Earth Day--And a Lesson In Ignoring Your Inner Editor

On Saturday, 25 April, Lisa and I attended the Earth Day celebration in Placerville, CA.

The day started out a bit strange when a toothless gentleman wandered up to our booth just as we finished setting up and announced that he had to kill his fish because he didn't like what it was saying to him. And for a few tense moments he just stood there going on and on about about his fish. Needless to say, this was not the most auspicious start to our day. However, he soon wandered off and the real festivities got underway.

The weather was great, sunny, perhaps more windy than we would have liked, but overall we could not have asked for a better day for an outdoor event. We were fortunate to have a place right on the grass with a view of the stage.

Lots of people stopped by our booth and most seemed to genuinely like our work, but they weren't buying...at least not at first. But then, a woman working two booths over from ours came by and fell in love with one of our simple copper hybiscus designs with a rouge patina. It was the least expensive item on the table, but she truly loved it and wore it all day. Her purchase turned out to be the best thing that could have happened. All day long her customers asked about that pendent and she happily pointed them to us. After that, sales were brisk! Thank you flower lady!!!

The funny thing is, I was not fond of that piece and wouldn't have even brought it if Lisa hadn't insisted. She saw something that I missed and rounded up the half dozen or so of those hybiscus flowers I had made and polished them and fired a patina onto each one. All four of the copper versions sold and one of the brass too! Lesson learned. Never assume you know what people will like and never underestimate the value of a simple, direct design. Every time we sold another one of those flowers it was like having a walking talking billboard praising our work. Every woman who bought one immediate put it on and proudly pointed to our booth when people enquired about it.

--Joshua

Noticing the Negative

In Dr. Randy Borum’s article entitled, “Re-Train the Negative Brain” (first appears in Black Belt Magazine, January, 2008, pp. 48-50) he explains that numerous studies have shown that the electrical (or neural) connections in your brain are stronger and faster when they are responding to something unpleasant than when responding to something neutral or pleasant. Since the negativity gets the most ‘juice’, it seems obvious why negativity can become the major orientation. This is a survival tactic from antiquity to insure our survival since our brain needs to evaluate information automatically and often without our conscious participation in order to remain safe. When given the choice of positive, neutral, or negative, it will choose negative almost every time research shows. (From http://optimalperformancetraining.com/can-you-re-train-the-negative-brain/)

I have observed (over the past few years)...
Someone asks, "How are you?" If my answer is , "Good" (or something better)... there is not too much of a continuation of the conversation.
If my answer is anywhere along negative lines...then I get asked out for coffee, lunch, dinner, pedicures, massages, movies, drinks...

I began to notice this when I was very young. My mother would spend Sundays visiting the other church ladies. If one was in a positive space, the visit wasn't very long. If a woman was "going through something", there would be tears and holding and attention and yummy foods eaten. Even though I was "just a kid", I recognized the pattern.

I still see the pattern.
I've decided...to break free.

For I also read about neuroplasticity...and that we can change.
Doesn't even phase me that I'm up against evolution...or am I?

(Ponderings and Photograph by Lisa)

Forging a new trail...or making the cats deaf

Today I completed a piece using forged wire. I have to admit that forging is not my strongest skill as a silversmith, but I really enjoyed the challenge, although I don't think our cats were too keen on the loud ping ping ping of the hammer.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the term, forging is the process of shaping metal--typically wire--into the desired shape by hammering it on an anvil. It is a distinct skill from fabrication, which is the process of cutting, bending, soldering etc. Forging metal requires special hammers with highly polished surfaces. Striking the metal repeatedly with careful blows, you push the metal and shape it. Sounds easy, but it isn't...at least if you want to do anything more complex than flattening the end of a wire.

