Sifflotte

2011-09-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

[more glass casting]

This was my first cast piece, done last year.

I only just now got reasonable images of it.

It turns out glass is really hard to photograph.

And it turns out I'm really good at procrastinating.

before and after

2011-09-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

[glass casting]

They're all less than an inch tall and I'm going to make them into necklaces.

Loose lips

2011-09-08T16:10:00.000-07:00

This cracks me up.

As far as I can tell, the misspelling was unintentional.

But it demonstrates its own point so well!

My face had said too much before our hands could even touch.

2011-09-07T21:50:00.000-07:00

There is something oddly self-absorbed about being in school. Or maybe it's just something that comes with being an artist. We're supposed to know not only what we're making, but why. In my studio class, we're supposed to identify our obsessions. That's actually an assignment. Explore your obsessions.

Basically, as an art student, I'm studying:

1) technique

2) art history

3) why I'm nuts

...and not even in that order.

In many ways, being an artist is like constantly being in psychotherapy. Except we're both the psychiatrist and the patient. And there's no one to tell us what the prognosis is.

So one of the things we're doing in class is to collect images of things that inspire us and fuel our obsessions. It's actually a great activity for developing a clearer insight into What-We-Make, so I thought I'd share an image every once in a while.

I don't want you, but I need you.

2011-09-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

I'm starting a body of work that uses
many small pieces to make large wall adornments.

I like the repetitive process of making multiple objects with slight variations.

It also started me thinking about how much humans like collecting things.

Why do we find many of one thing to be so much more engaging than any one piece by itself? I think we're a little greedy, but I also wonder if it's because we see an inherent resemblance to ourselves as a human species. We are essentially a collection in which each individual is varied and comes together to create something rich and diverse.

If this is true,

can a group of objects be used

to evoke a feeling of belonging?

Loneliness? Nostalgia?

Once in a blue moon, there's a blue sky.

2011-09-03T15:29:00.000-07:00

My work from last semester, displayed for the critique.

(You can see closeups of the pieces on my website.)

Boom, boom, boom, boom.

2011-07-11T23:45:00.000-07:00

"All women become like their mothers.

That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his."

-Oscar Wilde

I've begun an immense undertaking,
one that may later be known as

The Great Reorganization of '11.

Several things occurred at once which brought on this reorganization.

1. I have a new roommate moving in.

2. I can't figure out where half my stuff is. I mean, I know it's here. It's just under the other half of my stuff. But when I'd actually like to have whatever it is in my hand and use it? Then I have no idea where to look. Most recently lost? My scissors.

3. I have time. (That wonderful thing that goes to waste if you don't use it RIGHT NOW. Haha, yeah. That's always been my motto.)

4. I had an epiphany. To be fair, this is something my mother's been trying to teach me since I was born. I don't know if it's never really mattered to me, or if it just now sunk in, but here it is: If everything has a place where it belongs, then it's really easy to clean up and you never have to wonder where your hackletujiklethingy is when you need it. Actually, in the words of my mother it goes like this; "You can just go boom, boom, boom, boom, and everything is put away." Very Mary Poppins-esque, and apparently actually a really good idea.

4(a). There is the possibility (reality??) that I'm getting older. It's manifesting itself in unusual ways. For instance, you know you're getting older when you're so excited about your new vacuum cleaner that you really really want to update your facebook status with gushes about how IT ACTUALLY SUCKS, but you know no one else cares AT ALL.

So, what does this mean?

It means I'm getting rid of a lot of clothes that I never wear. Rule of thumb: if it's been three years and I still haven't altered that skirt that isn't really my style anyway, it can probably go. Additionally, if it's from eighth grade and I've worn it three times since then, it goes.

It means some new shelves.

It means my art supplies are getting labelled and put ALL in one place.

It means I'm becoming my mother. Those who know her intimately know what I mean. I've classified my shoes. I'm trying to decide if I should institute my own version of binomial nomenclature in my closet, but then they might start reproducing and there'd be no more room.

The beginning of my shoe phylum. And the cat getting pretty excited about the change.

Ah, yes, all is going well. Just as long as The Great Reorganization of '11

doesn't lead to The Great Shoe Boom of '12....

2011-06-07T20:19:00.000-07:00

I updated my website.

It has my new work and now hopefully looks nice in all (or most) browsers.

Of course, let me know if it doesn't.

www.shirabrooks.com

ceramic & metal

2011-05-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

Trying not to break the sawblades

2011-05-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

Piercing out the settings in copper....

I'll never be your pizza burning.

2011-05-03T21:28:00.000-07:00

I've been making brooches with ceramic textures.

Here are some templates for the backs of the brooches.

Next I have to saw those shapes out of copper for the backings.

I love how they look before they're put together. All those lines poking out will be prongs to hold the ceramic pieces in place. They'll be bent up and over the clay. But I can't help loving how they are right now. They're awkward and pokey and look like a bunch of weird amoeba with cilia.

