Learning To Play in 2013 And Beyond

When you are reading this post on Saturday, my husband and I will be busy taking down the Christmas tree and returning our living room to its normal, everyday appearance.  And while packing away the ornaments and the Christmas stockings, it seems appropriate to reflect upon the past year and to think about where my life journey might lead in 2014.

Preparing to write this post was a good exercise for me.  It made me realize how much exploration I did this past year.  I kind of surprised myself!  I started 2013 with Kerry Bogart's month-long  "Aspire To Wire" e-course.  I learned a lot from Kerry and it boosted my wire working confidence.  Since then, I have been making more of my own clasps, earwires, bails etc. and I plan to do even more in that direction in 2014.  Lately, I have been pushing my wire work skills even further, while working with Cindy Wimmer's new book, "The Missing Link".

Chris, (a local friend), and I started playing with enamels this year.  She has an awesome studio set up and she helped me get started and gave me pointers on how improve my technique.  I discovered that it is fun and inspiring to have some shared studio time with a friend!

I also got together with fellow AJE member, Kristi Bowman, several times this past year.  Kristi lives about 1.5 hours north of me.  We shared a booth at a couple of shows.  We work well together when vending and we have fun joking and talking shop.  We are planning some shared studio time in the upcoming year, also!

Kristi & I in the center, with lampwork artists Lara Lutrick (left) and Lori Bergaman (right).

  

Kristi and I also attended a metal retreat together, hosted by AJE member Francesca Watson and Melissa Muir.  I had a pinched nerve in my back and missed about half of the week-long retreat, but I am grateful for the time I could be there.  I became more confidant with the torch, and experimented with pewter casting, the use of a hydraulic press and a rolling mill.  I also made a bunch of wonderful new friends.  Kristi and I are already looking forward to the 2014 metal retreat!

Recently I've become intrigued with polymer clay.  I'm not much interested in "traditional" cane work, but rather in textures and surface decoration.  Kristi gave me an old pasta machine of hers and some 2 part mold.  I purchased a toaster oven and am anxious to give it a go in 2014.  I even collected and pressed ginkgo leaves (see below) when I was in Germany this past October.  Won't they make cool impressions for a polymer clay pendant?

The last 2 months of 2013 saw me experimenting with WoolyWire.  I love the texture and rich colors this hand-dyed wool brings to jewelry.  I know I'll be incorporating it in my work in 2014, as well.

The most recent development has me completely baffled.  I've begun doodling.  My mother sketched and painted and my brother has done illustrations in magazines and newspapers.  He has had his cartoons published in the New Yorker, and has illustrated 3 children's books.  I could never draw worth beans and just assumed that my brother got the total allotment of painterly DNA available for my parent's offspring.

Suddenly I've wanted to draw.  I was scared at 1st, because there's a strong line of perfectionism in my family and that trait can be both a blessing and a curse.  It is a curse, if you feel you have to somehow measure up to some imagined standard set by your mother and brother's gifts.  So I doodled secretly....don't laugh!  Then a couple of weeks ago, I just decided to h*** with feeling like I had to  excel at everything I do.  Its more than okay to just play and have fun for the sheer joy of it.  I'm not even drawing bead designs.  Just playing with shapes, colors and shading.  I have no training in art and no clue about techniques.  I don't know if this will be incorporated somehow into coloring polymer clay or if it is just an amusing diversion. And wonder of wonders, I no longer feel the need for this to be leading to a "productive" end-point.  Its is not a competition.  Its healthy to play and explore. My mind and heart are open and I'll see where 2014 takes me.

Linda
Linda Landig Jewelry – ArtFire 
Linda Landig Jewelry – Etsy

The BeadFest Boogie!

Yes unless you have been hiding under a rock you have heard all the amazing designers talk about the BeadFest prep.  All worrying about whether or not there will be enough stock for shoppers, whether or not the classes have filled up and also BeadFest or Bust sales.  It is quite exciting to see what is coming and that shoppers will have a plethora of goodies to choose from.

