Details, details...

Attending to details has been my focus lately. I've been firing lots of COPPR and BRONZclay inlay pieces from a workshop I taught recently. Fourteen students made dozens of pieces - it was lots of fun... and the detail work of carefully firing all those pieces kept me very busy!

Mentoring details - a bit of adventure this summer has been the chance to act as sort of a mentor for an emerging metal clay artist - a college student who was introduced to me by a metalsmith friend. It's been fun to watch his work evolve as he explores the material on his own - pretty much without instruction or preconceived notions - then he shares his creations and observations with me. It's been fun and different from my usual experience as a teacher. He first tried his hand at silver clay and recently made some really creative rings from the new FastFire BRONZclay. Gotta get those last rings fired before he returns to school. My kilns have been getting quite a workout lately! 

Class details - new classes were listed on my website today. Lots of prep and details for those too. I'm really looking forward to the start of the new session. 

And if you really want to talk about details, check out the amazing jewelry of John Paul Miller. I had a chance to see his work up close again this past weekend - it's on exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art. He is known for his incredible work with granulation and enamel. His beautiful presentation renderings and sketch books are on display too. 

A few years ago I was honored to have the opportunity to chat with Mr. Miller about jewelry making and metal clay. You may be surprised to learn that he was among the first artists to try PMC at the Haystack Experimental Workshop in May of 1995. Though he didn't pursue metal clay work, he was very interested to talk about the material and how it had evolved from that first workshop. It would have been great to be in one of Mr. Miller's classes at the Cleveland Institute of Art - some of my friends who are CIA jewelry artists were lucky enough to have that experience. 

Visit the links above, check out some of the images. If you live near the Cleveland Museum of Art, you really should visit and see the work in person - it's all about the details...

The 2010 PMC Conference, inspiration, "big news" and fun.

That's where I was this time last week... the 5th International Precious Metal Clay Conference held at Purdue University. Back in 2002, I attended the very first conference at the College of Wooster and have attended all five. Metal clay has come a long way since then - and it's been pretty amazing to be a part of its evolution.

The speakers and presenters were excellent. Linda Darty's keynote address started us off with some wonderful inspiration - I really enjoyed seeing so much enamel work (as you may know, enamel is near and dear to me). She shared how various events in her life had been a significant influence on her work - the interpretations were wonderful. The second day, Bruce Baker spoke to the group the with lots of energy and insight into the business of craft. He knows the business inside and out and his observations were so interesting. Alison Lee of Craftcast spoke on the third day with a delightful presentation about her "Life in Code." She reminded us how our experiences shape our lives - that when we look back we can see where they have influenced us. And how those of us who have pursued art (for hobby or profession) may have shown some interest/aptitude as children. I could relate to many things she shared about her childhood, specifically the influence of creative parents/grandparents and being given opportunities to try things that sparked even more creativity.

The conference featured some great presentations and demonstrations by many accomplished metal clay artists. I was honored to be among the presenters. And I was sorry I couldn't attend everyone's presentation - we had to choose which ones to attend - and that was really a challenge. The whole time I kept wishing I could be in two places at once!

There was an excellent show titled "Cultural Messages." Well, I heard it was an excellent show... I didn't even get a chance to see it. I kept thinking I'd get to it when I had enough time to see the whole thing but then I never found the time (insert a big frowny face here...). I think the images of the pieces will be online at some point, but it won't be quite the same as seeing it in person.

A new FASTfire BRONZclay was released as of the conference. I haven't fired anything with this new version bronze clay from Metal Adventures, but I've handled it - it has a great texture and consistency. The real advantage is that it will fire in as little as 2 hours!

PMC Pro from Mitsubishi was announced at the conference. There was a lot of buzz about this new material. It's supposed to be stronger than sterling... I tried to bend Barbara Becker Simon's bracelet (she invited me to) and couldn't get it to move. It's 90% silver, which makes it a lower silver content than sterling (.925). This brought a lot of questions about what that remaining 10% might be. Suggestions ranged from copper to germanium to platinum and even aluminum! It may be some combination of the above. We won't know until closer to the release date (October)... the formula is a closely guarded secret - at least until all the patents are in place.

At the 2004 PMC Conference I was privileged to present two seminars. One was on Small Scale Mass Production and the other was on Enameling on PMC. Presenting and preparing two seminars wore me out, so the next two conferences I just attended with no responsibilities. This year, my love of water etching inspired me to offer a Tech Expo presentation on the process - specifically Water Etching on Hollow Forms (another favorite of mine). In addition, I was invited to be part of a demo team during one of the lecture sessions. Sherry Fotopoulos and I had fun demonstrating "Creating with Coils." 

