Putting words into practice

Last week, I blogged about refining metal and why I feel that using every piece of scrap is important. This week, I want to share a piece that was made with this exact philosophy.

I had an awkwardly shaped piece of scrap that had been hanging around the bench for some time. It had been cut out between two oval bezels, so it had long, thin arms and a narrow central part. I thought I could use it for the backplate on a small pendant, but that would leave all the arms as scrap. I didn't like that idea.

Then, it spoke to me (yes, all metalworkers are nutjobs who listen not only to metal but stones as well). It said "I want to fly!" I could see the vague outline of wings, but it was still not enough for me. Then, as I was looking through my photo archives, I came across this image:

Perfect! I could see exactly how my little piece of scrap would fit. Of course, I altered the shape considerably (it is called artistic license, you know), but it all started here.

After refining the shape somewhat, soldering the hair pick and giving it a nice matte finish and burnished edges, my little butterfly was ready to fly off:

Jewelry making the green way

One of the hypes for ecofriendly jewelry today is recycled silver. Some suppliers even sell 100% recycled silver at a premium. I think it is overhyped.

First of all, nearly all jewelers carefully save scrap and send it in to be refined. Industry does this as well. With the price of silver, this is simple good sense. All this silver is refined and resold. Buying 100% recycled silver will not lead to more silver being recycled, simply because most of it already is. The difference between scrap bought and refined silver sold is newly mined silver. If more people buy 100% recycled, then the "ordinary" silver will have a higher percentage of newly mined. But the total mined won't change because of this.

While most people are aware of the environmental impact of metal mining, not everyone realizes that recycling old metal is hardly a walk in the park, as Hans Meevis describes in his blog. Refining silver is similar, although different acids are used. Yup - a lot of chemicals are used, a lot of byproducts and a lot of energy are used. And check out how much copper is necessary - that copper is mined as well. Even though it is a lot cheaper than gold or silver, getting the copper out of the ground is still very high impact.

Fused pieces using scrap

So what is a jeweler who wants to minimize environmental impact to do? In my view, the most responsible approach is to reduce metal waste as much as possible. This has become a mantra in my work. Like patterning for sewing, I fit all the metal pieces I need to cut so that the least waste is generate. I carefully save scraps, which can be used for a small bezel, a bail, a decoration or for making shot. The pieces that are too weirdly shaped, I save for fusing projects.

The granules in this pendant were made from scraps of fine silver

I even use the fine metal filings from shaping and finishing metal to create lovely and interesting textures. To do this, I must make sure the filings are very clean, so that is another bench practice I have made a part of my routine. All surfaces are cleaned, small bits of charcoal and sandpaper are always removed and the small piles of filings are saved at the end of each day or if I start working with a different material.

These textures are created with filings that would, usually, be sent as scrap

Finishing is probably the great hidden way of wasting metal. I have been told that as much as 10% of the total weight of metal in a piece is removed during sanding and polishing. This is also the hardest metal to recycle, since it is very, very fine dust that will usually just disperse around the studio (which reminds me: people, wear a breathing mask while polishing!). The best way is to avoid adding marks and dents to the metal which will require filing, sanding and polishing metal away. I also explore a lot of matte and textured finishes which, while more labor intensive, also don't require removing a lot of metal.

Cheers!

Making soup

I don't think I have done a food post before. But I do, on occasion, head over to the kitchen side of the shared kitchen/studio. Since I am in the middle of a Southern hemisphere winter, a nice pot of soup would be just perfect. Looking around, I had arracacha roots, plenty of carrots and a gorgeous yellow bell pepper, which would make a lovely golden soup. Good, hearty and nice to look at.

First, arracacha roots. They are a delicious, low calorie, high fiber tuber. After they are cooked, they have an almost creamy consistency and a sweet, nutty taste. And, yes, they are bright yellow. Try them.

Back to the soup. All the veggies were roughly chopped and spread out on a roasting pan. Fortunately, I had an extra carrot, since raw carrot slices are my favourite healthy snack (I won't go into the unhealthy snacks just now).

