Modge Podge and Snowflakes

Isn't this a wonderful picture of the Winter Solstice at Stonehenge? My BFF Sharon and I traveled there in the late 1980's. Although I didn't feel a great connection with Stonehenge (prefering Avebury), there is still something really special about the ley lines at Stonehenge, and this picture was a beautiful reminder of the seasonal crux coming up in a few days.

So I'm busy trying to finish up holiday gifts. I suspect that I'm far from alone in that hectic and time-deliniated path. Although I celebrate Solstice, I know many of my friends who celebrate Christmas which allows me an extra four days - pathetic, aren't I? LOL. I wanted to make some blue and white snowflakes for my sister-in-law. I'm having issues with them, however. The beads I chose are really beautiful, but they don't fill the snowflake arms sufficiently, leaving too much play. I'll have to add something else to the bead mix to make them work. I had hoped to have these complete already, and it's back to the design/drawing board again (sigh).

And then there's my DH's gift. That's actually working out well, although I still have a lot of work to do on it. Even though I wanted to hand-paint the central character's image in enamel paints, I didn't feel as if I had enough skill with the media to make it look the way that I wanted. So, after making the copper disks look really wonderful with multiple firings, I cheated. I used my computer to make a high-resolution image and then printed it out onto paper. I then carefully cut them out and glued them onto the disks. Then I started applying Modge Podge in thin coats, wet sanding after every few to smooth out the surface. The decoupage is starting to work really well, and I'm VERY happy with this result, even though it wasn't quite the original image. And isn't that what makes art unique? The ability to roll with the punches and change on the fly to complete the project that you visualize is key to artistic success. So the changes in the disks and in the snowflakes will end up enhancing each project even though they are slight deviations from the original artistic vision.

Friday - Another Week Closer to Ending

Today is Friday. For most people it means the last work day of the week. For me it means that the next two days of work will be shorter - but I will still be at work . This season is SO long!!! So even though I am fighting time to get everything finished and gifted or shipped on time, I will be SO happy to see the end of the season again and have a day off on Christmas Day.

Tonight will be joyful for me though. If the skies are clear, I will be able to see the largest full moon of the year rising at sunset tonight. I love the moon - when I was very young I called it my own. Having the moon shine through my windows at night while I was a child was amazingly comforting. Rather like a signal of hope and love - to have the light in the nighttime as well as the light in the day. I adore the stars also. However, I have noticed serious light pollution. I think, sometime before I die, I want to visit someplace in the world where they don't have light pollution so that I can see the sky in its' full glory. The way that the Creator intended us to see the stars before we turned night into day and threw our circadian rhythms into complete trash.

Productive At Last!

What a studio day it was! Of course I started the day out with the Dentist - and passed my exam with flying colors (big sigh of relief). Dr B (guitar player for The Surf Dawgs) is great and I really like him, but I prefer to keep my professional visits to 2x/year and minimal money expended instead of extra visits for dental work and much higher expenses. So the first thing on my agenda was a huge success.

Then I picked up some fine holiday cards at Barnes & Noble. They usually have some that I like and I had to get a few things for gifts for the holiday. So I ended up with three boxes (buy 2, get 1 free) and will get to work on sending those within the next 2 weeks. Hey - they only need to be postmarked before the Christmas holiday - right? LOL.

I got back to the house around 10am, put things away, turned on the computers and set up the kiln. By 11am the kiln was up to temp, my enamels were spread over the washer top, and I was busy drilling the last holes into my copper discs. That ended, I started working with the enamel - four coats for each disc, 2 front, 2 back. I did the last discs in time to leave for the grocery store at 5pm. Now I have the base coats finished and can do the decorative coats next week, just leaving the final assembling work for next Thursday. I really could use one more day this week, but I only have Wednesdays available, so I have to make do.

I also progressed to the next step in my DH's skull neckpiece. All in all, a very productive studio day even though I wasn't able to even start the laundry until almost 6pm since I was using the top of the washer to lay out my enamels.

Studio Day!! Two Days Left - EEEEKKKK!!!