I've also been making a lot more bracelets,

with more variety in sizes and glazes.

Here they are before firing.

They're going in the kiln tomorrow.

And, of course, no project is complete without "help" from the cat.

This is what happens when she decides to get a little too hands on. Or tail on.

Jess should rename her "Cruella Deville" or "Stacey London".

All I've got is mud on my knees.

2011-04-23T18:40:00.000-07:00

I'm making jewelry out of dirt.

Ceramic bracelets, with glazes that make me happy it's spring...

Why I'm in love with Richmond...

2011-04-21T22:50:00.000-07:00

The James River

It's possibly the dirtiest "clean" river I've ever seen.

And it's so beautiful.

I'm really enjoying these panoramic photos.

It's such a good way to capture how gorgeous it is.

You can click on them to see the larger versions.

_______________________________

If you think the panoramics are cool,

you should check out these stereographic projections.

This one's my favorite:

I hit the rowdy road, and many kinds I met there.

2011-04-12T01:09:00.000-07:00

SPRING MEANS:

panoramic photographs at Belle Isle

My roots go down, down to the earth.

2011-03-27T22:50:00.000-07:00

Two Sundays ago, I planted some seeds.

Here are my green bean plants now. In two weeks.

Some of the biggest ones are already a foot or more tall.

Does that seems incredibly fast to anyone else?

They're magic beans.

Maybe I'll end up with stalks that grow through the ceiling.

Now I need to build a trellis for them to climb onto.

Falling over your rocky spine.

2011-02-14T20:23:00.000-08:00

Beginning a series of ceramic jewelry...

Two cats in the yard.

2010-12-19T03:59:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot about the ways in which the structures we live in influence our lives. This past semester was all about creating a body of work - sort of a senior project - and so I made pieces inspired by my memories of houses I lived in as a child.

I started off fabricating small boxes out of metal. Each one is based on a house from my childhood. They're also inspired by the spice boxes used for havdalah, which are traditionally shaped like houses, castles, or windmills. Instead of putting in the usual spices (cloves and cinnamon), I mixed various smells together so each house box smells like my memory of the house it's based on.

Each of these is about 2 1/2 inches tall.

I spent a lot of time playing around with surface treatment

(etching, solder inlay, enamel paint, chasing, oxidation)

and mechanisms (hinges, tension fittings, clasps, and some

sort of sliding technique that has no name that I know of).

Here are the four of them displayed for my final critique.

The feeling of being in motion again.

2010-12-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

It's weird that I went this whole semester without saying a peep on here.

Here's a glimpse of what I've been doing:

I do miss making things to wear,

so here are some random images of jewelry that I love, just for fun...

Stick up for yourself, son.

2010-09-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

I am back in school, and already things are pretty crazy.

Since this is my last year, I get my own work space.

It is essentially a closet that I share with two other (awesome) people.

I am excited to have my own space and my own bench and my own cluttered corner.

Don't let this photo fool you. It really is a closet.

I finally finished the project I've been working on since the beginning of the summer.

Here are the wax pieces I made in June, before casting or anything else fancy:

Here's a photo of the components a week or so ago:

And here's the finished brooch:

I'm pleased with the way it came out.

As an unforeseen bonus, it makes wonderful noises

when you wear it and the pieces clink together.

I also finished up some of the rings I cast over the summer.

Here are the waxes from June:

And here are some photos of the finished ring:

I've been working on several other projects,

including a series for my senior portfolio.

I'll have photos of those soon.

If you like it, let it be, and if you don't please do the same.

2010-07-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

Enamel + Very-Thin Copper = ??

I don't know.... These pieces are from my enamel class

and I honestly don't know how I feel about them.

Making them was an experimental process and I can't tell if they are successful pieces.

I've gotten mixed feedback about them and it's hard to look at them too closely anymore.

Oh well. At least the photos are nice.

Castaways and cutouts fill it up.

2010-06-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd show some before-and-after photos of casting.

The images on the right are in wax and the ones on the left are after casting, in metal.

These are some cicada casings I found and filled with wax.

They are cast in bronze. Most of the legs actually came out,

which is really cool (and means I sprued them well!).

These are stacking rings that I cast in silver.

The metal is dark because it oxidized during the casting process.

Once I cut them off the sprues and clean them up,

they will be recognizable as silver.

Here are some gears, cast in silver.

Here they are interlocking with each other.

I still need to cut off the sprues and smooth them out.

I made a few more lathe-turned pieces. These are even smaller than the ones before.

That's a good thing, because I cast them in gold.

Here's the torch I use to melt the metal for casting.

In the background, you can see the crucibles for melting the metal in.

This is a centrifuge for casting.

You can see the crucible for holding the metal

and the weights that help the whole thing spin.

The spinning is what draws the molten metal into the flask.

Is it rolling, Bob?

