So I Gathered...

Technical Difficulties

So I am now the proud owner of a Mac computer, complete with all of the bells and whistles, courtesy of my very generous little brother, Taylor Jones.  Check out these biker guys he photographed for a shoot at the big Sturgis motorcycle rally.  He is a wiz with lighting!  I think these guys have a Rembrandt-esque look to them now!  He is an amazing freelance photographer and always needs the latest and greatest gear.  So on this go 'round, I received his "old" computer when he upgraded.  I have 30 years (ahem!) of PC use under my belt, so I am definitely on the learning curve for the Mac.  My external drive (where I store all of my photos so they will be safe-hah!) crashed when we were transferring everything.  My heart was in my shoes because I have all of Fiona's baby pics, my artwork, etc. on that drive.  Back up everything on two sources!!!  Once again, tech-savvy Taylor saved the day and was able to retrieve everything!  We are still working on transferring stuff, so a post with pics will have to wait.  Just didn't want you to think I had forgotten about you...

Oh, and the enameling experiments are going along very well...

The Jewelry Bug is A'Gnawin'...

So I am going to post about my jewelry making musings, but first, I have to post these pictures of Fiona.  We were at the ranch the other day and she started picking the burrs out of Burrito's (I didn't name him!) mane.  He just loved the attention and kept stepping in closer to her until he was leaning against her.   He doesn't really do that with adults...

 

 

 

So, as much as I love paper, I must admit that metal is my first love.  I have taken fabrication classes in the past and tinkered with various ways of incorporating it into mixed-media pieces.  Below are a few examples of past work:

Resin poured into metal vessels...

 

 

Precious metal clay with image transfer...

 

Cold connections...wire, nuts, bolts...(sorry for the lousy pic)

 

Image transfer on metal and cut out with jeweler's saw, accessories attached with nuts and bolts...

I only made about 10 or 12 of these back in 2003 since the transfer process was super iffy, but if I may toot my own horn, Tim Holtz and Thomas Mann each bought one!  I think enough time has passed that I might try these again...

Soldered piece with tintype attached with nuts and bolts... 

 

 

 

So, lately I had seen some enameled pieces that fired (hah!) my imagination.  My talented friend Lisa Crowder makes amazing jewelry with some incorporating enamel, so I asked if I could watch over her shoulder one day while she enameled.  It turns out that she takes lessons and rents studio space from a jeweler who has the most amazing space over Uncommon Objects.  I had to pick my chin up off the floor and wipe the drool off of it!!!!  I had no idea all of these offices and studios were up there!  I ran into Steve, the owner of Uncommon on my way in and he showed me his space that he had just moved into.  I cannot even describe Steve's studio...boxes and piles of the most interesting stuff separated by color.  He does wall installations of, that's right, uncommon objects, that are just phenomenal!  He also showed me four new hanging pieces that incoporated beautiful textiles.  Read the article under "Press" on his website...very interesting!  Lisa was kind enough to go through her process and now I can't wait to see what I can do.  How will I incorporate the enamel?  Well, I guess you will just have to check back at some point and find out! 

Oh, and speaking of jewelry, here are a pair of scrumptious antique earrings I picked up at the City-Wide Garage sale this past weekend!  So delicate and unusual!

Art-Full Weekend Finds

So I did manage to find a few goodies while shopping with Deryn, Sally and Kim when they were in town a few weekends ago.  Deryn, Sally and Diane Cook have  written lovely posts regarding our time together for the Magnetic Personality Doll workshop if you want to view some more eye candy!  Uncommon Objects always yields treasures and I was not disappointed this time for sure!  All of these things are tiny...a doll's mirror, mourning brooch, mini metal yo-yo, metal adding machine keys, etc...

 

I especially loved this little compact...it will be transformed into a locket containing secrets in the near future!

 

My true coup, however, was this dressmaker's mannequin!  I have wanted one for SOOOOOO long!  Kim found her first and I bit my tongue and tried not to fidget as she was deciding whether or not to purchase her.  She decided not to and I was up at the front counter in a flash declaring that I was putting the mannequin on layaway!

 

She is in wonderful condition with just enough wear to show her age and seems to be about a size 4...I definitely won't be sizing my clothes on her, lol!