Here is the funny part I am also suffering from BeadFest Boogie panic!  No I am not vending.  I have been honored by my friends and AJE buds and asked to make pieces for display in their booths.  So this post is all about the eye candy you can check out in each of them!

Jennifer Cameron of Glass Addictions Booth #559

Sue Kennedy of Suebeads Booth # 463

Karen Totten of Starry Road Studio Booth #373

Jenny Davies-Reazor Booth # 461

Diana Ptaszynski of Suburban Girl Studio #359

Jan Onipenco of Molten Mayham #359

It has been a complete honor and pleasure to work with all of them to create pieces with their gorgeous art! 

I hope to see you all there!!!!

Kristen

Open

Last Saturday Melissa wrote about choosing a word to guide her for the upcoming year.  Many people have found this to be a more powerful approach than making a bunch of resolutions that are easily forgotten.  I decided to try this approach for 2013 and I've chosen the word: Open.

I would like to be open to new experiences, rather than being fearful of change.  I will strive to be open to new learning and open to change, rather that clinging to the safety of old ways of doing things.  I hope to be open to pushing my jewelry in new directions with out paralyzing myself with anxiety over whether it is good enough (to me that often means perfect) or not.

To that end I have signed up for an e-course on wire working by Kerry Bogert.  I've wanted to improve my wire skills for a long time.  I'm attracted to contemporary forms of wire work, such as Kerry does, but I've been afraid of mangled and bent up wires.  I envision my wire work looking like a ball of yarn the cat has played with.  But, I'm banishing that image from my mind now and forging (pun intended) ahead!  I will be open to new jewelry adventures! 

I look forward to sharing my efforts - both the challenges and the successes, with you.  I will strive to be open to learning from my mistakes without self-judgement.  Intellectually I know that all learning involves some frustrations and failures. Its just that getting that intellectual knowledge into my heart is sometimes tough. But I know that if I am not open to experiencing the inevitable set backs, I will never move forward.

I've done some simple wire work, as you can see in these pictures, but it is very laborious for me.  The finished pictures don't show all the times I've cut apart the wired links and done them over (& over!) because they looked crooked, bent or wonky in some way.  Plus there are so many more wire techniques I hope to learn.

Do you have a word for the new year, or some jewelry goals you hope to achieve?  Share your thoughts here.  For one thing it helps to make your goals public and for another, we can inspire and support one another.  I'm looking forward to your comments!

Linda
Linda Landig Jewelry

Top Posts of 2012

Well, happy new year! It's officially 2013 and we are still putting our heads together to come up with some new and fun ways to bring you more (and more!) Art Jewelry Elements - you'll be hearing about them over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, we thought it would be fun to take a look at Art Jewelry Elements' first year, and see what you guys found most interesting. In reverse order, the top five posts of 2012 were...

#5: Book Review and Giveaway-Irina's Inspirations for Jewelry

Jen Cameron reviews Kalmback Books' Irina's Inspirations for Jewelry and shows off earrings she made using some of the principles in the book.

#4: The Price of Lampwork

Jen Cameron writes a thought-provoking post about pricing handmade work - in this case, lampwork beads.

#3: FiberWire and a Fiber Studio Tour

Karen Totten introduces us to FiberWire, an innovative wire and fiber product, and gives us a tour of her daughter's studi, where FiberWire is created.

#2: Polymer Clay Silverware Textured Beads

Rebecca Payne shares a fun and easy technique for texturing polymer clay beads using old silverware handles.

And the #1 post of 2012 was......

Art Jewelry Elements Debut

A quick introduction to the original AJE team when the blog launched last April. While some of the team members have changed in the eight months since we launched, the vision remains the same:

Our goal is to build a community of people who love art jewelry, love making art jewelry, who aspire to make art jewelry, and to those who just like looking at pretty pictures. We will focus on building your art jewelry business, getting published, challenging you to stretch yourself and flex that creative muscle, lots of tutorials, tool and product reviews, studio organization, giveaways, news, trends, and so much more.