Well, here I am - two studio days left before Christmas (one studio day left before Solstice). I am going to be working like a little demon at the kiln today. I need to finish the one bracelet I've been working on and start/finish a second one (if it doesn't finish as a bracelet, it will become a pair of earrings). I need to send those off on their merry ways. I need to pick up the 2nd part of Sharon's gift, although I can also get that later in the week since it's an easy pick-up. I need to dig through my piles (sigh) and find Poo's gifts that I purchased several months ago (I should probably know better than to buy gifts in advance). I do need to get some holiday cards bought. I'm not sending the 100-200 that I have in prior years, but I do have a few people that I like to keep in touch with and need to get going on those.

Other gifts to work on today include some snowflakes for my sister-in-law and her family and a food gift card for my father-in-law (also something that doesn't have to be purchased on a studio day). Jim's main gift is starting to look awesome. I do need to drill the skull and set the tubing into it so that it can be the centerpiece. I'm still very happy with the electroforming on it. The two sidepieces are coming together really well. I corrugated the copper backing yesterday and pulled them into shape. They turned out absolutely aewsome. Today I have to saw out the overpieces from sterling. If I get a chance, I should anneal them and stamp in the text. I don't think I'll get that far, but I will get the disks cut, sanded/filed, and marked for drilling and stamping. I don't keep a torch at the home studio, so if I anneal the silver, it will have to be kiln annealed and I'm working on enamel in the kiln today instead.

Oh, and I get to start the day out with a trip to the dentist for my semi-annual cleaning and checkup. Oh happy day - LOLOL. The pic above is of my dentist's band, The Surf Dawgs. They play 50's/60's style surfer music (think Beach Boys on steroids). Very fun. They have been elected to the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame. Guess I know what "Dr B" will be doing when he retires :-)

Snow - Silence in a Hectic Season

Snow - I really dislike driving through it and having the 5-6 inches that we got yesterday and last night really makes me wish that I could stay home and work in my home studio for the day. Unfortunately, today is a day that I have to be at the shop. My day off is tomorrow, not today, and I have many errands to run tomorrow morning before I can get home and fire up the kiln. So, today I'll shovel (ick) and drive slower than usual on icy streets and through plowed intersections to get to the shop. At least tonight I get my usual Tuesday night dinner of Chinese take-out from Chin's Kitchen.

I remember when I first started going to Chin's. I moved up to Minnesota in 1979 and had a low paying job. I wanted to treat myself, so once a week I treated myself to a nice take-out dinner. Chinese is one of my favorite foods, so I went to a local take-out restaurant. My mother-in-law then asked me if I was going to Chin's. I wasn't - in fact, I didn't know about them at all. It turned out they were this little hole-in-the-wall place with two booths, a few chairs for waiting, and great food. I've now known Mimi and Paul for almost 30 years, have seen their daughter grow up, get married, and have children of her own, and have seen their son Ken grow up from a kid having problems with his homework to a kid who is graduating from high school next year and going to college in Illinois next fall. And throughout that time, I've been there once a week for take-out. I guess they must have good food - LOL.

Let It Snow....

Winter has finally arrived. We've been getting snow - not large snowfalls, but several 1 inch-3 inch snowfalls. The kind that aren't a pain to shovel but that make the area look clean, pristine, and absolutely sparkling. Now I just need a few days of blue sky and sunshine to really pull off this "winter" thing :-) But I think we'll have a few more days of grey skies, clouds and more snow first. I suspect that the wonder of the new season will get old rather quickly.

I picked up some Linseed Oil at the art supply store yesterday. I have hopes that this will allow me to handle the enamel oil paints with more ease. There is a series that I've wanted to do in a combination of painting and cloisonne for a while, I don't know if the oil or the watercolor paints will work better for this use. I only know that the oils, as they currently are, simply don't work well for my current applications.

And I've been dreaming enamel. Not a specific project, but the actions of enamelling. Standing close to the fire with a disk in my hand ready to be put into the heat. I guess I love the action of enamel as well as the metalworking necessary to make something wonderful. I only hope the current project turns out wonderful - I'm running out of time for this Holiday!