LSSST Preview Exhibition at Scugog Arts Resource Centre

LSSST Preview Exhibition at Scugog Arts Resource Centre

Posted on by dianne

In conjunction with the Lake Scugog Spring Studio Tour, taking place  April 30 and May 1, 2011, the Scugog Council for the Arts will be hosting a Studio Tour Preview Exhibition during the month of April, at the Scugog Arts Resource Centre  located at 181 Perry St., Unit G-1, Port Perry.

The Preview Exhibition will include work from some of the thirty-two talented artists and artisans who will be opening their homes and studios to the public.  

The tour will include the following work:

  • Paintings in pastel, oil, acrylic, watercolour, and encaustic
  • Jewelry in many styles in silver, niobium, torch glass and wire
  • Ceramic ware and objects in various techniques
  • Stained  and kiln-formed glass
  • Metal and stone sculptures
  • Photography
  • Windsor chairs and wood carving and turning

For more information about the tour, visit the Lake Scugog Studio Tour website: www.scugogstudiotour.ca or phone:  905-985-7418

The Preview Exhibition will run from April 2 – May 1, 2011, and members, artists and the public are invited to attend the Opening Reception on April 2, 2011 from 1-4 p.m. The resource centre will also be open as the hospitality site, offering coffee and restrooms, during the weekend of the tour.

Please visit scugogarts.ca, or phone 905-982-2121, for more information.

 

YOJ11-10 Wave Bracelet

Posted on by dianne

YOJ11-10 Wave BraceletWave Bracelet (2011)
Sterling silver
Formed, fused
L 17.5 cm x W 1.1 cm (variable)

 

I’m still behind with posting, and I’m remembering that it was at about this point last year that I gave up on the YOJ because other parts of my life were overwhelming me.

I’ve been doing interviews for the next College Review issue of MAGazine this week, and talking to the instructors in various Canadian metals programs. One of the questions I’ve been asking everyone is how they balance their academic life with their own creative work. Across the board, all have commented about how challenging it is.

At the moment, I’m juggling work on MAGazine with trying to get ready for the Lake Scugog Spring Studio Tour. I’m trying to strike a balance between production work and some more involved one-of-a-kinds. I’ve been working on a challenging woven piece for about 1 1/2 weeks now. It’s a dry run for another piece I want to make to submit to the HSTA Faculty Show in June. It’s taking up more time than I expected, and I’m becoming very conscious how quickly my deadlines are approaching.

So, I’ve had to set it aside and go back to production work.

YOJ11-10 Wave BraceletThis bracelet is a repeat of one I made for YOJ 2004-05, only more refined and simplified. I love bracelets, and this one lends itself to being worn in multiples. I made them quite small, but they are still quite loose on my wrist. Surprisingly they fit my husband’s wrist comfortably as well.

I’m still determined to keep up with YOJ, and hopefully between now and next week I’ll be caught up again.

YOJ11-09 Spiral Wand Pendant

Posted on by dianne

YOJ11-09 Spiral Wand Pendant
Spiral Wand Pendant (1) (2011)
Argentium silver, quartz
Formed, knotted
L 4.4 cm x .5 cm (6 mm bead)

I pulled out the spool of argentium silver while working on the week 8 project, and this pendant grew out of one of the failed attempts at embellishing the earrings.

I used to make little mini-wands with quartz points set in copper tubing and wrapped in leather for the New Age crowd. Clear quartz is regarded as an energy amplifier, and in wand form is used to direct healing energy to a specific place in the body. This updated version of the wand gives a nod to the DNA helix in the knotted spiral, and the faceted quartz bead adds a little touch of bling.

YOJ11-09 Spiral Wand Pendant
Macramé is one of those techniques that makes a very natural transition to wire, but the stiffness of the metal requires that the knots be planned out to minimize kinking.  Pulling the knots tight also quickly work-hardens the wire.

Besides a bit of coiling, I haven’t worked with the argentium silver, so this was really my first experience with it.  I’m finding it a bit stiffer to work than sterling, but I’m looking forward to seeing what it can do.

Spiral Wand Pendant (2) (2011)
Argentium silver, quartz
Formed, knotted
L 3.3 cm x .5 cm (6 mm bead)

Registration Now Open for Haliburton Wire Jewellery Aug. 1-5, 2011

Posted on by dianne

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Registration for Wire Jewellery at Haliburton School of the Arts has begun!

Nestled in the Haliburton Highlands in the heart of Ontario’s Cottage Country, the Haliburton School of the Arts offers week long and weekend courses in everything from painting to glassblowing to blacksmithing.  I’m pleased to be returning to HSTA for the week of August 1-5  to teach wire jewellery!  Come join me for a week of fun and fabulous jewelry-making!  You’ll make earrings, chains, bracelets and pendants in a relaxed and enjoyable learning environment.

Please see my Classes page for more information.

