Kuriosities

I recently attended the Bead & Button show in Milwaukee, WI for a week’s worth of metalsmithing classes. It was an incredible experience…and as I am just now catching up with all of the other things that were waiting for me on my return, I will be blogging about it over the next little while. About the projects, people, and new things learned.

One class that stuck out for me in particular, and the one in which I created my favourite piece of the week, was Mary Hettmansperger’s class entitled “Stacked and Stitched”. It promised to teach different weaving and stitching techniques with wire and sheet metal – as well as applying heat patinas. I almost did not take the course, and it was a last minute addition to my list – as the techniques did not look overly complicated, and like something I could work out myself. I am so glad that I went ahead with it, it was a highlight of my week.

Upon entering the class, and during our first demonstration, Mary told us that she does not use conventional jewelry making tools. That she did not even use a saw??!? She said instead, she sharpens screwdrivers and uses them with a hammer to cut out inner shapes in the metal, and snips to cut out the main shape of the piece. Huh!? This seemed crazy to me. Then she said that she also did not use a drill, but instead used leather punches. I’m sure my face registered my dismay, even though I tried to hide it. A voice inside my head said “Erm, I think I’ll be a-usin’ my jewelry saw, thank-you.”

But I fought the snotty voice inside my head that was entrenched in traditional metalsmithing tools and training, and decided to go along with the way Mary did things. And I am so glad that I did.

Mary’s class was like stream of consciousness poetry in metal and multimedia form. I gave myself over to the process and the materials, and turned off the logical planning part of my brain. I took the techniques that she taught us and let my hands take the lead. I had no plan for the piece that I made at the outset, it revealed itself to me layer by layer, bit by bit, and even I was surprised by it at the end.

Usually I spend a great deal of time in planning and researching my pieces, imbuing them with meaningful symbols, and stories to tell. I am usually quite deliberate in what I create. So I was surprised at the story that revealed itself by the end. That there were meaningful symbols in it, that there was a story, although the story was not altogether clear, and perhaps a bit mysterious, and certainly open to interpretation. Perhaps a little darksome. You can decide your own story for it…for me, it changes by the day.

After I created the piece, I wore it the next day when I went out. I was wearing a new sundress that was not altogether revealing in a tawdry way, but certainly plunged at the neckline whilst remaining within decent boundaries. People stopped me several times on the street and asked to look at the necklace. They wanted to touch it, and turn the pages. Each time, so engrossed in discovering the bits of metal, that they seemed oblivious to the fact that they were reaching in towards my bosom and bringing their faces closer than what is usually publicly acceptable. At first I was a bit uncomfortable, but then decided to take it as flattery that they were completely unaware of the awkwardness of the situation, and just drawn into the little book and its story.

I hope to take what I have learned here, and let my hands serve to guide me to new places every now and then…

A StoryBook Pendant: “The Oldest Story in the Book“

A primitive storybook in copper that has been texturized with hammers, stamps, and punches. It has been coloured by applying flame to the metal and quenched in water. The front window punched out with a screwdriver. Text from a vintage newspaper ad has been sandwiched between copper and a sheet of Mica, using sterling rivets to hold. Handwoven wire creates the bail…

Cut from an old playing card. Holes were punched through and riveted with copper eyelets.

Rivets hold the page together. A window cut out with a sharpened screwdriver. The “glass” is made of Mica – a sheet of mineral. Clipping from a vintage newspaper advertisement. Copper has had a heat patina applied.

Sterling silver eyelets on copper with a heat patina applied. (Made by torching the metal and quenching, torching, and quenching). The back of page three is also shown, handstamped with the exclamation “oh!”.

Coloured with a heat patina. Riveted with sterling silver eyelets (bubbles). Handstamped with the word “deeper” and a tiny seahorse. Copper and assorted findings.

Handwoven fine copper wire hold the paddled pieces of the bail together, to give the piece a primal feel. Free mving hanger and beads add movement. A mysterious modern artifact piece.

Spring has finally descended upon the Island, and with it the freedom of the outdoors. I have been taking advantage of the weather and spending as much time out of doors as possible wrangling ponies and rambling about the farm.

I fixed the back fence that had been overcome during winter by snow, and put the ponies out in their summer home. It is a long stretch of land, and they love to gallop at top speeds from one end to another. When I go out for the evening feed it seems to never fail that they are at the far end of the pasture, and upon seeing me emerge from the barn with the hay, they come galloping towards me. Although I trust their rambunctious selves, it is still somewhat unnerving to have a herd of 4 horses come straight at you at a gallop. The ground shakes, and the sound of hooves in the air. It happens every day, and yet it still makes my heart skip a beat when Lyric slides to an eager stop a mere two feet away from myself.