It was so wonderful to see old friends and meet new ones. That was so much fun. I love connecting with artists from all over the world. The people I've met through metal clay are pretty amazing. I'll be counting the days 'till we meet again.

Zentangles... so there's a name for that?

Recently, I started hearing about a "new" drawing phenomenon called Zentangles. The term started popping up in various blogs I read, so I began to investigate. The word "new" appears in quotes because doodling in this way isn't really new - it surely wasn't new to me... I've been doing it for years - as have many others (like Zoe Nelson and Catherine Witherell). The part that's new, is the phenomenon of lots of people drawing and doodling who weren't in the habit of doodling or making art. It's pretty much gone viral, with workshops, websites, books and related materials - including kits - appearing practically everywhere. There's even Zentangle Flicker Group.

Isn't it great that so many people have discovered this? It's always been a meditative form of drawing for me. Many of my jewelry designs were inspired by these patterned doodles, some of which I've been repeating for over 30 years - which I always just called "doodles." But now, I guess there's another name for it...

Another form of Zentangle that appeared on the scene is the Zendala. Zentangle + Mandala = Zendala (you may have read how much I like Mandalas and creating them in many ways). The images to the left aren't quite the style of the Zentangles drawn in a circle, but they are Mandalas made from some of my favorite doodles with an iPod Touch kaleidoscope program. They were later used as designs under transparent enamel... the possibilities are infinite.

Maybe I'm only helping to fuel the Zentangle "craze" by blogging about it. But this definitely a craze I can support. I love this kind of drawing and have filled pages with similar looking doodles over the years. And I found that many of the patterns I've used are commonly used by other doodlers. No doubt many posted are offshoots of things seen on the internet or in Zentangle instructions, but still, it's kinda fun to see that somebody thought of the same pattern I did - I might see a pattern I started doing 20 or 30 years ago. I hadn't seen theirs - and they hadn't seen mine... I actually think that's pretty cool.

Learning about the Zentangle phenomenon has been useful because for the last several years my doodles have been drawn with only one weight of pen - a fine line marker - mostly because I carry only one such marker with me. And mine look more "sketched" because of it - filling in the larger areas with a fine marker. Vickie Hallmark was inspired to make Zentangles - and hers are far from sketched, they have a cut paper or woodcut print quality. Seeing the various markers people are using for these has reminded me to go back and use different size markers to get more varied line width. I used to use Koh-I-Noor Rapiograph pens for doodles in the days when I did a lot of technical illustration. They aren't so practical for doodles now, but back then I always had them handy.

So grab a pen and start to doodle. You'll get lost. Everything old is new again... I'd be curious to hear how many others have been making "Zentangles" and didn't even know it...

You too can be a winner...

Lucky me! This past week, I won a drawing at Tonya Davidson's blog. Tonya is the driving force behind Whole Lotta Whimsy, one of my favorite places to shop for metal clay stuff... the prize was an Ice Resin Kit and some bezels! And all because I made a comment or two about some of the fantastic projects presented by the Master Muses.

Earlier this year, Tonya, a creative business woman and talented jewelry artist, started a program with 8 other talented artists to creatively meet various project challenges. The Master Muses have come up with some amazing projects which will eventually be available as tutorials so you can see in detail how each project was made. You'll be a winner if you just check out these cool projects - but if you comment on the blog, you'll be entered (just as I was) in the next drawing. Can't win if you don't play... (yes, the link goes where you think it does... how long can I keep mentioning this?).

Tonya's blog is also full of great information on everything from marketing to artistic growth, fashion trends, artist interviews, and more. She's provided the metal clay jewelry community with another great resource. Thanks Tonya, for the Ice Resin Kit, but especially for sharing the Master Muse program and all the other ways you support us as artists... your generosity is appreciated!

The PMC Guild Annual - has it really been a whole year?

The selections have been made for this year's PMC Guild Annual (#4). The jurors have viewed the entries and chosen some great pieces. Some people are thrilled - others aren't so happy. By now, everyone knows the results and those selected have seen a proof of the book. One of the jurors, Lora Hart, reached out to the participants with a blog post to congratulate and console - and she offered some great suggestions to entrants for next time - and read the post following that one too...

Last year, I was a juror for the Annual - an experience I really enjoyed - and like Lora, I felt that I wanted to speak to those whose work was rejected. The blog post I wrote last year, which encouraged people not to let rejection shut them down, was reprinted in Metal Clay Artist Magazine earlier this year. If you have faced rejection, maybe it will be of some help.

As for this year's Annual, I was just a participant in the process... and by the skin of my teeth. I was pleased that the one image I submitted was chosen. Originally, I had great plans to submit a couple of new things I was working on... but when it came down to the deadline, one piece wasn't finished and I couldn't get a photo I liked of the other... so I ended up sending that one image (shot months ago) overnight - for $25.00! Yes, I could have sent it any time before that for about $1.50. Did I learn something? Like maybe to send the one you're sure of - then send the others if you finish them?... (I sure hope so!)

