Anna Clark Studio

Blogging Blues

2012-01-21T15:09:00.000-08:00

I really like the idea of a blog - a diary that is public - two extremes of the spectrum coming together and becoming something new and different. There are some great blogs - well written, beautifully designed, great pictures and posted often, but I don't think mine is among them. When I started it I was dipping my toe in the online waters to see how I would like the temperature, and while I kinda like it, I don't like it enough to really want to stay in it. So this will probably be my last post on this blog. My thanks go to the people who cared enough to become a "follower" and my special thanks go to Sylvia who always has had something very encouraging to say to me.

I'll leave with a picture of a brooch I finished recently in silver, copper and enamel.

Etching Silver

2011-09-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

I have been interested in the idea of etching silver for a couple of years now and finally this week I actually did it. So for anyone interested in the technique here's how I went about it, bearing in mind that at this stage I have etched exactly four pieces of silver!

My experience with etching has been limited to etching copper and brass with Ferric Chloride. The chemical that I was interested in using on silver is Ferric Nitrate. The traditional chemical to etch silver has been nitric acid but Ferric Nitrate is safer to use and I have read that it gives a cleaner etch. First I had to source the Ferric Nitrate, with the help of google and a couple of emails to artists I found online I quickly had a source in British Columbia - xenexlabs .com. Surprisingly they shipped it to me through the regular mail, it was $78 for 500g, plus tax and shipping. The chemical comes as greyish-mauve crystals.

I contacted Ontario jeweller and metalsmith Sandra Noble Goss for some notes on dilution strength which she kindly emailed me back right away. It appears that you can alter the dilution of the crystals depending on how long you are prepared to wait for the metal to etch. Since I had bought 500g I decided to make up half of that and keep the rest of the crystals for another batch later on. I used a small tupperware container which 350ml of water filled nicely. I added my 250g Ferric Nitrate crystals to the water and stirred until they were dissolved - I used warm tap water. According to Sandra's notes I could have used a stronger solution or a weaker one (1:1 water to crystals or 2:1), I simply chose the proportions that best fit my container and the amount of crystals I had bought.

I prepared my silver the same way as one would prepare copper or brass for Ferric Chloride etching ie starting with clean metal, the design applied in PnP blue transfer paper, the back and sides taped off with packing tape. If you don't have the PnP paper you can use an oil-based paint pen to draw on the metal, however I would recommend PnP paper above anything else - enamelworksupply.com has it and many other places I am sure.

It is necessary to suspend the prepared metal in the Ferric Nitrate solution and it must be upside down so the residue can fall out. I taped fishing line to the back and then taped the lines to the edge of the tupperware container pulling it tight enough so the piece is submerged but not touching the bottom, then put the lid on. I got a very good etch in 4hrs at this strength of solution. When you take it out put the piece in a bowl of water with baking soda in it and rub more baking soda directly on the piece, scrub well. This will neutralize the Ferric Nitrate and clean off the greyish film. The PnP residue can be sanded off or removed with acetone. There, you should have a lovely piece of etched silver ready to make into something beautiful.

Safety First: wear an apron and gloves and safety glasses, don't get the solution on your skin or clothes. When making up the solution I worked under a fume hood to be on the safe side, while the etch was working I had a lid on the container. Always use baking soda to neutralize. The solution can be used over again - as I have only just started I don't know how long it will work for, eventually it will wear out. The best disposal recommendation would be taking it to a toxic waste specialist.

If you have already etched with Ferric Chloride these notes should be enough to help you start with Ferric Nitrate. If you have never etched I would recommend you see a demo first as written notes are really just an addition to watching it done. If you have questions though, I'll try and answer them. Also if you can get Linda Darty's book The Art of Enameling, she covers the process in there quite well.

Bragging!

2011-09-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

Earrings in sterling silver and enamel

Is it ok to brag about your own work really? To blow your own trumpet and say how great your work is? Well, what I am really saying is that I made these earrings and I really like them, I don't think I could make them any better.

Actually I think it is a very useful skill to be able to critique your own work. So here goes... I love these earrings for their slightly unusual shape - not complex but not exactly straightforward either. I love the pattern - a classic Japanese chrysanthemum pattern, and the scale of the pattern is exactly right for the size of earring. I especially love this green enamel - Thompson's unleaded Grass Green, which by the way is the easiest, most forgiving colour to work with on sterling. I also think that the plain silver, slightly textured domes work well as a counterpoint to the coloured enamel.

So, I am not really bragging just sighing with relief that a piece of jewellery went right for a change. Believe me I have a box of rejects waiting to be de-enamelled and re-fashioned or simply thown in with the scrap. After all if you cannot critique your own work how will you ever realise what went wrong with it?

Summer Time

2011-08-21T15:50:00.000-07:00

Why is summer so busy?

There are so many things that I want to do including continuing to make jewellery that this blog has most definitely fallen by the wayside. My husband and I went away for five weeks to the UK to visit my family (picture above is taken on the Isle of Wight) and I just never caught up when I came home.

Every winter I always picture myself enjoying long lazy days in summer, promising myself that there will be outdoor sketching days, pure designing days, experimental metal work days, days for new enamel ideas, and on and on. It never seems to happen that way does it?

I have actually sold a lot of work this summer which is good of course, but what happens next is that I have to make more inventory and as I am only one person not a factory it seems to take forever. Cranking pieces out with no thought for their quality is not what I want to do, so I continue to work painstakingly on each piece - can't do it any other way.

In addition, I am working on some interesting 'things' in enamel - not jewellery - as part of a possible commission. I won't say any more except "watch this space" for further details! Now if you'll excuse me I have to go and continue weeding my garden.

Insurance woes

2011-06-13T09:40:00.000-07:00

Peacock green enamel on silver, choker length necklace.

Calling all jewellery artists who have a home based studio - are you having insurance difficulties?
For years I have insured my home-based jewellery business as an add-on to my house insurance. This year the company said they would no longer insure me. That is, they would not insure the business nor the house.

Reasons given were mainly for liability issues, especially because I was selling online and customers could be anywhere in the world, also I have customers coming to the studio in person to discuss custom pieces. My torch was an issue too, although it never has been in the past.

I called a couple of other jewellers I know who have home-based studios and incredibly to me they said that they had never told their insurance companies about their business! I think that they are wasting the premiums they are paying by not disclosing their studios. I wanted to be up front about everything I was doing.

I could have bought commercial business insurance for around $1800 a year but I really didn't want to pay that much. So for the last few months both my business and my house have been uninsured as I look around for someone who will take the risk. They seem to think that I have piles of gold and diamonds laying around, customers tripping down the steps and an unattended blow torch left alight!

This morning I heard from the insurance broker, she may have found a company to insure our house, excluding the studio contents, but including business liability at a reasonable price so I am off to see if it will work. Am I crazy to worry about this, should I just leave things to fate?

Finding Details

2011-05-31T15:48:00.000-07:00

Whenever I visit somewhere new I, of course, take my camera and what I love photographing are architectural details, especially metalwork. I have a series of pictures down the sidebar of this blog. A part of me would love to work in a big scale, I actually took a short welding workshop long ago, but my business is jewellery and for now that is what I am immersed in.

I have just returned from a quick trip to the city of Milwaukee, a place full of very interesting ornate architecture, much built by the origianl immigrants from Germany. These doors were on a theatre we passed walking around the historic Third Ward. I think they are made of copper. As my husband and our friends walked on I just had to stop and get up close to the doors. The copper had a wavy pattern embossed in the metal and I love the patchy verdigris and the large rivet heads!

Happy photographing!

