Shows, Sales, and everything else!

Tine for catching up!  Most immediately, we've got a big sale going on in the Artfire shop.  There's a coupon code for half-off everything in the "clearance sale!" category.  Also there's free shipping on everything right now.  The sale will run till Tuesday.

Other big news:  I'm graduating from my jewelry and metals program this winter!  Part of this process involves having a solo show, and mine will be on Friday, Dec 16th, at Wayward Coffeehouse, at Roosevelt and 65th in Seattle from 6pm to 9pm.  I even have a postcard for it!

All of the pieces featured on this postcard will be at the show along with some other spectacular things.

Speaking of things you haven't seen yet, here's another pendant:

I'm exceptionally pleased with the smoke effect from the double silk ribbon necklace.  I think I'm going to switch everything over to silk cords and ribbons.  At the least it will lend some consistency to my presentation.

Also, speaking of shows, I'm all lined up to be in the Dealers' Room at RustyCon January 20-22, 2012.  I've got my paperwork in for the Dealers' Room at Norwescon, but I don't know yet if I'm going to get a slot.  I should probably snag an art show table to feature some of my really spectacular pieces, just in case.
OryCon was a pretty fun show.  I seriously had the slickest, most professional display of all the 3D artists.

I sold a pendant and a print, and spent an awful lot of time at concerts.  Also, I think some of the northwest convention regulars are starting to recognize me.  :-)
I'm going to be away from home and studio for a couple weeks right after RustyCon for a desperately needed vacation, during which I'll be filling my personal twitter feed with pictures of things like pineapples full of rum.  With any luck I'll come back full of ideas and new solutions to vexing engineering problems.

That's about it for now.  There will be further updates on progress towards the graduation show.  If you're in the Seattle area at the time, feel free to stop in.

There is News!

First, happy Mother's Day to all the biological moms, adoptive moms, house moms, and and other women charged with dealing with the less mature folks (including those less mature folks who are well into their 20s and better).

I got word back that I passed the jury for Foolscap, so I'll definitely be there!

Also, we finally have a Facebook Fan Page!  http://www.facebook.com/pages/NightshadeRose-Studio/212745315405599.  I'll be adding buttons and whatnot to the blog soon.


I finished "Creature of Earth".  I'm not exceptionally pleased, but it didn't self-destruct, so I'll take it.

Success and failure

This is going to be a short post, since I'm writing at stupid-o'clock AM.  Pictures will be added later.  The great giant news is that I picked up the kiln on Friday.  I've been using it all weekend and it's awesome.

In other news, I attempted to re-make the Green Man enamel piece, and this one self-destructed, too, albeit in a completely different manner.  I've taken the hint , and changed the Earth elemental piece to an ouroborous (snake biting it's own tail.  Symbolizes infinity).  It will likely be done in time for Norwescon, but probably not in time for prints.  I've finished Air, as well, but I'm not particularly happy with it.  There are some perspective/proportion issues that make it look funny, and I'm not particularly inclined to show it at all.

Ok, time for bed now.

engineering for expanding products

So far, I've been doing my enameling in a very on-the-fly manner, and for most of what I've been doing, that's ok.  But now I'm starting to look at *very* heavy use items like cabinet pulls/knobs, functional buttons and closures, and belts (which take a lot of abuse being banged against counters/etc), so I'm looking at ways to reinforce the enamel and especially protect the edges form cracking.  I've tried making the enamels and bezel-setting them, but bezels are time-consuming to get just right.  It looks like I'm going to be putting wire rims on the borders of my pieces now.  It's a couple of extra steps, but nothing like the pain of getting a bezel-set smooth.

Once I get a handle on the enamel, I can get a handle on the mountings, and I'm looking at systems where I can make the enamels and then set them as knobs, brooches, pendants, or whatever.  I've got some ideas, but they definitely still need testing.

Late again, but with good reason.

Right, so, finals at school ate my life, time, energy, and brain.  The worst thing about finals in art classes is that it's not really an exam.  You basically take all the art work you did in class, display it, and stand up in front of the whole class and justify your existence...including your failures.

Epic Fail: Spirit of Earth

This was supposed to be "Spirit of Earth", AKA The Green Man.  It has bubbles, both ruptured and not (the popped ones you can see the base color in), as well as silver wire that has separated from the enamel.  This was mostly my hubris biting me in the ass.  Between the bad engineering decision that resulted in a face full of cracks (It's heavy enough metal that I can wait and counter-enamel at the end!), the physics-lacking jury-rigged solution (If I flip it over and counter it now, all the cracks will melt back together and everything will be ok), and over-firing at the end, the glass melted enough to allow the cloisonné wire to start falling out, and the glass to run down them.  It's a small miracle I didn't seriously damage the school kiln.  The only thing that survived were those totally perfect eyes...mocking me.



