I Know!!

......that it has been a very long time since my last post. But, now I have some good stuff to tell!

First - This last Sunday was the Savannah Open Studio tour. It was stressful getting the place together, especially since my workspace is also my home. But, I was looking forward to seeing some faces from the last tour and meeting some new ones.

This was a little eye candy for my window. Candy buttons used as braille to display a quote.


I tried to set up an area for folks to hang out and look at my work. I left the rest of the place pretty much in its messy working state


These stains are actually welded steel "sculptures" that I started on a couple years ago.


Lately, I've been revisiting and expanding on this work. I love the idea of a sculpture fitting into and almost blending with its environment. For me, something sitting on a pedestal or hanging on a wall instantly becomes unapproachable.


One thing I really love about open studios is putting out the experiments and old work.... things you don't worry about people handling. I have boxes of this little pieces. I did mostly put out older stuff - I have to privately covet the newer experiments for a while before I am comfortable with displaying them.


Of course, there has to be a display for the jewelry.



But, this was the most exciting discovery while setting up for the open studio! A couple nights before the tour, Nate and I were brainstorming display ideas for my rings. I had been making these large sphere shapes from stainless wire, and Nate pointed out that since these shapes also had a bit of spring tension that I could simply slip the rings over them. The rings caused the forms to compress into these beautiful shapes. Now, I'm seeing fodder for not only display ideas but also drawings, prints, and sculptures. I'm very lucky to have this kind of dialog with my partner - I'm serious, sometimes between the two of us, Nate and I become a super power. Well, at least after a couple cocktails we think so.

I'll post tomorrow about another recent project........

Getting Sharper - Part 3

Sorry about taking so long with the last knife post. I'm back - well, I've been back for about a week. I had to hit the ground running with orders that were placed while I was away. This was pretty tough considering my flight craziness.... not only did a freak tornado hit downtown Atlanta the day I flew out to Oregon (grounding flights for most of the day), but on my return Delta canceled a slew of flights for some sort of rewiring. Of course, my luggage got lost, too. Up until this last trip, I really loved being in airports... I'm over that now.

The flights weren't the only delay.....
The knife isn't done. The steel needed to be heat treated, but my dad's kiln went bizerk. So, here's the knife, mostly finished, awaiting heat treat and handle material.

I couldn't settle for a plain knife, so we came up with this stepped guard idea. I think it turned out nice - a little art deco, maybe? You can also see the patterning of the damascus - made by forging two types of stainless together.
My trip there went by so quickly, and I wish that I could have taken the time to see old friends. But, now I have an excuse to get back there soon to finish this up.

Oh, I also worked on a little surprise project. I just had to take the opportunity to use the lathe to make some rings! More on that later.

Getting Sharper - Part 2

What I'm making is called an "integral" knife. It is one solid, machined piece of steel to which the handle material is attached. Often, the guard of the knife is a separate piece, which is soldered in place. An integral knife means a lot of time on the milling machine.... more about that below.


First, the steel has to be machined flat and the template is then scribed around.



Now, this is definitely something I'm not used to. A half a day was spent making something to help make the knife. I had to make a jig to hold the knife steel in place while it is being milled. This separate piece of steel had to be machined flat, drilled, and tapped..... honestly, a little irritating to spend the time on, but I definitely came to appreciate having it!



On the milling machine.....
I love this machine.
I really wanted to get more experience using it, and the integral design meant there would be a lot of time spent here.

It is kind of like a drill press with a movable table underneath it... or better yet, it is like a router for metal - only the cutting tool stays in place, and the material moves underneath. The table is controlled by an x-axis handle and a y-axis handle, which you have to use simultaneously. I have my right hand turning one handle and my left turning the other ... it's a lot like patting your head and rubbing your belly. Using a milling machine means having to know about the different types of cutting tools, how to sharpen them (I've been practicing sharpening drill bits and cutters), and wrapping your head around conventional vs. climb milling. It's a lot, and I've been having some moments of serious frustration. But, the results are incredible.

Oh, I don't know if you can tell that I have my apron tied all the way up around my neck. These little, blue-hot chips of metal fly off this thing - and, as my dad says, they hurt enough to make you curse your mother (it's been an onslaught of these types of aphorisms all week long).




Most of the machining is finished..... now, I have a lot of hand sanding to get all the cutter marks out.

Getting Sharper

Well, I'm here in Oregon, and I certainly do not miss these rainy, gray skies. As I was telling you about in this post, I flew out here to make - of all things - a knife.
I just wanted to check in with a few initial progress shots.

This was the process to make a template for the knife.....