2010-06-14T15:18:00.000-07:00

I set up a makeshift lathe, using a flexshaft held in a vice.

I'm turning pieces of wax on a mandrel.

Each little piece is shaped using various files.

I think they look like tiny little chess pieces.

I attached a sprue to the end of each wax piece

and then I combined them all into a tree for casting.

Here they are in silver, after a successful casting. (Finally!)

The white stuff is investment that I haven't cleaned up yet.

The next step is to clean it up and saw apart each little piece of silver.

I'm not really sure what I'm going to use the pieces for yet, but it will be cool.

The ants are my friends. They're blowin' in the wind.

2010-06-03T11:03:00.000-07:00

The semester is over and I finally have time

to step back and show what I've been working on.

Unfortunately, what I've been working on turned out to be a dud

and I get to spend the next month fixing it and/or making something new.

I think my biggest issue in general is that I spend too much time thinking about what I'm going to make and not enough time actually making it. I don't mean that in the usual daydreamy sense. What I mean is that I brainstorm, sketch, and plan out too many different projects before I finally settle on one. I guess I just want to make sure that what I'm making is really worth it, but in the end, too much time gets used on the planning and I never leave myself enough time for the execution.

So here is my project for my casting class.

It's a brooch.

It has a wind up mechanism

and all the gears are supposed to spin.

It doesn't work.

There are a lot of small technical issues that are stopping that from happening.

Unfortunately, they are not easily fixable, and so I think this project may have

to go back to the drawing board (or sketch book, in my case) and get revamped.

A bit about the process:

I cast the ants first. I started with plastic ants, cleaning them up and adding dimension by melting wax onto them and carving out a more realistic ant-form. I then added sprue wax - that's the red wax that melts away and creates a channel for the molten metal to run through.

Next, I attached the sprued ants to the bottom of a casting flask with very soft sculptor's wax. There are also some renegade hippopotami in this photo. I had high hopes for these hippos, and unfortunately, they did not make it through the casting process.

The next step was to put these into flasks and fill the whole thing up with investment (it's sort of like plaster). The investment hardens in a kiln overnight, the wax and plastic melts away, and then molten metal can be poured through the channels left in the investment. I didn't take photos of this part because it's fast and hot and not a lot of fun.

What you hope to get at this point is a complete casting that looks exactly like what you started off with in wax. That's what happened with the ants. What you hope not to get is an incomplete casting - in this case, hippos that look like they're drowning in the quicksand of the workbench. Only parts of those poor hippos came out. I tried three times, and I never was able to get a complete casting. I think it has something to do with the type of plastic that they are made out of, or maybe it's just the elusiveness of the hippopotamus' form.

Here are a couple of the ants after I cleaned them up. I also had high hopes for this elephant ring that I got at the zoo, but it did not come out so well either. Again, rubbery plastic could be at fault. Or maybe it's just that large, herbivorous pachyderms don't want to be silver. Either way, I'm not sure I'll try again.

Here is the zoo that was my workbench for a while.

Here is a preliminary layout of the brooch, after I cast the ants and before I carved and cast the gears. Not all the gears came out in the casting process, so the final layout was a bit different.

Actually, none of the gears came out completely, which is a large part of the reason that the final piece does not rotate like it's supposed to. They also warped a bit when I was cutting off the sprues, which made them decide to not play nice with each other. The direction of movement on the mechanism box was another issue, as was the amount of wiggle room in the rivets that connected each gear to the back plate.

So yes. Now? Back to the beginning.

I do believe it's all happening at the zoo.

2010-05-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

But I gotta get a belly full of wine.

2010-04-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

I've been cutting, shaping, and soldering

more little urchin-like shapes for my enameling class.

I'm making a ton of them so I can play around with

the configuration and colors as much as possible.

I am an engine and I'm rolling on through endless revisions.

2010-03-28T15:40:00.000-07:00

After an intense all night session in the studio,

I finished two enamel brooches for my surface class.

front:

back:

front:

back:

Actually, the second one is reversible

because you can swing the pin back around

the other way and wear it with the blue side out.

I'd like to take some photos of these being worn too.

I write my blue songs with my blue pen.

2010-03-17T00:25:00.000-07:00

In honor of the warm weather and fresh breezes,

I've compiled an artistic ode to my favorite flower -

the tulip

This is the best photogram I've ever seen.

[A photogram is an image you make by placing objects

directly on photo sensitive paper and exposing it all to light.]

This one has had the blacks and whites reversed -

photograms are usually black where the light hits and

white/grey where the objects have blocked the light.

Next, a wonderful quilted and woven tulip tapestry,

by fiber artist Connie Akers:

And here is proof that you can do cool things with a camera and

without a computer (of course, you will need a tulip):

This is a digital drawing I did several years ago,

just playing around with layers of different translucency:

And because I'm a metal artist,

here are a couple of pieces of jewelry

which make me think of tulips. Do you see it?

