So Life (and Storms) Continue - It's A Good Thing

I managed to sort through three boxes yesterday and repack so that one can survive winter temperatures and possible freezing, one must be indoors at my kiln, and the third is all stone which needs to be identified, have the cost recorded, and be filed into my system. I guess I fell behind in this process a few years ago. *sigh* It's going to take me a LONG time to get this nailed, but I'm going to feel much better once I have. 

I have a Paragon SC2 kiln for my varied arts requiring the use
of a kiln. I use it for enameling, glass fusing and all of my
metal clay work. It's a workhorse and I love it. I have small
regrets while enameling because I didn't buy it with a windowed
door, but that's a minor inconvenience. 

Five minutes ago another visit by the Gods of Thunder crackled and boomed at my window. Another one just hit now. There are lightning strikes within three miles of my house (according to my weather app on my phone), so there's a storm pulling through. According to the app, it's going to be a wet day again today, with rain ranging from 100% to 50% and back to 100% throughout the day. My umbrella will be in use today and my shoes will get wet as I walk into the shop from my parking space. 

I have a Tiffany stained glass umbrella similar to this one
that I purchased at the art museum in Omaha, Nebraska
several years ago. I adore it - it's large, it looks fantastic,
and it collapses into a size that easily fits in my car's
glove box. (Mine doesn't have the pointed top or the
hooked bottom.) 

One of the things DH had requested was my moving my small wood stack away from a drawer unit. I successfully put the shorter (less than three feet) pieces onto a cabinet shelf, but the taller pieces just didn't have a home. DH says he might put them at the very top of our new storage unit. That's fine, but I'll have to put a label onto it or I'll forget that it's there. Since I use the wood as dividing panels in my box art (I re-purpose boxes and enhance them for their new uses), I'll probably need those lengths of wood at some point and will go looking for them, not remembering that they are near the ceiling. A label will be necessary. 

I used to have a P-Touch 1010 label
maker. Since that one died, I ordered a
P-Touch PTH110 as a replacement.
I guess there are now phone apps for
this as well, maybe for my next one.
For now, this will do fine and is priced right. 

For years I had a P-Touch label system - loved it and used it. When I pulled it out of its' drawer a few days ago there was no power. Replacing the batteries seemed to not work, even though the batteries were new, and attaching a transformer to allow it to run electrically also failed. I tossed it and ordered a newer model which, since I had a Discover credit I could use, ended up free! Of course, I also needed some label tape, but in the end, a $50+ product cost me less than $20. I can live with that. It'll be delivered in a week (free shipping option). 

I used to sit on the front porch of my old house and watch the
lightning. My father-in-law would call and we would chat as
we watched "together". I respect the destructiveness of lightning,
though. A friend lost her house to a lightning strike less than five
years ago. 

So I'm going to let the Thunder Gods continue their conversation as they roll over the Cities. I'm going to wrap this up, find photos to add, and call it a wet morning as I brave the elements to get to the gym. Have a wonderful and amazing Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow - a little soggy but ready to continue this journey of life. 

Progress!

Well, Malcom came through and I was at his glass saw yesterday at 1 pm.  I love using these - they just cut right through like butter.  I do have to grind things smoothly before placing them into the kiln for a final melt, but I'm really happy with the results, and it was fun seeing Malcom again.  We figured out that I've known him for about 20 years now.  He's doing some wonderful things with custom lighting fixtures - very nice.  He also showed me his larger equipment that I'm welcome to rent time on - his large flat grinder...oh, the possibilities :-)  I now have the pieces scattered across the top of my clothes washer and I hope that tonight I can spend some time with my grinder and do the final shaping so that I can set the kiln to start cooking again.  If all works smoothly I will be able to start beading next week.  At least on some parts.  I still have drilling to do also, and that, potentially, can cause the entire thing to crack open, so it has to be done very carefully. 

This is NOT one of Malcom's lights, but it's very cool, isn't it?

