Ken Bova Workshop

The Surface Color for Jewelers Workshop led by Ken Bova was fantastic. Ken gave several demonstrations and bench tricks to the participants. Everyone left with lots of beautifully colored metal and ideas to work with. We also made chopstick hammers out of 4 penny nails. The new anvil at pullen was given a workout. The patinas were the result of experimentation with borax, salt, vinegar, copper nitrate, liver of sulfer and color pencil. We hope to have Ken come again to do a workshop focusing on assembling the pieces that were made.


Gary Noffke Show in Charlotte at the new Uptown Mint Museum

The thing I have always likes the best about Gary Noffkes' work has been the surfaces and marks he puts on his pieces. He was initially a student of painting, before going into metal. His show at the Mint Museum is pretty amazing. Lots of spoons. He said at his talk that was his favorite thing to make and viewed it as the most important tool one would need. I had several favorite pieces. The bowls and cups are hot forged from a billet. They are high karat gold alloyed without copper. He has video documenting the process. He had a huge crowd for his talk, told some funny stories and it was apparent his life as metalsmith has been fulfilling and appreciated by his patrons. The trip to Charlotte is worth the visit for anyone who works in metal.


Week 12 "March In like a lion out like a lamb."

Betty Mckim, oxidized, more delicate than the first 3. same shapes, similar movement.




















Julie Brooks is combining enamel, resin and stencils. Love the way she photographed these with her new light box.
























Suzanne Krill, Variation on a theme, nugold and silver.




















Lillian Jones, beautiful blues and greens. These are my favorites of hers so far.

















Megan Clark absolute perfection in titanium.

Locket

Week 12 coming. Today Ive been thinking about mantras. My mantra used to be "in the land of by and by one lands at never" Lately its been" if you don't play you cannot win". For a while it was "keep your eye on the prize".Staying motivated can be difficult but the reality is you cant move ahead if you don't keep moving.I feel like I have a lot of personal professional and emotional challenges going on right now so I need to find some words to bounce around in my head to keep me going and on track.Blog writing and thinking while in the sauna seem to help me sort thru ideas and stay productive. Glad its friday. But just started my earrings. I'm trying to stay connected to the last 3designs.

Happy Spring





















The days have been filled with alot of activities especially since the warm weather has come. So much going on with art shows, renovating and jewelry making. Got the hydraulic press set up, I really love my new studio. Ive been making lockets with the press.






The rest of week 11

Megan Clark : Titanium, Julie Brooks : Snorkles, Suzanne Krill : Mixed metals, Lillian Jones : Enamels


Week 11







Whew, finally finished. It was a busy weekend. We had a workshop at Pullen with Kathryn Osgood, enjoyed a dinner with her at a restaurant called Jabbara. Got my new hydraulic press set up, Gave it , its first test run. Had family and friends over for dinner. Saw a fantastic Fibers show at the ncsu gregg museum, called" Traces " Mapping a journey in Texties. Also went to an art opening for painter Anna Podris at Peace College . Wow, and on top of that miraculously finished week 11 earrings.

Spring Has Sprung Week 10





This was a hard week due to the awesome spring weather. Hard to want to stay inside working, which means better not wait untill sat. to get started next time. Lillian teardrop cloisonne, Julies' earrings are called measles or mumps, enamelled with gemstone, Megans' earrings are about layering, and patterns. Suzanne is using the same shapes and exploring different ways of incorporating them in the circle/dome format. I actually posted mine right out of the pickle in order to meet the deadline. I'll clean them up this week and post another photo probably oxidized with highlights. I maintained the use of the circle and teardrop with the movement and play I had in the last weeks' pair.



























































We planted this tree in our backyard to replace a redbud that didn't make it. All the sounds and sights and smells of spring are in the air.
Today is daylight savings, I read that the earth lost some of its time due to the earthquake in Japan. Japan actually moved 13 feet due to the jolt. I grew up in Hawaii and actually remember being evacuated for threats of a tidal wave. The images on tv of that water and its power are unbeleivable, I am sad for all of the loss of life and the damage done. To be sure I just cant imagine what that must have been like.