This one's a bit of a stretch, but there's something

very simple and graceful about the setting of this stone.

Simplicity and grace are both tulip qualities which made me fall in love.

I almost forgot this.

It's nature's art - a blue tulip.

I'll buy you a diamond ring, my friend, if it makes you feel alright.

2010-03-09T23:05:00.000-08:00

I've finished my final design in wax for casting.

It's a simple design and I love it for that.

It's sort of chunky on the outside, but it's hollow on the inside so it's quite light.

Which is good, since I'm seriously considering casting this in gold.

The stone is just dropped in place for the photos -

it will be set after the casting is complete.

If you promise to ignore my roughed-up hands,

I'll show a photo of the ring while it's on my finger.

The stone is an opal from a ring that belonged to my great-aunt Irene. It was her birthstone and it is mine as well. Unfortunately, her ring is much too large for my fingers and is missing one of the accent diamonds due to broken prongs. Also, the opal itself was loose before I removed it entirely. All these things probably could be repaired, but I think there's something really nice about taking the stone and the gold from an old piece of jewelry and making it into something new. Recycling in this way is way cool.

There are power lines in our bloodlines.

2010-03-09T02:50:00.000-08:00

I've been stretching out scraps of copper until they are paper-thin,

then cutting into them and shaping them into crinkled and tendrillar shapes.

A bit of solder tacks them in places

and attaches bases.

Tonight, I started to apply layers of enamel.

They go into the kiln at about 1450˚.

After multiple firings, the transparent enamel starts to take on a radiant sheen.

The enamel can't touch anything while it's in the kiln,

so each piece requires its own weird method of propping it up.

Well, hello there. My, it's been a long long time.

2010-03-03T20:11:00.000-08:00

I haven't been working on much lately, so I haven't had anything to show off here. I'm finally back in the saddle and starting to carve some wax rings for my casting class. They'll be lost-wax cast, in which the wax is melted out and molten metal is poured in to take on the shape of the wax. These are rough carvings, just sort of playing around with the material to see what I can do. I'll show more photos of the actual steps of the process when I finalize a design.

More faces.

2010-02-04T20:19:00.000-08:00

They are all about an inch and a half tall.

They're the faces of a stranger, but we love to try them on.

2010-02-02T16:09:00.000-08:00

I pulled out the chasing tools I made last semester and

started playing around to see what sort of characters appeared.

They still need some refining and then... enamel!

This makes me want something cold to drink.

2009-12-19T12:15:00.000-08:00

Another one of my projects was a cup.

I started by drawing a template and cutting this shape out of sheet of 16 gauge pewter.

Then I fused the two long sides together (fusing means there is no seam)

and shaped it by hammering on stakes like this.

After a lot of raising and forming, this is what it looked like. The lines were there to help me keep the whole thing center. It's actually a lot like throwing a pot out of clay on a wheel. Except a lot more forceful. And a lot louder.

Here it is after adding a rim and a base and after smoothing out all the planish marks. I formed the rim by pouring an ingot out of molten scraps of pewter and then pulling it through a draw plate to make thick round wire. Then I connected the ends into a ring and fused them together.

Let's try again.

2009-12-14T20:43:00.000-08:00

So I've decided to cut my losses and start my final project over again.

This is my second attempt:

I used paint as a resist and just brushed on a pattern.

I was excited to see how well the etching worked with the brush strokes.

I'll definitely be playing around with this more in the future.

Here's the final piece, including a spoon I forged to scoop out the tea.

What you get when you potchkee around.

2009-12-13T20:50:00.000-08:00

Ever since the workshop with Fred Fenster,

my class has started using Yiddish to express our discontent with our projects.

Following this trend, I can say without hesitation that my final project is becoming

completely ongepotchket and it can gey in drert via tsybilla for all I care.

For those who are not fluent:

Ongepotchket: AWN-ge-potch-key.

Slapped together or assembled without form or sense. Gaudy and overdone.

Gey en drert via tsybilla: gay-in-DRERT-vee-a-SIB-il-ah.

Literally: Go in the dirt like an onion. An insult.

2009-12-08T10:34:00.000-08:00

I've been awake for the last 49 hours.

I think it's time for a nap.

Spin.

2009-12-06T03:20:00.000-08:00

One spinning mechanism is not enough, so today I became a revolving factory.

Nothing works yet.

My toes are all happy inside of my shoes.

2009-12-05T03:00:00.000-08:00

My friend Amy gave me a mug she made in her ceramics class. Apparently they have mugs coming out of their ears now, because their final assignment was to make 20 of them. I've been drinking apple juice out of it and it has been making me very happy. I love how it looks like it was left outside in a snow storm.

When the semester is over,

I think I need to buy a new pair of shoes.

My toes have been enjoying the freedom, but we're not

supposed to wear open-toed shoes in the studio.

Do you think these count?

The Moscow Cat Theater.

