I am lucky to belong to several communities of great craftspeople, like The Artisan Group, the Aspiring Metalsmiths and Handmadeology. Through these communities as well as Etsy and a myriad of sites I have bookmarked over the years, I see a lot of beautiful handmade items, from ceramics to woodwork and everything in between. Often, when I see a particularly nice item, I think "What talent!".
Recently, I have become more and more unsatisfied with this simple reaction. It boils all the creative process to one variable: talent. What about hard work, experience, self editing, research and education?
I sincerely believe that most people can, with hard work, dedication and good instructions, create a decent, basic example of almost anything. Almost, because no matter what, this author cannot yield a needle or sewing machine. And, with time and practice, we can all be very good at a variety of activities.
On the other hand, we all know people who have a brilliant talent, who seems to be magically able to create beautiful things. Yet, how sad it is when these talented folks don't work to develop themselves. Like a brilliant student, who does just enough work to scrape by at the end of the year.
But when you join natural talent with hard work - oh boy! Great things happen.
So don't really only on your natural talent - develop. And don't let a lack of talent stop you - you may just find out that you did, indeed, have it in you all along.
Please share your thoughts on this subject! I want to write a couple more blog posts on talent and hard work and I would appreciate hearing what you have to say. And if you would like to share specific examples of these, I will gladly incorporate the pictures (this post seems a bit bare, doesn't it?)
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Muse, oh Muse!
It is once again time for the Aspiring Metals Team blogroll and the topic chosen was Inspiration - what inspires us and where do we get our inspiration.
Inspiration is such a fleeting thing. Sometimes, it is just a spark of an idea, which you have to battle out in your mind and on paper, until it takes on a complete and workable form. At others, a piece will come up in my mind, with all details and ready to be made at the bench. There are times when my imagination seems to be racing and ideas will spontaneously pop up at the oddest times. At others, nothing seems to happen.
Since I want to make my living as an artist, the second situation is very worrying. I am actively trying to develop a consistent artistic vision (won't that sound good on my artist's statement?). I find that the more I work, sketch, look for unusual shapes and colours and go through life conscientiously, the more easily inspiration comes. If I slack off, then I can easily fall into a rut.
A support network, where I can bounce ideas and get feedback, is also very important to me (like my wonderful team that inspired this post). Sitting down and making things help me focus and figure out what works and what doesn't. And, since I am an engineer, figuring out good proportions, interesting design rules and when to break them is also a constant challenge.
For example, I was doing forging exercises to develop some hammering skills. The result was an interesting shape. I love long, thin pendants and my exercise piece was crying out to be used. By playing around with the shape, I was inspired by the flow of the metal to add a delicate blue green stone to highlight the liquid shape. The result was a gorgeous, elegant piece (in my humble opinion, of course).
Cheers!
Each month the Aspiring Metals team chooses a topic and each write about that topic on their blog. This month we want to know what inspires you, and where do you look for inspiration?
See what we have to say by visiting the blogs below:
Inspiration is such a fleeting thing. Sometimes, it is just a spark of an idea, which you have to battle out in your mind and on paper, until it takes on a complete and workable form. At others, a piece will come up in my mind, with all details and ready to be made at the bench. There are times when my imagination seems to be racing and ideas will spontaneously pop up at the oddest times. At others, nothing seems to happen.
Since I want to make my living as an artist, the second situation is very worrying. I am actively trying to develop a consistent artistic vision (won't that sound good on my artist's statement?). I find that the more I work, sketch, look for unusual shapes and colours and go through life conscientiously, the more easily inspiration comes. If I slack off, then I can easily fall into a rut.
A support network, where I can bounce ideas and get feedback, is also very important to me (like my wonderful team that inspired this post). Sitting down and making things help me focus and figure out what works and what doesn't. And, since I am an engineer, figuring out good proportions, interesting design rules and when to break them is also a constant challenge.
For example, I was doing forging exercises to develop some hammering skills. The result was an interesting shape. I love long, thin pendants and my exercise piece was crying out to be used. By playing around with the shape, I was inspired by the flow of the metal to add a delicate blue green stone to highlight the liquid shape. The result was a gorgeous, elegant piece (in my humble opinion, of course).
