Radical Jewelry Makeover Part I

Finally…. my post about the Radical Jewelry Makeover.

It happened here October 2011.  It was primarily an exercise in awareness, and the message of EthicalMetalsmiths.org is very important – so let’s start there.  I’m going to keep it simple. 

Here is a satellite pic of Santa Fe from Google:

Santa Fe, New Mexico

For those of you who know the town, this pic is basically the entire place.  Rodeo Road and the Interstate skirting the south side, Cerrillos Road and St. Francis Drive are the main arteries north/south, St. Michael’s Drive cuts through the middle, and then the ancient part of town, the Plaza, and DeVargas Mall up there at the top.  Santa Fe is larger than this, if you count Las Campanas, Eldorado, and the Community College and newer developments to the southwest – but this is the bulk of Santa Fe.  This is the area where most of the population carries out their lives.

Now this is a satellite pic of the largest gold mine in South America:

Yanacocha Mine in Peru

Please note the scale in both pics.  I put pink boxes around the scale in each pic.  They’re the same scale.

In other words, most of Santa Fe would fit inside the Yanacocha Gold Mine.  (and it’s only the 4th largest in the world).

Are you stunned?

I was.

Maybe a little naive of me, but the idea that if someone found gold near my home and would conceivably dig a pit the size of the town in order to get at it…

when, to quote wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold)…

“One estimate is that 85% of all the gold ever mined is still available in the world’s easily recoverable stocks…” (my bold)

I’m stunned.

Which is exactly the idea behind the Radical Jewelry Makeover project.  

To point out that we can mine our own homes and see what can be reused instead of tortured out of the earth.

How much of that 85% is sitting in your jewelry box, never worn?

Gold and other precious metals can be easily recycled.  And mining for new metals is badly done.  I’m not going to go deeply into the politics of it – there are better sources available to prove the point (and I haven’t even mentioned the human damage – the mercury, the cyanide, the child labor, the actual human torture that occurs) :

The BBC

Reuters

Wikipedia about the Potosi Mine

Travel Agent Central (!?!?!)

Democracy Now

Wikipedia about the Yanacocha Mine

PBS/Frontline

60 Minutes

and of course,

Ethical Metalsmiths

Do your research, before you buy precious metals (or gems), as either a consumer or a maker.  Find out where it came from.

Let’s remember the real cost.

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Ok, rant over.

Part II will address the creative transformation the Radical Jewelry Makeover initiated for me….

🙂

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Polymer Clay backfill technique… and Kabbalah

So, a few hours of research and work, and voila!  Success!

It’s not so cheesy anymore!  (Well, it’s a little cheesy in this photo, but once I have the other elements attached…)

Obviously I have a long way to go, to get the technique perfected.  But this was real progress!  I used a much thicker pin to make the lines this time.  I filled in the holes with a purple and the lines with black, using the backfill technique that is described very well here –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh2RcVqrYNQ

Thank you VERY VERY MUCH PolymerClayStudio!  That set of videos is very helpful!

As I was working on it, I remembered something – I think I was confusing two of Jeff’s techniques.  There was this one, where you use the ball stylus to backfill, and then another one where you cut out holes to see the color underneath.  In any case, I recommend his classes.  The thing I learned the most, and which I haven’t perfected yet, is refinement.  So, if no other reason than to see how a master does it, get into a workshop of his if you can.

And then practice…

I’m going to put it aside for a day or so.  There are two more pieces left – the finial on top, and the stand.   I have beginnings of them in my mind, but I want to pause a bit, let them stew a little longer.  I also remembered another technique Jeff taught, and I want to think about incorporating that, and using it to link all the components together.  But I’ll let that be a surprise…

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While I was in the library last time, I picked up a book by Rabbi Lawrence Kushner called “Kabbalah a love story”.  I don’t know why I picked it up, I just did.  I don’t even remember what it was near, why I was in that aisle of the library.

It’s very lovely!  Here’s a quote:

For both to love and to find God, you must annihilate your self.  If you still hold on to your self, then it isn’t love.

Interesting.  I am coincidentally also reading Robert Thurman’s “Inner Revolution”, which I thought was a history of Buddhism, but it’s actually an explanation of Buddhism.  And Kabbalah and Buddhism seem similar.  So next, I’ll have to see what Joseph Campbell had to say about it all…

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Practice makes perfect

Things were going well, and then my inexperience with polymer clay showed its ugly side…

It’s not terrible.  What you can’t see is the two places where I broke it.  Luckily polymer clay is a forgiving medium, and I was able to repair them – and lesson learned about thin sheets left hanging out where my thumb might be inclined to put pressure.

The lines in the middle section are supposed to mimic the lines of the wire underneath.  But there aren’t enough of them, and they are not thick enough.  In addition, although I had paid attention to Jeff when he demonstrated the backfill technique – oh my goodness!  it seemed so simple! – my attempt at it was disastrous!  I’m not sure what I did wrong, but it was very difficult to get the excess clay off the surface where I didn’t want it.

