Bird Journal and Long Goodbyes

No words today.

Earrings #11 and #12

I'm definitely on the cabochon trail. I have two more pairs of earrings toward my goal of thirty for the Month of Earrings challenge.


This pair is a longer version of the chevrons I posted yesterday, but set with lovely violet tanzanites.


This is my favorite pair so far, I think. I love these light emeralds, the fancy syringe work, and this rounded triangle shape, which I've used a lot before.

I'm still actively exploring torch-fired enamels, too. I'll have some things to show soon.

Earrings #9 and #10

I'm trying to raise the level of the earrings I'm turning out, beyond just a simple metal clay cutout.


I've been toying with these split shields for weeks now, debating whether to hang them together or to use them separately (two pairs, then, you know!). Finally I committed to one pair, because I could hang them asymmetrically, which always appeals to me. Of course, I wired the wrong sets together. Murphy's Law always gets me first thing in the studio.


I had better luck on these chevrons. I've been debating how to wire them for ages, as well. I had them done a different way and it just didn't work for me. So today I cut them lose and started over. I decided to use some of the mega-pack of fine silver bezel cups I recently purchased and add a flash of color. Along the way, I discovered some clever tricks (clever for me, although perhaps well known to others). Now I'm looking at all my other components with an eye for a place to add more bezel set cabs.

Earrings #7 and #8

It's rather embarassing to start the Month of Earrings challenge and then drop the ball. But then, that supports my claim that I couldn't possible do a Ring a Day challenge!

I set my own challenge up so that the earrings could be loaded into the files at any time, and I'll obviously be doing mine in a rush! Thirty pairs are due by April 1, and her here I am loading #7 and #8.

It's really not as bad as it seems. I have loads of components made and fired. They're sitting on my workbench awaiting wires and finishing. I just have to go DO the rest of the work.


These earrings were an experiment in syringe work. Years of stringer practice in lampwork has given me a better concept for how to plan my work with syringe. In reality, these forms had a very bad tear-away texture imprint that was barely visible, so I concealed the error with a bas relief.


This pair of earrings is an example of what I do at the end of a package of clay. After stacks of packages with tiny bits of dried out clay piled up on my desk, I vowed to myself to always finish the package by making something small. Often I make leaves or tiny balls, since I use those so often. Here, I rolled snakes and formed them into the rings, then added leaves and balls to decorate. Much better than grinding and reconstituting!

Favorite Torch-Fired Enamel Artists

No studio time today, so I thought I'd post about the research I did over the weekend. As a sometimes organized type, I enjoy putting together collections of images that I like. In this day of the internet, that's a pretty simple thing to do.


I just copy images into a Word file, resizing and annotating at need, and print the lot to put into a notebook.

The top five torch-fired enamel artists that I studied this weekend include:

• Angela Gerhard - bold color and shapes
  
• Kristina Glick - gorgeous textures, neutral color, and electroforming!
  
• Marjorie Simon - simple shapes, repeatition and bright color
  
• Deborah Lozier - soft colors and architectural shapes
  
• Kimberly Keyworth - complex groups of shapes, controlled patterns

I've had a great time analyzing what draws me to their work and why, how they did it, and what ideas I can garner to put my own unique spin onto.

And I have a pointer from my work yesterday:
Don't forget to put the trivet underneath the counter-enameled copper for EVERY coat. If you do, you'll have a permanent reminder fused to your firing rack.

Now I'm heading to bed with a copy of 500 Enameled Objects to stoke the dream muses.

Earrings #6 -- Hoops

I had another pair of hoops sitting in my box of components, so I wired and patinated them to upload.


Among the many reasons for starting the Month of Earrings Challenge was the desire to analyze the results. My first inquiry was to determine the relative frequency of styles posted so far.

• Hoops: 2 (the other pair are posts)
  
• Dangles: 110 total (1 on posts, the rest on wires)
  
• Studs (Posts): 5
  

I myself prefer wires to posts, so that wasn't much of a surprise. However, I do adore hoops and have to wonder why the dearth of this form? Come on, I dare you to try it -- they're fun and just as easy as the simple dangles!

Hint: I fire the hoops flat, drill the holes afterward (I've broken too many in leather hard clay!) and then form the hoop around a wood dowel before adding the wires. The texture here, called Vine, is one of the new textures that Whole Lotta Whimsy is going to release soon.

Enamel Color Tests on Copper

In preparation for some explorations with enamels, I torch fired a set of opaque enamel color samples today. I've played with the transparents before, in my kiln, but never the opaques and rarely torch firing, since the kiln is right there and easy. I feel so positively scientific today, cutting properly even-sized copper rectangles and working systematically through the colors. I learned a bit about how fast to heat, how to judge when the enamels were fully fused, and how much work cleaning copper is.

I experimented with Penny Brite cleaner, a fiberglass brush, and citric acid pickle. All I can say is all of it requires elbow grease. Fine silver seems so easy after this!

Even so, I now have an idea of what color to expect, which is distinctly different than the appearance of the powdered enamel.


Thompson Enamel Colors, one layer directly on copper(l to r), top: 1880 Flame Red, 1850 Pumpkin, 1810 Buttercup, 1237 Butter, 1030 Foundation White
bottom: 1685 Cobalt, 1560 Bluejay, 1525 Aqua, 1420 Mint, 1360 Jungle


I even played a bit with a second layer of enamel, scratching off part of that layer in the technique called sgraffito. I like the possibilities of this, but need to refine my method, perhaps getting some finer mesh powder to avoid that grainy look. I did find some nice sgaffito video tutorials on the Art Jewely Magazine website (member login required), after I tried blindly, of course. I'm off to read again in my collection of enameling books, especially my favorite by Linda Darty, The Art of Enameling: Techniques, Projects, Inspiration.

Now I'm feeling the urge to make a set of transparent color samples, and maybe to do the same process for silver. Wow, it's like a laboratory out in my glass studio!

I've also been doing my research, searching the internet for photos of work by my favorite enamel artists, compiling it into digital files along with my notes about why I like it, how they did it, where I could go with those ideas.

Yep, it's a veritable science project around here!