" make something, ANYTHING, but...ugh. Vicious cycle.

I've been feeling more of an urge to sew, though, and some of that is brought on by the fact that I am teaching a new friend how to sew. Not medieval stuff, but regular-life stuff -- easy clothing patterns or accessories or whatever. Today we are meeting at a fabric store so I can help her choose and pattern and fabric, and then tomorrow, we will start in on the project. I was going to pick a project for myself and buy some fabric for it so I can work alongside her, but I realize that I have such a fabric stash and so many patterns that there is NO need for me to spend any money on any of that. So, stash-busting it is.

I'm looking forward to spending time in this part of this room, even as cramped and cluttered as it is.
I haven't quite decided what to make yet, and I'm trying to figure out if I want to sacrifice about 6 yards of deep burgundy linen that had been earmarked for a medieval gown and turn it into something else. Six yards of wide linen is a lot, and I wouldn't be able to afford it again anytime soon, but do I *really* need a medieval gown right now? Probably not. I could go for a new dress, maybe. I don't know.

Another issue lately: lack of focus.

Anyway, enough whining at you all about my creative inconsistencies. Time to go by my office, then drop the kids at preschool, and then spend some fun time with a friend.

Focus...focus...focus.....

Important Mail

Yesterday, I made a few decision about the direction and scope of my little glass and jewelry business. I don't love a whole lot of chaos, and frankly, I like chaos better if it isn't impinging on my ability to be happy. Some chaos is good, a lot of chaos spread over many areas of my life is Not Good.

Creative chaos is....okay. Until I can't find my tools.

But I digress.....

I launched A Hot Piece of Glass three years ago with a booth at a brand-new farmer's and artisan's market in a really cosmopolitan neighborhood of Richmond. An Etsy shop came shortly thereafter, and this blog, and things just kept growing. Early on, I didn't have the confidence nor the line of work to apply to the intermediate and larger art shows around here, so I kept on with the markets. I switched to another new market last year, this one in a more affluent area of town, and I was a vendor this year as well. Both of the markets have grown, but my average sales have not. Additionally, I have discovered that I have the ability to do other things with my skills, namely teaching and writing. These take up good chunks of time.

I realized I was getting very stressed and unhappy. I started dreading spending the five-plus hours on a Saturday morning at the market, only to have low sales. Spread out over the hours of time, I was making barely enough to justify being there. And I have been teaching more, and writing more.

It was all too much. This year, I decided I was going to really put forth the concerted effort to apply to, and get accepted by, larger shows. Places where people understood my work, were at least generally willing to pay for it, and would want to be a part of what I do.

So, a week or so ago, I brought a small display of my work to a jury day for a local art show held in September on the campus of the University of Richmond. Yesterday I got a letter in the mail that I was invited to participate in the show! The great thing is that this show is a really good one, with great attendance and a well-established history.

So, I decided to stop doing the farmer's markets.

I worried I wasn't making the right decision and that I wouldn't be able to sell my work. But I need to spend time with my family, and I need my energies to go *efficiently* toward advancing my work.

So there it is. I feel better already.

Now I need to go make a LOT of new work for this show. I've been dreaming of the display I want to create, and I am going to make it happen, not just "make do". And I know I keep saying it, but I am going to make a goal to list something at least every week on Etsy, starting next week.

But first, I am watching DVR'd Doctor Who and sitting on the couch. It IS Friday night, after all.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Creative Pep Talk

So, the world of art jewelry is not all beautiful beads, flowing wire designs, and gorgeous components. At least not MY art jewelry world. Sometimes I end up with weird stuff, or total junk, or wire marred, bent, broken and mangled beyond rescue. Sometimes I *think* I have a fantastic design no one else has ever seen, and then....then the internet ruins my Nirvana when I find the idea --that I have lovingly mused over, dreamed about, and sketched for three days-- was already done by someone else.

Today is this day.

I think I am in an artistic bad mood.

Nothing I am touching today is becoming something beautiful, and worse, I am beginning to think there are no real original ideas left in this world. well, I know that's not really true, because if it were, how would we as a human race continue to innovate as we do?

I think now is an opportune time for a re-reading of The Incomplete Manifesto. Of particular significance today are points 11, 17, 23, 26, and especially 35.

Much to think about....mindset to realign....maybe some mindless activity is in order this afternoon.


I'll close with a picture of the latest item to appear in my shop. This is 'Beachside', a Viking knit bracelet with my own lampwork beads. Available in the shop right now!

Ready....Set.....GO!

Yesterday, I packed this:


....into a box....



....and sent it on its way...


My very first package to a publisher.

I can't really share the details yet, but I will, soon, I promise. My hope is that this first package signals the beginning of many, many more packages to publishers in the time to come.

Many thanks to Kerry and to Cindy for their encouragement and help.

Working....

This is part of my workspace. In our house with five people in it, space is always limited. My glassworking stuff is in the laundry room, next to the washer and dryer. My kiln for batch annealing is in the garage, next to my husband's workbench, on which my metalworking tools and equipment now live. The office (really part of our garage converted into a room) is home to not only our home office, but also my sewing machines and other textile fun and games. And in the corner of the kitchen, next to the fridge and near my laptop on its stand, is my jewelry-making stuff. I call this corner of the room my Command Center, because I do spend a fair amount of time here, either on the computer, cooking in the kitchen, or making jewelry.

I can't really complain, though. I am lucky to have the space that I do. We won't discuss the ginormous sewing and craft room I had a few years ago in this house...it's now my eldest daughter's bedroom, because her room was given over to Wren, and Wren gave up her room for Noah. All the bedrooms are taken now, so I have spread out all over the house. I think the only thing that is slightly difficult is that I can't put hot beads right into the kiln as I work them, because my husband, as supportive and wonderful as he is, put his foot down about my running even my teeny kiln inside the house. :)

Anyway, I keep saying we need a 5 bedroom house, or at least one with a basement, but I do not want to move. Nope. I love this house, even as I peruse the real estate ads on Sunday mornings (it's a habit I think I acquired from my dad, who's always looking). Someday, maybe, we'll have a big house in the country on ten acres of land, but for now, I still make pretty things all over the place. And I'm fine with that.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

Hi everyone! I wish I could send each and every person who supported me and my art this year a big, juicy, glorious Christmas card, but the task would be insurmountable! So instead, I made a holiday card as my banner for this blog. It features my favorite set of beads, the Mod Baby set that was inspired by my son's pacifier.

I sincerely hope that everyone has a fantastic holiday season. I hope that it is full of all the good things in your life, and none of the bad things. I hope you are surrounded by friends and family (if you want to be!), and I hope that you enjoy each cookie, and bite of turkey (or ham or lasagna, or whatever you eat for Christmas!), and savor the piney smell of the tree and the glow of the lights.

Me? I hope it snows like crazy! I'm in Richmond, so it probably won't, but I can still hope for it. We're getting our tree tomorrow evening, and we'll be celebrating this Saturday -- a little early, but it's our 'family Christmas' and my kids will get to celebrate with their grandparents. My dad lives in Florida, so it's not often that we get to 'do' Christmas with him. I'm so looking forward to it all. This is my week to bake and make sure we have all the food for Saturday, so I'll be busy with that. Not much torch time in there, but that's okay. There's plenty of decorating and baking and wrapping and even a little bit of shopping left to do, so I am happy.

I love Christmas!

Talk to you all soon!