In happier news, Water is done:

Spirit of Water

I am pleased, especially with the metallics I got in the darker brown and the water.

Firebird!! Also in today's issue:marketing materials

The "Spirit of Fire" firebird was finished on Wednesday.  It was a royal pain and a learning experience, but it's done.  It took approximately 6 firings

I also have a whole series of pics of most of the process, but I'm still sorting those out.  So, for next week, we'll have process pics, and probably "Spirit of Water" as well.  That one's currently in the "fugly" stage, and I expect to have it done in another day's work.

I'm currently venturing into bookbinding for a school project, and that's been interesting.  My art business class requires us to have 2 portfolio books to show at the end of the quarter (a little more than a week from now), one big fancy book (for meetings with shops, galleries and clients), and one leave-behind book (to leave with those shops, etc. so they'll remember you).  I'm making the big portfolio from scratch, and playing with a couple of ideas for the leave-behind.  Since I'm running with copper, silver, and purple for my main colors it's been interesting to try to get the right balance and not go over the edge into gaudy.  I've got several options for the less-elaborate leave-behind portfolio.  There's the standard black vinyl with permanently bound-in page protectors, the 3-ring binder, the paper or plastic presentation folder with brads, and professional binding (which is expensive).  But, I found, in Office Depot, a form of spiral comb-binding that doesn't require a special machine to work the comb.  I'm thinking to try that in letter and half-letter size, just to see what it looks like. I've also got a few of the standard black variety in case the experiment looks odd or otherwise doesn't work.

Sheesh.  An artist's work is never done.

elemental creatures

So, the new Big Project is the Elemental Creatures series, which I hope to debut at NorwesCon. It's my first major endeavor in enamel illustration.  I'm nearly done with Fire, have started Water, and have a working sketch for Earth.  Air is still a bit in the planning stage. Hopefully next week I'll have all the pics of "Creature of Fire" ready to show you.  I'm trying to document the whole process, through all the firings, etc.so all the exacting work is visible.

I'm also starting to look into project management software; something to help me keep track of my time and stay on top of my production schedule.  I've just done some figuring out of how much I need to sell to be sufficiently profitable, and producing that much may be a challenge.

Conventions and enamel astronomy!

The biggest news this week it that I've confirmed my travel plans and will definitely be at ApolloCon in Houston, TX, June 24-26.

The second-biggest news is that Claws are officially going into production!  I got the samples from my machinist today, and they're awesome and worth every penny.  So, look for copper, brass, and bronze claws available on Etsy and ArtFire soon (probably tomorrow or Wednesday).

The third-biggest news is pics of the solar system buttons.   I've got them displayed nicely on a piece of black velveteen in a shadow box frame with comets and an asteroid belt made of low-grade pearls.  They will be available for sale beginning at the ApolloCon Art Show.  they're each about 1" across, and I think I'm going to ask at least $300 for the set.

3/1 UPDATE:  This piece now has an official name.  It's called "One Sun, Nine Planets, Many Moons, Assorted Rocks"

Whole display with comets and asteroids

One radiant Sun

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Moon

Earth and Moon together

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

 And, last, but certainly not least (in my eyes):

Pluto

 I think that's all the news I have available for the time being.

becoming legitamate, and other legal matters

I know I'm late again.  I'm probably going to change official posting day to Monday or Tuesday, so when I'm late, I'm not so terribly late.  My lame excuse this time is that I spent the weekend in Pasco, on the other side of the mountains, having my convention art show debut.  I didn't manage to sell anything, but learned a lot about lighting and display, and made a few connections.

The big news this week is that I'm going to go legit in the eyes of the law.  I'll be registering name/business with the state department, getting my sales tax #, and possibly even getting my city business license, too.  And that's just the local stuff.  I'm going to be trademarking name/logo as well.

In more creative news, I've finished the solar system buttons!  I'm not terribly happy with how the sun came out, but I'll live.  There should be pics of those in the next few days (they're taken, but not edited yet).  My first set of copper plates for the elemental creatures series arrived on Monday, so I should be able to get going on those in fairly short order.  I think I'll do a Seasons series next, and after that, I'll probably start a long, intermittent series of "species of firebird" (you know, fire peacock, fire hawk, fire sparrow, that sort of thing).