Consignment Dos and Don'ts

2011-04-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

Following up on my last post, here's a list of lots of Dos and a few Don'ts that might help you if you are consigning work for the first time.

Do some investigation into the store or gallery. Preferably visit it in person and meet the owner. Or if it is long distance, talk with the owner and ask for pictures of the interior.

Do ask for a contract if one is not offered. The contract needs to spell out who is responsible for the work when in the store, who pays for shipping work to and from the store and what is their policy on lost and stolen items.

Do ask what the commission split is, when payments are made.

Do expect payment in a timely manner.

Do keep your own inventory list and check off items as they sell.

Do offer to help promote your own work. Send images and artist statements promptly.

Do send new inventory regularly as pieces sell. A good display is key to selling well.

Do give the gallery at least 6 months to sell anything before re-assessing.

Do exchange pieces if they don't sell.

Do give gallery 2-3 weeks notice if you want your work returned.

Do stop by if the place is local, check your work, offer to clean it and generally be helpful.

Do be nice, friendly and reliable to work with.

Do be open to suggestions.

Do expect politeness, respect and good business practices from the gallery or store.

Don't tell the owner how to run their business.

Don't complain needlessly - save your complaints for when they are justified. Justifiable complaints include - not being paid in a regular timely manner; owner does not return calls or emails; your work is not displayed; your pieces get lost stolen or damaged.

Don't send work off and then forget all about it.

Don't hesitate to tell the owner if your inventory list does not match theirs, or if their is a mistake on a payment slip.

If your work is not selling at all and you have given it at least 6 months then don't hesitate to take it out, try somewhere else or try a different line of work maybe at a different price point.

Sounds like the artist carries a lot of the weight? Well yes they do, but there is an enormous amount of work involved in running a gallery or store and working to sell art. If you are an artist who makes good work, is reliable and professional to deal with and you come across a gallery owner who is the same then the chances are that you will develop a very good working relationship which will benefit you both.

Selling on Consignment

2011-04-16T09:32:00.001-07:00

Cobalt blue enamel on fine silver.

Since I began selling my jewellery 12 years ago I have sold in various ways - craft show, wholesale show, consignment in a store or gallery, direct from studio (including online sales) and by commission. I figured that I should try every way of selling until I found the way that suited my business best.

I have sold on consignment at approximately 15 different places from craft stores to jewellery galleries. Here are a few thoughts on selling by consignment...

'Consignment' is also known as 'sale or return' and it is when the artist places a number of their pieces for sale in a store or gallery owned and operated by another party. The artist retains ownership of the pieces until they are sold to a customer, at which time the artist is paid by the store owner. The store owner takes a 'commission', a % of the sales price.

This commission could be anything but in my experience it varies from 35% to 50%. Some high-end galleries may take more. The commission covers all the expenses of retailing from paying sales staff to providing wrapping for the pieces.

Selling on consignment leaves the artist free to make art and not worry about the business of selling and running a retail space. Especially vauable if this is not your strength and you find a good retailer.

With co-operation from the retailer the artist can also use the store or gallery to test the market for different pieces, arrange small shows and presentations of new work.

In my experience the best sales come from the best relationships (between artist and retailer)and the best relationships develop from mutual understanding and good communication. These things usually have to be worked at!

Many artists grumble that with consignment the retailer is taking no risk with inventory, all the risk is taken by the artist. This is true of course, but can be mitigated somewhat if the retailer pays promptly for sales.

Local retail outlets mean that you can check on your pieces - have they been moved, are they clean, are they displayed well, is inventory low? Long distance consignment requires far more trust in the retailer.

If sales have been good and then suddenly drop off look into it right away, it could be a warning that things are not right with the store or gallery. This could be anything from it going out of business to it being so crowded with work that yours has been shoved out of sight.

A contract with the gallery is a good idea, spelling out who is responsible for what and when cheques are sent out. Usually the pieces are insured in the gallery by the owner of the gallery and they are responsible for the work. Shipping work to the gallery is usually paid by the artist, shipping unsold work back is paid by the gallery. Most galleries pay out monthly, in the month following the sales month. If a gallery is constantly late with payment or often gets the payments wrong another warning bell should go off in the artist's head. The policy on lost or stolen items, and returned items is important to know.

If things go really pear-shaped what can you do? If work has been sold and you haven't been paid, it can be a difficult situation, more so if the store is in another part of the country. This has happened to me and many other artists when Object Design gallery in Vancouver folded a couple of years ago after the owner pocketed money owed to the artists. Some of us launched small claims suits, some talked of hiring a collection agency. After considering the options I decided to take the loss.

As of now I have work on consignment in two places. One is local and is the first store I ever consigned work with, it is far and away the best place to sell my work and the owner has become a good friend over the years. Mutual respect and commitment has been beneficial to both of us - I hope it continues a long time.

This is a long post, so I'll continue it next time with a list of dos and don'ts for consigning work. Meanwhile Happy Selling!

Calling all art students

2011-03-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

Once a year I get asked to return to the school where I studied jewellery-making - Kootenay School of the Arts - to give a slide show and talk to the students about moving from being an art student to being an art business owner. As April is just about upon us and students will be graduating in a few weeks I thought I'd share with you my top ten tips on this subject.

Work hard.

Establish a routine of regular working hours, tell everyone you know, repeat it continually.

Buy a camera, learn how to use it and make a photo booth for your work.

Start selling locally, move further afield as you become experienced.

Try different things - you won't know if it works until you try it.

Book-keeping - do your own, then you'll know what is coming in and what is going out.

Artistic work feeds commercial work - do both if you can.

Be reliable and nice with everyone - customers, gallery owners, suppliers etc

Show off your art - wear you own handmade jewellery, clothing, accessories.

When you can afford it, go to a workshop or conference, for creative renewal and networking.

I have tried my best to do all of these things and my hand-made jewellery business will be 12 years old this year. Here's a photo of a brooch I made in my early years - Oak Leaf in sterling silver, 14k gold and acrylic.

Buttons

2011-03-23T09:03:00.001-07:00

Enamel and silver buttons

A little taste of what I have been working on lately - some functional silver and enamel buttons. Most of them are constructed with both fine and sterling silver. I use the fine silver if possible for the enamelled parts and then the sterling for strength of construction. This palette of enamel colours always seems to fire easily and without problems, and I love these shades.

Ever since I was about eleven years old and picked up an old tin of buttons at a jumble sale I have always had a liking for these functional but pretty things. After I learned that buttons were originally purely for decoration, essentially sewn on brooches - buttonholes weren't invented until later - I had a resurgence of interest in them and decided to make some of my own.

Maybe it is because I am working in enamel a lot now, but I keep finding more things to do with enamelling - organisations, jewellers, museums, exhibitions and so on. I just joined Grains of Glass - have a look at their site, there is link to it on my side bar. Perhaps we are at the start of a new blossoming in the art of enamelling? I hope so, Happy Spring!

Exhibiting Work

2011-03-03T13:35:00.000-08:00

See what happens when you make a resolution to do more exhibition work...blogs get neglected! I do have that smug feeling of well-being now, having accomplished what I had on my to do list - start a whole new body of work and complete two new exhibition pieces. Something had to give as I said in my last post way back in January, and it turned out to be this blog!