I got my author assignment for the LOTR Big Bang and was contacted by him last night.  I think we'll be able to work very well together.  I've never done story illustration before in my life - I only have to produce a single picture, but who knows?  I need some clarification from the organizers on the deadlines, but once I receive those and do a bit more thinking about what I want to portray, I'll be ready to start work on this.  How fun!  Have a great Thursday! 

Playing with Fire

So today I'm back to work, my rose is sitting next to me brightening up my day, two electricians were found to make quotations on rewiring my father-by-marriage's home, two new CPA's have been found to phone and switch my business to one of them, and my kiln is still clicking as it goes through a VERY long cycle to fuse the first 4x4 square I'm making for my BFAC pieces.  It's rather like cooking a souffle - you can't open the oven to check the progress or everything falls apart.  I don't have a peephole or window in my kiln (I've been wanting one, but $ isn't there).  So it's an unknown until I open the door.  Either I will have a nicely fused 4x4 square of 3-layer glass, or I will have a serious puddle on the floor of my kiln which won't make me happy at all.  I still have one more piece to fuse before I can start the next stage.  I'm crossing my fingers that my fusing program had accurate times and temps for the complicated program that I input. 

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work I Go

I'm caught up on writing challenges, so I can either spend my mornings working on art or beadwork, or I can continue working more chapters of my Original Female Character.  She's been very well received by my fellow writers and is turning into a very popular character.  I have a good book that I'm in the process of reading all - that's probably where my efforts will go today.  I'm too tired to expend a great deal of energy.  24 Hours and Counting until the Royal Wedding. 

All Cylinders Firing

It seems as though I am always working on art projects while watching Le Tour de France.  I remember working on a set of Bead Artist Trading Cards while watching Lance crest mountains.  I remember working on the wooden under body of "Rocking Horse Dreams" while Lance fought again for dominance.  And yesterday I spent my morning in front of the office TV refining my charms and readying them for firing.  I left an interesting brown/copper dust smudge on my carpet, but it's the office - what goes on in the back room doesn't really make much difference.  In fact, it was rather amusing to see the small dune that my sanding had caused.  Last night I buried the first group in charcoal and began firing them.  I need to wait until the temp is down to 200 before I remove them, and the kiln was only down to 425 when I awoke this morning, so instead of being able to sandwich in one more fire this morning, I have to wait until tonight before I can do the nest batch.  I packed 16 into the first firing.  At that rate it will take three firings before all of them are ready for the next step.  And I'm really curious about how well they took and how much shrinkage I got.  I still have work to do on these charms. 

My Paragon SC2 kiln

The well in the gulf is finally capped and oil is no longer gushing out into the water.  There is so much that went wrong with this oil well, it is impossible to list all of the individual problems.  But what concerns me is the environmental impact of this spill - something that will last for many years to come.  I suspect that even into several more generations, this disaster will still be affecting the Gulf environment - the birds, fish and other wonderful critters and the ocean.  I see the impact of ocean pollution daily.  Shells that I used to be able to purchase and sell are no longer available because of decreased populations due to pollution, and those that I can get have their prices much higher.  I can't blame all of the price increases on the crappy economy that we are also living with right now. 

Children coloring.  When was the last time you spent time
with a box of crayons and some paper?

But in all of this negativity, there have to be some positive strokes, after all, I am basically a very positive person.  That can come from art and personal expression.  I firmly believe that everyone has a talent that will make them happy.  It could be craft/art in nature - painting, drawing, sculpting, throwing a pot, quilting a blanket, or beading a necklace.  It could be more practical in nature - inventing a new recipie or arranging plants in a garden to maximum visual benefit.  It could be interpersonal - adroitly causing people with diametric views to come together and work for a common goal, finding common ground and possible friendships in the journey.  Find your talent, express it and work with it to allow your wings to furl and yourself to fly.  Have a creative day! 