2009-12-04T01:32:00.000-08:00

I have the next three days to finish about 720 projects.

It's actually only six, but that's still an awful lot.

They are in various stages of completion.

They all need to be done by Monday.

This is the start of a pewter container.

The patterns are etched into the metal.

They are the reason my fingers are black.

Here it is as it begins to take shape.

I really wish I hadn't rushed through this project. It had the potential to be one of the

nicest things I've made, but the fabricating hasn't been going that smoothly.

I've been feeling the time constraint. I'm hoping that I can pull

it back together during the finishing process.

And I don't know about anyone else, but I could use a nice distraction.

So here is Jess's cat Schrödinger, performing her usual circus antics.

I fear to be a cog in something turning.

2009-12-02T21:21:00.000-08:00

The brooch I'm making is finally working.

It still needs a surface patina or treatment, but I am so happy that I had to share it now.

I'm thinking something for the surface that gives an old rusty feeling.

I want it to feel sort of like this.

*Edit: I just realized that, on facebook, you cannot see the little video clip that shows the piece spinning. So if you're looking at this on facebook, and you'd like to see the brooch working, click where it says, "View Original Post." Or just click here. That will bring you to the main page and you can see the video.

Rabbit rabbit.

2009-12-01T20:44:00.001-08:00

I finished knitting one hat and started another.

The second one is larger so it can fit over Jess's dreads.

This way we can match when we go to Connecticut for winter break.

If you kind of squint and ignore the tape, you can sort of see what I'm working on for my mechanisms class. It's a brooch. When you push the button, the part that shows through the opening spins. This is the culmination of 2+ months of work. Yeah, I know it doesn't look like much. Maybe it will be more impressive when it's finished? Maybe.

2009-12-01T03:00:00.000-08:00

Etching pewter sort of rhymes with itching powder.

Coincidence?

I've got you under my skin.

2009-12-01T02:59:00.000-08:00

I've been etching pewter. It's coming out really cool, but it also makes a mess.

This is after several good scrubs. Even orange gojo failed me.

I miss being able to use my fingers to actually touch things.

Ow OW.

2009-11-23T19:39:00.000-08:00

I was hoping to share some photos of a finished knit hat or brass brooch or pewter mug,

but instead I decided to remove a small, yet essential part of my fingertip.

It turns out that my urge to get a tetanus shot was prophetic.

This is becoming epic.

2009-11-21T10:26:00.000-08:00

Addiction?

2009-11-17T12:51:00.000-08:00

I just spent 15 hours in the studio, and no, I don't have anything due tomorrow.

OW.

2009-11-14T11:43:00.001-08:00

I got something yesterday that every metalsmith needs.

It wasn't nearly as fun as a new hammer or set of files.

It was a tetanus shot.

Green pizza.

2009-11-13T14:32:00.000-08:00

There hasn't been much time for cooking, so I thought I'd dip into the archives for some good food from the past. Here's some pizza that we made back in California, when avocados were 10 for a dollar and our kitchen had natural light.

If I remember correctly, it was pizza dough from Trader Joe's, cheddar cheese,

mushrooms, and avocados. We added sriracha sauce to taste. It was good.

La pomme d'amour, the wolf peach, or Lycopersicon esculentum.

2009-11-10T22:47:00.001-08:00

You know how people used to think that tomatoes were poisonous?

It could be because of pewter plates. Historically, pewter was an alloy containing up to 15% lead. The lead wasn't much of an issue unless it came into contact with something acidic - such as tomatoes. The acid from the tomatoes made the lead leach out into the food, giving the eater lead poisoning.

By the way, modern pewter is actually a very safe material.

It is about 96% tin and the 4% copper and 2% antimony.

No one puts lead in it anymore, so it's safe to eat and

drink from, as long as you use a lead-free solder.

I guess I'll have to start wearing perfume.

2009-11-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

While trying to understand pewter and its place in the world, I made a perfume container.

I had some suggestions during the critique for a larger handle

on the stopper... something that is easy to pull out and might

use some extra little detail or unexpected material.

Never show fools and children unfinished work.

2009-11-08T14:31:00.000-08:00

In class, we are making brooches out of random found objects. Here's mine halfway through completion. That's a plastic goldfish tail, a river rock, and a glass piece from a bottle. The weird, chair-like thing in the middle is the part I made, and what ties them all together into a brooch.

Here is the finished piece:

It's totally weird and goofy and fun and unlike anything
I've ever even considered making. Now I have to wear it
for a week and have pictures taken every day.

This is a pewter piece from the workshop. It needs a lot of clean-up, but it's getting there.

Flour + Salt + Yeast + Water

2009-11-06T14:44:00.000-08:00

Jake's been baking bread like a mad-man. Well, actually, like a baker.

Look up in the sky! It's a bird... it's a plane... it's SUPER-GROVER!

2009-10-30T10:59:00.000-07:00

Does this omelette remind you of anyone?

