Adventures in Metalworking

Hi there!

Thanks for stopping by.  Today I'm sharing a work in progress in the area of metalworking.  It's an area that I've used a little in my designs, and this year I've made a commitment to learning some new techniques.

Here's a heart and wings that I was working on yesterday:

Heart with Wings

I used some textured "tin" that I had and cut out the pieces with metal snips.  Then I put them through a cool device to create the ripples - a tube wringer.  (This idea came from a class I took from Susan Lenart Kazmer.)  You can see more of what I made in her class here.

I added some color to the heart with ColoriqQue by Lisa Marie Jimenez in Ruby Slippers.  Then, I added some white acrylic paint dabs on the heart and wings with a paper towel.

Now, to put it together and decide what it's going to be!  Since I'm not up to soldering yet, I will probably rivet the heart to the wings.

On to the next stage!  What creative adventure are you on today?

Manipulating Metal

Hello creative people!

Everyone gets into a creative rut sometimes.  You lose your motivation and wonder what in the world you were thinking when you started a project, whether it's one particular project or your whole business.  You want to go somewhere, but you're not sure in which direction to go.  Everything seems like a dead-end.

Well, this morning I woke up bursting with new ideas on making jewelry, applying patinas, firing metal and using wire.  It's all the result of a class I took yesterday from Susan Lenart Kazmer (an amazing jewelry designer!) at Art Is You in Santa Rosa.  Susan has designed jewelry for major stores, has component lines in Michaels and is the developer of Ice Resin(R) - to name just a few of her accomplishments.

This class was on manipulating metal.  Working with copper sheet, we cut it into shapes, and filed and sanded them.  Then, we applied various patinas to them.  It was a noisy class - lots of hammering and filing.  We got to use a couple of different kinds of torches and fired the metal and wire.  My favorite item to use was a corrugator.  We used drills and added eyelets and rivets to our pieces.  Then, we hung them on leather cord.  That encapsulates the day and it may not sound like much, but it was an enthralling six hours.  I didn't even think my attention span was that long anymore!

I grouped some of my charms with greens and blue for a necklace at the end of the day.

Some of the charms on leather cord.

And, here are more of the charms I created in class with different kinds of patinas like flux, crackle medium, black patina and even oil pastels. 

I think the best classes leave you wanting more - more instruction, more of that particular instructor and their teaching style and more of wanting to create and try new ideas of your own beyond what that particular instructor teaches and creates.  It opens up new vistas and possibilities and makes you eager to learn more. 

And, I can't rate highly enough the opportunity to get out among those people who share your passion whether you quilt or sew or hammer metal.  The creative energy and knowledge, the experimental attitude and openness to new ideas is priceless.

Out of my rut!