Progressing and Designing

I am trying to get my scheduling nailed for the year. I know that I will complete an item for Beading For A Cure, the charity against colon cancer that I have been involved with for many years. And if my friend Shruit gets our application in and accepted, I will be participating with her in a second competition piece. But I think those are the only two beading competitions that I will produce beadwork for this year.

In metal clay, I will be making charms for the charm swap at the PMC Conference in July, and I will be making some Art Clay Copper pieces to enamel and test out because it's a new product that I actually have owned for a while now and just haven't had the time to play with yet. I may or may not do more with metal clay this year - it's still very much in the air. I love the product, but I also need to work on my fabrication skills which have fallen by the wayside.
For fabrication, I will be setting enamel pieces. I need to finish my cloak pins. Then I would still like to do the center heron for my heron and chrysanthamums piece that I started more than a year ago. And I want to make more enamel. Lots more. I really love playing with enamel.

And I'll be drawing. Because my fingers are itching to pick up a piece of graphite and a sketchpad and draw. And many of those drawings may make their way into color and finally into glass because the projects that I have in the works are into sketch mode now.

And finally I'll be sewing - I'll be hand embroidering the borders of cloaks and machine sewing the cloaks themselves. I still want to do a new corset for Renaissance Faire, and I want a new skirt also. I have had the fabric for that for a couple of years, I just need to actually make the items.

Well - it looks like I'll have a busy year. Guess I'd better get going on my art front!

Cold and Creativity

It's cold. It was colder earlier this week, but the more than seven days of constant sub-zero temps are starting to drag on me and I feel cold. Part of that is also a lack of sleep - the end of the week is when I start to drag. But I need to be "up" for when I unlock the store. Sometimes I think my Assistant Manager and I should be awarded Academy or Tony Awards for the performances that we manage to put on when customers are in the store and we are either feeling poorly or just plain tired to the bones.

My DH simply doesn't understand this. He stays up until midnight, but he sleeps until 8 or 9 in the morning. So he's getting his 8 hours of sleep. I get between 5 and 6 hours when I'm lucky. And all I can do is think that I'm burning my candle from both ends.

But I have so many projects coming to my head for upcoming enamel projects. And I have a new piece of equipment that I'm going to be ordering that may allow me some really fun flexibility. Since I'm planning wall pieces, not pieces for adornment, I'm really hoping that I can manage to accomplish in reality what my brain is telling me I need to do. Not just in the construction, but also the colors, the shading, and the accents. I need some time alone with my kiln.....

Charms, Charms, Charms...

I have 49 charms fired and ready for their enamel. I have a kiln that has a coating of icky black fine dust from the activated charcoal and the stainless steel firing container that I used for said charms firing. So, after I get my outside errands done today, I'll be hauling the vaccuum downstairs to vaccuum out my kiln. Then I'll get to work putting a back and front onto each charm so that I can begin working on my enamel painting. I'm cashing in my Holiday certificate (take one extra day off work of my choosing) that my DH gave to me because I need more time to accomplish this. 49 charms is a large amount when each one needs four separate firings. I have a total of Wednesday, Friday (my certificate day) and next Wednesday to accomplish all of this since I would rather not work on my enamel work on Sunday. I guess we'll see how efficient I can be today, but there is also drying time to take into consideration.

Since the charms are copper clay, they are more porous than standard sheet copper would be. So I have to be very cautious with pickle. Therefore, I will be trying to fire both the front and back of the initial firing at the same time to get a coat of clear on the copper. After that, I can do one side at a time without a problem. I'll have to mix up some gum arabic to hold the underside properly. The top will be totally transparent colors, but the bottom will have its' second coat be opaque, so I can hide a bit more with that. I've run through the process I need to follow in my head over the past few days and I think I have the procedure and order nailed. I guess I'll find out as soon as my kiln is ready to go today. I am also very grateful that the temperatures are mild today. Working the kiln when the temps are in the 90's or more is extremely uncomfortable, to say the least, although sweating through the process might allow me to lose a pound or so. I'm just so happy to be able to get back to my enamel work!

Hmmmm....Have I Mentioned????