That is all the news for now.  Hopefully there will be pictures soon.

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.

Technical difficulties

This has been a week of technical difficulties, interspersed with moments of spectacular pure stupidity on my part.  Lessons learned thus far include: 1) never mix enamels, even when they're supposed to be the same thing, 2) the simplest solution is often the best, 3) Hotter is not necessarily better, 4) never use a hammer anywhere near enamels, 5) never underestimate the power of a good adhesive, 6) never underestimate the power of a well-cut stencil, 7) never underestimate how long it takes to cut a stencil well, and last but not least, 8) when dealing with pitch , never, never, never forget the mineral oil.

As you can guess, I've had some enamel contamination problems.  My best clear is coming out speckled white now.  I've made the best of it on the project in question.

 This is what they were supposed to be:

and the finished, assembled piece in my hair:

I'm going to be doing more leaves, probably holly and other none too complex things.

I've made some decisions about setting the different worlds pendants, and enamels in general.  Just needed to modify the original idea and lower the firing temps.
As for the pitch, that was just a hard lesson.

All Hallows ate my brain

Apologies again for the late posting. All Hallows is a big deal in my household so I spent the day on prep and festivities-hosting.
Anyway, I've given up on the moon phase choker for now. I'll probably revisit the idea in a little while when I'm not so frustrated with it in general and bezels in particular.
In more successful news, I'm friends with the folks in charge of this game publisher, and I've been trying on and off to do something with their logo (I once submitted a cuttlebone cast silver piece as a suggestion for the logo design). I finally succeeded with an enamel badge of the logo they went with.

 Pic does not do justice.  the letters actually float above their background while the dunes in front of them are very definitely foreground.  Nonetheless, it's about 1/2" X 2", and it's not bad, but I'm not absolutely thrilled either.  I'd like to get sharper lines, but without resorting to cloisonne wire.  I only used the stuff for the dune curves because the boundary between white and transparent was absolutely crucial to the look.  I suppose super-sharp logo lines will have to be my next technological innovation.
Also: a picture of my pieces in the miniatures display case at school.  I didn't realize until looking at the picture just now that they misspelled my last name. 

 

The next theme is "Transformation/Metamorphosis".  I already have plans for what I'm going to make for that one, and I will be sure to write my info down more clearly.

Collectors, engineering, and other things

Quote of the week:
"I wouldn't do that today, but at the time, I did, and now it's there."--Klaus Burgel on adding sapphires to a ring.

Firstly, apologies for the late post.  It was a ridiculously busy weekend, what with Seattle Metals Guild Symposium, working in the studio, and trying to not completely lose all contact with friends and acquaintances.

Symposium was interesting, but also a lot more about theory than practice.  An interesting question has been raised about art jewelry collectors and why there don't seem to have been many new ones since the boomer generation.  The discussion included suggestions that there's a current perception that "art"="expensive" and "kept behind glass to show off," so the folks who are collecting (and maybe they're at the $35 earrings stage, rather than the $2000 ring stage, and that's ok) don't think of themselves as collectors, and many of the folks who could start being collectors never go into galleries on the assumption that it will be all $2000 rings and no $35 earrings.  Also, the Boomers still control quite a lot of the money. 

It's been an interesting week in the studio.  I'm working on an 8-piece moon phase enamel bracelet, the linkages on which have been giving me fits.  I think I'm just going to have to suck it up and bezel-set the pieces.  I also made my first Etsy sale!  There are inquiries about clip-back earrings and brooches in the Different Worlds enamels, which brings up thorny technical/engineering problems having to do with moving parts on the backs of these enamels.  The answer here may also end up being "bezel-setting," but I'd really like to avoid the frame if at all possible.

This week in the Studio

I give you this week's big learning experience:

Oops!

Yes, that's a hole in the top of my bench.  The lesson here is that an Ikea hollow-core desktop is not designed to withstand a disc-cutter being pounded directly on the surface.  That's right, kids.  I went straight through the copper and into the desk.  I've got a rubber cutting mat laid in that area now, and the disc-cutter doesn't seem to bother it at all.

Now, to counter that particular crowning moment of oops, I give you this week's crowning moment of awesome.  2 of them, actually, both having to do with my "Different Worlds" series of enamel pieces.

First, I managed to get some weather detail on one of the blue planet pendants.

Stormy Weather #1

Secondly, I've started doing moons, too

Full Moon #2

This one got featured in an Etsy treasury, which was pretty awesome because it meant someone a) saw it, and b) liked it enough to tell others.  Now if only someone would like something enough to buy it...