Getting the design figured out









Transferring to a template material









Rough cut on the bandsaw










Finishing on a belt grinder











Template finished.

Ok, so these steps weren't incredibly exciting... for me to do or for you to look at. I'll try to get some action shots for the next post!

to SNAG, or not to SNAG

I have been biting my tongue... or sitting on my hands per se.... about why I did not attend the SNAG conference this year. I live in Savannah - the conference was in Savannah - the fact that I did not have to travel or pay for a hotel should have been reason enough. But I did not. Ok, actually, I did attend a portion of the Professional Development Seminar. But, I went so that I might be able to finally meet some of the people who I've only corresponded with online.

Anyway......
There is an interesting dialog going on on Annie's (of imogene) blog. There were some disheartening comments made by a metalsmithing "elder" during one of the lectures. Annie bravely confronted these comments in this post on her blog. After reading the entry and subsequent comments, my head felt like it was about to explode.

My disheartening with the metalsmith/SNAG community happened long ago. Although I had worked with metal in my dad's machine shop since I was a child, I never considered it a possible career. But somehow when I was in my early 20's I took a metals class at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. I could not believe how naturally making the work came to me, and I fell in love with it. I was at OCAC about a year and then I transferred to the University of Oregon. This is where the downslide began.

During my second term at the UO a German metalsmith, Bettina Dittleman, was brought in as a visiting professor. Bettina had an amazing approach - it was all about experimentation - she had the philosophy that if you wanted to know a technique then read a book and do it. She rarely gave opinions on work, instead said "keep going!" She also stated from the beginning of class that she didn't believe in grades and that everyone automatically got an A. Well, Bettina's approach was not keenly accepted by those in charge, and after a year, she left the UO seemingly unhappy about her experience.

I was told by the subsequent visiting professor that I didn't belong in metals classes. Since I had my own workshop, I had been doing much of my work there. The metals class also did an "interactive" show one term where my contribution was hand cast (literally cast in the palm of my hand) chocolate. I was also leaning into books arts a bit and trying to incorporate the two mediums. I felt like I was making my work my own.... I was taking a multidisciplinary approach. I don't think that this professor was trying to dig at me by saying that I didn't belong, because we then talked about schools that had interdisciplinary programs. But, she was letting me know that there were fairly rigid parameters to the label metalsmith, and I took it to heart. For me, metals was a foundation. It was a secure jumping point from which I took on other mediums.

I left college one credit short of graduating. I just stopped caring. I didn't make anything for a long time and referred to this lapse as being "in recovery from art school." But, while in school, I did attend one SNAG conference - that was my first and last.

I have always felt that the SNAG community is cliquish, that the mentality is rigid and resistant to change, that much of the "acknowledged" work is overworked and heavy handed - it is metalsmithing for metalsmiths. I look at websites like Klimt02 and see a freshness and vitality in the work - most of this work is from non-US artists.

I also am put off by the BFA/MFA elitism. Strangely enough, it seems frowned upon to make a living off your work...unless you are teaching. And then there's the whole who's who when it comes to professorship.

Now, I do see a lot of poorly crafted work on Etsy and indie craft shows, but these are venues and tools for crafters/artists and buyers of many types. I see it this way - the wider the variety of work, the larger the visual lexicon for the consumer. Appreciation for quality work can only come through comparison. The American populace needs as much exposure to the arts as it can get.

Now, for the shocker.....
I think I will attend the SNAG conference next year. I think I might even subscribe to Metalsmith magazine. Why? People are talking; people like Annie are voicing themselves. People like Rebecca Scheer are making changes to the accessibility of the metalsmith medium through shows like Touching Warms the Art. Metalsmiths are starting to "straddle the fence," as Megan Auman stated. I see the definition of "metalsmith" expanding. I can see the American metalsmithing community coming out of a deep stagnation, and that may be a very exciting thing to be a part of.

Workshop (of sorts)

I am looking forward to the day that I can attend a workshop at Haystack or Penland... but until then, I will have to devise my own little classes. So, in about a week, I will be heading to Oregon to learn some skills from pops Lake. Yep... I'm going to be in my dad's workshop for about two weeks. The end result will, hopefully, look something like a knife.
I'm pretty proud of my dad. He has been making handmade folding knives for over 30 years, plus he designs and patents knives and mechanisms for manufactured knife companies. He has managed to be completely self employed most of his working life.