As far an entering exhibitions I would encourage anyone to do so - it is a learning experience. Here are some things that I have learned from exhibiting my work in the past:

Making exhibition work is very different from making production work for me, no time and cost restraints, very freeing, but also very demanding as there is no excuse for mediocrity.
Working to an unbendable deadline - find out if you work well under last minute pressure.
Working with a group - can you be part of a team putting on the show together, can you take instruction from the group leader?
Solo show - will you crumble under the pressure of doing it all yourself or is this your dream?
Can you handle the picky details of labelling all your packaging materials, giving precise instructions on how to display your work, handing over your work to others to display?
Will you be miffed if the image of your work you submitted is not chosen for the show poster?
Will you enjoy the opening party or do you hate these kind of events - too many big egos?
What will you do with your unsold exhition pieces?

Lots to ponder. Meanwhile if you live in the Kootenays come along to Connections Materialized at the Kootenay Gallery in Castlegar March 11 to April 24. Come to the opening party on March 11 at 7pm.

Beachcomber in sterling silver and found objects

New Year Resolutions

2011-01-12T11:58:00.001-08:00

Rowan Berries in the Snow

When I first started my jewellery-making studio I had a lot of time to make pieces for exhibitions and shows because I had no customers taking up my time! Now I have managed to build up a number of customers but I no longer have time to make exhibition pieces. Of course it would be wonderful if all the exhibition pieces I made, I sold to my customers, then I would be able to have my cake and eat it, so to speak. Sadly it doesn't seem to work that way ...yet. I still hold out hope that I can turn things around.

Meanwhile, as I do every New Year, I am making a few 'rules' for myself and my art practice:

stop selling on consignment at places where my pieces don't sell quickly, the pieces are just languishing there
take some 'retreat' time to focus solely on ideas
say no to repairing other peoples jewellery - why is this so difficult to do??
stop worrying about worrying too much
stop spending so much time on the computer
stop spending so much time on Etsy, it is like a time-sponge and is only a small part of my business
realise I can't do everything I want to do, so something has to go - this year it is less downhill skiing, and less knitting-group get togethers
spend more time just wondering and thinking with my sketch book open in front of me
stop thinking about money and how I need more of it
get out of the production work head space whereby it is all about time and price

Well, I expect I could think up a lot more rules but as I said I must cut down on computer time. Now I am going to the work bench to see what gee-gaws I can clear away to make room for those exhibition pieces in the works.

Christmas Rush

2010-12-15T19:24:00.000-08:00

This blog has fallen by the wayside recently as I am experiencing a Christmas rush of people requiring jewellery! The last two Christmases have been down compared to the great years of 2006 and 2007, but it seems that things are picking up again. As a sole proprietor in a creative business, working alone, I simply take whatever comes my way, unable to predict the highs and lows of business, I simply float along with the current like a leaf on a stream. I will be back soon when I have more time.

Brain Workout

2010-11-12T17:04:00.000-08:00

I have been fascinated by the Japanese aesthetic sense and their arts and culture for a long time, I plan to go there when I have saved up the funds. So when a series of classes in learning Japanese language was offered locally I immediately signed up. What a brain workout! I love it and I am super keen to keep going now the original series of six classes is done. However it really takes a lot of work to start learning a whole new language from scratch, not mention a new alphabet or should I say syllabary. Well three new ones in fact, since Japanese uses three different types of script - Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji - which they seem to mix up at random in sentences. I have pretty much memorized all the Hiragana syllables - I love practising them in my skinny black drawing pen. Now I am starting on the Katakana syllables, I'm leaving Kanji for last as it is the most daunting!

I don't have anyone to practice my (very limited) conversation with, so to hell with it I am just speaking it all out loud to myself, to my husband's amusement! He has at least learned two words - the word for cake (keeki) and the word for cupcake (cupkeeki) - we both laugh at that one.

Meanwhile I have bought some new enamel colours - Japanese ones of course - gorgous pinks and pale blues, deep purple and dark red. I haven't completed any pieces in the new colours yet so here is one I finished a couple of weeks ago.

Aaaagh!

2010-10-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

I know that everyone makes mistakes and does thoughtless things in the studio but sometimes when you are on your own and make a doozy of a blunder you have the feeling that no-one else would be as stupid. Here is what I did over the weekend so you all can learn from my disaster...

By the end of Friday I had completed five new necklaces in silver and enamel. All that remained to do was to add a sterling silver jump ring to each piece and to carefully solder it closed. I have done this before quite a few times and using extra-easy solder and a very small torch flame have been successful. I have also briefly pickled the pieces to clean up the jump ring with no problems.

Saturday morning: I went ahead with the process as described but as I took the pieces out of the pickle pot I noticed the enamel was matte not glossy and pitted looking on each piece. Eventually I figured out that the pickle I was using was stronger than normal - I recalled I had made up a strong batch some time before and it was much evaporated and so even stronger. So there I was holding a bunch of ruined pendants.

I spent all saturday removing jump rings, stoning down enamel and refiring and re-soldering rings. As for re-pickling, I just poured some pickle into a small container and held the pendat upside down so only the jump ring was submerged - worked fine.

Organised Randomness

2010-10-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

My most recent commission was an exercise in organised randomness. How to creatively arrange a group of stones so that they looked pleasingly random on top of the ring? I could have spent weeks just re-arranging the stones within the circle endlessly, never quite satisfied that they looked really random. Obviously there was a limit to how long I could spend so what did I do?

I started with 16 stones. I took out two, one was badly chipped and the other was a very strange uneven cut. Of the remainder I found two matching ones, one to go on each shoulder of the shank which I put aside. That was the easy part. I was left with one big stone, three medium big stones and eight very very small stones.

I played around with the composition of these stones for several days! I was aiming for a casual looking arrangement whereby the stones looked easily spaced out but not evenly spaced. I put aside one of the tiny stones to give me an odd number, this helped. In the end I never did really resolve the arrangement to my complete satisfaction but I had to stop and actually make the ring so that is what I forced myself to do. Even after I had soldered all the bezels in place I was still tempted to add the last little stone but I knew it would only make the design slightly different, not better, so I resisted the temptation.

Chasing Bears

2010-09-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

Black bear in a tree in our yard

My neighbour went away for three weeks leaving me to look after the fruit trees in her yard. Consequently I have spent the last three weeks chasing bears. We have quite a large population of black bears in our area and September is the month when they wander into town foraging for food before they hibernate. They LOVE fruit trees! These animals are beautiful to look at, when their fur catches the sunlight it gleams, and despite their name they come in all shades of brown from reddish cinnamon, through chestnut tan , chocolate, and black.

Anyone who grows fruit knows it is a toss up between leaving the fruit on the tree until it is ripe enought to eat and risking a broken tree or picking the fruit early and finding it to be useless because it is underripe. Sometimes you get both - the bears will climb the tree to get a few plums or pears and a young tree or a brittle old one will break under their weight. So I have been over at my neighbours' everyday surveying the damage, dragging broken limbs away and picking underripe fruit, hoping the bear is not creeping up behind me!

In spite of all this stress I have completed a recent challenging commission. So I am patting myself on the back today because firstly my neighbour got home and didn't grumble about broken trees only thanked me for looking after them, and secondly my customer came to pick up the ring and said she loved it. Phew!

Commissions

2010-09-12T16:41:00.000-07:00

Ring in 18k white and yellow gold with pink sapphire

I'm currently working on a ring commission at the moment using the customers old gold jewellery to melt down and the stones that were in these old pieces of jewellery. With gold so expensive now I find a lot of people are digging into their jewellery boxes and finding things they want re-vamped. I genuinely like doing commissions especially more complex ones but there are things about the work that make me anxious and I find myself procrastinating a little when I should be concentrating and trying to figure out exactly how to do a piece especially when the design is forcing me to do something I wouldn't normally choose to do.

What makes me anxious?

When I can't get hold of the customer, they don't return calls or emails and I am left wondering.