Je suis orfèvre et je sifflote quand je travaille.*

2009-10-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

Here's one of my pewter projects in progress.

Ignore the lines - they are reference points for shaping.

I'm really pleased with how it's coming along,

though it is a little off-center at the moment.

This one, my baby, finally got a rim put on.

You can still see the solder mess in this photo,

but I cleaned it all off afterward and it looked good.

That is, until I decided to try buffing it. The buffing machine is a beast, but I refuse to be scared of any equipment in the studio. So I shined it up, and it was looking good. And then it got caught in the machine, spun around many times, and got all the symmetry dented out of it. I don't think this photo really does justice to the damage. I reshaped and knocked out most of the dents before I even took this photo, but you can see in the rim and on the side the amount of work I still have left to do.

I also have a large deep bruise on my arm from the machine as it was bouncing around and I was trying to turn it off. It made lots of noise and many people came over to see what terrible thing I had done. Oh dear people, your gawking did not help alleviate my pain or frustration.

Oh well...

*I am a metalsmith and I whistle to myself as I work.

Can I get your love?

2009-10-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

A little more progress on my knitting...

Is it too early for me to get excited about planting these?

Probably a few months too early.

A whole season too early.

My hands always smell like metal now.

2009-10-25T17:02:00.000-07:00

It isn't quite finished - it still needs a rim, a base, and a patina -

but here is my final copper piece for my holloware class.

This weekend, we had a workshop with pewtersmith Fred Fenster. Pewter is so strange to work with. All the things I know about metal are useless when working in pewter. It's incredibly soft, melts at a very low temperature, needs a gap for soldering, and work-softens rather than hardens. It also contaminates other metals and needs to be kept totally separate, which meant the workshop ended in a frenzy of sweeping, wiping, scrubbing, and vacuuming the whole studio. All in all, it was a wonderful experience.

Here's a piece of Fred Fenster's work:

I hope my own will eventually be ready to show.

Food Day.

2009-10-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

Pro Crass Tea Nation.

2009-10-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you don't want to be doing what you should be doing?

Apparently I ignore all deadlines and start knitting

the most complicated thing I've ever knitted.

I've always been afraid of colorwork, but here I go.

And it's not so bad.

Fri-day is Food-day!

2009-10-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

Apparently I'm not giving food enough of a spot in this blog, so I'm going to initiate Fri-day is Food-day!, in which I show a photo of something delicious Jake has made (sometimes with my help, mostly with me staying out of the way).

So.

This is crustless quiche and tomato soup, made with basil from our garden.

Yech.

2009-10-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

I don't even know what to say about this.

Impatience.

2009-10-15T16:17:00.001-07:00

Jake has already opened one of the jars of green bean pickles.

Vest Wishes.

2009-10-12T20:28:00.001-07:00

It's starting to get cold and I'm starting to get hungry for knitting.

I want to make something that is easy but interesting,

and I'm thinking of this vest from Knitty.

The color possibilities are overwhelming, though, since any earthy color would work.

Here are some of the colors I'm considering:

"Can" I eat it yet?

2009-10-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

We canned! We "put up" six pints of green bean pickles and some pickled cabbage, which isn't quite sauerkraut, but still feels like an homage to our eastern european ancestors. The green beans are from the farmer's market and the cabbage is from our garden. Lest you think it doesn't look like much, that is several pounds of green beans and a hefty harvest from all of our cabbage plants. It packs in tightly.

We needed a pot with an enamel coating,

so the vinegar wouldn't turn cloudy....

we now have the cheeriest pot ever.

Nature versus nurture.

2009-10-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

What is up with these crazy cats that live with Jess? First Schrodinger decides that she should incubate the iris bulbs as if they were eggs... and then Buendia thinks that this is a normal cat thing to do and joins in.

Look out, Pollack.

2009-10-07T19:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo of the paintings that Jake and I made for my new room.

2009-10-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

I moved into a new place!

We all got owls.

I bought fun paint brushes to spice up my room.

2009-09-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

Jake's dad decided that, since I'm making a bike*, it would really only be logical for me to put a Brooks saddle on it. And then a package arrived in the mail from him. And it's a saddle with my name on it. How much cooler could it get?

Notice the copper rivets? COPPER RIVETS! On a bike seat!

*When I say I'm making a bike, what I mean is, I'm slowly buying, acquiring, receiving, and making pieces of a bike. Jake is slowly researching frame angles, tire sizes, and basket designs. Most likely, the actual fabrication of the bike won't happen until next semester, when I write a proposal and convince the school that it's a good idea for me to do an independent study in which I build a bicycle. Then I'll actually make it.

2009-09-28T17:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Jake decided he wanted to paint his phone to match his blue bicycle. So I decided to paint mine to match... a ninja turtle?

I needed a tape measure for the studio. I managed to find one for 50 cents. I can't figure out why it was so cheap. Doesn't everyone want an elephant to do their measuring?