Congratulations to everyone whose work was chosen. And to everyone else, don't fret, get busy - because next year will be here before you know it...

Listening to the Universe...

Today I walked into our local bead shop and was greeted by the owner's incredulous sounding voice saying "Cathy???" and wasn't quite sure how to react. Denise Newman, the owner of the Isle of Beads, (say that out loud and you'll hear "I love beads") went on to explain that the customer she was helping had inquired about metal clay classes. Denise told her that if she wanted to take a class from someone in the area she should look me up. She had just told this to the customer and mentioned that I hadn't been in the store for several months... when I walked in the door (cue the Outer Limits music). We were all a bit stunned. I talked with the customer for a few minutes and provided some information about classes. After she left, we remarked again at the odds of this occurrence. Then Denise made a comment to the effect that this wasn't just the "Universe" gently suggesting that this person take metal clay classes - it was practically a full-out smack on the forehead... I had to agree... even more so because my plan was to be there earlier in the day, but other events delayed me. The other cool thing is that I went to the bead shop looking for a certain bead which is no longer available (because the source disappeared) in hopes that Denise could find it for me... and oddly enough, a rep who might be able to get it is coming tomorrow - so I can bring back a sample bead to see what he can do.

I'm pretty open minded. I'm sure not going to argue with such so-called coincidences... as a matter of fact, my whole day really went like that. Maybe I was tuned in. Things just clicked - from an early morning meeting, to a visit to our podiatrist, to finding the only halfway decent gluten-free beer on sale at Whole Foods!

This afternoon, I visited a gallery that carries my work. When I walked in there I was greeted with "I owe you some money," and left with a check and a request for some pendant and earring sets.

After that, a good visit with a friend, followed by a trip to Trader Joe's where (after filling my cart with goodies), I found this red wine we'd liked, but couldn't remember where it we'd gotten it. Funny thing is, I looked last time I was at TJ's with no luck...

With a day like this, you can bet that when the cashier at Trader Joe's asked me to fill out the raffle ticket for bringing my own bags, I jumped at the chance... after all, you can't win if you don't play... and who knows?

Heikki Seppä

Last week, I learned of the death of a talented metalsmith and innovator. Finnish-born artist Heikki Seppä, died May 18th at age 83. His work first came to my attention in 1978 when I was in college studying metal crafts. That was the year his book Form Emphasis for Metalsmiths was published, introducing new ideas and a new vocabulary to metalsmithing. In one of my classes, we were working with raised forms and practiced making various synclastic and anticlastic curved forms in metal. We were moving metal in ways we hadn't even considered before. Seppä developed these forms to create his shell structures–lightweight hollow forms that were curved, graceful, and just plain amazing. The sinusoidal stake is his invention, too. It's a wobbly looking tapered metal stake designed to facilitate the shaping of these unique forms. 

Seppä is also credited with pioneering work in metal surface reticulation, something he brought to the United States after training with a former Fabergé artist. The technique was developed in the late 1800's in Czarist Russia and used by Fabergé and other court jewelers to create textured objects.

Reticulation, an unpredictable organic-looking torch-created texture, is usually done with a silver alloy (also possible with a gold alloy). The technique is based on the fact that a pure metal and an alloy have different melting points and rates of expansion/contraction. A layer of pure metal is raised to the surface of the sheet of metal by depletion gilding (a repetitive process of heating and pickling to remove the copper oxide from the surface layer). The resulting sheet is then heated with the torch to a point at which the interior alloy begins to melt but the surface "skin" is only softened. As the piece cools and the alloy contracts, the surface becomes covered with ridges. Reticulation silver sheet can be purchased from jewelry suppliers like Rio Grande. It is not sterling. Its higher copper content lowers the melting point of the alloy, creating less risk of melting the surface layer and a more dramatic effect.

Another contribution credited to Seppä is his work with roll-printing. This is transferring a texture onto a metal surface using a rolling mill (not unlike what metal clay artists do to transfer a texture to the metal clay without the rolling mill).

A great book for both the anitclastic raising and reticulation techniques is Metals Technic, from Brynmorgen Press. Heikki Seppä contributed the chapter on Reticulation, and artist Michael Good, who studied with Seppä in 1979, contributed the Anticlastic Raising chapter. Good has developed and expanded the techniques in this form of metalsmithing and his work is simply stunning.

It's been ages since I've tried either of these techniques, but in the past few years I have thought often about trying my hand at the raising techniques again. I can make some time to do that, right?