Now, I'm not a knife person - I really don't get what the fascination is all about. I consider myself more of a spoon person. I hate to be sexist, but it is a guy thing. Growing up around the knife world was a little bizarre. There are these elite art knife shows that someone should really do a documentary about. You have the international collectors, dressed to the nines, having just flown in on the Concord (well, not any more). There are movie stars. There are gallery owners. There are people that have more money than they know what to do with. But, then there are these knifemakers.... many of them being "good ol' boys" who are self taught, down to earth, and are trying to professionally present themselves with blood shot eyes after having been up for a week straight finishing their work. There are many international knifemakers... but these guys still have the same mindset - they make knives.... don't let me get Freudian about this.

There seem to be two schools of knifemaking. One involves a lot of forging. Think of swords or daggers - heating, hammering... very physical. Then there is a more mechanical approach - Milling machines, lathes, close tolerances and precision. Since my dad is a folding knifemaker, with all its mechanisms, he uses the later.

He had me cutting out parts on the bandsaw when I was 9 and turning out parts on the lathe when I was 14. I actually made a miniature knife when I was in middle school, but, honestly, he did most of the work. There is a wealth of knowledge that I would be an idiot to miss out on, and making a knife will be much more about the process and the tools involved instead of the end result.

I am going to be documenting and posting my progress, so stay tuned!

18kt is definitely one of those blogs that I have to check every day. A jeweler herself living in Barcelona, Marta Sanchez features a wide array of work by metalsmiths and jewelers... good stuff to check out. So, I was certainly flattered to find out that she put my work up a couple of days ago - thanks, Marta!

Something New

A couple of new earrings that I've been working on........

..... the Forest for the Trees

...... a little ode to ADHD, OCD, and all the other pyschiatric acronyms that could possibly diagnose why I cannot - and never have been able to - focus. I can't seem to clean up after myself like most other grown-ups, am a horrid procrastinator, and have a hard time with the final steps of a project. There is a terrible empty feeling with every piece of work once it is completed..... thus, I seem to prolong packaging things up.So, I spend a lot of time doing things that make absolutely no sense... lack profitability.... and clutter my workspace and my head. But, I seem to think they are important on some level I have yet to grasp.

This is a picture of just two of the scores of mutilated bars of soap that have experienced the wrath of me and a pair of tweezers.

A Humble Justification

I do not want to be sneaky about any of my online selling techniques. I also don't think that it is a sellers responsibility to disclose every aspect of their business practices. But, after calculating that I was paying myself less than $5 an hour to make certain pieces, I raised the price of these particular pieces fairly substantially. Working through a holiday rush helped me realize how much time actually does go into my work. I don't want to be apologetic about this... but there is a sense of guilt. So, my vow is to really think about some new pieces which are less labor intensive, yet still lovely. I do want to make pieces that fit into varying budgets, but I also need to be fair to myself so that I can continue to feel inspired and motivated to create the work. I wish that I could leave the financial aspect to someone else.

I deeply appreciate all who have already purchased my work, future customers, and those who have supported me with their kind words.

Is It Still Granulation??

So, the traditional process of granulation usually involves fine silver or gold sheet and tiny balls of the metal. Through a careful heating of the metal to within a few degrees of its melting temperature, the metals fuse together creating a beautifully embellished surface. It is very difficult to get the metals to fuse without having a complete melt down.

I studied metalsmithing in college, but with all of the processes I did learn, I never learned how to weld. But, a couple of years ago, I signed up for a welding class at a community college. We covered torch, ARC, and (my favorite) TIG welding. Although my goal was to learn how to work BIG, I found myself trying to see how small I could actually weld. Then I started taking in my scrap silver to see what would happen. My instructor was great - and is on the list of the best teachers I've ever had. He never said "you can't do that" or "that won't work" - he just let me try anything.

Anyway, pretty much by sheer will, I figured out how to granulate sterling silver using an electrical current. This process uses no solder, and instead of a number of balls being fused at once, I can only affix one at a time. But, this also allows me to not only fuse them onto the base piece, but also stacked on top of each other.

Here are some progress shots....

This is me balancing one ball on top of another. My lips shrink to half their normal size when I'm really concentrating.


Then, I have to brace my hand holding the torch just the perfect distance above what I want to fuse. That little needle looking piece (sticking out of the pink thingy) is called the tungsten - It is what directs the electrical current.

Then I weld this way.....


....and that way......


....and then that way again...
I have to be careful not to get the silver too hot or else it will completely melt into the base, yet getting it hot enough to form a bond. I have to hit each ball with the current many times at many different angles, and hopefully it works. I think that each individual ball takes me anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes just to affix it to the ring........ plus I have to make the rings, make all the balls ....... and the rings have dozens of balls... so you do the math.