Then, a drizzle of olive oil, plenty of garlic chunks, rosemary, thyme, sage, ground black pepper and a little salt were sprinkled. I just walk over to the herb planter and see which ones need a quick pruning. Since my rosemary bush is intent on taking over the world, I eat a lot of rosemary.

Into the preheated oven it goes!

Then, when everything is soft and ready, into the stock pan it went, along with chicken stock. Everything was pureed and minor adjustments were made, adding a little more stock if necessary and correcting salt and pepper. Perfect!

I love the bright, sunny colour. My last soup adventure had both broccoli and carrots, so, while very tasty, it looked like brownish, greenish sludge.

Enjoy!

A complaint and an apology

Not necessarily in that order.

First, the apology. I am sorry I haven't updated (again) and that I missed the blogroll (a first). I am sorry if you jumped over here expecting my latest project and just saw an old post.

Now, the complaint. My internet provider has been offline for a week. I am trying to sneak this post before they realize they are actually providing the service I pay for and shut it off again. The excuse is that they are "upgrading". I would rather have the old infrastructure, that was slow on occasion but would actually allow users to connect.

Over the week, I was surprised at how internet dependent I have become. Apart from friends, chats and forums I post in (but which are mainly entertainment), I actually do a lot online. I even had trouble complaining to the provider, since I had always looked their number up on their website.

I missed several of my favourite recipes. Hint: don't really on memory while baking. That missing 1/4 of a cup of butter makes a lot of difference. I had to go to the bank agency to make payments. I couldn't load credits on my cellphone at any time.

On a more serious note, I was worried about my customers at Etsy. Even though I was checking email daily, I didn't like not being able to respond as fast.

Expect some nicer, longer, more interesting posts, with photos, as soon as my 'net access is regular once more!

Answers!

Here are the answers to last week's challenge treasury (http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTA4MTY4MzR8Mzc3NzQ3ODA2/the-olympians?ref=pr_treasury):

1- Zeus, the thuderer
2- Hera, his wife, goddess of matrinomy. The peacock and pomegranates are her symbols, which was a little catch, so I will give half points to anyone who named Persephone (Hades gave her a pomegranate to eat because it was a symbol of marriage ;-D)
3- Poseidon was lord of the seas and creator of the horse. He inspired Odysseus to use the wooden horse ruse against the Trojans and sent the earthquakes which weakened the city walls.
4- Dionysus, god of wine and revelry, was represented by ivy leaves and grapes, just like this charming bracelet.
5- The moon was sacred to , the virgin huntress.
6- Apollo, her brother, was the sun god and drove its chariot through the skies.
7- Hermes was the messenger of the Olympus, with wings on his sandals and helmet for extra speed.
8- Athena, goddess of wisdom, had the owl as her symbol, which is still used today to represent learning and knowledge.
9- Ares was the hot tempered god of war.
10- Aphrodite, lady of roses, represented love, beauty and sensuality.
11- Her husband was Hephastus, the blacksmith
12- Demeter was the protector of the harvest and bringer of plenty, represented by wheat sheaves.
13- Hestia was the goddess of the hearth and domesticity. Originally an Olympian, her place, however, was eventually given to Dionysus.
14- Persephone, Demeter's daughter, brings spring to the world, when she returns from the underworld to her mother. Spring flowers, naturally, are her traditional symbol, although she is also often associated with the pomegranate, which she ate in the underworld, binding her to spend half of the year as Hades' wife.
15- While some sources consider Pan no more than a natural spirit, he is considered a god by the oldest sources (such as the Pythian ode) and his mythology is actually older than the Olympians (despite some sources saying he is the son of either Zeus, Hermes or Dionysus - maybe we should get him Amaury's show?). And, of course, his death is the symbol of the passing of the gods, so, of course, he had to be included.
16- Hades was the god of the underworld, dead souls and riches. He was not an evil god, but a strict judge and, therefor, feared. He is represented by the scales (for judging souls) and gold.

A Challenge Treausury

Good morning, everyone!

