I am a bad, bad, blogger

Apologies for skipping last week.  I spent the weekend doing business research and having major personal revelations and was so exhausted I forgot to write.  The practical upshot of it all, though is that it is my goal to have work to fill at least one panel at the Norwescon Art Show (4/21-4/24).  I'm concentrating on the enamel/illustration part of my art, since I can make that on-topic (Sci-Fi/Fantasy, if you're wondering).  I intend to do more elemental panels to go with the "Creature of Air" mirror.  I don't know if I'm going to make mirrors of them, or just leave them flat wall pieces, but I do know that I'm going to photograph them and do prints.  So that's really the only big announcement I have.

The other side.

For those of you who were not previously aware:  I am not all sweetness and light.  I often have odd turns of mind, and frequently take commissions and pursue projects that have edges - or in this case, points.  The next addition to my production offerings will be claws.

Copper and brass, finished, from left to right, as shiny, brushed, and hammered, with a second hammered texture in copper.

nickel claws, shiny, brushed, and hammered

It should be noted that the nickel ones were a one-off request and won't be going into regular production due to concerns with allergies and toxicity.

Anyway, these are going to be my first real experiment in serious production work.  I've designed blanks that I'm going to send out to be commercially punched, so I only have to worry about forming and finishing in-house (and I'd really like to have personal control over those no matter what).  It will be an interesting experiment.

New Year

Happy New Year, everyone!

Sadly I don't have a lot of new to report, as I spent this week battling The Head-Cold That Ate Cleveland, rather than actually working.  I got a little bit of clean-up done at the studio before I was felled, and my test-batch of commercial enameling blanks arrived.  Hopefully I'll get to finish with the clean-up, and do some test-pieces with the blanks tomorrow, so I can have some momentum back when school starts on Tuesday.  I'm considering, for school this quarter, doing a series of pieces based on antlers/horns.  We shall see.

Mirrors (finally)

So, of the mirrors I did for class, here are the 3 most spectacular.

"Fairest":  Chased Copper Knotwork Frame

This one is meant to have a 4"x6" oval mirror in the center eventually.  Modeled on fairy tale "magic mirrors".

"Creature of Air" Cloisonne Enameled Copper Hand Mirror

Putting this one together gave me fits, since the front is another formed piece.  The enamel went beautifully, though, and putting the face in the cloud was one of those decisions that was made just as I was starting to lay out the wire.  There is a 3" round mirror on the other side, and I used this one to do my makeup just before my presentation. 

"Earthly Concerns" Cloisonne Enamel Pressed Powder Compact

This whole design flowed from the stone, which reminded me of nothing more than a tree trunk.  I'd also been wanting to do a compact since I started enameling last summer.  I think I need to work on function a bit more.  Inside is a 3" round mirror and a place for a pressed powder pan.

I am a horrible person.

I don't have a prepared blog subject today.  I don't even have the promised pictures of my school work.  Due to getting ready to leave on 5 days of vacation at stupid-o'clock Monday morning, many things have fallen by the wayside.  I've taken the pics, but not cropped/edited yet, so I should be able to get them sorted out during my 8 hrs of airplane/airport while in transit tomorrow, and post tomorrow night.

All school, all the time (until next quarter)

The Final Critique in my 4th jewelry design class is Wednesday, and I was really concentrating far more on business than school at the beginning of the quarter, so now I'm making up for it by putting all of my energy into school.  I promise I'll post pictures of everything afterward.  As a teaser, I've been doing mirrors/mirror frames all quarter, and specifically looking at mirrors as scrying tools.  At least one of them is going to end up being kept for my own altar.

In business news, I'm starting to post some leaves on Etsy, but I don't have many available at the moment.  Some have sold, and a bunch are off at Blowing Sands, and I haven't had the time to cut out any more.  I've been looking at finding a fabrication facility to cut custom enameling blanks for me, but that's turning out to be quite expensive.  I have found what look like acceptable blanks for various leaf types available commercially, though.  I'll be ordering some to try it out. 
Also, I'm thinking about maybe starting to do some shows this coming year.  I'm looking at maybe a regular craft fair or two, but I'm mostly looking at sci-fi/fantasy type conventions and the like, as my enamels seem to be tending to the fantastic and whimsical, especially with the leaves.  If I manage to sort out a live appearance somewhere, y'all will be the first to know.

Wow, what a week.

Did *very* well at the silent Auction.  Sold about a third of what I brought and have managed to pay my studio rent again!

Also, I now have a small case on display at the gallery at Blowing Sands Studio!  If you're in the area, stop by and pick something up.

Finals are nearing, and I've been putting so much energy into the business that I'm massively behind on my schoolwork.  So, this coming week probably won't be terribly exciting.  Next week is finals, and after that, I'll have a whole new body of work to talk about!