When I meet with the customer for the first time at my house - I use my kitchen to meet in as it has the best light. No one has openly said that it is strange yet, and it does make me clean the kitchen extra well.

When I have to give them the quote - someone in business once told me that if you don't have anyone saying "Oh that's too expensive" then your prices are too low.

When I have to guestimate how much gold I need for a piece.

When I have to decide on placement of stones especially if the design calls for a random look.

When I'm making a bezel for a stone that isn't round or oval.

When I am sizing the shank of a ring - I want it to fit perfectly at all times and I know this isn't possible.

In short - most of the time. I do enough ring commissions that I feel okay accepting them but not enough that I feel super comfortable with every situation. They are a good source of income in my business though and things have started picking up after a year or so of slim pickings. I have balked at the idea of promoting ring commissions on my website though because I find doing long distance work is more fraught with customer complications than working with someone I can physically meet. I'd like to hear from anyone who does though, perhaps they could give me some tips.

Cloisonne Enamelling

2010-08-29T13:29:00.001-07:00

Here is the cloisonne brooch I started working on at our local culture tour. I have finished it and it is now up on Etsy. I found it difficult to work on a cloisonne piece while doing a public demo, far better for me to be alone in my studio with no distractions. I am definitely a beginner when it comes to cloisonne - this a really a very simple piece with only a few wires to lay in. I do aspire to make more complex pieces but I know it will take a lot of work to get there.

I would urge anyone who is dabbling in enamel to try cloisonne work because the effect is so lovely. Having said that it can be very frustrating dealing with the tiny pieces of fine silver wire. Not only that but my eyes sight is going through a transition at the moment and my optometrist and I are deciding what kind of contact lens to get so that my working vision is good and my long distance too. At the moment I am going back and forth between a pair of magnifiers over my contacts and a magnifying lamp to get the best working vision. Add to this putting on the dark kiln-proof glasses when firing and I am getting in a bit of a muddle.

Another point to think about is whether to use leaded or unleaded enamels in cloisonne work. I always use unleaded enamels when I am sifting dry but as cloisonne work is done wet I have safely used leaded enamels on a few pieces and got some lovely colours to show for it. I am planning to stock up on more leaded colours, particularly the warm colours of red, pink, orange to use on future cloisonne work.

If you have never seen the exquisite work of Harlan Butt find some time to check it out. He really is a master of enamelling and cloisonne work - www.harlanbutt.com Now I am going to go and browse my enamelling catalogue for all the things on my wish list - new colours of enamel, more trivets, gold cloisonne wire... It is so much easier to sit and do this than to actually do any work!

Waiting for Business

2010-08-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

Unfinished production pendants in fine silver and enamel.

Last saturday and sunday I was part of a local Culture Tour - demonstrating my enamel jewellery techniques. It went about as I had expected - not a complete loss but not really busy enough to get excited about. Because I had set up my work table in a local boutique where I sell my work there was a steady stream of people coming in. But I was surprised at how many of them just concentrated on their shopping and showed no interest in what I was doing. As I have said before, I don't really think that the geography and sparse population of our area were conducive to this tour being a success, but I was happy to give it a go.

By the way I had been worried about taking my kiln up to the store and plugging it in. We (myself and the store owner) had finally managed to get hold of an electrician and he came and temporarily replaced the breaker for the outlet socket I was using. I was relieved, and everything worked very well.

The pieces I worked on during the tour were some small, very simple pendants, using the textured foil technique. It is an easy technique to do while talking to someone but it looks quite effective when finished. I had a cloisonne piece set up to work on too and I did a little, but I really needed to be at home alone doing that one. I did have some people who werer very interested in what I was doing and they really made it worthwhile. I even sold a few pieces!

All in all I'll call it a weekend spent promoting my work rather than selling a bundle of it. I guess it all helps in the end, and I did get quite a few pieces made!

Art in Action

2010-08-12T18:01:00.000-07:00

Enamel over embossed silver foil

This weekend I am spending all day saturday and sunday demonstrating enamelling on silver as part of our local cultural tour. These artists tours are ubiquitous these days but this is only the second year for ours. One of the problems here in rural Canada is that the artists are spread very thinly over a large area making it difficult for people to see many places without a lot of tedious driving.

Rather than open my studio which is only my basement and nothing special, I have partnered with the local store that sells my work and I am lugging all my stuff up there and setting up right in the window. It should be good for both of us. I think many people are intimidated by going to an artists' house especially if they are the only visitor at the time - it can feel awkward. By setting up in the store I think people will feel fine about popping in. Perhaps all the stores on the main street of our little town should sponsor an artist?

I'll write about how it went next week - hope my kiln will be okay and not blow all the breakers!

Goals

2010-07-29T17:02:00.000-07:00

When I first set up my studio jewellery business I found it really helpful to set some goals and to actually write them down. It was a way of crystallizing my ideas of what I wanted from the business.

The way I wrote them down was as follows:

First I wrote down about three or four goals such as being featured in a magazine or having an exhibition or creating a new body of work or winning a grant that year. These were just larger ideas that I thought would be good things.

Second, I took each goal and broke it down into smaller pieces. For example making a list of magazines I might possibly be featured in, what kind of article; or where were possible galleries that might show a jewellery exhibition; or if I applied for a grant what would be some proposal ideas. I called these my objectives.

Third, I took each objective and broke it down into a mini action plan complete with a to do list. For example I would compile a mailing list and a press package for the magazine objective and then do a mail out. Once I did this for each goal it really made it all seem far more do-able, albeit a lot of work.

I did this goal setting exercise for at least five or six years while my studio business was growing and I learned a lot from it. For the past few years I think I have been running on automatic as I am immersed in production work and custom pieces and I have a pretty solid routine to follow each work day. But lately I have been thinking that I need to set some new goals and see if I can change the path my jewellery is taking. Time to shake things up...

Party Anyone?

2010-07-18T17:10:00.000-07:00

Do any of the jewellers out there do parties to sell their work? You know the kind of thing - you invite a group of friends and acquaintances around and each of them brings a friend too, the jewellery is displayed and tried on and hopefully some pieces are sold. Is this way of selling still happening? Or do people prefer the open studio events?

There is no reason the party idea would only work for jewellery artists, it could work for ceramic artists, felters, textile artists, any artist in theory, but I wonder if it has a 'cheap' kind of feel to it, maybe because we associate it with cheaper mass produced products - think Tupperware!

The reason I'm pondering this is because the other night a friend invited me to a dinner party with other people I knew well, and I took some pieces of jewellery along. I had intended to just show them to her as I knew she had not seen any of my new enamel work. Everyone at the dinner was interested and I sold two pieces. This is great of course, but I felt a bit uncomfortable, as if I was doing the hard sell on my friends. I wondered if a selling party would feel like that too.

Any thoughts anyone?

Tool Tutorial

2010-07-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

My class went really well last week, I got a lot of enjoyment with my small group of four lovely women who were all super keen and worked incredibly hard considering it was their summer holiday!

One thing that surprised me was their interest in making textures with stamping tools, no other students that I've taught have shown so much interest. I gave them a handout on making your own tools though I didn't have time to demonstrate. I thought I would share these instructions because making your own tools means you are not limited by what a commercial maker is offering.

Tool Tutorial

Tool steel: the cheapest way is to buy tool steel from a steel supplier, get 1/8" or 3/16" stock, medium or high carbon, not mild steel. Large masonry nails can also be used. But the easiest and quickest way is to buy a pack of nail punches in various sizes, from a hardware store and modify them.

Annealing: heat the tip (last 1/2") of the tool until cherry red, let air cool.

