Go Righteous Gadget

The land of milk and honey

..... That's what the pilot called Portland as the plane landed.

I headed back to Oregon for a very quick and hectic trip for my younger sister's wedding. The ceremony was actually in Astoria which is a couple hours west of Portland at the mouth of the Columbia river.

I was in Portland for only a few hours and spent it running to Powell's Books, getting french macarons at Pix Patisserie, and hitting the infamous Albina Press for a dreamy cappuccino breve and a couple pounds of Stumptown coffee beans to take back to Taos. Portland was in its usual gray and dreary state. But, see, the 8 months of rain per year has made for a great city life..... fabulous restaurants, the buzziest of all coffees, more bars than even a 19th century french poet could tackle, bookstores, and an incredible contemporary art scene (everyone is either an artist, musician, writer, or a bike builder..... and they all work in the service industry for an actual living).

I have lived in and then left Portland twice, and I can say it was because of the weather or the uber-hipdom... but, admittedly, it may have had more to do with certain boys. I would like to think I'm the wiser for it.

OK, I love Toas... the sunny yet volatile weather and the friendly yet volatile people... but somehow I must figure out how to get back to Portland regularly.

For those that have never been there, I highly recommend visiting. On a drizzly night, go have a couple cocktails in the Low Brow lounge then walk over the steel bridge into Northeast. Be sure to stop half way over the bridge, look down at the river and wait for the mallet of sentimental existentialism to smack you square in the back of the head. You will find yourself compelled to smoke Nate Sherman's, wear pants that are slightly too short, and live like you will forever be 23.

Sevruga Rings.... and a note on blogging

These granulated stainless steel Sevruga Rings are now in my shops (here and here). They are constructed similar to my Nonpareil and Dragée rings.  As for the huge gaps in my blog..... what can I say.... It's the same reason I was never able to keep a diary. I read something that I previously wrote and just think - ugh, why did I write that... what was I thinking.... that sounds pretentious... yada yada. I also think since my move so many things have changed that I'm not sure where my blog bearings are. Publicly posting your business for others to snoop around in is a bit bizarre. Don't get me wrong, I love snooping around blogs myself. But, I draw the line at the blog - Twitter, Myspace and Facebook pretty much freak me out. Since it does seem that posting here keeps me much more rooted in my work, I am going to try harder. Plus, I really hate it when I regularly check someone's blog and there are no updates.

A Three Month Move

.... which should have taken three weeks. But, I'm settled in now... kind of. I'll have some pics of my new workspace in the next post - maybe some new work, too....

On the Move

I have moved a lot in my adult life..... often for no good reason but restlessness. I've moved to places sight unseen, hoping to unwrap a place like a present. As you can imagine, this often backfires. That's fine. I've found that I realize what I want or where I want to be by figuring out what I definitely don't want. The South just wasn't my cup of tea, neither was southern California. The Pacific Northwest was uber-hip and a lot of fun, but I couldn't keep up anymore... plus the rain made me want to hide in a corner. I grew up in the Midwest, but got out of there just in time to not end up in jail or as a meth head with a dozen kids. I never pulled the Uhaul into the Northeast - it just seems like a "nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there" kind of place (I could be very wrong about this one, but I've run out of the energy to disprove it).

But, one place has stood out against all the others. It's the only place that ever felt like home.

Anyway, I'm going to stop typing now - before my latent hippie side comes out. I'm working on an inventory of my most popular items, but will cut off any custom orders by the 12th. I should be back up and rolling by the second week of September. I rented a great place on 5 acres - it's a full living unit above a workspace.... there's a creek and a barn and 220 wiring in the workshop..... dreamy.

Thanks Savannah Magazine

...... for featuring my work in the All Things Handmade article of the July issue.

New look

Smashing Darling had a makeover - have a look!

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On the Side

So, I had to show this recent side project - it's this address plaque, which you can read about here, on the Fog and Thistle blog.
The typeface is called Dalliance, and I love the way the space inside the 6 and 0 lean to the left. I used to be big into book arts, so I still have a bit of a type fetish.

The back of the plaque is an old silverplate tray that I sandblasted down to the brass base then oxidized. The numbers were hand-pierced and mounted onto the tray. I also made a little tube vase that is attached to the back and included these stainless steel flowers. The stake was also handmade and welded from steel tube, rod and plate. The only things that weren't handmade or repurposed where the screws and the spade piece that is sunk into the ground to hold the stake - thanks to Lowe's for that.

One Down

May is a big month for me. It's the one year anniversary of my first blog entry and my first Etsy listing. Although I have been producing and selling work since I left school, It was only until last year that I made it my full time occupation. I decided that I didn't even want to work part time - I needed to know what it felt like to survive solely off my own work.
The most difficult issue has been my self-discipline. I have a phenomenal work ethic... but only when it comes to working for others. I guess most of us are conditioned to please an employer, but it's a different story when we have to set our own rules and hours. I have gotten much better - but, it's still tough.

I did have a lot of help getting things off the ground. By far, Nate provided the rock of support. But, I also owe a huge amount of gratitude to the people that bought my work, especially the repeat customers. Online selling platforms like Etsy and Smashing Darling have given me more independence than I could ever imagine. People I have never met have supported me with their compliments and encouragement - one very awesome lady even sent me her left over metal from art school (a gift that I am yet to figure out how to properly thank her for).

Together with online and private sales, wholesale orders, and side projects, I have survived the first year. It has meant substantially less going out to eat, no vacations, long nights, clothes and shoes that are falling apart, and constantly crossing my fingers that my car or health won't give out. With all of that, it's still worth it.

I'm not saying that I won't ever go back to work for someone - hell, I can make triple what I make now just waiting tables! Anyway, this all kind of sounds like an acceptance speech for an award, so I'm going to shut up and get back to work.

Oh, by the way, that's Mr Machine up there. I've had him since I was very little - he's my mentor.

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 a friend - 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!

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.

There are 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 - referred to as "stock removal" ....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.

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.




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