We have so many exciting things planned for this year! We hope you'll come along for the ride - and on behalf of the entire AJE team, we wish you a very happy new year!

Until next time -

Words....

2013 is just a few short days away.  Another year almost gone. Many of us are reflecting on the good and bad of 2012, but are also looking forward and forming a plan to make our 2013 the best year ever.  A few years ago, bloggers all over the art jewelry community started choosing a "word of the year"...one, all-encompassing word, instead of all the resolutions that tend to get forgotten after a month or two.

I thought it would be fun to ask my fellow AJE contributors about their word choices for 2013. Several of us had already thought about it...

Kristi likes balance and prioritize..."be able to figure out the important things and let the rest go!"

Jen's word is freedom...from fear, guilt, to create when and what she wants...that's a great choice!

Lesley chose balance...another great word!  She wants to ensure everything gets the attention it deserves and still have flexibility for the unforeseen.

Karen mentioned exploration and fearless...I think those go hand in hand!

Joanne wants to remember to relax!  She wants to "make time to enjoy the blessings in life and have fun creating..."

Linda expressed her desire for openness..."open to explore new skills and experiences".

Francesca wants to be intentional...she wants to develop positive discipline by setting measurable goals.

As for me, I changed my word every time I read someone else's answer! Last year, my word was de-clutter...my home, studio, life, thoughts...I can't say I was that successful. I believe it was my lack of focus.  Eureka...focus!  I have so many incomplete projects laying on my work table.  2013 is going to be the year for me to focus on what I have to do and maintain that focus until the task is complete, be it new jewelry projects or folding laundry!

So, how about you?  Have you chosen a word for 2013? Let us know!  No matter what your word, we here at Art Jewelry Elements wish you the very best 2013 you can possibly have!

Melissa Meman
Melismatic Art Jewelry
Art. Life. Love

Making a list....

And I'm not checking it twice - I keep adding more to it! And the topic of this list? Why, new jewellery techniques to learn of course! It's that time of year, the eye of the storm, when all the organisation for my eldest's birthday is done and Christmas Day itself is over, all the Christmas orders are safely with their new owners and before the new school term starts, before my January sale gets really busy and before I start organising my youngest's birthday. So, of course my mind turns to new techniques I'd like to learn next year and the projects that have been on my "to-do" list since the beginning of this year!

At the top of the list is learning how to make a locket. I've made simple lockets that are held together with a ring through holes in the top and slide apart, but this time I want to add in a hinge. None of the techniques needed are new for me, but making such a small hinge will certainly stretch my soldering skills! The picture above comes from a great Ganoskin tutorial that teaches how to make both hinged and slide lockets.

A little further down the list there's a note telling me to make more rings. I only tend to make rings as commissions, and rarely make them to list in my etsy shop or on my website but I've got a desire to turn some of the pretty stones I've been collecting over the last few years into some equally pretty rings. I think this part of my list is partly a response to the fact that I've spent a large part of the last couple of years building up my made-to-order collections that I sell in galleries and my collection of clasps and components in my Daisychain Extra shop. I fancy spending a bit of time playing and making more self-indulgent pieces! Don't worry though, I'll still keep coming up with new clasp designs as well.

A project like this beautiful ring by janieartjewelry on etsy would satisfy my desire to etch silver as well!

Source: etsy.com via Joanne on Pinterest

Further down still (but still nowhere near the bottom of the list!) is etching. I teach my college classes how to make their own texture plates using salt-etching, but I've never etched sterling silver before, mainly because the chemicals needed are too nasty to use at home where I do most of my work. A couple of my more advanced college students have asked to learn how to etch silver though, so I think I'd better learn how to do it properly before I attempt to teach them! Thankfully the post that Francesca wrote a couple of months ago should help me with safety information and resist ideas though.

So, that's a taster of my to-do list - what are your jewellery plans for the coming new year? What techniques have you always wanted to learn? Or is there a particular style of jewellery that you want to make more of next year? Whatever your plans are there are two things that I'm sure of - we'll all add more to or lists as we go through the year, and we'll all have lots of fun as we work through them!