Shaping: using fairly coarse files, #0 cut, old ones if you have them as steel will dull your jewellery files quickly, shape the tip into the motif you want. Switch to #2 cut file to refine the shape. Bear in mind that the smaller the shape the easier it will be to stamp it into the metal, curved sides help the stamping process too. Use silicon carbide (wet/dry) sandpaper to sand, finish with 600 grit.

If using tool stock not ready made nail punches, also bevel the the edge of the hammering end of the tool to prevent it mushrooming.

Hardening: heat the tip (last 1/2") rapidly to cherry red, quench in lukewarm water, swirl as you quench, remove quickly. To test for hardness run a file lightly over the hardned portion, it should skip over and not cut.

Clean: sand with wet/dry paper to clean edges of tool so as to see tempering colours clearly.

Tempering: heat slowly, work flame towards tip, watch colours appear on the metal. When straw or golden yellow is right at the tip pull heat away and quench in water. If you miss the colour, go back through hardening stage and then temper again.

Polishing: you can polish the tip with chrome polish.

Here's a pic of a hand stamped piece of silver overlaid with transparent enamel.

Home Again & Back to Work

2010-07-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

Well my best laid plans about keeping up with my blog while I was away came to nothing. Apart from having too much fun I found that I wasn't really up to the technical challenge - a weak kind of answer to many I'm sure! Being a very visual person and assuming that you all are too I didn't want to write posts without adding any photos! Just couldn't get it together to add photos directly from my camera and got a bit stumped adding them directly from the internet.

I'm keen to get going again in my studio and with general jewellery business, a month off really does work in terms of making everything fresh again. First of all I am teaching a beginner jewellery class at Selkirk College in Nelson BC next week. I did this last summmer and loved it. If any of you are toying with the idea of teaching I would definitely recommend trying it, there is nothing like it for tweaking the way you do things and for learning from others.

What I mean by this is that when you are explaining a method to beginners, whether in jewellery or anything, you have to really know why you are doing it that way, because someone is sure to ask. This really helps you with self-knowledge and gives you a sense of strength in your way of working. Connected to this same thought is the possibility of learning from everyone even someone who has never done jewellery before. As all the students in the class are adults they bring ideas and thoughts about many things with them and it is always interesting to hear what they have to contribute, you just never know what someone will say!

Blue Quadrangle Earrings

So go and teach and keep an open mind with you on what you the teacher will learn!

Away We Go

2010-05-31T11:12:00.000-07:00

We are away on vacation tomorrow. I'd like to think it will be an escape from the cold rainy weather here but as we are going to England that is unlikely! I am packing a summer dress and rain gear to cover all eventualities!

Having set up my Etsy shop, my website and my blog this year (I was an online marketing holdout for years and then decided to go all out and try it.) I am planning as to how I can keep checking and updating those things that need it. I don't travel with all the paraphenalia (laptops, smartphones etc) that many people do so will probably rely on friend's computers and maybe the odd internet cafe. Oh, and my parents, who are in their eighties now, and have shiny new laptops!

Apart from keeping up online there is another kind of work I do when I'm away - filing away ideas for future use in my jewellery. Here are some things I pack with me:

Digital camera - indispensable these days. I love to take detail shots of architectural features and close up of plants and flowers.

Sketchbook - the book I use at home is a large hardcover, fairly heavy. Even so I do sometimes pack it along, it has all my jewellery ideas in it, sketched or written. Also I bring a small pocket sized one too.

Pencils, eraser, sharpener, fine black drawing pens - kept together in a metal box.

Water-colours - a small tin box with squares of water colour and a brush.

While I'm away I collect things too, always come home with a mass of things such as:

Postcards - unfortunately most London museums and galleries don't allow you to take photos so I always buy some postcards of things in the collection.

Catalogues - galleries or artists tours often have catalogues with sumptuous pictures in them. Plus can be inspirational if you yourself are planning an open studio or exhibition.

Natural items - I collect all kinds of leaves, bird feathers, flowers, and press them between the pages of my sketchbook. Also I bring back pebbles and seedpods, anything really that catches my eye and that I can pick up.

Well gotta go and pack now, and hope that volcano doesn't decide to erupt again until we are over there. I'll end with a pic of earrings I just finished, my favourite scallop shape again.

Wet and Cold

2010-05-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

I am having a hard time getting down to work these days. The weather here has been so cold and wet for the past two months that it is starting to get me down. After a long winter everyone here in British Columbia looks forward to a warm spring, but this year it isn't happening.

You would think that I would be able to get cosy in my studio with the kiln warming the place up, and I have to a certain extent, but I keep obsessing about the weather, going outside to check if anything is growing, and generally not concentrating on what I should be doing.

So here, I am cheering myself up with a picture of sweet peas from my garden taken last year, I can only hope everything will catch up soon.

Good news for jewellers and other crafts people in Canada, Cheryl Fraser is re-opening her gallery, Zilberschmuck, in Toronto. Cheryl is a gem to work with and I am looking forward to sending off a parcel of work for the gallery soon.

Cloisonne Wire

2010-05-22T13:23:00.000-07:00

I have been using wire in my enamels lately in two different ways. I wanted to try using round wire as cloisonne wire to see how it looked. Round wire is a lot easier to use in one sense because it doesn't fall over like the traditional rectangular flat wire that is used in cloisonne enamel.

I drew down some fine silver wire to the last hole on my draw plate which is about .3mm and used that for the Snowdrift Ring I did a couple of weeks ago (see post: Finished at Last). I liked the look of it a lot. It is much larger in diameter than traditional cloisonne wire so gives quite a different look. It is true that it is easier to keep small, almost straight, pieces in place though I do use some klyrfire type gel as well. I am thinking that next time I splash out on some new tools I'll see if I can get a drawplate that goes even smaller in diameter.

Another thing to remember about using round wire is that as you stone it back the diameter of the wire that is exposed changes, so even stoning is needed unless of course you want your wires to look different sizes.

This past week I made a cloisonne ring using the traditional rectangular flat wire. On this piece I wanted a fine and delicate look and I think I got what I wanted. The little pieces that make up the leaf veins are folded over, curved and then opened out - that way they stand up very well. Of course this ring is flat topped which makes it all much easier than working on a highly formed shape.

Leaf Ring

I really love experimenting like this, looking for ways to get the style I want in the piece, trying for different looks, combining alternate ways of working. Rules are made to be bent, broken and ignored after all!

Finding customers

2010-05-07T16:51:00.000-07:00

Hello new followers, thanks for joining. I was wondering whether anyone has any interesting stories about how they stumbled onto customers?

I have a story of my own. A few years ago I was in the UK visiting my family. My Mum and I were at the famous Chelsea Flower Show in London for the day, trekking around trying to take it all in. We stopped at the stand of a woman selling her nursery plants and copies of her book. Her name was Carol Klein and she was just starting to become known in the gardening world in England. She complemented me on my earrings. I said thank you I made them, as you do. She asked me to make her a pair (and I bought her book).

I duly made the earrings and shipped them off. The following year I got a phone call from her husband saying that Carol wore them everyday and wanted something new. By this time my Mum had sent me photos of Carol from her newspaper column, wearing the earrings. I sent over some sketches of ideas but I never heard anything back, despite a follow up email.

Two years later her husband phoned me again saying Carol must have new earrings - she was presenting BBC Gardener's World by this time. Thinking that sketches and design decisions weren't going to cut it, I offered to send three pairs of earrings to them, they could choose what they wanted and return the others. They bought all three pairs and I was thrilled the first time I saw Carol wearing a pair on the tele.

