Evolution of the Sugar skull

Happy Halloween! Feliz Dia de los Muertos! 

Dia de los Muertos ofrenda table, San Diego. Photo by J. Davies-Reazor

last years skulls

In honor of the holiday - I wanted to share with you the evolution of my polymer Dia of the Dead sugar skulls. Last year, I shared a tutorial - how I do what I do...


I make a batch every October, for friends, and fall shows. I'll work on them over a few days: sculpt, cure, paint, cure, bead...  This year I was teaching a Sugar Skull workshop as well. I was faced with the challenge of streamlining my process down to an hour and a half. I wanted the students to leave wearing their cured/finished pendant. So how to color and embellish the raw clay and do one simple cure at the end of class? My skulls are usually multiple layers of oils and acrylics, Gilders paste, sealed for durability... Hmm.

And I like to add variety to each batch. New tools, new techniques...

This year's new tool set: leather stamps. I found these on Amazon, pretty cheap, and since I won't be hammering them into leather repeatedly, thought they would do nicely. They are perfect! I love the striped crescent moon shapes especially. 

Naked skulls - a combination of small decorative rubber stamps and the leather stamps. Flower eyes! Heavens! Its too good! I am in love.

Now I mentioned that whole pesky workshop time constraint. Well - the colorant I like to use on raw clay is Mica powder. I have a few colors, they are easy to apply, and cure into the clay. They would be perfect for a single cure piece as color, and decoration.

Brushed on they are a total scary what-have-i-done? mess. 

With the surplus gently blown away, they are less scary, but still smeared and a bit all over the place. The trick to clean up? Clear tape. ( Sorry there isn't a video tut of this. If I could figure out how to hold the camera with my chin... ) Simply use the sticky side, gently pressed on surface, to remove excess powder. Powder remains in the impressed areas. Viola! 

These four are cleaned up and ready for the toaster oven. Wire loops are in the foreheads for jump ring/beading later. Czech glass flowers are applied with a head pin. (Bent at end to prevent it from pulling out. ) There are a few areas I will clean up with a little wet sanding... 

And here is the motley crew waiting to be whisked off to FaerieCon next weekend! 

The class, you ask? Fabulous! See what my students made: 

Student work left and center. ( Mine on right) They got theirs done! 

No tricks. All treats! Enjoy! 

Jenny

Freeform Friday: ovals, rings, links... Oh my!

So there has definitely been a theme here on the blog...  Many of us hear the clock ticking down to Beadfest. I know, its months away... but clay takes time! I was back in the studio yesterday after a hiatus that involved shows, travel, and a bit of vacation... I have two weeks until I start teaching summer classes and then the days REALLY fly by. I need to make them count.

Today - white stoneware. 

Stamped and textured. 

circles cut... 

Centers cut... 

Diverse piercings. You never know what the shape and configuration might inspire... 

I decided to save the center piercings and make tiny charms. Perfect for earrings.
I may loathe glazing them, but for now it seemed like a great idea. 

 So I made a huge pile of pieces: approximately 200 because I counted over 100 little tiny charms! Seems fast? Sure - but there is SO much to do to each piece before we get close to "finished". 

Sponge, sand. Dry. Bisque fire. Glaze and stain. Glaze fire... Its going to be weeks until all the stages in the process are complete! ( For more information on the kiln and ^10 reduction firing - see this previous post. ) 

When I first made these large ovals and links, it was on a whim, test them out and see how they were received. I did some in high fired stoneware ( ^10) - very earthy, rustic. I did others in my low fired earthenware with a diverse, more colorful palette. 

Stoneware on left. Earthenware on right. 

This is what I imagined their future to be when I created them: 

Hi fire stoneware oval pendant by Staci Louise Originals. 

Low fire earthenware pendant. Also by Staci Louise Originals.  Smaller charm by Barbara Bechtel/Second Surf. 

 This happened at the Bead Soup Blog Party this year. I am blown away! It shows how versatile these links can be - more so than I imagined! (Thanks to Sally Russick for sending this link in her soup! )

Hi fire Stoneware as toggle, created by Rose Rushbrooke

Hi fire Stoneware as toggle, created by Rose Rushbrooke

I am still excited to see my components used in such fabulous pieces. I suppose that never gets old! I admire the creative use of the oval as a link, and the presence of the negative space as a design element. It helps me see things with fresh eyes! 

This year will be my third Beadfest exhibiting and my first teaching. While I don't want to wish the summer away - I need time! I have things to do! - I am super excited... 

Hope you have a creative weekend!
Until next time... 

Jenny

www.jdaviesreazor.com

Freeform Friday: feeling thankful

Have you noticed the people posting their daily things to be thankful for? I have and I admire the effort. I would start, fall behind, and then feel guilty/stressed that I wasn't being thankful enough! But it got me thinking... what experience in the art/jewelry field am I most thankful for? Class? Mentor? Trip? Tutorial? Instructor? 