I think either my surface wasn’t smooth enough – Jeffrey has very smooth veneers – or my clay is way too old and dry.  In any case, the only way I got it as clean as it is now is by massive amounts of sanding.  And I don’t like sanding, especially massive amounts of wet sanding.  And to me, any amount of wet sanding is excessive.

The thought did occur to me, during the sanding process, this might be really preparing me for enamel, because there is wet sanding done in that process as well.

Anyway, the solution is reasonably easy – just do that layer again.  Practice makes perfect.  I found a method using mineral oil, to make the clay more pasty, and also to help clean.  And I will make the veneer smoother, if I can.

I also had a surprise once I made the holes in the top.  Those holes are supposed to be showing the lovely purple that’s underneath.  As you can see, it doesn’t really show, I need a bigger… what’s that thing called… stylus?  ball point poker thingy!  … and consequently, it looks like swiss cheese!  (I also didn’t notice until I took the photo a few moments ago that the yellow color is practically the same color as the wall.)

That is also easily fixable – I’m just going to practice the backfill technique and fill all those holes in with purple.

As I always say about art, it always sucks in the middle.  And like I said the other day, the only option is to keep going 🙂

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just keep going

I’m having one of those days where I get overwhelmed.  When this happens, I shut down and have to focus on a simple thought, to get rid of the feeling that I might implode.  Today’s simple thought is,

  “Just keep going.  Just keep going.  Just keep going.  Just keep going.”

I made good progress on the pod over the weekend.  I made a stand, so now it’s a little more “plantlike.”  I’m having a bit of trouble deciding on the final colors.  I spent HOURS trying to make an ivory/ecru out of the polymer clay I had on hand – and finally ended up with a fairly nice tan.  But now I have lots of muddy grey unsuccessful clay lumps that I guess will be used as structure for other things.  The way I’m going to decorate the stand is also morphing in my head into a jewelry idea…

Just what I need!  Another jewelry idea!

I also have played a lot with finial ideas, but I’m still in the play stage.

I worked on making buttons.  Hmmm, now I can’t remember where this idea came from, originally – to make buttons.  I’ve been carrying it around in my brain for quite some time.  The last few days though, it seems I can’t lie down and “doze” or I will have 2 or more ideas for buttons arrive fully formed in my head.

“Dozing” for me is that time just before or usually just after sleep where my thoughts aren’t verbal, they are visual, and very free.  I get a lot of inspiration and ideas during this “dreamtime”.

Anyway, I had this idea for a kind of “tribal” button, big (2 inches square), and the scarf I will knit to go with it – a simple shawl, draped around the shoulders.  As the idea has rattled around a little, the concept of the shawl and how the button can be used has changed.

But that happens.  My brain (all our brains?) is like a rock tumbler.  Put something in there, and let it tumble around a bit, you’re never quite certain what will come out the longer you leave it bouncing around.

And yes, I ought to keep a journal by the bed (or wherever I am napping), and write these inspirations down, but I don’t.  I should.  If you have seen the series art:21  <— this link is to a segment on the artist Richard Serra, and around 6:30 in the piece he talks about how he draws, and the purpose of it, of journaling, sketching, for him.  It’s good stuff, that series.  You can see four seasons of the show at www.hulu.com.

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The great thing about being an artist

I have this wonderful book called “Work as a Spiritual Practice,” by Lewis Richmond.  I have read it through at least once – I have also bought it once, lost it, and had to buy it again – it’s that good.  Mostly I keep it around and pick it up, and read a page, and put it down, and pick it up again later.

He writes:

An eminent artist once said, “The great thing about being an artist is that for your whole life you know what your work is.”

Which is true.  I guess.  Once I am working, I am focused, engaged, absorbed.  There is also the decision to be an artist – which, at least in my case, wasn’t exactly a decision as much as a fact, like breathing or eating.  I don’t feel like it was a choice, as much as a recognition that I am not happy or as involved in anything else I do with as much completion as when I am making art.  It just “is”.  That mountain is over there, the sky is blue, and I am an artist.

But there still is a lot of uncertainty, especially when I’m not in the act of creating, but when I’m thinking about creating.  What shall I make?  Can I make it?  Will it come out okay?  What will other people think?

The most recurring question is “What if I do this?”  So many this-es to try!

But all that (ok, most of it) fades away when the hands start moving and the mind connects with the object in front of me.

I wish I knew who that “eminent artist” is – even google doesn’t seem to know.

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Paperclips, SuperGlue, and spit!

This is what I’ve been working on…

I was fortunate enough to take a workshop with Jeffrey Lloyd Dever last autumn.  It was a great deal of fun, and he taught us all the wonderful things you can do with paperclips, spit, SuperGlue, and polymer clay!  This is a piece I started in that class, and I was determined that I would finish it.  Here it is, in progress, fresh out of the oven.  I have about 1, 2, … at least two more layers to put on, maybe more, and then there are two elements to be made to go on the top and bottom….