I have also been riding (hurray!) both my Lyrical pony (trusty and loyal steed that she is and co-conspirator in all of my cowgirlish daydreams), and my daughter’s little naughtypants pony, Sophie. Ms. Naughtypants actually ditched me the other day, having spooked at a plastic bag rattling in the breeze. I was bareback, and although the little jump and rear she gave would never unsettle me with a saddle, I had decided to ride bareback that day. When I went to cling with my leg, the fat of her chubby little sides just rolled and bump down I went. Which really, is much like falling off a chair, she is so small. But she stepped on my arm! Ouch! My first time falling in 18 years, and it was off Miss Naughtypants. The shame of such a thing!

Here is Ms. Naughtypants, Sophie, with my kind and sweet old mare Hill. She looks all innocent…but she is a clever and mischievous girlie. I am training her right now so that she behaves better when my little girl rides her. Right now she is keenly aware of the difference between myself, and B. She will behave like an angel when I am astride her chubby self, but the second I hand the reins to B it is an entirely different story. She tries to walk off with her, and tries to rub her off of her back by walking too close to trees and fenceposts. So she is in pony bootcamp. Ha.

My pony injury…Sophie is small, but she still weighs 600 lbs. And anything 600 lbs stepping on your arm $%#&$ hurts. I’m just glad that it did not break, and that it was my arm, and well, not my face or ribs. yikes.

The kiddos and I had fun the other day with a cowboy(girl) dress-up and photo shoot. They are having a Carnival Week at their school, which means that they dress up as some different theme each day. One of the days was Cowboy Day, so I went shopping at some second hand / vintage stores and managed to turn up this nifty cowboy hat. So we pulled out the cap guns and played cowboys for the camera. So much fun. I wish I could post the pics of them all scowly and mean lookin’, but internet being as it is, I don’t post pics of the little ones. You will just have to trust me on the cuteness factor, or if I know you well, ask and I’ll send you some. But how nifty is this hat?! (I need to work on my mean face)

Stick ‘Em Up, Mister ! Ha.

Not too many new jewelry pics right now. I have been busy with a multitude of things, and will have more pics soon. But here is a recent set that I made for frequent client. She was looking for something special for her sister’s 50th birthday, and wanted something with the birthstones of her sister’s children. I came up with the following sketch, and after it was approved, the following jewelry set. She was over the moon happy with it, and I feel honoured that she chose me to make something for a milestone birthday bash…

Faceted blue topaz, garnet, and quartz in sterling settings. Matching bracelet, charm necklace and earrings.

I bought a new mic that I have been busy with…still getting the hang of recording things, and will be picking my guitar teacher’s brain for all of his tricks on making things actually sound good…but here is a small poem of mine that I posted a while back.

Upcoming projects: a new Paiste cymbal pendant, spoken word audio, and a multitude of soldered sterling pieces. Perhaps even a song or two… if I get truly brave…that remains to be seen.

The cymbal arrived from Paiste/ Yamaha Canada. It is, in a word, gorgeous. I do not know too much about cymbals (though I am now much inspired to research and learn more), but I must say that this one is so lovely. The craftmanship, the work that goes into making such a thing. This one has a small crack – which is why its life as a musical instrument has ended, and its new life of being sawn to bits and pieces looms before it.

But before I get my saw out, I wanted to be inspired by this piece in its wholeness. So I played around with banging it quite a bit to hear its sound, and I spent a while exploring its texture with my fingers, and examining it with my eyes. And the weight and thickness of it was much greater than I expected, and a wonderful surprise… And then I took it for a walk.

???

Yes, I know. It sounds a bit crazy. Mostly I took it for a walk because the hay field is a lovely backdrop, and I wanted to photograph the cymbal  for the sake of posterity. I also took it out to see it in a different light. There is nothing like taking an object and putting it in a situation vastly unlike its usual context to jump start the imagination. You do not generally see cymbals out for walks in hayfields, so I figured it might start something…

Mostly it was fun. Molly ma Gog (the black lab) running joyously around whilst I balanced the cymbal on this or that, scaled rusty old farm machinery and scaled decrepit falling down farm buildings. Not only did I start to look at the cymbal differently, but also at the hayfield differently – noticing colours, textures, and settings that I ordinarily overlook as just part of the field.

I returned from the walk, clunkily heavy cymbal in hand, full of energy, joy, and the swelling of ideas.

Here are some of the photos. I will post the whole series later in my gallery.

The nice fellow from Paiste/Yamaha Canada also packed a few Paiste t-shirts in the box for me, on which I think I can make out the visage of Miss. Meg White – one of my favourite musicians, which I thought was very nice of him. I think they will end up as jammies though, as they are an XL and a M (and I am an XS, lol). But pretty cool all around. I have been very impressed with how supportive they have been of this little project…I never would have imagined, and am thankful. It has made the whole thing even more fun.