Have I mentioned lately that I hate the IRS? If I haven't.....I really don't like the IRS. We have a family high deductible health plan which entitles us to have a health savings account (HSA). Apparently it is against the law to have a joint HSA, even though the health insurance is joint and even though both of us can write checks from the HSA account for health-related expenses. So, in the infinite wisdom of the IRS (not!!!), because I am the primary name on the HSA account, my DH (Darling Husband, Dear Hubby, Damned ... Damn Him - all depending on mood, time of day, and events pending) cannot put in a legitimate "catch-up" donation to the HSA account because I would not qualify for this donation for another year. Have I mentioned that I hate the IRS?

So, today, my DH (pick your own definition) gets to go to the bank and open his own HSA account - because, of course, we aren't allowed to have a joint account. Then he can deposit this additional contribution into his own account. In the meanwhile, I got to live through his temper tantrum about the idiocy of the policy for three hours last night. He's not my Dear Hubby right now....

On a more positive note, I had a very productive day at the kiln yesterday. Finished my color strips for my opaque colors so I'm looking forward to starting work on my 3-D pieces next week and maybe getting to start work on my transparent color strips. It was so nice to have some kiln time, although I can already tell that working at my kiln during the summer will be a very hot experience. I'm still looking forward to it though. It's just SO much fun!!!

Errands, Cleaning and the Kiln

The conflict of time once again raises its' ugly face. I have errands that have to be done this morning. I have to deposit a check into my retirement account before the end of the day so that I can file my income taxes. I also have to purchase the latest Prince music CD at my local Target - the only store authorized to carry the music. I have boxes to mail, a bank deposit to make, some funds to transfer and a duplicate book to return to Barnes & Noble (one of my favorite places in the world - books...I LOVE them). After all of that, I may actually be able to get to work in my home.

It occurred to me this morning that I have been in this house for 22 years. (No, I don't live in THIS home, but it's a wonderful picture, isn't it?) In that time I have accumulated 22 years worth of "stuff" - much of which I really don't need and all of which is getting seriously in my way. I have been trying to clear things out, but I have realized a remarkable lack of success in that endeavor. But I will have to keep on trying because I need to make things clear enough that I can eventually move my studio into the home instead of keeping it both at home and at the shop. That's going to cramp my space and my DH refuses to give me any more of his own crafting space. So, back to the attempt to clean, organize etc. And in between all of that, I MUST work at the kiln today. My fingers are itching to play with some enamel. And so, once again, housework will fall by the way and art will reign supreme. I like that choice - at least for now :-)

Tucson - Wish I Was There

Every year the world gathers in Tucson for the largest Gem & Mineral Show in the world. The show itself takes over more than 40 different venues across the city and extends for most of a month in length. Many shows are 3-day or 5-day shows, others are multi-week shows. Most of the shows are "wholesale" shows, but their admission documentation varies and often that definition of "wholesale" is quite broadly painted. I love the excitement, the sights and smells, and the beauty of stones and materials that I can't find elsewhere. BUT, I'm not there this week. In fact, I haven't been in Tucson for the past several years. The last time I was in Tucson I purchased a lot of material for my work. And I'm still in really good shape with my raw materials. I simply didn't need enough new material to justify the trip expense and time. So....I'm here in the snowbelt when I would rather be fighting the crowds, the road construction and the parking mess. But, maybe I can go next year. There are some pieces of equipment I would love to see and try out (and maybe bring home to my own workshop), and maybe I'll have had an opportunity to use up more of my overstock so that I'll need new stones. A girl can dream.....

And on the enameling front, I have been getting project backup lately. The past two weeks I have not had the time to fire up the kiln, so I have necklace components for my Beading For A Cure 2010 project waiting for their first experimental firing. I also have decided on a six-panel sequence for my cigar box project and am working on the storyboard for it. I might bring my magnification projector to the shop with me today and start the storyboard work there so that I can see what things will look like at the proper size. That will help me determine the best way to get the imagery onto the copper. Some of the designs are quite complex and I will need to determine how to get that detail through in the glass. What a fun quandry :-)

Enjoy your Friday - create some beauty today.

