Thursday, February 27, 2014

Watercolor #4 . . .

#4
I am having an absolute blast with this new (new to me!) medium.  What I thought would loosen my hand and let me create work in a less detailed manner has so far not done that.  Instead, it has taken my attention to detail and blended it with more watery and fluid techniques.  I thought my work would look more 'splashy' but clearly not.  Oh well, I'm trying to not change where it wants me to go and just enjoy the ride.  Lovin' it.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Feeling a little schizophrenic . . .

Ocean Jasper + enamel on copper
I know, I know.  Can you not just settle on one thing already?
Here's the skinny, Minnie.
You've seen some of my watercolor lately and I'm not giving that up.
I need a bit of stimulation to get my creativity flowing.
Watercolor is doing that so that's not going away anytime soon.
Then I discover enamel and fall in love all over again.
I am reclaiming the artist I always thought I was.
I am.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

And this . . .

#3
From a picture I took last winter when we actually had snow on the ground.  
Eddie giving rides off the farm strip in the Cub. 
Watercolor #3 and having a ball
Old dog - new tricks
Trial and error. 

Thursday, February 20, 2014

New year, new work . . .

#1
We all know how good it is to stretch our brain muscles once in a while, to step out of our comfort zones and try something new.  Well here you go.

I haven't worked in watercolor since high school (you remember, the year before fire was invented?) and I was super deluxe, extra horrible, really bad at it then.  Who knows why but I ask a friend of mine who teaches middle and high school art at a private school nearby if there is a chance I might sit in on her class on the basics of watercolor.  I'm hooked.
#2 - my backyard, across the fields
These are my first two paintings and while I am the first to admit that I am not ready to hang anything in a gallery, I can see potential.  Definitely improvement from painting #1 to painting #2.  Maybe my years of seeing things differently (beyond my eyes as a 15 year old) that has changed me. Or maybe it just clicks this time.  I never try to guess.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Working toward the weekend . . .

Still piling up the new work for my next show at the Visiting Nurse Association benefit Art&Soup show in Omaha this coming Sunday, as you can see.  Loving the new direction and working with enamels, torch-firing, and my stash of enamel jars continues to grow.  


It's addicting but I think it may really be the color splash that I am enjoying so much.  


It would be easy to re-create with others have done and I see much of that as I cruise through etsy and other selling sites but my own hand is starting to shine through now. I'm using all of the same techniques that I use in silverwork.  Lots of pinning, simple embellishing, punching and hammering shapes so it becomes mine and not just a stamped piece.


I am super-anxious to see how the new work direction is received and I can always count on good and honest feedback from this particular show.  Add to that the fact that shows are so saturated with silver and strung pieces that this is simply different from an art and craft show standpoint.
SPRING!

Post a little positive affirmation, okay?  I'll let you know how it goes.

Monday, February 17, 2014

A little articulation, please . . .

Necklace
Orchid enamel
Pinned and articulated
Nearer horizons and open possibilities

Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Valentine's Day . . .

Happy Valentine's Day!
Simple : sweet : everyday Valentine

I've been slowly collecting different little jars of enamels, absolutely fascinated.  I have been doing my own lapidary work and amassing beautiful stones for such a long time and now this colorful addition has me oohing and ahhing at the sweet, soft combinations.  I'm using both copper and silver and playing with some success that has even me excited to combine enamels with metalwork and stones.  

I am finding that different gases produce different subtle effects - wanted and unwanted!  I particularly like the sugar phase of the sifted enamel powders transforming and the two pair of earrings here show exactly that.  Rough texture and deep, deep color.  Fun to watch the enamels as they transform and a trick to get them to stop just where you want.  Practice practice.

This pink and white pair of earrings shows that colors are not blended like paint.  Rather, combining two or more colors of enamel will give you speckles and another dimension to pieces.

I have a wonderful show on the schedule for 23 Feb in Omaha - Art & Soup - and I've been creating piles of earrings and pendants in the last month.  Gotta admit, I'm pretty excited to see if everyone else is as enamored with enamel as I am.

Fingers crossed.


Monday, February 3, 2014

Oh my. So long . . .

It starts . . .
What started out to be just a few days off the blogging to gather myself together for 2013 turned out to be so much more.  What a butt-kicker 2013 was!  The project I took on forced me to put aside almost all of my metalwork except for a few "gotta do projects" here and there but for the most part, galleries and certainly my little corner on etsy were all on hold.  
Lots of this

What brain-numbing thing was I up to?  I was the Registrar for the World Aerobatic Contest held in Sherman, Texas, in October.  Doesn't sound huge, does it?  From January of last year until the end of October I accepted registration information from competitors from 17 countries, their team members, mechanics, observers, and others and farmed information out to other volunteers who needed it.  I prepared ID badges for over 500 participants, pilots, crew, volunteers, judges and their assistants, and so many others who were there to work.  I wore out a printer.
Followed by this

Fees and funds were confirmed, housing requirements arranged (thank goodness, not by me!), and a mountain of paperwork bits and pieces had to be checked off my list.  What I accomplished in that amount of time really was mind-numbing and it is a miracle that my darling husband didn't kick me to the curb.  It occupied my every waking hour and caused me to spend too much time awake when I should have been sleeping.

Lineup first four flights
But it's over.  It was a freaky drive from Sherman, Texas back home to Davey, Nebraska that last weekend in October.  Soft, warm, finished work, weight lifted.  Files packed away, a few last minute questions answered and filed, reports written. Satisfied with my work.  

I tell anyone who asks me, "Would you do it again?"  Answer, "No."  But it did make me feel smart again and to be involved in something that is akin to the Olympics of Aerobatics is really something I am hugely proud of.  Yep, I'm smart.  

I'm just off the nose of the speaker, I swear
Time to renew and refresh.  I'm heading in a fun direction with metalwork for a while and at least for the first round of gallery work and one nice show in February.  Having a ball with enamels so expect a little color down the road.

Hey!  Look at that!  New stuff!
Glad to be back :: lynn

(All photo credits - the incredible Laurie Zaleski)