Oh, and in case any of your jewellery to-do list requires new jewellery components, don't forget that some of us currently have sales in our shops! See Jen's post from yesterday for all the information you need!


Jo Tinley
Daisychain Designs 

All Things Considered...

2012 has been pretty good to me but as it closes out I find myself thinking more and more about what I've done and what I want to do in 2013 to stretch my creativity and keep things fresh.

This time last year I was selling my jewellery with reasonable success and was idly pondering whether or not I should try to sell some of the metal clay components I use in my own designs. It took another couple of months of procrastinating and prevaricating before I finally bit the bullet and went for it. It's well documented elsewhere how delighted I am with the positive reception they've received which frankly is just as well, because selling finished jewellery online has been a whole lot harder this year. 

So, for the last nine months I've been pretty heavily focused on developing my components and inevitably I'm now feeling the need for a change, to shake it up a bit by trying something new or revisiting some things I've dabbled in in the past.

In the summer of 2011 I attended a kiln enameling workshop and just the other day I came across some of the pieces I made following that.

This Scraffito cuff connector has been sitting around for over a year so I finally decided to do something with it...

I also had a go at torch firing enamels and set up a makeshift area in my garage, but this didn't come quite as naturally to me as I don't seem to be very co-ordinated when it comes to working with mandrels. But in fairness I think it's one of those things that needs consistent practice and once I started on building up the metal clay components there wasn't really much time left.

Now that the bronze production is running pretty smoothly though, I want to go back and improve these techniques with the aim of adding an enameled range to the shop - a nice complement to the metal clay I think.

Back in November I treated myself to another workshop, this time etching and I  LOVED it! I worked with copper and used a ranged of methods including PNP (press and peal) paper, Aquatint, stickers and Shelac. PNP was by far my favourite and I got some great results with some art deco images.

The butterfly here was done with a sticker and the other two pieces were done using PNP. Not everything came out as well as these as you can see on this next piece where fine grains of the  pumice used to clean the copper have got under the PNP causing the blotches.

 

Still that's what workshops are for aren't they! 

I have a 'slightly' addictive personality so it was all I could do to stop myself from going out and buying all the kit straight away but I've promised myself that this is something I will definitely be trying again early in the new year.

There are lots of other things I could put on my technique 'to do' list but by limiting it to just a couple I think I have more chance of actually achieving them rather than just being overwhelmed. Besides which, I still have a lot ideas to try out on my metal clays.

I've been working a lot with patinas lately, especially the new ranges of commercial metal patinas which can produce great instant colour effects like these...

 

It's also possible to get some great patinas on bronze which occur naturally as part of the firing process....

I love it when this happens but sadly it's very unpredictable and I'm very bad at keeping records of the conditions that pieces like this result from. I really have got to be more scientific about this. One thing I really want to do is try out some of the other popular patina techniques to see how they work with bronze. Ammonia, Vinegar, Potato crisps (chips)...most of the tests I've seen have been done on copper or brass so I'm planning to do some comparisons on bronze and will share that with you when I have some results.

Obviously bronze has a long and distinguished history when it comes to jewellery. How great would it be if I could reproduce some of these effects on my own jewellery and components....

Bronze jewellery from the Neolithic settlement of Vinelz on Lake Biel, Switzerland, c. 2700 BC. Wiki Commons

English: German National Museum ( Nuremberg / Germany ). Bronze armlet with sun symbol, late Bronze Age ( 16th-13th century BC ), Hesse. Wiki Commons

Without having to wait thousands of years of course - well a girl can dream?!

So that's what I've got my sights set on for 2013, how about you...what are your jewellery related ambitions for the year ahead? I'd love to hear about them.

Now, since this is the last post I'll be doing until after the New Year I'd just like to wish you all a very merry festive season and a peaceful and happy new year. See you all on the other side!

Lesley
The Gossiping Goddess