anticipation

New steel components waiting to compose new work ... this is my palette, my starting point ... delicious anticipation ... sweet surprise awaits ...

pebbles

small rings

wedge nuggets

spires

vertebrae

nuggets - cubes and pebbles

pendants

wafers - the darker ones are what the steel looks like straight out of the kiln ... love the contrast

back to work for this little peep .......

l i g a - kvk

before

Shutting down electronics, focusing, designing and making and creating and taking lots and lots of deep breaths.  Our Trunk Show is on Friday ... let me just say, I've got a lot of work to do............

my delicious palette of components ... so so inspiring

Can't wait to see how it's all going to come together ... but come together it will.

Onward.

l i g a - kvk

transitioning

It was such a weird day.  Well let's just say the Atlanta Apparel Mart is not a good fit ... literally nothing really handmade, no artisan work of any kind ... at least we didn't see anything.  We left the house at 6:30 to head down there for what turned out to be a 3 1/2 hour drive - not so bad.  We tried 3 times through the morning and early afternoon to check into the motel, but no rooms were ready.  We ended up staying at the mart for about an hour and a half ... and that was a stretch.  There were some nice showrooms, but nothing for us and then there was way too much really scary stuff.  After bailing on the show, we thought we'd go to a museum that looked like walking distance - it wasn't there!  What up with that?  Back to the motel.  If we left the parking lot, we'd lose our parking space and have to wait until after the show closed at 6 to have any chance of parking.

So about 1:00 we decided to head to a section of town we remembered as having cool restaurants and shops.  It's been about 10 years since we were in Atlanta ... things have changed.  Lunch was okay, the once progressive, interesting shops are gone and the new ones were mostly geared towards the college crowd.  But I knew for sure, one favorite shop was still there - Mooncake.  If you want to see the kind of clothing they sell, it's kind of an east coast version of Kati Koos.  I wanted to see if it might be a good spot for my jewelry.  This is where the day turned around and what the Universe must have been trying to tell us all day ... go to Mooncake!  The owner was there, we chatted for a good while, she loves my work, we exchanged emails, plus I got some much needed feedback.

After that, we were done.  I called the motel and cancelled our reservation.  I called the housesitter, apologized profusely and said to pack up, we were coming home early.  We got home just before 8, exhausted, but confident we had accomplished our goal of finding a place for my jewelry.

That's the challenge, isn't it?  Creating work, designing and making and putting your heart and soul into pieces.  You get to a stopping point, gaze upon your creations and then have no idea if there's a market for this body of work.  I have to admit, it's happened to me more than once or twice, nobody gets it ... at least nobody I know or have access to.  I've spent the last month completely absorbed in my new collection.  I look at it now and there's many elements that are the same or similar to things I've been doing ... but for some reason, it just feels very different ... more raw, more true.  I've been exploring the envelope's edge, well, my edge.  I've slipped my toe out there - just a wee bit.  Getting such a positive response from a respected shop owner was a huge boost to my confidence.

So what's next?  Good question.

I've got the Etsy shop loaded up, but things have changed there as well ... I need to figure out how to raise the profile of my shop and get the work seen.  I'm sort of ... no, I am ... following my nose and my heart.  Just taking one step at a time, and staying open to opportunities ... saying yes a lot more than usual.  One thing, though - I'm hesitant to get any deeper into the world of steel metal clay until I see if this work sells.  I might change my mind.  I've got so many ideas for bigger, bolder, genuine envelope busting work.  Hmmm, as I write this, I can see that - yes, I do need to go further, get fully acquainted with that edge, push my boundaries.  I've got a good start, a delicious taste ... don't stop now.  Onward ...........

Here's a peek at a couple more pieces...

 

    
That's it for now ... brain freeze has set in.

l i g a - kvk

et voila - the collection

I think I'm done ... at least for the time being.  I've got a few components that I haven't used and I have yet to make earrings or bracelets, but I'm kind of fried and need to stop.  

But, gotta say, I really do love the look of this work ...

After deciding on the closure (BTW - thanks again for your comments and opinions!), I did some final tweaking and fine tuning on a few pieces.  One noticeable change, I switched out the Ghana glass for Basha beads that I had stashed away for something special ... I think these super chunky applications fall into the 'something special' category.

Here's the three Basha beads I used.  I also got onto a theme for the number '22'.  I've been seeing 11:11 a lot and I decided to put that into the work.  The two necklaces on the right are "Elevenses", 11 metal beads, 11 fossils; then there's the piece on the left with 3 mondo turtle shell fossils and 19 bronze discs.