I’m a little bit in love with this technique I developed – at least I’ve never seen it before.  I was very unhappy with the uneven shape that existed after I wirewrapped the original structure.  I was trying to get fancy, and make something different than a point.  Silly me.  Instead of getting something organic and elegant, I got something kind of amateurish and lumpy.  And, I ran out of the black wire we were using.

So, I decided to EMBRACE the lumps!  I closed off the top with a layer of SuperSculpey, and then made a bunch of little balls and glued/baked those onto the layer, and then put another layer, the purple layer on top, and got this delightful bumps and lumps (inTENtional lumps!) which looked exactly as I had imagined they would, like seeds in a pod, waiting to burst.  These will be covered with yet another layer, and I’ll have a design in the final, nice, smooth layer, so that this lovely purple I mixed will peek through.

I have been working in polymer clay, mainly because of this class, and also because I just can’t afford to work in silver at the moment – as of this writing it’s $29.01 an ounce, up from $16 an ounce a year or so ago.  I can’t work in bulk at that price.  It’s not just the silver, but the casting, the molds, all that has to be paid for on top of cost of the silver.  So I’m enjoying polymer clay – the color, and the ease of being able to do everything myself.  I miss silver though, and metal.  I’m going to be working on things that I can set in copper with silver bezels.  I see this polymer clay work as a precursor to working in enamel, someday.

Here’s a view of the structure that Jeffrey taught us how to make in that workshop (seriously – SuperGlue and paperclips!)  I highly highly recommend him as a teacher – he’s a wonderful fellow, his wife is delightful too, and he’s very generous with advice and suggestions.  Look him up on facebook!  He is scheduled to teach in France, but anywhere you can find him, it is money and time wellspent, very enjoyable.

I also am glad that I am starting work with polymer clay with a project that is rather large!  I am not proficient in the clay, but this one project is teaching me a lot about the possibilities of the clay, and how to work with it.  So far I’ve learned about baking, color mixing, how to glue bits together, and yesterday I took my pasta machine apart, cleaned it, and put it back together.

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tiny houses

I really like the idea of tiny houses, and if you haven’t heard, there’s a movement to downsize our living spaces.  I can understand doing that – for everything except the art studio, which does seem to be ever-expanding.

I mean, I just upgraded from the small bedroom to the big bedroom last May.  How could I possibly need more work surfaces already?!  But I do.

At any rate, here is a nice blog I came across, and I really like this entry.  There is something idyllic and comforting about not having a lot of stuff, and about being able to roam freely yet still be at home.

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Recipe for Success – so simple, even I can cook it!

I was stumbling around the internet on Saturday, and I came across this idea and illustration, which is such a simple and elegant expression of what one needs to bee and dew…  I always overthink so much!  This is really clear.

Hmmm, I also really like the idea of putting up a video of work on youtube.

So, rolling up my sleeves now!  Thanks!

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Gather ye rosebuds

This silver flower was sent to me last Christmas.  I had a friend, and she was great – she was very kind to me at Christmas, and then she was great when I had to have surgery last spring.

This flower was on a series of presents; she sent me a big box, two Christmases ago.  I really liked this flower, and another ornament, Christmas bulbs, that she put on it.  I really appreciated the gesture.  It made me feel warm in a cold, dark season.

Then, one day, about six months later, poof.  Words were spoken, and she was gone.

This flower just sort of appeared at my feet as I was wandering around the house, getting ready for a New Year.  Cleaning, trying to clear up some clutter, putting away laundry, wiping away dust and grime that accumulated, and I was walking out of the art studio and there it was, lying on the floor.  I don’t know where it came from – I must have shifted something and it fell out.

But there it was.

I really like this flower.  It’s just a shiny thing, but its form is nice, it is soft and pliant.  And I think it was sent to me with the best intentions.

It reminds me, once again, nothing is permanent.  Friendships, most of them, are like flowers – they blossom with great beauty, and then they fade.

Be grateful, and cherish them while they grow.

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying;

And this same flower that smiles today,

Tomorrow will be dying.

Poem by Robert Herrick.

2012.  Here we come 🙂

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New Year – goodbye to 2011, hello 2012

“Once I was beset by anxiety. I couldn’t tell right from left or orient myself. I could have cried out with terror at being lost. But I pushed the fear away – by studying the sky, determining where the moon would come out, where the sun would appear in the morning. I saw myself in relationship to the stars. I began weeping, and I knew that I was all right.

“That is the way I make use of geometry today. The miracle is that I am able to do it, by geometry.”

-Louise Bourgeois
New York, 1977
(her work)

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May we all find our geometry, our moon, our sun, and each other, and know we’re all right in 2012.

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