I ask you to think on this, pour a cup of tea or coffee - and write a response to me in the comments!
My post is brief today - and I am giddy with excitement - and thanks... I am off to Washington DC for the day to spend it with my sister! She lives in Austin TX and is in town for a conference. So please don't equate my brevity with lack of caring...

My most thankful experience is meeting Keith LoBue. He is an amazing artist and an inspired teacher. He calls himself a "stuff smith" as he creates intricate swoon worthy pieces from found objects and diverse treasures. We met in San Diego at the Shepherdess - where he was teaching - it was after I had moved back East but I returned for his class. And we reconnected, and I was challenged anew each year, on his annual trip. I haven't seen him for a few years, he is based in Sydney Australia and doesn't travel as extensively as he did.

My first LoBue inspired mixed media piece. From his "Precious Little" class: antique sterling butterfly, pod, antique magazine paper, glass lens, gems...

Shrine work in progress - center focal composed of pods with vintage pearls, beetle wings, and auto glass, skeleton key, milk glass knob, cigar box, sandalwood fan... 

My first etching samples, my first resin pour.
 Experiments with antique book text. 

These classes were years ago - so I did my first etching and resin under Keith's tutelage - 8 years ago? Before the materials were commonly used in the art jewelry scene... This built a foundation for me - learning techniques to apply to my work, learning them well, being confident to implement them. 

But for me - it was also hearing the right information at the right time. The encouragement to think out of the proverbial box. The permission to play, and to alter materials beyond recognition if the piece required that. To not hold precious things too precious, and to hold dear the found treasures that spark creativity. To honor the patina of age, and the inherent history in an object - even if its specific are unknown to me. 

I was in  a period of transition - having just returned East and trying to settle into my new role as freelance teacher, and more importantly, working artist. I was, and still am working with clay, but it is one of many materials I draw on to say my piece. Mixed media became my voice, and I am thankful that classes with Keith helped me find it. I came away with skills, yes, but more importantly a philosophy that informs my work to this day. 

Aurora: vintage compact, magnifying lens, antique postcard, etched brass, rusted washer, silk...

Gaze: pocket watch case, sea glass, image transfer, pearls, antique images and text, resin, microbeads. 

Tell me you most what you are most thankful... 

Jenny
www.jdaviesreazor.com

Freeform Friday - Sketchbooks

 Freeform Friday - just a journal, simply a sketchbook....

My current sketchbooks and journals. Yes, I have three going at once. 

My personal history. 

Metals sketchbook from college. Fall semester  1987. 

I have kept journals and sketchbooks since college - where I actually kept one for each studio class, like a kid with notebooks... And I have them all still - or most of them. When I have a creative block, when I feel my ideas are creatively stalled, I make a cup of coffee and browse. Each page, each assignment, each collage of word and image is a veritable time machine. 

The page pictured above - metals circa 1987? It was a Georgia O'Keefe inspired brooch, inlaid ebony and sterling. It was stunning - the piece was lost off the lapel of my Dads old tux jacket I wore continuously... but I am glad to have the sketch. I can recall the process, the hours put in to sanding the ebony to fit... That was my first semester of metals, too. 

Everyday everywhere sketchbook

 I carry a sketchbook with me everywhere. (above). I try to draw everyday. That lasts about a week each time I resolve to start anew. I make lists. Compulsively. I currently am using a grid pattern book, and do display layouts for shows...and I do sketch ideas! I really love my bandolier - fits the Moleskine book perfectly and holds a selection of pens. I have a smart phone - with note apps, drawing apps... and its not the same. Sure, my Iphone changed my life <tongue in cheek> but paper still is Queen!

I tend to have a journal that remains at home as well. This one will often contain collages, pictures "clipped & saved" from magazines for future reference, and true journaling if I feel the need to vent, or work through something I will write. And yes, its covered with stickers! Each book gets personalized, a collage in the front, stickers, tape tabs on pages so they are easily found. 

My current journal

collage page

This week I was thinking about books, journals, ideas, receptacles... as my current jewelry notebook is down to its last few pages. This is the book I keep on my worktable and sketch out ideas as I am working, design, solve problems, record options or variations that come to mind as I am sawing, beading....I couldn't bring myself to use the last few pages. I felt compelled to start the next book. I was going to start my Bead Soup piece, and my Challenge of Music piece - and I wanted to be free to have ideas evolve and expand. Those last few pages were limiting, finite. The new book with plenty of pages was full of possibilities, potential and room to grow. I don't have trouble finishing things in any other aspect of life - this was much more philosophical! So a new start, new ideas, and time at the bench!

Do you keep a journal? Sketchbook? What do you record? I would love to hear your thoughts... 

Jenny

www.jdaviesreazor.com