Mostly a picture entry today… But this past week has rocked. I turned 36 (woo!), and for some reason that made me feel happy instead of old. I also have a few new exciting custom projects lining up to keep my mind busy. I have a party to look forward to next weekend at my place, and a party during the week to go to and hopefully connect with some other artists. The world has been particularly kind this week – and I am excited, enthused, inspired.

First off, the promised sterling steampunk record player pendant – I loved making it, and I think it turned out pretty nifty:

Also a new gorgeous Alice etched pendant using an engraving from John Tenniel. I used countersunk sanded rivets in the back for a smooth finish:

And my yard sale finds!It was the island’s seventy mile yard sale today, and I scrounged up som nifty finds. An old deacons bench to be used for putting on my riding boots and half-chaps, a TLR camera ( a Pucky), and best of all an antique fire extinguisher. This just appealed so wholeheartedly to my whole steampunkish sort of aesthetic that I am working with right now. All that antiqued brass, embossing and rivets gives me goosebumps. I was downright giddy when I found it for a mere and paltry $25. Score!

Some nifty stuff in progress….etchings right out of the acid with the resist removed, but not yet polished up, some watch parts and gears, a mostly cut out copper 45 rpm record adaptor etc. These should all be finished tomorrow at some point and I will post pics of the new pieces then. They will look much different than this whimsical collection of metal bits. I love how these things look like a random rough pile of “eh, nothing special”, but by tomorrow will look like wearable art pieces. I can hardly wait! (Can you tell it rained AGAIN today. Will it ever stop?)

Also, while I am posting pics, here is one of my garden in one of the brief moments where it wasn’t raining – yesterday, I think. I took it from such an angle as that I can pretend that my garden is not also rife with weeds (which it shamefully is, but I haven’t the time nor inclination to remedy).

Tuesday, guitar lesson day – always a good day. So many new things learned… taking the picking pattern and playing Dust in the Wind now (doesn’t everybody have to learn to play that? Isn’t it just one of those things?). Anyways, I quite like it – I like all this finger picking stuff, so lots to practice. Also…also… Lord Send Me an Angel! by Blind Willie McTell, and also played by the White Stripes. My first Blues song, with that snazzy little bluesy riff that I thought would be way beyond my very limited capabilities, but turns out that it is very much within reach with some practice. But now all of these chords where I hold down more than one string with one finger, which has resulted in new places and new ways to remove the skin from my hands. Why do I have to love guitar so much? Piano never hurt me this way, drums never did a cruel thing to me…why not them?

I don’t have too much to write about right now…my head is consumed with these new jewelry pieces, of rivets and copper…

How I was supposed to spend my vacation…

My lovely, peaceful hammock swaying beneath the old maples… except for the fact that IT RAINED FOR MY ENTIRE VACATION. Aargh. Everything was all hot and sunny, summery bliss until the first day I took off…then rain, rain, rain, rain… and cold! So no gentle swaying amongst the trees, no glorious basking in the sand, no leaning into the breeze, or galloping adventures with Miss Lyra-Lu. Instead the majority of time was spent bundled in jeans and hoodies trying to keep warm and dry, going squirrely in a house full of stir crazy kids. So my vacation consisted of catching up on the mountain of laundry (woot! fun! yay!), looking out the window and pining, and prying children who were overcome with boredom off of each other as they sought to liven things up by wrestling like rowdy puppies in a heap.

Oh, and practicing guitar…travis finger picking patterns until my fingers blistered, and not to forget my awkward F chord, which I can now through the magic of practice, actually make. I did not however, make jewelry. Well mostly not. I did saw out a 45 rpm record adaptor in copper that I am going to hammer, stamp and polish into a pendant, or a functional adaptor – whichever. I also did not email anyone. Which has resulted in a very full inbox and a week’s worth of typing…<insert denial and procastination techniques here>

I had my plane dream again last night. I thought I had dreamt the last of it, but apparently not. This time I had to switch planes after a 5 hour flight, to get on another that would be 7 hours. No idea really where that would take me exactly,(India??) but it was important that I get there. It was essential. And my flight was delayed 40 minutes, and I was in a panic. And that lovely green sea beneath me again.

Music has become an intrigue, a mystery to unravel. And yet, the more I discover – the more I learn – the more beautiful it all becomes. Which is backwards for me. Usually I am enchanted, but then when I discover all of the details, all of the inner workings, I lose interest, move on to the next fascination. But this! It draws me in deeper and deeper. I am like Alice down the rabbit hole. I am a child, wide eyed and filled with wonder. It transports me, fills me…is enough, yet never enough. And my gi-tar. I am loving that thing, even when it blisters and numbs my fingers, I am loving it.