But for some strange reason, I really love this process. It is tedious, meditative, frustrating, and rewarding - all in a pretty equal, chaotic balance.
I hope what results shows that.

Tagged ( ...a while ago)

Quite a while ago, I was tagged by Lynette Andreasen to list five random things about myself. I put off responding, because I never know how to do this sort of thing without sounding rehearsed or pretentious - I would be terrible at writing a singles' ad for myself.

Anyway, five random things about me.......

#1 This is my favorite cup.

#2 I am suspicious of highly motivated people.

#3 I am a high school drop-out.

#4 I live in my workspace. Actually, I live in a shared workspace with my partner, a dog and a cat. I have always romanticized the idea of live/work spaces. While they might be ideal for a painter, they can be problematic for any sort of metal or woodwork. It does force a person to work often, though. I like to refer to home as "the garage."

#5 I'm really into TED talks right now... some of my favorites so far are Phillippe Starck, Larry Lessig, Alan Russell, and - you have to see this one by Rives.

Done.
I'm supposed to tag 5 other people, but since I'm doing this a few months late, I'm going to have to look around to make sure I'm not tagging someone that already has been......

Showing & Resolving

I hope anyone living around Portland, Oregon will make it to the "Touching Warms the Art" show at the Museum of Contemporary Craft. The show runs January 19 - March 23, and you'll get to touch and try on the foamie rings made by yours truly along with the work of some other great metalsmith/jewelers.



I've continued making these rings and coming up with a pretty nifty (in my opinion) packaging made from the same spray foam insulation with which I make the rings. I am going to be selling some of them exclusively on Smashing Darling for now (maybe a few in the future on Etsy) and making them in an edition of 52 - that's one a week for the entirety of the next year.


No matter where I am... how busy, tired, burnt out, or uninspired....


......a foamie will be made - every week - that's my New Year's resolution!


Look for the first ones to be posted in my shop on S.D. around the middle of January.

Soon - I promise!

I'll be posting again very soon. I can't wait for the new year and new projects!! Check back in a week or so - I will have many things to tell........

How did I miss it??

Thanks to the girls over at Smashing Darling, I was made aware of my Pantaloon Earrings being in the Stylehive blog's "10 earrings for every budget"

CRAZY!

I'm very flattered, mind you, but having something I made in the same context as the word "budget" makes me feel a bit strange... on many levels. The folks at Stylehive definitely did a little head trick with the comparative prices of the pieces - I guess it's all in the name.

Something New

As For Business

This actually is pretty exciting. I will be participating in the Poppytalk Handmade Market. It is an online showcase of 75 emerging designers/artists which was founded and curated by the author of the blog Poppytalk. So, for the month of October my jewelry will be alongside some other amazing work - I've already noticed Skinnny Laminx, Megan Auman, Colleen Baran, and I'm sure there'll be plenty more.

What Becomes

I have always feared doing any sort of production work. I worried that it would be too much focus on a specific set of work and that it is easy to get caught up in valuing the work by numbers of sales and customer response.

And that which I feared occurred. This month, seven months into starting my production line, I found myself focused on my sales.... focused on how many people were interested in my work, how many views, or if anyone has made any comments on my blog, or if I was on any front pages... or whatever. And I was well aware of my obsessiveness about these things.

This morning, I knew I needed to post something here - after not posting anything for over a month. I really didn't think I had anything interesting to say. It's been all business... just not interesting.

I grabbed the camera and started walking around the studio. I ended up here. This is the welding table, and the dark area is where I always work.


Each mark indicates a weld that I've made. As I stared, I realized how many thousands of spots there were. That, although the work made here has been sent out to customers, I am left with the evidence of that work. Tiny melted spots of metal - bits of gold, silver and steel fused on the surface. So much information, and really, a work in itself.



I could just make these spots on a piece of metal. But this holds the history of something other than itself - kind of like a book. And these marks will continue to accumulate the more work I do.



I have found something to obsess about the accumulation of other than sales and views.




-

Submission

I've been working on pieces to submit for a show at The Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland, OR called Touching Warms the Art - it is a play on the warning "TOUCHING HARMS THE ART" that often accompanies art jewelry in a gallery or museum. The idea is to have work made from non-precious materials using non-precious processes. The work will actually be handled by the viewers and will remain, as a donation, in the museum's collection for further educating viewers about the art jewelry medium.
Rebecca Scheer, one of the curators, made this statement in an article in Metalsmith magazine which prompted the idea for this show.....