Success and Blood Sacrifice

Studio Day was very productive. Even though I had to run all over town and didn't get to the studio until 11:30 am, I put my things down, turned on the kiln, and started work. I counterpunched a hundred or so pieces for drilling while waiting for the kiln to warm up. Then I dove into the enamel and hot stuff (on a frigid day standing next to a hot kiln is a wonderful thing). I had already put the first front/back coating on during last week's session. So this week was devoted to the final coats. One more back coat and two coats of design for the front. I was firing from shortly after noon until the last load hit the pickle at 5:00 pm. I got a LOT of pieces in my second decorative series ready for assembly. I don't think that this decorative pattern will be as popular as my first one, so I probably have plenty of materials ready at this time.

And what is it with blood sacrifice? I'm not talking the Aztec or Maya civilizations. I'm talking about the fact that every time I work on a serious project, I end up cutting myself, or abrading myself to the point where I am bleeding. Is this something that will help the glass cure properly or the paint set in the correct areas? It seems rather silly, but I know a lot of people in a variety of media who have the same thing happen to them also. So what do you think? Does this small gift of a bit of blood make a project sing? Or are we all just klutzy and trying to put a good spin on it?

Wednesday On My Mind

It's Wednesday - Studio Day. I need to run all over town this morning buying supplies for the store, and then need to print out 80 brochures and registration sheets for my Beading For A Cure bead packages. I'll talk more about BFAC as February approaches, but I'm getting the beads packed for shipping this week and next. After I am finished printing out all of the paperwork, I can start working on my newest enamel pieces. My fingers are already itching to get involved in the glass and throw some things into the kiln. I can hardly wait to get some creative work underway again that's in a different media than my pencil and paper.

Possibilities - things that have popped into my mind for possible later creation? Among the projects that have come this week are a fountain, a night light, a medallion, a series of sigils, a pattern of embroidery (and I'm NOT really much of an embroidery person). And that's just in the past 7 days or so. One of these days I'll actually have time to explore some of these ideas - work on bringing some of them past the thought stage, into the possible design stage, and maybe even into the process stage. In the meantime, I thank my Muse for allowing my thoughts to branch into paths previously unseen and come up with more fodder for my Studio Wednesdays. Pilamaya Iluvatar.

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.

Time....I Need More Time....

It is December 2nd. I have approximately 20 days to get the last things ready for gifting for the holiday season. For many of you that might be Christmas, for me it is Solstice, but either way, time is running out. So, tonight I will pick up my kiln and tomorrow I will grab the projects and enamels and I will work at the kiln at home on Wednesday in the hopes that I can get more projects finished. The inconvenience is that I won't have my pickle, and I won't have my drill. So if I need anything drilled I will have to make sure it is done before I leave for my studion on Wednesday morning. I need to get some quick earrings enameled, I also need to continue work on my DH's enamel work. Will I have everything finished in time for Solstice? Probably not. But I'll have given it my best shot and that's really all that I can ask for.

Go forth, create, brave the shopping lines if necessary, while I sit at home, read fan fiction with a nice glass of wine, and hope for Barnes & Noble gift cards (or Amazon gift cards) for the holidays. I'm SO easy - LOL. Have a great Tuesday.

Decisions, Books and Arts

Well, it was a nice weekend. DH and I played LOTRO (Lord of the Rings Online) for several hours, working on getting a couple of characters up in levels. We ate pasta on Saturday (the usual wonderful pasta from Bascalli's) and the last of the turkey on Sunday. "They" (the ubiquitous "they") say that turkey should be eaten within three days of Thanksgiving or put into the freezer. I prefer to just eat it and end it. I think I'm turkeyed out for several more months and think I'll do ham for Christmas instead. But it was very good, and actually healthy (although the amounts DH and I ate maybe were over the "healthy" mark).