New old music I am listening to this week…Uncle Tupelo, recommended by my guitar teacher, and it is exactly what I am liking these days (especially Black Eye, Wait Up, etc the rest of March 16-20.) …also listening to Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs quite a bit again – am looking forward to their new album in the fall. I would love it if they came to Canada (preferably the East Coast! <fingers crossed>). I have a feeling that Lawyer Dave is a phenomena that must be seen live and in person, and Holly is just lovely – her voice…ah

Not too much to write tonight. Life is exceedingly busy. Lots of orders and chaos with some supplies mix ups, where I was sent something that was inferior to what I had ordered, but already had about 25 customers waiting for. I somehow magically (read with some diligent sleuthing) found a new better supplier within an hour of the supply crisis, ordered new pieces and had them shipped speedily and averted  a disaster. Hurray! The previous supplier apologised, and will take back the crummy pieces too. Stressful yes, but fixed in no time flat. And now I have another supplier to add to the list -AND even better they will do small run custom castings for me (as well as large runs) so I am set for some future projects that I have.

Also, the van died. It didn’t die a nice slow death where I could go out and buy a new one. It just died, suddenly and altogether. The transmission has cracked open. <sigh> I do not like cars much, and I like car shopping less. And worse is that we now have no car to shop for our new car in. Luckily  friends have come to our rescue with the offer of their van for the day. So hopefully, we will have a new van tomorrow – but a lot of pressure for one day’s shopping. I am not looking forward to it at all.

Some photos to post and then I am off to beds…

It’s all about the skirts and the boots…oh, and the sexy dodge ram pick-up! (nothing is hotter than a 20 year old farm truck. seriously. nothing.) I love this picture.

Laughing on the truck…

I think I am getting better at jewelry photography…I am liking how these are turning out lately – and the fresh flowers from the garden are so lovely. Just a simple silver ring with a tiny little rustic heart.

Home is where the heart is… (or alternately ”just looking for a home” ) copper bird’s nest pendant with blue lace agate eggs and a sterling silver heart bead.

Pride – my peacock and the quince bush

So here is my awful and overwhelming secret (there may be more, but this is the one that I will actually share with you). My studio is a den of filth and disarray. I am a muddle-brained person when it comes to organisation. It is not that I do not appreciate the beauty of a well organised and tidy space – I do! I long for it. I am just rotten at it. I am so distractable and yet in complete contrast, utterly and completely focused. If I am doing something such as reading something intriguing, or am lost in the making of a piece, I will actually not be able to hear you. I cannot see you enter the room. Nothing will exist outside of that object that has my passionate interest at the time. To get my attention you would likely actually have to touch my arm or give me a little jostle, at which point I will either be somewhat lost or you will have provoked my ire. A strength and a weakness both, that mad professor mind. Yet…I cannot put the scissors away in the same place twice. Even on my kindergarten report card (and every single one since) it says such things as K displays extraordinary focus, but seems to be lacking the necessary organization skills. or more specifically “K has a great deal of trouble keeping her desk organized which results in time wasted looking for things.” Hmmm…. well, it is still true, as you shall see. It has gotten to the point of chaos that is so huge and awful that I must now spend the day fixing it – which is obviously my least preferred way to spend my time – let alone a Sunday! This makes me a bit grouchy and snappish. <yes, I am frowning deeply now.>

Ok, deep breath, here goes, my shameful, shameful studio. (It is so shameful that an interviewee once told me that I needed to hire her specifically because I needed her skills at organization to clean my office – NOT part of the job description! -and I needn’t have to tell you that this statement was met with a grave and ashen response from me as she was quickly ushered out the door. The state of my studio is one of those things that it is understood should not be mentioned. ever. and I will actually at times defend its horrid state as a reflection of the creative mind and a sacred balance that must not be disturbed, lest the well dry up and the world collapse in ruin…)

And now for a complete contrast, to increase my shame, and thus my motivation – here is the desk of my assistant. Hrumph.

So am I writing today to avoid my studio’s state of mind-boggling disarray? Why, yes I am… silly questions! But when I am done, I shall bring myself to sort and sweep, however much I do not want to.

I do not like this particular sea, Lou
the way its waters part and
lead me to the bottom. And you
here waiting, with tea, and oranges
a chair pulled out from the table
for me to sit awhile at your side – all
unexpected.

There are no words, Lou
they have swam away like fishes. The
silvered minnow swish flickers
in the water, and away, as we
watch. I shift in my seat, then shift again

This was not the meeting
I had planned. This pebble in
the bottom of my tea cup, is
not mine to swallow. take it back.