Hydraulic Press Project

These are the class samples from the Hydraulic Press Class at Pullen that ended today. This class was taught differently this time. I read alot of jewelry books and magazines and I ran across a" how to" project in Lapidary Journal Magazine and decided to give it a try in my class . The goal was to be project oriented while exploring basic techiques of texturing, puffing , stone setting and riveting, The project was submitted and created by Nan Azlund. It proved to be challenging and sucsessful to the class. I encouraged everyone to develop this project into something that incorporated their own idea into the projects outline.

Week 9, March Multiples for me.

Finally finished this week. Ive decided to set myself a goal for March. I like this design and so this month I will stick with this design and only deviate with surface finish, and metals used. I may add gemstones in the dangle but for the most part Ill be using the almond, teardrop and circular shape and thinking about movement and texture.

I experimented with photographing in front of the window at pullens' jewelry studio still working on getting photography down. As you can see in this shot these earrings change from every direction and are fun to wear.
























Week 9 earrings Julie Brooks

Julie has great titles for her earrings These are called, "for the illusion of wealth in our time of hardship. . . (Economical) diamonds are a girls best friend"
puffed back, sterling silver with 14 k ear post.

week 9 its March

Lillian Jones, beautiful cloisonne.























Megan Clark, layering of forms. Movement repetition, nice......














Suzanne seems to have theme going here, with combining materials and use of rivets.
I havent started, usually Thursday is earring day. Im thinking March multiples. Thursday is looking like Friday now, maybe Saturday.

Julie Brooks Metals Show at Pullen

Julie's show will be at the art center through the the first week of April. We are having a workshop with Ken Bova and I wanted to have this up for that group to see. The work is electroformed, enamelled, and uses found objects. Julie teaches enamelling & jewelry classes at Pullen. We are happy to have her, stop by her work is an unusual exploration of materials and techniques. Check out her website.

Tim Lazure Ring Workshop

Tim Lazure brought his Ring workshop to Pullen Art Center. These are some of his samples. I've got rings on my mind. This month I hope to make some. Lark Books has another 500 Ring Book call for entries, the deadline is March 30, juried by Bruce Metcalf.

week 8



So far this week , Earring order Betty Mckim, Suzanne Krill, Julie Price, Megan Clark, Adrienne Grafton and Lillian Jones. Im still working. I hope to post tomorrow. I got my new equipment today so Im a little distracted with final additions to studio. This is the last week of February. I have a new plan for March. I think each of the participants in this challenge are benefiting from this earring a week commitment. Finally finished. Image is a little dark . I really like this pair so I wil try to tweek the image. This has been my favorite week so far.


studio move


The old room is empty and new one is full. It so nice having this bigger space My new jewelers bench should be here in about a week, plus a few other long awaited items. Ill shoot another picture after getting the new equipment. The old room is yet to be decided as to what it will become. Ive learned that taking one room at a time is a good idea. Still thinking about paint color for old room. Im also planning to put up peg board in new studio. Having gone through everything while moving I found an earring I had been looking for for at least a year. I also found some pieces I had made over 20 years ago. I will also get to posting and documenting them as I really enjoyed seeing them again.





week 7

Suzanne Krill






















Enamelled Earrings by Lillian Jones























"Tell em large Marge sent ya" by Julie Brooks.






















These are sterling, oxidized with citrine by me.

Weather issues in the southwest & 3 pairs from Week 6




Anyone one on the east coast waiting for supplies knows what I am talking about. It seems everything heading this way has been held up in Texas. We are actually expecting snow here again in NC. Nothing like whats happening in New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma. Here it is Valentines week, Ill be working all weekend trying to catch up . Metal looks like it should be delivered tomorrow. The first two pairs of the 6th week Earring Challenge are Mine and Megans. I think my pink stone and silver with hearts will be done next week. These of mine are copper oxidized. Megans are titanium and sterling silver, I think this is her scales series.Suzanne Krill uses silver,copper and brass. Check back as I will have 3 more pairs from Adrienne Grafton, Julie Price and Lillian jones.