I am looking forward to putting my kiln into my car on Tuesday and bringing it home so that I can get some serious work done on Wednesday while I'm home. I'm trying to think of the best place to place it so that I can work easily and still contain the heat that it normally generates. I don't have a real secure and non-shaky metal item/rack/shelf to place it on that also has good lighting. Normally I would put it onto the chest freezer - I use that space for my electroforming, my dehydrator for my metal clay work, and for my toaster oven for any resin enameling or mass image transferring for my etching work. I know it will handle the weight of the kiln without a problem. I'm just not sure about the heat, and the lighting isn't great right there. But it may be the best choice. I'll contemplate it a bit more today.

And last night I had fun with decisions. I've got my head deep in a book (actually some fan fiction that I am really loving). I had a choice - do I spend the calories for a piece of pumpkin pie that I really don't want, or have a glass of wine that I've been wanting for several days. Wine won out. I'm pleased with the choice and may have some more tonite :-) Have a wonderful Monday - think artistically.

Breakfast and Projects

Another studio day and the holidays aren't creeping up - they are racing up. I need to get one more skull into the electroform solution, start the enamel work for a centerpiece pendant for my DH, work on the store newsletter (already two weeks late), and I would be happy if I got some design work done on my cloak. Before I start work at my home studio with all of these things, I need to meet Meghan and Chickie for breakfast, get the silver fused onto my copper disks for the later enamel work with a quick kiln run, and do some banking, renew my auto license for my car, get gas, and buy some furnace filters for the shop. EEEKKKKK!!!! Too much to do. Given my schedule, I'd better try and get the skull into the solution before I leave, and I have to make sure that I have all of my paperwork for my auto license before I leave. To do the little bit of kiln work and still meet everyone by 8am, I have to leave by 6:30am. It's starting to be evident that getting up at 3:30am STILL isn't early enough and that's a serious problem since I don't get away with living on five hours of sleep for long amounts of time without collapsing at some point. This candle has more than two ends that are burning.

Time to get going......

Back to the Kiln

Over the past few months, I've been focused on my fabrication work. But I've been wanting to get back to my enamel work and make something with some copper pieces that I have as well as start a piece for my DH for the Holidays. I think I'd better try and make something because I certainly don't have the extra cash to be able to buy much. It'll be a stark Solstice at this point - just not a lot of cash available for gifts. BUT - it gives me an opportunity to create some unique items for his gifts and that's always fun. I'm focused on getting at least one hour of kiln time this morning before I have to open the shop. We'll see if I am successful. There's a small bracelet just perched at the edge of my brain - LOL.....

Sunday - So Fine

The past seven Sundays, I've been up at 6am to get to Ren Faire near opening time. Today was the first Sunday after Ren and I actually slept until 9:30 am. What a luxury!!! Of course, all I dreamed about was this new pair of earrings that are perched in my head. I'm using a BronzClay bottom with a copper-bezeled olivine Peridot and some tube-set 2mm stones (haven't decided on the absolute color/type of these yet, possibly Padparadschka Sapphire). But the kewl thing about it is that I think I've figured out a way to make them kinetic - to allow them to have independent motion. I'm not sure my skills are up to the project, but I am certainly going to try my best. I think they'll look absolutely awesome. And, since DH actually said that I could spend some time working on my own projects today, I got some work done. Got some items ready and loaded for the kiln, got one-half of a pair of sterling silver and incredible Agate earrings ready for soldering, and cut the copper bezel for the kinetic earrings, as well as making the two half more uniform. Unfortunately, I have to work tomorrow. Fortunately, I will have a couple of hours of bench time before I have to work. If I focus on the positive, all is good :-)) And I've also decided I need to start saving for a new, larger kiln. The amount of space I currently have is great for my enamel and silver clay work, but just not enough for the larger BronzClay items that I want to do. So, time to start socking away any extra cash so that I can buy a bigger kiln and hire an electrician to wire it in for me.