Possibilities I'm Bringing to the Table

My Workshop teacher, Andy Cooperman, sent a class-wide email of general "welcome" and minimal "instructions" out to those of us taking his class next week. I finally had a chance to read it in-depth a few days ago and one of the things he mentioned was a desire to have some photos of the items we were thinking about using in our project. So, I took photos of things I'm bringing along to use in my project (or not use, which often seems to be the end result), and I thought I might share them with you too. What we'll get in class are some basic materials - sheet metal of various types of metal including bronze - the larger equipment items like our torches, and bits of this and that. So, here's what I'm bringing to the table. 

This is a selection of items that I'm bringing along to my workshop.
Faceted cubic zirconia stones for setting, 2 differently sized
diameters of copper tubing, a carved face with an owl headdress
made from fossilized ivory (I'm a bit uncomfortable about using
any ivory, even though this is ancient), colored disks (yellow, white and
olive green) of Capiz shell, an old camera lens from an old digital
computer camera, irridescent abalone shell pieces, and two amber
 colored stone beads. 

Here is a photo of the entire array of things I'm bringing to play with. It's not really a lot of stuff. If I bring a bunch of stuff along, I'll spend my three days trying to decide what to work wish instead of just making a decision and rolling with it. I'll probably work with several of these, but many might travel there and back again unused. Let's look at some details, ok? 

Here's a close-up on some of the abalone shell pieces I'm thinking about
using. The left-hand pieces remind me of eyes, eyebrows or tears,
the right-hand piece evokes a nose or a beak. Possibilities exist and I
have a good selection of pieces in my bag. 

Here's some of the abalone pieces I'm bringing along. Abalone is a univalve sea shell with an iridescent nacre cushioning the interior of the shell. Think of it as the inside of an oyster shell, but larger than oysters usually grow. In many Native American cultures, abalone shells are used as vessels for burning sage to smudge rooms for purification. I've been using and selling abalone half-shells, buttons and odd pieces for many years. 

Just look at this piece of abalone shell. Doesn't it have the look of
a dog or wolf? I could quite easily make this into a
representation of the Egyptian god Annubis. 

This one piece of abalone I'm bringing along keeps tugging at me. Doesn't it look like a wolf or a dog to you? I'm seeing this as a side view of the god, Anubis, if I add ears. Fans of "Game of Thrones" might see it at a Stark wolf. It would certainly work for that image and world-view too. Whether I work with this one piece over the next few weeks or within the next few years, this one will be used - it's too amazing to waste in a drawer. 

I disassembled an old camera that was supposed to sit on top of a
computer monitor for using Skype or other interactive communications.
Cameras tend to come built-in now, and with much better graphics
capabilities, so I was going to donate this to my local Tech Dump. But
the depth and rings of the lens really intrigued me, so I tore it
apart for the lens. I would love to play with this. 

I am totally intrigued by the possibilities presented by this old camera lens. It has depth and texture. It's role could be an ever-hungry mouth or a symbol of a journey to inner peace - so many possibilities. I really want to play with this component and by choosing this, figure out the best ways to entrap items that can't handle the heat when combined with metals that require torches. 

These two stone beads aren't super large, and if I'm working on copper,
they might get lost because they could blend too much, but they're coming
along for the ride, because you never know what I might end up
using when push comes to shove. 

Finally, I have these two stone beads, because I am a beader and beads are usually incorporated in much of my work. They are quite different - one a flat, thin tab, the other a rounded cylinder. I love the color and entrapping beads is usually pretty easy - some wire through the hole, secure to a base plate, voila! 

So there you have it - my workshop possibilities. Along with a small carry-all of my tools, I think I'm ready for my classes. Now to actually pack clothing - the idea of no clothes just doesn't appeal to me. I have a few days to toss clothes into my suitcases, so I'm not really worried ... yet! Have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back on Monday. I might start getting intense about packing on Monday night - LOL.