Cheers!
Each month the Aspiring Metals team chooses a topic and each write about that topic on their blog. This month we want to know what inspires you, and where do you look for inspiration?
See what we have to say by visiting the blogs below:
- Jessica @ Abella Blue - http://www.abellablue.com/blog
- Autumn Bradley - http://www.autumnbradley.blogspot.com
- Crow Steals Fire - http://crowstealsfire.blogspot.com/
- Contemporary Jewelry by Beatriz Fortes - http://cjbf.blogspot.com/
- Stacy - http://www.formandfunktionaccessories.blogspot.com/
- Cabbing Rough - http://cabbingrough.blogspot.com
- Brightstar109 - http://brightstar109.blogspot.com/
- Silver Pearl Jewelry and Metalworks - http://silverpearlmetalworks.wordpress.com/
- City Rustic Jewelry - http://cityrustic-art.blogspot.com/
- Becky Campion - http://www.ladysmythmetals.com/blog.html
- Julie - http:/wabibrookstudio.com/blog.php
Monday, September 19, 2011
A Special Project
When my sister announced she was going to get married, I immediately offered to make the rings. It is, after all, what I do and making things for others is one of my ways of showing love and support. I was thrilled when both of them accepted.
And so the fun began. The original plan quickly grew. Her fiance's aunt heard that I was planning to make their rings and wanted to contribute to the project. She sent a lovely old key chain, in an amazing shade of gold. My sister also wanted to incorporate a ring which our parents had given her for her 18th birthday, with a lovely diamond. And there was also a bit of new gold, which they had bought as an investment.
My challenge was to incorporate all the elements into a beautiful pair of rings, which would also be a symbol of their union. Oh, dear.
The first step was to prepare the metal. I melted the key chain and the ring, carefully poured into an ingot mold and laminated it down to a long strip measuring 1.6mm by 2.2mm wide. Since the mill is hand operated, my muscles got quite a nice workout. I also prepared some yellow gold wire, from the fresh investment gold.
The metal was then cut and shaped into rings. I didn't want to solder them, since a wedding ring should be a perfect circle, with no beginning, no end and no weak spot, like a solder joint. The alternative was to fuse them together, by carefully heating them just up to the melting temperature, so the ends would melt together, but removing the heat before the whole ring collapsed into a shining puddle.
For the diamond ring, I also fused the wires for the prongs onto the shank. And, let me tell you all, I am not fusing prongs again! It is too nerve wrecking, since the prongs tend to melt before the shank is hot enough to fuse.
The rings were then carefully sanded and polished. Once the surface was perfect, I gave them a matte, brushed finished, which looks very elegant and modern.
Here they are! Wedding rings without beginning or end. The gold represents the union of the two families, merged together by their marriage. From this, their own efforts shape their future, represented by the yellow gold, which is a fruit of their labor together. And everything is joined together seamlessly, supporting one another.
And so the fun began. The original plan quickly grew. Her fiance's aunt heard that I was planning to make their rings and wanted to contribute to the project. She sent a lovely old key chain, in an amazing shade of gold. My sister also wanted to incorporate a ring which our parents had given her for her 18th birthday, with a lovely diamond. And there was also a bit of new gold, which they had bought as an investment.
My challenge was to incorporate all the elements into a beautiful pair of rings, which would also be a symbol of their union. Oh, dear.
The first step was to prepare the metal. I melted the key chain and the ring, carefully poured into an ingot mold and laminated it down to a long strip measuring 1.6mm by 2.2mm wide. Since the mill is hand operated, my muscles got quite a nice workout. I also prepared some yellow gold wire, from the fresh investment gold.
The metal was then cut and shaped into rings. I didn't want to solder them, since a wedding ring should be a perfect circle, with no beginning, no end and no weak spot, like a solder joint. The alternative was to fuse them together, by carefully heating them just up to the melting temperature, so the ends would melt together, but removing the heat before the whole ring collapsed into a shining puddle.
For the diamond ring, I also fused the wires for the prongs onto the shank. And, let me tell you all, I am not fusing prongs again! It is too nerve wrecking, since the prongs tend to melt before the shank is hot enough to fuse.