We had a cold snap over the weekend down here, which was the perfect excuse to snuggle down under the covers, with some tea and a book. The rich images of Greek mythology and tragedies (Agamemnon, Elektra, Hecuba, etc) inspired me to create an Etsy treasury.

But there is a twist to this treasury. Just like the Sphinx, it proposes a riddle: each item represents an Olympian god or someone associated with them. Can you identify all of them? Answers in the comments, please, and I will let you all know the correct answers in a few days.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/36016725/kiyo-wheat-sheaf-pendant?ref=tre-377747806-12

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62388726/july-4th-sale-ships-77-lightning-storm?ref=tre-377747806-1

Autumn Cleaning

I have been feeling a distinct lack of space in my apartment lately. My pots and pans no longer fit my kitchen cabinets. Jewelry making supplies were slowly spreading out. My books no longer fit the bookshelves (but that is pretty much status quo around here).

Since cluttered spaces make my mind feel cluttered and restless, I started looking for alternatives: handover some of the additional pots, move some other kitchen things to be able to organize the tools and so on. But it all boiled down to moving some things I use less often to the hall closet (a long story all by itself) or to the shelves up near the ceiling in my bedroom. Of course, neither of these spaces were empty, so I still needed to look things over, reorganize and prioritize my things.

So Abba started playing, to keep my mood up, the dust rags and wood polish were close at hand and I ventured into the dark corners of my bright and cheery home. Old papers were sorted through and a lot of them were recycled. A can of white paint, left over from when I moved in, was thrown out. But most of what was in there were bits and pieces of my life. Some I had outgrown, some I had forgotten, others were best forgotten.

For example, painting supplies. I haven't painted in 10 years. I admit to having no talent for it and I have, since, found other artistic activities. But there were old canvas, half finished projects and paint tubes. I really liked black and white back then, judging form the colour of the paint. Or maybe they were left over when I used up the other colours.

I wanted to hang on to these. They were part of me! I remember the enthusiasm I had for painting, the feeling when a canvas came out just how I wanted and the hours of frustration when they didn't. But this is something past. I don't need old supplies to show it. So I let it go. The unused canvases were donated, along with the good brushes. The half painted ones, the old tubes and unusable supplies were thrown out. I need the present more than I need the past.

I also found tons of old technology: 35mm cameras, ZIP drives (remember those?), a Walkman, an external CD burner which had been so expensive and a whopping 4x speed. Nothing that I had used in, oh, the last 8 years. Nothing I would use today, for sure. And nothing of any value (sentimental or monetary) or use. But they certainly cost a pretty penny in their time, which reinforces my thinking on technology: avoid fads, avoid first generation, buy quality and research what you need.

Coming across my old flute and music was a bittersweet moment. I love music, specially classical music. I had been a pretty good musician, too, but I stopped playing when I started college. Despite resolutions, I didn't take it up when I graduated, after I moved or when I got a new job. I am not ready to let go of this yet, even if, rationally, I should. I looked through my music, my books and notebooks, I cleaned the flute, checked the pads and lovingly packed it up. It is a cherished item. Someday, I will hand everything over to an aspiring musician. Not right now, though. I did make a resolution to take singing classes once again.

Memento of old relationships, gifts from loved ones that didn't quite fit my needs (I am not a cut glass kind of girl, but how could I say that to a caring relative?), knick knacks and junk. Everything was looked over. Some of it was thrown out or recycled. Many things are being donated or passed on (I do know who will love the cut glass vase and use it).

Those dusty items, together, show how I have grown and changed over the last decade. They were all once important enough to be saved, most had been useful at one point, some were kept for their memories but put away where the memories couldn't be seen. This process was tiring, emotional, sometimes disappointing, at others heartlifting. I remember old projects, ambitions and dreams. Some are gone, replaced by different views, others were just waiting to be revived.

And, best of all, I have more space for my present and my future. I can invest in what I do now, instead of being tied down by what I did then.

The books still don't fit the bookshelves. I doubt they ever will.