A close up of "Elevenses" ...

Of course, I absolutely adore the way the bronze and steel cubes turned out.  Really exceptional ...

So, what's next you say?  I'm going to see what I can get up onto Etsy in the next two days for a bit of a test drive ... see what kind of reaction I get.  Then, this weekend, we're going down to the Atlanta Apparel Mart to walk the show.  I'm looking into doing the show in February and want to get a feel for where my work would fit.  After that, I'm not sure.  I'd been talking to Colleen at Niche about a trunk show of the new work, but if that's going to happen, I definitely need to flush it out with the earrings and bracelets.  I mean, after all, it was finding that sweater at Niche that started this whole new direction.

Okay, time to do some picture taking and pricing and all that ...

So, if anyone is lusting after any of these, check my Etsy shop later today or tomorrow.

with much gratitude and heartfelt blessings ...

l i g a - kvk

the further evolution of a new collection

Well, it's been a week of experimenting and learning with sore fingers, some near misses, some great successes and a disappointing failure.

I've figured out a fair amount in the steel metal clay world.  Interesting that the only pieces that didn't sinter properly were from my first traditional method firing ...

I was pretty excited about my raw ruby and sapphire focal pieces.  I thought they had fired just fine until I was really pressing down on them with my steel brush and then ... pop!  The ruby piece had already broken in half during the firing, but then it broke again while pressing down on it.  It's really interesting ... the outside is fired and polished, but you can easily see the core is not sintered at all.  Turns out the sapphire piece was the same.  Needless to say, after seeing this, I did some serious reefing on everything to make sure the pieces were fully sintered.

After that first firing, I found out about Hadar's updated faster firing schedule ... worked like a charm for all the other firings ... and there were at least 4 or 5.  I was also taking some liberties in how I loaded the fire box - no problems at all.  Big caveat here - I'm pretty sure this works because my kiln is larger and the fire box sits well within the kiln elements, back from the cooler front of the kiln.

My week's work - 150 grams of steel metal clay plus some regular BronzClay .......

Some of my favorite pieces are those cubes.  Unfortunately, there were problems with some of them.  I got the sides a bit thin and during the firing, they cracked and separated a bit.  I could have fixed them with more steel clay, but by then I'd used it all.  But necessity is a great source of creativity and  I remembered I had some first generation BronzClay in the refrigerator.  Okay, so I'm pretty sure I bought this clay before we left Port Townsend ... 3 years ago.  I brought it across the country, tightly wound in plastic wrap, in the cooler with Zoe's food, and it's been in the refrigerator ever since.  One little bit was kind of dried out, but the bigger chunk was in pretty good shape.  I took some small bits and filled in the cracks and reinforced the back sides and, lo and behold, if these aren't just some of my favorite pieces ...

I was really doubting the whole steel clay decision, but after seeing it with the bronze ... I don't know, there may be more steel clay in my future.  BTW, I fired this batch using the kitchen oven burnout phase - perfecto!  And that's the old bronze that is supposed to be nursed along through the firing.  You can see the other pieces I made at the same time in the terra cotta dish on the right.

Here's a couple of my favorite focal pieces of the steel ...

This is the biggest piece I made.  It's about 48 x 23mm.  The texture is from a fossilized turtle shell and a lot of smushing ... that's the technical term.

The pendant on the left is textured with that same turtle shell fossil and is about 34 x 20mm.

I've taken apart most of the fossil pieces I'd made a couple of weeks ago.  One thing I've found through my years of designing ... when I start working in a new direction, I'll make a bunch of pieces and then leave them be for a bit.  When I come back to them, more times than not, I end up taking them apart, starting over, re-working the concepts.

For me, that's the key to developing a cohesive collection ... edit, edit, edit ... re-think, re-work, re-configure.  Turn it sideways, what if I flipped it over, how would these components work this way rather than that way.  I'm really looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow ... a brand new day, a brand new  perspective, a brand new batch of exceptionally delicious components.  Oooh, boy howdy, fun fun fun!

And here's some musical icing on the cake ... today I was listening to a little bit of Fever Ray ... alternative, kind of punk, kind of like the direction of the new work ...



Back with more as the collection evolves ...

l i g a - kvk

holding pattern + radar sightings

I'm waiting for the kiln to fire ... again.  And I'll be waiting through today and tomorrow as well.  I love the idea of steel metal clay, I really do.  But the reality of it's limitations pretty much assures this will be a very rare component in my work.  Yesterday I tried Hadar's speedier firing technique which, I'm pleased to say, worked.  Considering I've got 100 grams of steel metal clay components to be fired ...