The rings were then carefully sanded and polished. Once the surface was perfect, I gave them a matte, brushed finished, which looks very elegant and modern.
Here they are! Wedding rings without beginning or end. The gold represents the union of the two families, merged together by their marriage. From this, their own efforts shape their future, represented by the yellow gold, which is a fruit of their labor together. And everything is joined together seamlessly, supporting one another.
 |
| 2.2mm 18k rose gold ring, 0.25ct diamond on 18k yellow gold prongs |
 |
| Pair of 18k rose gold wedding rings |
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Ice cream making in the small studio
While folks in the northern hemisphere are enjoying the last days of summer, the temperature is rising here in the south. And the humidity is going down. Way down - last week, we were down to 10% relative humidity, which is desert like (the World Health Organization recommends at least 60% for healthy living, so, yeah, very low).
The warm sunshine had me craving something smooth, tart and icy. Frozen yogurt, as a matter of fact. But the freezer was bare and I didn't want to leave the house just for my treat. Deb Stoner, however, taught me well: "we are jewelers and we can do anything." So here is how this jeweler made creamy frozen yogurt.
First, empty the only ice tray into a ziplock baggie (yes, the only one. Bachelorette living at its finest). Then, use your general duty hammer to bash it into smaller pieces. Mind you, don't use the mirror polished hammer. You never know what may mar it and it is nearly sacred in my studio.
Now, put the crushed ice in a barrel, fill it 3/4 up with water and add salt. I am using barbecue salt crystals, because that is what I had on hand. It is great for salt casting as well, with all the textures. Throw in a small pot of yogurt too, since that is the main objective of this.
To get creamy frozen yogurt or ice cream, it is important to churn it or stir it constantly as it freezes. Otherwise, you get a solid lump of frozen stuff and that is not good. Since I have no ice cream maker and I didn't really want to stir the yogurt constantly, I improvised: the tumbler. It is usually used to finish jewelry, by turning the barrel and pushing little steel balls against the silver, to strengthen and give it shine. Since it is slowly spinning around, it also works beautifully to churn my yogurt.
Half an hour latter, here we have a perfect pot of frozen yogurt, perfect on a hot day.
Note - rubber barrels don't really like ice and salt. Rinse it thoroughly before and after use and don't do this too often, otherwise the rubber may become dry and crack.
The warm sunshine had me craving something smooth, tart and icy. Frozen yogurt, as a matter of fact. But the freezer was bare and I didn't want to leave the house just for my treat. Deb Stoner, however, taught me well: "we are jewelers and we can do anything." So here is how this jeweler made creamy frozen yogurt.
First, empty the only ice tray into a ziplock baggie (yes, the only one. Bachelorette living at its finest). Then, use your general duty hammer to bash it into smaller pieces. Mind you, don't use the mirror polished hammer. You never know what may mar it and it is nearly sacred in my studio.
Now, put the crushed ice in a barrel, fill it 3/4 up with water and add salt. I am using barbecue salt crystals, because that is what I had on hand. It is great for salt casting as well, with all the textures. Throw in a small pot of yogurt too, since that is the main objective of this.
To get creamy frozen yogurt or ice cream, it is important to churn it or stir it constantly as it freezes. Otherwise, you get a solid lump of frozen stuff and that is not good. Since I have no ice cream maker and I didn't really want to stir the yogurt constantly, I improvised: the tumbler. It is usually used to finish jewelry, by turning the barrel and pushing little steel balls against the silver, to strengthen and give it shine. Since it is slowly spinning around, it also works beautifully to churn my yogurt.
Half an hour latter, here we have a perfect pot of frozen yogurt, perfect on a hot day.
Note - rubber barrels don't really like ice and salt. Rinse it thoroughly before and after use and don't do this too often, otherwise the rubber may become dry and crack.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
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:
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:
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
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.
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.
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.
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!
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 |
 |
| The granules in this pendant were made from scraps of fine silver |
 |
| These textures are created with filings that would, usually, be sent as scrap |
Cheers!
Monday, August 1, 2011
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!
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!
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