EBAY

 Time to Experiment:

with EBAY!!!

There is this one.

There are quite a few more.

I'm learning how to get them up.

One by one.

Don't like much the idea of them leaving....

but, it's time to at least open that door.

I sell as #SardineQueen.

And here's

one of the Twins!

Bee Bracelets and a Cat Spoon

I'm starting to show a little of what I do

 in the VOICE of the River Valley.

The Bee Bracelets were in the April Issue.

In the May issue,

the Cat Spoon #1 was shown:

The cat is copper.

It is 4 1/8" long,

1 7/8" wide at the bowl,

and just short of an inch deep.

It measures 1 tablespoon of water.

Most all my chasing is one-of-a-kind.

My work does not translate well as molded castings, 

unless I specifically aim for that result.

I'm also making unique wall mounted holders for these things,

so they can show off, 

and not be lost in a kitchen equipment drawer.

chased, repoussed, honeybee in progress

Wondering how to finish a few pieces,

I began experimenting with an unfinished honeybee.

Needless to say,
I got carried away into a completely different direction.
There will be more.

Trout Days

I've lots of chased/repoussed copper and sterling fish. 

Trout and otherwise that I have been meaning to complete.

This year I got sidetracked by a road construction map.

I did, however, experiment with the dullest of the fish.

Now, Mary of Crossroads Coffeehouse will be

appropriately adorned for Trout Days.

This, the third of the Aluminum cuff Bracelets,

may also be part of the Trout Days Adornments.

Small Poundings

The amount of time each piece of metal holds is still an amazement to me....
These are a few of my small silver and copper poundings.
I'm learning to solder....
rivets are next....
and in between I'm trying to get a handle on Lascaux hard and soft grounds.
I really would love to do some etching,
I'm way not prepared to deal with etching....
but, in Robert Adam and Carol Robertson's book INTAGLIO, on page 164,
I see something that might give me some satisfaction....
so, experiments are beginning.

Clear flux copper color surprize

(I'm posting this to help illustrate a question I'm asking)

I'm short on time...
but I wanted to show you what I was talking about...
I just put it on the scanner...
not the best picture,
but I think you can see what was going on...
it's a champleve piece...(not sure about that spelling..)
but instead of filling in the etched out spaces like I was supposed to...
(learning and just forgot)
I just dusted the whole piece with clear flux enamel..unleaded...

Will this kind of metalic/irridescent greens-blues-reds happen each time?So, lucky I was...
I added some extra flux in the "flames" ...fluxless in the first firing...
it did not darken like the others did, but turned a great red, perfect for "flames"...
When fired several times more, the other pieces
did nothing but get darker and darker...no additional flux added...
yes, there were colors that looked like they were deep inside...
but, very hard to see without bright light.

I'm wanting to get this again...
is this something that normally happens, or can one encourage it?
I don't care if the colors happen in unpredictable places...I can work with that...
but, I'm really interested in this now...

Pitch Bowl

It was difficult...
hated to stop...
but, I brought my pitch bowl into the house

in order pack off to Haystack Mountain School of Crafts...
where I will meet up with it and my tools
in order to take the class taught by Kirsten Skiles.
Marcia Lewis, of ChasingMetal.com told me I'm going to learn a lot from her.
(she says "Hi" Kirsten!)
I guess I could keep figuring it out myself....
but, taking this class will speed things up for me...
answer lots of questions...
and who knows what all.

I'm leaving this one in the pitch
because I want to know if there are tools I can learn to make
that will do some things I can't do right now...
so it's coming with me.

It is an odd feeling, though, sending my tools off to "camp"....
but, I'll be busy...
there's a woodcut to work on...
another to start...
a painting to complete...
a couple drawings to finish....
I'll still be arting.