"...imagine if each of the studio jewelers created
a non-precious piece for visitors to handle. Could we
professionals even achieve such working freedom? Does
it devalue what we do? Painstaking craft and hand-worked
detail may be the forte of the craft artist. Nevertheless,
these values generate preciousness, ultimately dividing
the masses from experiencing the pleasures of “real”
studio jewelry first-hand."

My submissions were these rings made of spray foam insulation and steel binding wire. I first played around with these materials about 5 years ago when I was without a workshop and was looking for alternative ways of creating. I purchased these items at a hardware store for about $8.
For the submitted work, the only tools I used were a pair of wire snips, pliers, and a piece of round dowel to form the rings. Additionally, I only allowed myself one day to make the work.






Whether my work gets accepted or not, this project re-reminded me of the creative potential that comes from working outside our traditional media.

Too much/Not enough

I got into this little debate last night with my partner. He thinks that I go overboard on the packaging for my jewelry. But I think that the packaging is almost as important as the work itself.

Maybe I am more interested in sculpture and installation than jewelry. I'm always trying to find ways to let the jewelry exist as much off the body as on.






I make these altered tart tins to go with the rings, and these little stands to go with the earrings
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Then there is this (which started the debate).

A customer bought this necklace - which I coveted a bit too long and really didn't want to see go.


I liked letting the piece cascade into the cup of my hand. It would create this beautiful flower form.



So, when it came time to mail it off, I instead took three extra days to make this


it is a chrome plated brass soap box from an old travel grooming kit. I chased and repoussed the top to create a bowl for the necklace to rest in. Then I sandblasted it, polished the edges, and finished the inside with some vintage upholstery fabric.



o.k. -so, he might have a point with going overboard. People may just want a piece of jewelry - not some big to do. Why do I spend the extra time? Maybe it has something to do with insecurity - that the work itself isn't good enough. Or maybe, just making jewelry doesn't seem like enough.
Or maybe, I'm just analyzing it a little too much.

Hoping for something to happen

Lately, I've been doing a lot of experimenting with materials - often adding them to pieces of jewelry.

A lot of not so goods....
then there was this.....

Lip Reading

These are a couple of images of a project that I've been working on. It's fuse-welded silver and gold braille on found stainless steel spoons. I'm still working on the details of the text.... Plan is that it will end up as an entire wall (or table, or drawer) of spoons.

Thank you

I owe a big thanks to those that came through the studio today. I was amazed at how strangers were generous with their support and feedback.
I think that Nate and I had a different set-up than the other artists. We have A LOT of tools and not much space to display work, so we widdled down what we showed to our most recent (past two months) work. Since it was a studio tour, we wanted to show what a metalsmith's and woodworker's (along with all the other mediums we work with) workspace is like, not focusing solely on the pieces that are the end result. Some people were still a little intimidated by the equipment... the first thing guests saw walking in the door was a big ol' drill press.

Here's the studio, ready to be seen....


....and the wretched before picture that I posted a couple weeks ago



Nate's layer light......



My little display wall.....

Progress?

So this studio tour is two short days away, and it will certainly be a miracle if Nate and I are ready for it.
But maybe I'll surprise myself. Because if this.......



ends up looking like this......



.....then maybe this studio thing will turn out ok.

This is what happened

So many exciting things happening!!! My pod earrings just got featured next to some awesome work on the very cool what blog!

Shop

I just starting selling my work on Smashing Darling!!! Of course, Etsy is awesome, and I love it dearly, but Smashing only sells work by independent fashion designers.

Anyway, there are some FABULOUS designers on S.D., and I'm so excited to be selling alongside them! Check out my shop here.

Something Old

This is a sign I made about two years ago for a friend who was opening up a bar. Word is that he is leaving the place, and someone else is taking over... so sad.
When I made this my workshop was in the basement of my sister's house. I sat on the floor and pounded in over 1000 faceted upholstry tacks into wood to create the letters. Anyway, it was meant to be lit so it could glitter at night - but the owners of the building never did it.

Sometimes I hate letting my work go out into the big bad world.

Something New

I welded up these earrings yesterday. It took me a couple of days to figure out how to make them, yet they turned out looking so simple and clean. The welding tip I used was so tiny that I could barely see what I was doing.

Starting Out

So, I thought I would start this blog with the reality of it. This is the workspace - wrecked, as it normally is. I am severely janitorially challenged. But, this has to change for a few reasons.

#1 I just put in my notice at work, because I cannot bear to serve another person a scrap of food or drop of liquor.
#2 I do not have another job, only the Etsy site - which I've only sold two pieces from.
#3 In two very short weeks strangers will be walking through this place on Open Studio Sunday

The Big Clean.