2009-09-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more images from the raising and shaping process.

This is one of the middle stages of raising. It's somewhere between a flat circle of copper and a round cup. You can see all the hammer marks on the metal, but those get smoothed out (planished) later.

After the basic shape of the cup was made, I wanted to chase into the metal. In order to hammer on it without collapsing the entire cup, I used wax to support the form. It's a combo of microcrystalline wax and beeswax. I used it first on the outside, and then later filled the cup to support it from the inside. Because of the beeswax, it smells really good.

I needed a pot to melt the wax into, so I went to Ross and got this crazy thing. It was the cheapest one they had, and so stylish!

2009-09-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

I made some chasing tools out of steel. Chasing is a method of stretching and compressing metal in order to shape it without removing or adding any material. I ground and polished the tips and then tempered them with an acetylene torch. The colors appear during the tempering process and indicate the hardness of the metal.

It's very scientific (molecular structures and all that stuff),

but basically I think it's beautiful.

Then I made my cup fit my hand perfectly. It feels so good.

2009-09-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

A copper cup... this is after raising and planishing.

It still needs work on the rim and possibly some chasing.

Raspberry and brie tarts! They're wonton wrappers filled with brie, raspberry jam, and raspberries. The brie got all gooey and countered the sweetness of the jam.

2009-08-27T18:25:00.000-07:00

I've started classes and my first assignment is a technical soldering exercise. This is after soldering, before finishing...

The large disc that is in that photo is for another class.

We're raising cups out of a 6" copper disc.

2009-07-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

The internet has been down, so I've been awash in

photos and ideas with no where to put them.

The garden is producing something absolutely delicious -

grape tomatoes! They are the best tomatoes I've ever tasted.

I (mostly) finished a sweater. It's my own pattern and I went a little crazy with waist shaping. It fits nicely though. It's mercerized cotton, and I'm expecting it will get soft as I wash it. As Jake is quick to point out, it does still need a bit of blocking and hemming.

Since one knitted project is never ever enough, here's another. It's a scarfy shawl called Springtime Bandit, which makes me love it immediately just for its name. I'm using a wool/silk blend, which I hope will block out nicely. We shall see.

Oh yes, and this insane piece of work....

Jake and I are building a bicycle.

Like, the whole thing, including the frame.

He's in charge of bicycle expertise and I'm in charge of metalwork. We're still in the planning-on-paper-stage (or rather, posting-on-bike-forums-stage) but I have high hopes. Also, it may be green. But that's a long time from now. Now it is this:

2009-06-26T19:26:00.001-07:00

I don't think this gardening thing will be getting old anytime soon.

Look at the giant green bean in the middle.

It's at least nine or ten inches long.

Green beans, lettuce, basil, and garlic straight from the garden...

... And now they are a delicious side dish!

A tiny bulb of garlic....

Another absurdly shaped cucumber. This one's about 3 1/2 inches long.

And something else...

After rooting around in various boxes, I discovered that

I've actually been hoarding cotton thread without knowing it.

Ah! The crafting possibilities!

2009-06-17T20:08:00.000-07:00

An ottoman, as promised.

The color is most like the first photo.

It opens.

It's my new project box.

And here's a new project:

That first photo with the chair is proof that I need one of these and one of these. The yarn is a mercerized cotton from Chile and is the color of the middle photo. It's kettle dyed, an obnoxious mustard color, and gorgeous.

Jake wants to know why I didn't just have the woman at the store wind the skein into a ball for me. And I guess I don't really have an answer except that it's all part of the process. A little bit of tangled yarn makes for a nicer finished object. He says, "No it doesn't." Well, I say, "Yes. Yes it does."

2009-06-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about animation ever since Jess's senior show. I found these two animations on youtube and I love them. They're very different in style and story, but I think that's what makes each of them so interesting.

The Danish Poet

When the Day Breaks

2009-06-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

My garden and I have been having daily photo shoots.

Everything changes so quickly.

(You can click on the photo to see it bigger.)

Green beans.... We're going to have them coming out of our ears.

This weird, grubby looking thing is actually the start of a cucumber.

This is the smaller of two romaine lettuce plants. I just wanted to show Jess that, even though she accidentally cut it all down in the dark the other night, it's already growing back.

This is what the ceiling looks like on a sunny day.

click here to see more of the garden

2009-05-26T07:11:00.001-07:00

cup hooks!

I turn my camera on. I cut my fingers on the way.

2009-05-19T14:03:00.001-07:00

I made some new earrings.

They're simple, but I like the way they look when they are on.

Also, they're not too heavy, which is nice.

I've been beating up my fingers lately. I've cut them with a wood saw, a jeweler's saw, a grater, a file, and piece of aluminum. I guess that's what happens when you have a million projects going at once.

On a happy note, we had a (very tiny) guest in our garden...

Happy Day-After-Mother's-Day To All!

