Monday, October 22, 2012

Current inspiration!

Snow by Nom Kinnear King
Snow by Nom Kinnear King

This is a gorgeous painting, but please pay attention to the comb in the upper right.

I now have 3 pieces in the works based on that comb. Something about it just made me want to make it.

One is a fairly straight interpretation, ivory that is carved in, but not through, around the swirls. It will be tinted in the carved parts to make the pattern pop. The second will be pearl, carved through and cut out. It is turning out the be the finest saw work I've ever done. The third will actually be copper and bronze wire filigree, hinged onto a tortoise comb. This will be my first properly hinged comb, and if I can get this to work out, expect to see more metal ornaments hinged onto acrylic bases.

Maintenance, claws, and OryCon

So, first, the Bronze claws are up in the Artfire shop! Find them here: http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/NightshadeRoseStudio/1/7/244034//

I'm finishing up copper tonight, but they may not get listed online until after OryCon.

Speaking of OryCon, I will be holding down a table in the dealers' room there from 11/2-11/4. The studio shops will be unavailable from 11/1-11/5. If you happen to be in/near Portland, OR that weekend, come see me.  I'll have all the claws and loads of jewelry and accessories.


So last week I ended up having to take a day for studio maintenance. I was trying something iffy with the enamel, and it ended with fairly large glass drips on the bottom of the kiln, which means stopping everything, cooling off, scraping down the affected surfaces, and re-coating them all with kiln wash (an easily removable ceramic coating that prevents any mishaps form sticking to the kiln surfaces). While I was at it, I took some time to clean/organize everything else a little bit, and take some pictures. So, here is the reasonably current state of my studio:

My bench:  always at least kind of a mess. :-)

Enameling station: all those little cups are the different colors and blends that I've been working with.  This will get a good cleaning after OryCon.

Kiln Shelf: scraped down, and with a new coat of kiln wash drying on the surface. The kiln was will dry to a lighter green  and then turn white during the first firing cycle.

Kiln with shelf in place.

All the small tripods I use to support the jewelry pieces when firing.  I 've gotten 6 more since this pic was taken. I might be approaching having enough now.