Lake Scugog Spring Studio Tour – Apr. 30-May 1, 2011

Posted on by dianne

YOJ10-03 Marquise Series: Pendant 8
I’m pleased to be participating in this year’s Lake Scugog Spring Studio Tour, April 30-May 1, 2011.

“Located just one hour northeast of Toronto, the Lake Scugog Studio Tour is centered around the historic Port Perry area. Described as the newest emerging arts and culture destination, this tour provides a creative journey for its visitors with its annual self-guided tour of discovery.” (from LSSST website)

As one of 31 participants in the tour, I will be a Guest Artist at the studio of Cathy Mark, 25 Glasford Road, Little Britain (location 1 on the tour map).

For further information about the other artists participating in the tour and a downloadable map, please visit the LSSST website.  The tour brochure is also available at local galleries, hotels and tourist information offices in Durham Region.

YOJ11-08 Teardrop Spiral Earrings

Posted on by dianne

YOJ11-08 Teardrop Spiral Earrings
Teardrop Spiral Earrings (2011)
Sterling silver
Formed, forged, soldered
L 4.3 cm x W. 1.95cm

I’m late posting this week.

I had started working with this teardrop shape last week, after doing research for the next installment of my essay series.  There are many historical examples of boat-shaped earrings, and I found myself paying particular attention to how they were closed.  I wanted to make the earrings secure and still maintain a sleek line.

Originally my intention was to incorporate some sort of weaving, but my muse wasn’t co-operating.  Time and again, I cut the bits off the frame to start over.  Finally, I decided to develop the spiral idea I used on last week’s earrings.YOJ11-08 Teardrop Spiral Earrings

There are so many things on my To Do List at the moment that I’m waking up in the middle of the night thinking about it. It’s one of those situations where I’m too awake to sleep, but too tired to get up. So I just lie there with my mind spinning circles and then during the day I feel exhausted and unproductive. Finally yesterday when I had a chance to sit down to work on jewelry, I couldn’t find my flow. It’s kind of ironic that I ended up with spirals – it reflects what’s going on in my over-active mind!

YOJ11-07 Butterfly Twirl Earrings

Posted on by dianne

YOJ11-07 Butterfly Twirl
Butterfly Twirl Earrings (2011)
Sterling silver
Formed, soldered
2 cm dia.

This week I had one more idea for the butterflies – a pair of hoop earrings.  Here, the butterflies fly around in a loop.  The earrings insert from the back of the earlobe and curl around to bring the butterflies to the front.

It’s been a frustrating week.   I went back to my projects notebook to work on one of the tutorials I wrote in the fall.  I quite often write a set of instructions, then put them away for a while, so I get it completely out of my head.  Then when I come back to it, I’m looking at it with fresh eyes.  It lets me test whether I can follow what I wrote.

I tend to go through several attempts at making the project while I’m writing instructions, refining the design as I go and making sure the steps make sense.  Because of the rising cost of silver, the prototypes for the project I’m currently reviewing were originally constructed in copper wire.

Well…  that was a mistake.

Silver, even in dead soft temper, is stiffer to work that copper – a small detail I forgot to consider – so the only thing I succeeded in doing was adding to my scrap bin.  I’m now revising the project so it will work in silver.

YOJ11-06 More Butterflies :)

Posted on by dianne

YOJ11-06 Fluttering Butterflies
Fluttering Butterflies (2011)
Sterling silver, aquamarine
Formed, flame-worked, cold-joined
L 4.8 cm x W 1.9 cm

 

This week has been very satisfying, both in terms of the pieces I’ve made and the quantity of work I was able to produce.  On top of it all, I had fun!

Early in the week, I was still thinking about butterflies and how they flitter and loop around each other.  That lead to this pair of earrings, and a matching pendant (not shown).  With our local temperatures here still below normal, spring really cannot come too soon.

I’ll be happy to see real butterflies again.

YOJ11-06 Butterfly Drop Earrings
Butterfly Drop Earrings (2011)
Sterling silver, aquamarine
Formed, flame-worked, cold-joined
L 3.8 cm x W 1.0 cm

Last year, as part of the Marquise Series, I made an earring with drops that were interchangeable.  I continued that thought with these butterfly drops – the briolette can be removed and exchanged for a different drop, or can be worn plain.

The rest of the week has been devoted to other production pieces, and I’m pleased to be in a good groove!

YOJ11-05 Butterflies

Posted on by dianne

YOJ11-05 Butterflies
Butterfly Earrings (2011)
Sterling silver
Formed, flame-worked
L 1.9 cm x W 0.5 cm

This week, after Snowpocolypse rolled through, Canada’s own Wiarton Willie brought the very welcome news that we will have a early spring this year!  Woo hoo!  That got me looking forward to sunshine and flowers… spring weddings and butterflies.  I love watching tiny butterflies flittering around, oblivious to me being there.

I’m still in production mode, so I’m focussed on quick to make jewellery.  I wanted to make something that would appeal to brides, but also to young girls.  These little butterflies are lending themselves to drop earwires, like the ones shown here, but also to studs and to pendants.  This is one of those rare times when the design I’ve come up with uses soldered elements.  In this case, the structural requirements of the design didn’t lend itself to working cold.