 

I picked her up yesterday and didn't feel out of place at all as I wheeled her down South Congress with my arm around her waist!  And what a guy Paul is...he thinks she is cool and that she looks great parked next to the printer's cabinet in the living room!  He said she fills the space well and that I won't have to water her like I would a ficus...

 

On Sunday, I found lots of fabulous stuff at the CityWide Garage Sale...

 

The woman who had all of these lovelies was showing for the first time in years and it turns out I had shopped in her booth at Warrenton earlier in the year!  We chatted while I made piles...she said piles were good because then I would receive discounts!  I love old rhinestones that have lost a bit of their shine and whose settings have tarnished. 

Tenni recognized a fellow afficianado, so she started pulling out all sorts of bits and pieces, knowing I wouldn't mind if stones were missing or things were incomplete.  My find of the day with her (under a piece of really tacky brightly colored plastic jewelry!) was this piece of rhinestone trim that had woven metal thread connecting the rhinestones...yummy!

 

There was another couple that hadn't been there before that had a tray of buttons and bits of jewelry from the early part of the twentieth century.  I gathered up a handful of groups of rhinestone buttons that were wired together and asked how much.  She said, "Oh, I don't know...$5?  We're trying to clear out inventory."  Uh, yeah, $5 is fine.  Check out the rectangular and square stones!  I don't see those very often...

 

And last but not least, I found this old metal lawn chair frame and I had to have it for our garden.  We have recently done some landscaping that I will have to share with you in another post and I am always on the lookout for funky things to use.

 

I want to grow things up through it, or perhaps cover it with pieces of sod and make it a true "lawn" chair, lol!

 

It's funny...I find that I have more to share on a blog than I ever thought I would and it is just finding the time to fix photos, upload them and write the post that is the difficult part.  So I would like to extend a big "thank you" to those of you who put up with the length of time between posts and my inconsistent flow of time as I backtrack in an attempt to cover some past event that I think you might find interesting.  I appreciate it very much...

 

ABBA-solutely Fabulous!

So I overheard Fiona singing to herself as she was coloring..."Money, money, money...Must be funny...In a rich man's world."  Now, I don't think she was offering an opinion on the current state of economic affairs in this country, so I asked her what she was singing about.  She jumped up and started telling me all about her cousin's music cd with all of these great songs on them.  I told her that I was familiar with the song she was singing, along with others by the group named ABBA.  I took her into my studio and looked up some ABBA hits on YouTube.  I told her she was about to hear one of my favorites, and as the opening bars started playing she said, "Oh, I love 'Dancing Queen'!  But mama, there is one more that you will love even more because it has your name in it...'MAMMA MIA'!"  I just started laughing and we bounced around to songs that I had enjoyed as a little girl.  It is pretty amazing when certain pop music can span generations...

Here are a few samples of a class I am proposing for Art & Soul Hampton 2010.  I found these wonderful cradled hardboards at Texas Art Supply (my absolute favorite art supply store in Texas!) while in Houston last week and the idea just hit!   Since the top is hard, I collaged on it, then drilled holes through it to add metal wings and a crown.  I purposely went past the edges of the board to add some interest and dimensionality.  I am calling the workshop "Over the Edge" and I think it will be a lot of fun!

 

 

 

 

It felt really good to make these on Tuesday.  I had felt rather depressed and in a creative funk for the last several weeks...ok, months.  It is difficult to come up with something that you think students might enjoy making while keeping within your own "niche" and not step on anyone else's toes.  I had put together a class that wasn't accepted at one venue and didn't have any sign-ups at another, so that hadn't helped with the mood either, lol!  It was wonderful to spend time with some good art friends this past weekend and receive positive feedback on my newest class, Magnetic Personality.  I felt re-energized and creative after last weekend, so thanks to you all for that!  I know that one does not achieve success overnight and we must keep plugging away, but when the art muse decides to take an indefinite sabbatical without prior notice, the creative spirit can take a nosedive. 

Do you ever have ideas just rattle around in your head and you think you will go crazy if you don't try to make them into reality?  I tend to get so frustrated when daily life makes its demands on my time.  But I am thankful for said life and all it encompasses, so I really shouldn't complain...except when she manages to do this to her room...