The design has been a best seller for me and I wear my own pair often. Today I decided to update them, so I made them as I always do but enamelled them with shades of transparent green enamels. I am blowing my own trumpet today but would love to hear your stories too...

Finished at Last

2010-04-29T19:30:00.001-07:00

Snowdrift Ring

Yes I managed to finish my entry for the juried exhibition at Influx Gallery and got it sent in just in time. The finished piece is not what I envisioned when I was designing it - although the silver structure is as planned, the enamel was going to be far more experimental. But as with any experiment - some work and some don't and this one didn't. I was originally trying to fire gemstones directly in the enamel but I couldn't get them to 'stick' to the enamel. Perhaps someone out there knows how to do it?

When that didn't work I went onto plan B - opalescent enamels with silver embellishments. I just didn't like how it looked and the enamels were yellowing with all the firing. On to plan C - sugar-fired opaque enamel. No, too plain. So in desperation I went to plan D - do something you know will work and finish the damn thing! Actually I am pleased with the result although it is conventional and I was planning something which I thought was radical.

Does everyone else go through this agony when trying to do something unusual for an exhibition piece?

Epiphany

2010-04-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

Last week I had a bit of an epiphany and it concerns something that I think a lot of artists have to deal with. An elderly friend of mine had shown me two pieces of jewellery that needed repairing. There was no value to the pieces in terms of materials - one was a brooch made of glass beads threaded onto a brass backing and the other a brooch of shell pieces glued to a backing of mystery metal. However they were of significant sentimental value to her. I don't like doing repairs on jewellery other than my own and try and avoid it but it always seems to be friends that I can't say no to.

So I went ahead and fiddled around for ever with glue (which I hate using) and nylon thread and so on until they were done. If I had charged my normal hourly rate it would have been hundreds of dollars, so what do I do? Charge a nominal $10 or $15 or what? In the end I went over to her apartment, had tea and gave her the pieces and said not to worry about paying, basically because it was easier for me that way. Anyway she suggested that she make me a cake as payment - she loves to bake, so I said okay that would be nice.

So the epiphany happened when I went back to her apartment to collect the cake a few days later. She had made a huge apple cake, carefully wrapped up. As I put it on the seat beside me in my car and drove away I was suddenly full of a strange warm glow and I realised that it was because I felt genuinely good at the transaction we had done, not just a fake kind of feeling good that you tell yourself to feel. I felt like it was the antithesis of a Walmart type of transaction and I felt good about that because I don't like Walmart and what it stands for.

Anyway this is not to say that I am going to search out things that need repairing and offer to do it for free! But I am happy about how it worked out in this case, and you can imagine the look on my husband's face when I walked in with the cake!

Magnolia

2010-04-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

However much I think I am moving into some other field of inspiration the world of plants and flowers yanks me back with some exquisite piece of perfection from nature. Today we had one of the first sunny and warm days of spring and my star magnolia bush is blooming - eight glorious confections of waxy white petals around a cone of pale green gold stamens.

I realise that thousands of people live in places where magnolias thrive and grow into huge trees and are covered in blooms. They are not my magnolia. My magnolia is fifteen years old and has attained the great height of five feet. For its first five years it actually got smaller every year due to breakage from snow. Then I had the bright idea of fertilizing it in the spring and summer and it actually grew big enough that it didn't collapse under the four feet of snow on top of it.

At the age of twelve my magnolia decided to bloom for the first time - you can imagine the excitement over the single flower. The following year it came up with three blooms. Last year I inwardly screamed as a landscaper we had contracted to lay a stone patio dropped a wheelbarrow load of stone right on the bush!

So now, with its eight flowers and its sturdy five foot limbs I think I can relax and enjoy it. As I walk by its intense fragrance wafts around and draws me to study the flowers again and to check what little visitors are feasting on the nectar. I would love to use the feeling I get from admiring the blooms and put it into my work. When something in nature is this perfect any artificial form of it, however abstract seems redundant.

Fine or Sterling?

2010-04-16T20:25:00.000-07:00

I don't do a lot of enamelling on copper, not because I don't like it but it just doesn't seem to fit with the aesthetic that I'm into right now. What I like right now is transparent enamel on silver. What I have to think about before I make a piece is whether to choose fine silver or sterling. I weigh up the pros and cons of each according to the piece I am making and often I use both metals in one piece. Here are a few observations about using both metals in combination with enamels.

Fine silver

transparent colours really pop

no tedious depletion gilding needed (see an earlier post I wrote about this)

takes textures easily

very soft, so could bend if not formed (domed for example), or if used flat, very thick sheet is needed

more difficult to get a hard smooth high polish, on the edges for example

Sterling silver

colours can be a little muted, most of the Thompson transparent greens and blue-greens are fine, other colours may be duller

needs to be depletion gilded, I do it ten times!

sterling has much greater strength than fine silver meaning greater choice of form and construction

sterling can be polished to a super hard shine

If you want to experiment sterling offers some interesting possibilities if you don't depletion gild, ie let the copper oxide bleed through into the enamel

Fragment Series

And here is a pendant I just finished. It's all in sterling for strength and because the edges are high polished and because I knew the green enamel would work well.

Procrastination

2010-04-06T08:57:00.000-07:00

Procrastination - the bane of the self-employed artist's life. I actually think I'm fairly diligent at my work but the dreaded procrastination can strike at any time. In fact it usually strikes when I have a deadline approaching, strange that. Some of my favourite ways to procrastinate are: reading murder mysteries, doodling, making another cup of tea, having a 'quick' look in my garden to see if anything bloomed, imagining what I would do if I won a million dollars...

I've been thinking of how I could harness the procrastinating tendency and turn it into something at least a little bit useful. I think it is impossible to eradicate it altogether (and would we want to?) but what if it was re-directed slightly.

For instance, if I'm working on a difficult piece and I don't want to get started in the morning, I'll tell myself that I don't have to work on it but that I do have to go into the studio, put on my apron and do something. Nine times out of ten if I do that I will actually start working on it. It seems that if I take that first step of putting on the apron everything else falls into place. If I'm stopping for a cup of tea that seems to go on and on, I find that if I take my tea back to the studio I will return to work. It is considered a safety hazard to drink tea in the jewellery studio but I find that once I get back there the half drunk tea just sits forgotten. If I have been out of the studio most of the day I often think it isn't worth starting anything when I return. But then again if I tell myself to just go in the studio and sweep the floor or something that takes a few minutes, chances are some other job will catch my eye and I will have spent the 'wasted' hour doing some much needed studio chores.

I'm sure you have your own ways to procrastinate, I'd love to hear them, and yours ways of fighting it!

Make it matte

2010-04-01T17:07:00.000-07:00

Sometimes glossy is great but othertimes matte is marvellous, modern and makes me happy. I am talking about enamel, the wonderful material otherwise known as glass. Yes, transparent coloured enamels look luscious when they are fired to a smooth gloss, like wet pebbles look wonderful, but there are times when a subtle matte finish is just right.

Today I was working on my piece for Influx Gallery's 'Fiat Lux' juried show and getting a matte finish was exactly what I needed for my piece. In fact I combined the matte finish with a 'sugar fire', the two enhance each other wonderfully. This is what I did...

fire your first coat until fully fired and glossy
sift on your second coat of enamel and fire until it just starts to melt (it is quite tricky to get the time right, if you take it out too soon the enamel will flake off, for our purposes it is better to go a little bit longer rather than underfire too much)
the piece should look like its name - sugary but not orange peely
you may want to practice on scrap metal first
now submerge the piece in some Etchall glass etching liquid, usually takes 20 minutes or so, rinse well and dry
any parts of the enamel that had gone past the sugar stage will now look beautifully matte
of course you can use the Etchall on fully fired enamel too, to give a smooth matte finish

Have fun and remember to break all the rules!