I’m really looking forward to warmer weather.  I’m done with the cold feet, cold hands, and sniffles that have been my constant companion since October.

YOJ11-04 In Production Mode

Posted on by dianne

YOJ11-04 Aquamarine Bridal Set
Aquamarine Bridal Set (2011)
Sterling silver, aquamarine
Formed, cold-joined, flameworked
Pendant: L 4.0 cm x W 1.5 cm
Earrings: L 3.8 cm x W 0.7 cm

I had such high hopes this week for getting a lot done.  I did get a lot done, but very little of it related to what I wanted to be doing, which was making jewelry for restocking galleries and for an upcoming studio tour.  Oh well.  As we said when I was a kid:  C’est la vie, c’est la guerre, c’est la pomme de terre…

I’m in production mode and working on things that can be quickly made.  These earrings and pendant are part of a “Something Blue” casual/bridal line.  The stone is aquamarine – a strand I picked up last fall at the GMCS show.  I’m still on a buying moratorium but the icy opaqueness of the stone is part of what appealed to me.  I have very little blue in my stone inventory, because most of the time, blue stones can’t withstand the punishment of tumbling.

I’m actively working through my stash of stones, so pendants and bracelets are also on their way!

YOJ11-03 The Peanut Experiment

Posted on by dianne

YOJ11-03 The Peanut Experiment
The Peanut Experiment (2011)
Copper, polymer-coated copper, sterling silver
Formed, fold-formed, cold-joined, fused, patinated
W 2.5 cm x H 8.5 cm

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This week’s entry is actually the end of a several week long process where I experimented with a different method for forming.

This is an idea I’ve been wanting to try ever since seeing a website by a British artist who made life size human figures out of wire.  His name is regretfully forgotten, and the link to his website lost.  What I remember the most – besides the wonderful realism of his figures – was that he built them over a solid core, which was later burned out.

Cores are often used with metal clay for making hollow forms such as boxes or beads.  After some research, I bought some cork clay, and then promptly got too busy to go any further.

Cork clay is usually burned out in a kiln.  Since I’m not interested in making a substantial investment for something I may not stick with, I started researching low-tech alternatives.  I remembered a thread on Ganoksin about using a flower pot kiln for burning out wax.  The Ganoksin archives, while vast and wide-ranging, are frustrating to search, and didn’t provide anything really helpful.  Evenually, I found some basic information elsewhere online for building a flower pot kiln and went about collecting the materials to build one.

I wasn’t sure if the kiln would get hot enough to burn out the cork clay, so I made my first core out of bread dough.  Since it was just an experiment, I opted to do a freeform winding of copper wire around the core.

Finding an unglazed clay pot of an appropriate size in January in Canada is a challenge.  However, I did find one – and only one – at Home Depot.

Once back at home, I lined the pot with tin foil, set up the hotplate on my back deck, put a modified coffee can on the element, added the piece to be fired, covered it, and turned it on.

It smoked a lot, and stunk to high heaven, but considering it was in -12°C and blowing gusts, it worked very well!  The core-free wire looks a bit like a peanut.

Because with the YOJP, a finished piece is supposed to be submitted each week, I decided to also try my hand at making some leaves with fold forming, which were then patinated using salt & ammonia.  They were attached to the peanut and presto! a finished piece.

It’s not pretty, but it wasn’t intended to be.    My next step will be to try again with the cork clay.

Process photos:

Bread Dough Core
Burnout Setup
Flower Pot Kiln
Ready for Burnout
Burnout - Stage 1
Burnout - Stage 2
Coat Hanger Lifting Tongs
Burnout @ 15 minutes
Burnout!
Burnout @ 1 hour
Repositioning the Flower Pot
Post-Burnout @ 1.5 hours

 

YOJ11-02 Peacock Feather Earrings

Posted on by dianne

YOJ11-02 Peacock Feather Earrings
Peacock Feather Earrings (2011)
Sterling silver
Formed
L 8.5 cm x W 2.9 cm

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I devoted a lot of this week to experimentation, and specifically to working with forming wire over a solid core.  Although my experiment went well, I didn’t finish the project to the point where I can post it.  More about this next week.

YOJ11-02 Peacock Feather Earrings
So… it being Saturday, and due date for my next YOJ posting, I went back into my sketchbook and pulled out a design from last summer.

Because of the price of metals, I’ve taken to working out some of my ideas on paper before attempting them in wire.  This is challenging for me because I’ve never been particularly good at translating things from two dimensions into three.

I love sketching, and for a few of the pieces I worked on this summer, I did a more elaborate drawing.  But, I know very well that just because I can draw something doesn’t mean I can build it.

However, I’m getting better at it, and this was one of the projects that worked well on paper and in 3D.

Other Musings

Blasts from the Past

Photo of the Day

Judith Goldstein

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