Making time for etsy...

With all the leftovers from Winter Park, it is about time I get things rolling into my online shop in Etsy. Here is a sampling of the goodies available, all torch fired enamel:

Bad Blogger!

Well, I hope everybody had great holidays with family and friends! I have been consumed in work over the last month or so, and have completely left the blogging for later. I have been all over the place since the last post... from Arizona across Missouri and back to the Smokey's.

In Arizona, I participated in the Mesa Art Festival, held for the last few years right before the holidays. This year I was awarded a second place prize! It was a lot of fun to see friends there and meet new ones. My boyfriend, Ryan, was there for support... it was good to have time together!

Here we are, setting up...

And a sampling of some of the work I had created for the show:

rings with patterned metals

torch-fired enameled ornaments

lotsa earrings!

lots more necklaces!

...and now the feat of getting them up on etsy!

I've also been working on some other things:

an engagement ring commissioned by one of the staff here at Arrowmont, for another staff member- how exciting! Darren and Maxine were engaged to be married on December 15th. They met here, and they are two extremely hard working, funny and warm people. Congrats to the two of them!

For an exhibition entitled Charmed at The Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, a set of charms. They are made with patterned metal, shibuichi, and sterling silver. The images doesn't quite show the tubes that are holding each piece together... lots of cutting! The show will be posted online, and the charms will be available for sale. There are lots of participants from all over the country, and I am very excited to see what the others have come up with!

This piece is a tea infuser. It was made for the eXtreme tea exhibition that will take place in Houston during the SNAG conference. Check out the link! They choose my image as one of four for their card! It is about 5 1/2" long, and made from patterned metals, silver and nickel. The tube rivet allows the piece to swivel open and closed to add loose tea.

Judy Belcher and myself put together this piece utilizing her polymer clay skills put together with my metalworking. The piece was a collaboration for the Synergy II conference in Baltimore. This is an international show in which polymer artists were to collaborate with others and see what results might come. I had a great time collaborating with Judy, and I am anxious to collab with others now! We were featured on Polymer Clay Daily a while back- how cool!

Whats next? Tomorrow will be the first day of teaching community classes, I'll be teaching Rings and Things. Students will learn all the basics of metalworking. It will be a blast! Our resident artist exhibition is right around the corner as well- we start installation on March 1st! Yikes!!! The residents will also be going to Middle Tennessee State University in February to give an artist lecture... Stay tuned! I'll have so much more to share coming up. And I am hoping to stay more current with the blogging! until next time- vic

Torch-fired Enamels

What a great week! Our class with Marjorie Simon flew by, but not before she could share a variety of skill sets with us. She shared torch firing enamels, fold forming, embossing and the hydraulic press, solderless pin backs, and a variety of cold connecting techniques. We had such a great group, some who had never touched metal, gallery owners, even the vp of the Enamelist Society. And we all come away with new knowledge, and pieces to show for it!

Marjorie even brought some of her own work with her, to show examples of the ways that she uses the skills she was sharing. They were just gorgeous.

And student work a plenty:

Vicki Mathieu

Diane Howey

Robin Lathroum

Cynthia Hicks

...and these were my samples, which you probably recognize from the last post. I fold formed everything and used etching creme galore. I really liked the effect of the matte finish on such vibrant colors.

The last thing I tired was embossing in conjunction with enameling. I used steel binding wire, then some blues. I also used the solderless pin back Marjorie taught us. It was a good solution to making a lightweight, wearable piece. I donated this brooch to Arrowmont's silent auction, which took place the Friday evening. Auctions at Arrowmont are a lot of fun, and support the student scholarship fund. I was happy to see this brooch go home with Bill!

This week long class was incredibly enriching, and I will have a lot to think about in the studio! It was great learning from Marjorie and I know enameling will be showing up in my work from here on out!