Business as usual

2010-03-27T09:53:00.000-07:00

One of the decisions you will have to make as a self-employed artist (read small business owner) is how many of the day to day business tasks will you do yourself and how many of them you will pay someone else to do. The kind of tasks that I am thinking of are book-keeping for example or website design or photographing your work. Any of us who put work in a gallery on consignment have handed over the task of selling to another person, for which we pay commission. Probably if you look at your own business you will see some things that you do yourself and some that you farm out.

Some people are of the opinion that it is more time and therefore more cost efficient to get other professionals to do business tasks for you, while others will say that if you do as much as you can yourself you retain control and you keep costs down by not having to pay out.

Looking at my business I realise that I am definitely in the latter camp - I do my own book-keeping, so have a good idea of what is coming in and what is going out, which is essential. I do my own photography. I am also starting to design my own website, with the help of a one day course I'm taking this week. And I'm in the middle of re-designing all my promotional materials, ie business cards, postcard, earring cards. I actually enjoy doing this as I used to do graphic design in a former 'life' but there is no doubt that it takes time. I have done my own selling too, at craft fairs and trade shows but that is an area that I am really not so good at despite my efforts to improve, so that is one I'll leave to the pros.

I try to maintain a balance between creative work in my studio and business work at my desk, there is a kind of ebb and flow throughout the year as different things take priority but I've had my jewellery business for ten years now and so far so good.

Giving

2010-03-22T12:48:00.000-07:00

If you are an artist reading this I am sure you have been asked to donate a piece of work to a charitable cause. I often wonder how many electricians, plumbers, carpenters and other tradespeople are asked to donate their work to charity. It probably happens but maybe not as often as artists are asked to donate. I think this is partly because art is eye-catching and will bring people in to the charitable event but I also do think there is an element of 'the artist is doing this because they love doing it and it's not really work anyway so lets ask for a piece for free'.

However as artists we can turn this around to our advantage and feel virtuous about supporting a cause. Often it is a sign that people really like your work if they ask for your work specifically, so if it is a big event with many people attending your work will get good exposure - think of it as promotion. I think the key is to know what kind of people will be attending the event and of course for you as the artist to know who your customers are - when the two coincide then there is a perfect opportunity to donate a piece of work. The charity will gain a donation and you will hopefully attract new customers. If the charity in question is not one who's goals you agree with or the audience will not be your market I would feel absolutely no guilt in turning them down.

Recovery

2010-03-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a difficult day in the studio. I've been working on the juried show piece for Influx Gallery in Calgary - I'm doing a ring and I was working on the shank. I had an idea in my head and just launched into it in sterling, and it turned out much too heavy and big, but at the same time a very small finger size. Also the rolled texture I had chosen was not right. I was using the hydraulic press to form it and it is very touchy and easy to over do it.

Anyway I very carefully cut it apart, re-rolled it and cut out a new narrower shank and started again on the press and all seemed to be going well when I got over confident or something and pressed the damn thing until it was as small as a bead. I couldn't believe I did that!

I knew I needed a break at that point and went and had a cup of tea and a peanut butter sandwich. Then I just sat down again at my bench and started all over again with fresh silver, and this time it worked out well. I was super careful. I am really appreciative of the fact that either by nature or by practise I am able to work this way - with patience and calmness! Though sometimes it really is a test...

Eating

2010-03-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

As it is nearly lunchtime where I am, I just thought I'd share an observation with you. I have really noticed a difference to how my afternoon in the studio goes according to what I eat for lunch. It may seem obvious to some but I find that if I have a lunch with loads of protein in it my productivity goes way up. I am pretty sure this works for athletes but who knew it could work for artists too?

Anyway, I haven't eaten meat for the past twenty odd years, though I do eat all kinds of fish, and eggs, and dairy. So my usual lunch often consists of some variation of the cheese sandwich. I always thought that that was enough protein for me but now I think that not all proteins are created equal because when (and this may gross some delicate people out) I open a can of sardines and have sardines on toast for lunch I always have a really good productive afternoon at the work bench.

So that is what I am going to do now, and for your information I always buy Ramirez Portuguese sardines in olive oil with a hot chili pepper, they are very tasty!

Skiing

2010-03-13T10:20:00.000-08:00

There are many great things about being an artist, you are your own boss and you can ultimately organize your life however you want in your quest to satisfy your creative urge. Then again there are some not so great things, like being your own employee and not earning much money. Yesterday, despite a full slate of TO DO, I decided to go skiing. Various reasons - I felt like it; 20cms of new snow; John, my husband wanted to go (he is the best person to ski with bar none); I knew I would be working all weekend. It was an easy decision, I didn't feel guilty, I had fun and I was too tired to write this when I got home.

I used to organize my working week quite rigidly a few years ago, and although it would change with the seasons, it would basically be set out for the winter or summer and not change for months at a time. Since John started working at a new job that requires him to use the car and do a 24hr or 48hr shift away from home I have found it easier to tailor my work week to his. We have one car between us, so now I work at my home studio while he works away - I have complete peace and quiet and few interruptions - then when he is home I can take my 'weekend' with him and go skiing.
I think this works for me because of all the previous years I put in being disciplined about work. Here's a great photo John took a year or so ago at our local hill, Red Mountain.

Exhibition

2010-03-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

I just had an email from the art school where I studied jewellery-making for three years - Kootenay School of the Arts in Nelson BC. They have invited me to take part in a faculty exhibition of work next year. I used to teach part-time in the jewellery dept several years ago before the school became part of the larger Selkirk College and they down-sized the course, needing fewer instructors. I have been there since as a Visiting Artist (giving a slide show) and recently have given some Continuing Ed classes, when enough people sign up, so it is nice of them to invite me into a faculty show.

I've spent this morning putting some info together for them along with three images, all needed right away. I keep copies of all the artist statements and bios I've written, as I can often use them over again, maybe with a small change here and there. Today I rewrote both in bullet style format for a change, I think it is easy to read that way and since they wanted the info quickly, it was quicker to write too.

The best thing is that the exhibition is not until spring 2011 and I will have time to produce new work for it, it is always so exciting to think ahead like this and imagine the amazing, incredible pieces I will produce!

Juried Shows

2010-03-07T09:40:00.000-08:00

One of the things I have been musing on lately is the subject "Fiat Lux" meaning - let there be light. This is the theme of a juried jewellery exhibition at Influx Gallery in Calgary that I am planning on entering a piece for. I have been with Influx Gallery since they opened and they have been fantastic in the number and scope of the exhibitions they put on. They are also incredibly professional and nice to deal with , which isn't always the case with galleries.

I had an idea for Fiat Lux right away that inspired me, I feel like I want to keep it secret until the piece is done though, I'm not sure why. What I need to work on is the actual design and how my idea will work, whether it will work in fact, and how much I want to spend on it in dollars. Of all the pieces I have ever made for juried shows only a few have sold, but I think it is incredibly freeing to make a piece with absolutely no thought as to whether anyone will like it or anyone will buy it. I aim to do one or two pieces like this a year, I wish it were more but I need to actually make a living.

I will show you the piece when its done, but until then it remains in my head, and sketch book. Now I must get on with it as the deadline is in April and we all know how time speeds up as the deadline approaches.