And this is all I can fire at one time ...

... it's going to take me a while.  If you've read Hadar's instructions for loading the fire box, you'll notice I'm taking some liberties.  I'm basing my quantity decision on two things - the dimensions of my kiln, which is fairly deep, and the shape of my fire box, which mirrors the shape of the kiln and can be situated well within the heating elements.  It worked yesterday ... really hoping it works again today.

So while I'm waiting, I'm doing a bit of multi-tasking.  Yesterday I washed all the windows and screens in my house - never done that before.  Pretty amazing this morning with the sun streaming through relatively streak free clean windows ... clean windows, what a concept.  I've also been collecting some new finds to share when I had some time ... got some time, so here's my recent radar sightings.

What I'm listening to right now ... Peter Gabriel's always a good choice for a creative boost.  That man just exudes creativity, plus I always love what he wears - this suit really reminds of of Studio Rundholz.

An image that's inspiring me, from Volga Linen.  I love the way these coverings are stitched ... raw edges, heavy thread, long stitches, plus the colors are gorgeous ...

We're big David Byrne fans.  Dave's in charge of keeping up with his new projects and this one looks pretty dern cool.  Ahhhh, David Byrne , always a good one for challenging one's perspective.
We have this DVD otw ...



I could totally rock this look by Sula Clothing ...

And if I could be in Woodstock, NY on October 15th, I'd be at Galerie BMG for sure to meet up with one of our favorite artists, Kamil Vojnar.  We met Kamil in Saint Remy de Provence last year and purchased one of his smaller pieces.  His work is photo collage - minimal, somewhat haunting yet exquisite.

Okay, I think that's it for now.  Back to ... I don't know ... back to waiting.  I'll keep you posted.

l i g a - kvk

gathering

It started here ...

I couldn't help myself.  It was just too perfect in its crazy really un-perfect way.  I found this amazing sweater at Niche here in Asheville.  I was in need of inspiration and was wondering around downtown, just seeing where my feet would take me.  I got a nice boost of juice from a visit to Origami Ink, perusing their selection of fine papers, gorgeous fountain pens, very cool art with everything exquisitely displayed ... I am such a sucker for good display.

Next, on the owner's recommendation I headed across the street to Cafe Ello for an iced coffee.  Side note - we went there Saturday for breakfast and it was really good.  Thinking this will be our new favorite breakfast spot, especially 'cause they open early before all the tourists are out.  So then I wondered over to the Grove Arcade and headed down to Niche.  Hanging across the front windows were these amazing sweaters and I knew I was in trouble or better yet, in for an enormous treat ... yes, that's much better.

The artist who makes these wonderful creations is named Cara May.  She works part time at the shop and was there as I was going bonkers over her treasures.  The owner of the shop, Cara and I chatted for a good long while - nice for me as I really don't get out much.  Here's the back of my fabulous new sweater ...

Turns out, one of the yarns that Cara uses in these sweaters is fiber coated steel from Habu Textiles.  I saw it last year on my silk quest and was very curious.  The steel yarn got me to thinking about Hadar Jacobson's steel metal clay.  Standing there chatting, my mind started going crazy with ideas for designing a whole group of work based on Cara's sweaters.

Then I got to thinking about those big chunks of fossilized bone from my in-laws in FL.  So when I got home, I ordered steel metal clay and emailed my sister-in-law to see if she had any more big chunky fossils she'd be willing to part with.  And look what I got in the mail today!   OMG - a jumbo treasure trove of fossilized booty!

This was six pounds of fossils and she's putting more in the mail today.  I think that big piece in my hand is turtle shell and then there's all kinds of bone chunks and shards.  She's also going to send a little flyer with descriptions for identifying the different fossils from that beach.  Here's a few more pieces ... they are seriously cool.

And I'm not sure if I'll do anything with this or not, but the recycled sari silk I just got for packaging looks pretty wonderful against a backdrop of ancient bones.

I'm working on how I'm going to connect these pieces into jewelry.  What's going to be a good complement to the steel and bone?  It needs to be very durable and abrasion resistant, so I'm thinking about nylon but also about leather.  Then I had this crazy idea about getting rawhide and dyeing it with walnuts.  I've got lots of walnuts in my yard, remains from that tree we had removed.  I don't know, may be kind of crazy ... may be kind of fun.

Only thing slowing me down is the steel metal clay is coming from California.  But I gotta say, I'm feeling a lot of potential here .... lots and lots.  I'll keep you posted!

l i g a - kvk