2009-05-11T17:14:00.001-07:00

Jake and I are making an ottoman out of scrap wood. I promised photos, but it's not quite ready yet. So, instead, I have a photo of Jake's cute feet, which will soon be resting on the ottoman.

I made a bead for Jess's hair. My mom took a photo of it for me, but you can't really see the detail. I'll have to get a better shot of it when I go to Providence for Jess's graduation .

The bean plants are starting to get flowers!

It's so cool that I started these from tiny little seeds.

That's it for now.

Let's build a garden with everything we need, out in the side yard, on a quiet street.

2009-05-07T15:19:00.001-07:00

It turns out, my plants weren't hungry for sun. They were thirsty for rain. And now they've been getting absurd amounts in the last week. And they're happy!

They're starting to grab on!

If I was a sculptor... but then again, no.

2009-05-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

I've actually been working on some metal stuff, despite the fact that my metal-motivation has been pretty much non-existent. My brain is being way too negative and is telling me that it's pointless and frivolous and will never amount to anything anyway. But then I wear something I've made, and someone tells me its great and I should be selling my work... and I don't know. It's hard.

This is a piece I just finished.

I wanted to try something structured and symmetrical, but I think it's just shown me that the free-form, organic shapes are nicer. I also tried combining copper and brass in one piece. I'm not sure if I like it or not.

Here's one of my other necklaces, made in brass only.

I want to knit you a sweater, I want to write you a love letter, I want to make you feel better...

2009-04-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd show some of what I've been working on. I'm hoping it will give me some motivation to finish up these works-in-progress.

I started knitting this sweater, got to the fun part, ran out of yarn, and have been putting off buying more because I'm afraid it won't match.

It's the OWLS sweater by Kate Davies. It's probably way too cute, but when I saw the buttons for eyes, I couldn't resist. And, since I had this yarn laying around.... I had to. But then it got complicated because I had to knit with two strands held together because the pattern called for a much heavier yarn that what I had. And then I ran out. And then it got warm, as in 85-90˚, and I realized I don't really need a wool sweater until next fall anyway. So I will definitely be finishing this sweater! But maybe not soon...?

All day long, I'm sitting, singing songs for everyone.

2009-04-26T19:46:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling so inspired lately, by nature and art and everything I've seen. Here are some random ideas for projects that I don't want to forget:

quilts

lino cuts

watercolor

dal packets

thick paints

lemon soap

french knots

photo collages

strappy sandals

ribbons on shoes

embroidered buttons

setting wood using rivets

I tried on the summer sun, felt good.

2009-04-22T23:08:00.000-07:00

Nice and warm - knew it would.

Tried the grass beneath bare feet,

Felt neat.

Finally, finally felt well dressed.

Nature's clothes just fit me best.

And, since this is clearly going to be one of those sort of blogs.... I have more to say. Today was Earth Day! I didn't do anything earthy, like attending the local-food-thing at Whole Foods that I really wanted to go to, because I had to work. But! We gave out seeds at the bakery today and lots of people were excited about it. I was afraid at first, because I really thought few people would get a free packet of tomato or sunflower seeds at a restaurant and then actually follow through and plant them, but it seemed like that may indeed happen.

Also, the earth seemed a little freaked out this morning about the celebration. It started off sunny, then thunderstormed, then was sunny, then rained some more. It went back and forth between rain and sun maybe five or six times. Explain that.

I'm worried a bit about my attempt at growing plants. We have a big balcony that I immediately claimed for a food garden. That excitement faded when I realized that the balcony faces north and never ever gets any direct sun. Not one to be dissuaded (yeah, right), I started pole beans, radishes, cilantro, various cucumber, and pea plants from seeds. They did okay as tiny seedlings. Now it seems (to my measuring eye) as if they've all just reached a plateau. It's as if they have just enough sunlight to not die, but not enough to put forth any new growth. I bet I can just forget about actual food coming out of these guys. They can't get past their awkward teenage stages. I'm awfully close to rigging a fluorescent lighting system to pep them up, but then that seems a little counterintuitive. Isn't the point of all this to get food from stuff that's dirt (and sun) cheap?

This is my basil plant, which clearly doesn't mind getting no sun.

2009-04-22T22:26:00.000-07:00

I've recently discovered that I can't sleep. It's really the thinking that is the problem - no complaints about the bed or the dreams. I just can't stop thinking about all the things I want to do. I think a large part of me is just daydreaming about all the things I'll be able to do, make, and create at a later time. It doesn't help, too, that I'm starting to get much more hooked on other things like growing food and sewing. Give me a little more time in this mindset, and I'm sure the list will expand even further. It may even extend to writing if this blog does its job. And that brings me back to what I wanted to say originally. I'm going to use this as a place to get out my ideas. I hope it doesn't turn into something too disjointed, or if it does, I hope that it's at least a creative sort of chaos. Wish me luck!

2009-04-19T20:20:00.000-07:00

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