Not Working

2010-03-05T08:27:00.000-08:00

I think of myself as fairly disciplined when it comes to my jewellery business. I have been doing it long enough that I have a routine that works. I can always find something that I feel like doing even when I hardly feel like doing anything at all. However this past week has been somewhat difficult and the result is that I've done very little at my workbench, desk or computer. A combination of having a family member staying (learning to snowboard), a friend from Montreal coming into town for just a day (I must go skiing with her), lots of domestic stuff that had piled up to Everest proportions, getting the car fixed and I could go on and on.

However the good thing is that although I have little to show for this week in my hands I can always be thinking about new ideas, new designs, interesting shapes, forms and textures while I am doing other things. I haven't been able to jot anything down in the big black book but I do have all sorts of things circling around in my brain that are sure to emerge as jewellery at some time.

Daily Work

2010-02-27T13:32:00.000-08:00

Some people may think that the life of an artist is an easy one, not real work perhaps. But it is the life that I have chosen so I thought I would write about a typical day in my studio.

As my job is mostly sedentary I always feel better if I get some exercise first thing, for me it is the best way to start the day. So at 8am I get outside and go for a run, three seasons of the year, in winter I cross-country ski and when the weather is bad for either I go to the gym. By the time I get home, shower, change, make a cup of tea and get into the studio it is usually exactly 10am. I put on the radio, CBC, and start listening to Q, my favourite program.

Usually I have something that I am half-way through on the work bench. It could be a custom piece, maybe a wedding ring with a gemstone, or I could be making inventory for my online shop or one of the galleries I sell my work in. My activities could be one of many, such as cutting, texturing, forming metal, setting a stone, soldering and joining metal, finishing and polishing. Or maybe I'm using up scrap metal, melting and pouring an ingot or drawing out wire to different thicknesses. I mostly make everything myself that goes into my jewellery, rarely buying ready-made components. This is because if I make it myself I can put my own style in it, if I buy it, it will be the same as everyone elses.

I break for lunch at noon and always take an hour to eat and relax. Then it is back to the studio. I'll spend the afternoon doing the same range of things trying to get ahead with several pieces, or completely finishing one piece, depending if it is custom work or not. If I am enamelling I'll set the kiln to heat up while I am having lunch, then I'll clean all the work bench of metal, tools and dust and get the enamels ready for use. I usually work through until 5 or 6 pm, it varies depending on workload and whether I or my husband is cooking dinner tonight. I'm sure other jewellers work longer hours but I do what is right for me. I put all my tools away at the end of the day, cover the rolling mill and let the hydraulic press down, turn off the torch and the pickle pot.

Of course some days are different, there is book-keeping every month and running to the post office with shipments of jewellery to mail. And don't forget designing, sketching, photographing, making prototypes, pricing, and ordering materials. Meeting clients for custom work is a favourite part of my job, but it can be time-consuming if it turns into a social occasion. After dinner I usually spend an hour or two on the computer catching up on work-related email, sorting out jewellery photos, checking jewellery organization newsletters, making applications for various things - juried shows, grants and other opportunities that crop up.

I do this five days a week, well sometimes it is four and other times six,at busy times (Christmas) seven. Of course I can organize my schedule how I want which is great but I do have to be disciplined or it would all fall apart. I take a bit of extra time off when I get busy in my garden or if the powder is especially good in winter, but this has been my routine for ten years and it works for me. If there are other artists out there I would love to hear about your daily routine too.

Damask

2010-02-22T19:37:00.000-08:00

I'm very inspired by textiles and fabrics. I can spend hours in good fabric shops looking and feeling different cloth. I particularly like damask type fabrics where the pattern of stylised leaves and flowers is woven into the cloth. I never get tired of the curling leafy tendrils and overblown petals that often seem to crop up in these patterns.

My friend Janet, who owns a very stylish store in my town, was using some tissue paper that was white with a clear black damask pattern on it to wrap up items when they sold. I took a piece, photocopied it and transferred the reduced size pattern to a sheet of brass which I then etched. This master brass sheet now has the pattern incised into it and I can use this plate over and over to roll onto silver. I have used it to texture some earrings here, after which I overlaid the silver with a rich purple transparent enamel. I have it in mind to do a one of a kind piece using this pattern, but enamelling it to look like an old scrap of antique cloth. I'll keep you posted on that idea. Like most artists I have many more ideas than time to realise them, but I jot them all down in my big black book so I know where they are when I need them.

The purple earrings were a hit over Christmas so I decided to do a simple pendant using the same shape. This time I used a clear blue enamel, stoned back so the pattern shows up in a paler blue than the background. It makes me think of a piece of old Dutch pottery.

And it reminds me of a shard of blue and white china that came to the surface in my vegetable garden last summer. Now I want to do a more complex piece using the same texture again and colour and the idea of broken china, but again I need to spend the time thinking it out and sketching some designs before I start cutting into the metal. Where does the time go and why does everything take me so long?

More Leaves

2010-02-18T13:43:00.000-08:00

Outside my window the ground is covered in snow but inside I still have leaves on my mind. I have been using the leaf skeleton pattern in my jewellery for quite a while and I'm not tired of it yet, I don't think I ever will be. Every time I roll the leaf onto the silver is like the first time.

The challenge is to make the jewellery as exquisitely as I can while still retaining some sense of how much time it is taking and therefore how much I will charge for the piece. That is the nature of production work - a continuing juggle of time, money and artistic inspiration. These leaf earrings I recently made are a simple silver shape with two shades of green enamel on them, front and back and a silver hook, but even they took several hours to complete from start to finish, all completely handmade in my studio. I love the simple look, not fussy or ornate.

On the other hand the necklace here took many many hours to complete and it is a one of a kind piece because I don't think I could reproduce the exact colouring again, the shades of rust and brown and verdigris green, like an old junkyard find but with shiny silver edges! To be quite honest it was a happy accident. I didn't prepare the sterling silver quite enough before enamelling (not enough depletion gilding for the jewellers out there) and some of the copper in the sterling came through and coloured the enamel. At first I was quite dismayed but then I decided that I liked it better than the original plan I had. Sometimes things that go wrong are really going right, if only we know when to go with the flow.

Leaves

2010-02-16T16:02:00.000-08:00

Let me admit to my love of leaves! What artist doesn't like leaves? The millions of variations, the colours and forms, the veining patterns, the translucence or the waxiness or the fuzziness, the serrated or the wavy edges. I'll never get tired of looking at leaves.

Yes I love to make leaf inspired jewellery and I know I'm not the only one, but it is an addiction I can't give up yet. Here's a pic of a pendant neckpiece I recently finished - three separate leaves in silver and enamel on a sterling chain. I've been working in enamel a lot lately and lucky for me all the shades of green enamel are some of the most satisfying to fire - luscious glossy colour that melts and flows beautifully.

What goes into a piece like this? Well cutting out the right amount of silver sheet first and then rolling it with the pattern from a leaf skeleton. Next cutting out the leaf shapes and giving them a mellow fold down the centre or a serrated edge. If I'm using fine silver (999) I'm ready to enamel now, but if I'm using sterling (925) I have to go through the time-consuming depletion gilding process - familiar to most studio jewellers. Sterling is stronger and better for structural pieces so there are many times when it has to be used.

Next comes prepping then enamel powders - cleaning them by washing and draining numerous times and then drying then back to powder form. Meanwhile I turn the kiln on and set the temperature for 1385 F. I fire two coats of enamel each side, checking for uneven areas and using a diamond grit stick to grind tha enamel so it is smooth and even. I never get tired of seeing a pieces come out of the kiln one colour and watching as it cools and turns to another shade altogether.

After the firing is done, the edges of each leaf are meticulously sanded and polished and then the jumps rings are threaded through and carefully soldered closed. Another piece finally finished and photographed. I wonder who will end up wearing it?