Anyway, I decided to make a pendent from a drawing I had lying around for months--a gentle "S" curve with a semi-circle cabachon nestled at the bottom. Webought this beautiful moss agate at a local gem and jewelry show and it inspired the drawing. Looking at that drawing I knew that as slender and long as the "S" was, the only viable solution was to forge a length of Sterling silver wire. Forging has the benefit of "work hardening" the metal. As you strike it, the molecules realign in a way that makes the metal more rigid. This is why forging was the solution for this project. You will see what I mean when you view the image at the bottom of this post.

I am sure a forging master could have whipped this piece out in a matter of minutes, but it took me considerably longer, but I am pleased with the result. I call it Silver Swing (Thanks Lisa for the name!) Silver Swing is available at our Etsy store, so check it out.


Peace.

--Joshua

Ring Ring

To honor the 13th anniversary of our marriage, I made Lisa a ring. She had picked out this beautiful topaz a number of months ago and the time seemed right to put it to use. Lisa always says she LOVES "sparklies." And this rock certainly fit the bill.

She had been wearing this simple silver band for a long time, but recently she set it on our work table, saying, "You should see what you can do with this."

So, I set to work the morning of our anniversary while she was at the office. First, I used a ring mandrel to reshape the band because it had gotten misshapen from months of wear. Since it isn't a closed band it is more prone to lose its roundness over time. Next, I used a fine grinding bit to add some texture to the surface. Then, I soldered the prongs into place that would hold the stone. And finally, I set the stone. This was by far the most difficult part of the project. setting a gemstone takes a great deal of precision and patience...but it was all worth it. Lisa loves the ring and everywhere we go people comment on it. People are fascinated to learn that we make jewelry.

And on the heels of this success, I decided to make another ring (Why not? I was on a roll!), this one for the business. The new ring is made of silver, textured brass and holds a small pink quartz. We just love how it came out. Elegant, yet not pretentious.

This one went really smoothly until I tried to set the stone. For some reason I could not get it to sit still while I adjusted the prongs. But eventually, I got it right...after spending over an hour grousing and grumbling and bending and straightening prongs and generally carrying on cranky. But I still love it. It was worth the hassle!

--Joshua

Chip Tips...

Yes, that is a fire opal resting on a tortilla chip.

Here's the back story.

April 14 is our wedding anniversary. We met for lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. We ordered our usual pre-meal chips and salsa. We munched on the chips and talked about our life...you know, anniversary stuff! We ate our meal, drank our sodas and nibbled on a few more chips. I lifted up a chip and looked at it carefully. Then I held it up as if it were a pendant. We both declared that it was a lovely shape and would look incredible in silver.

We then began to dig through the basket of chips looking for other aesthetically pleasing pieces of fried tortillas. We found one other chip worthy of becoming the model for a piece of 'fine art jewelry'.

I cradled these two precious chips in my hand as we left the restaurant. I'm sure the staff that bid us "Have a nice day" wondered why I was carrying out two tortilla chips.

I placed the chips carefully in the car, Josh took them home...and carefully placed them in our "up-and-coming" jewelry stash.

Tonight...I pulled out the fire opal and the tortilla chip.

Stay tuned for the final product!

...and if you want to know how to keep your tortilla chips fresh...

go here: http://www.ehow.com/how_4679910_keep-tortilla-chips-fresh.html

(Lisa)

New Work, New Challenges

Lisa and I recently started a new series of work where we are collaborating on the designs and sharing in the construction duties. It seemed like a great idea...and it is, but--there always seems to be a but--things don't always go as planned.

The piece in the first image (Moonscape-now available at our Etsy store) came out pretty much how we both agreed it should. We just love the blend of fused, reticulated silver, Brazilian quartz and brilliant orange opal.

Things didn't go so smoothly on our second piece (Moonscape 2-also on our Etsy). The blue crystal and orange opal are about where Lisa envisioned them in her original design, but that is pretty much where our good plans ended and our misunderstandings began.

Lisa had some strong opinions about this piece (she came up with the original design, after all) and thought she had communicated them to me. However, I also had some ideas, so I asked her, "May I play with this a little?" and she replied, "Yeah, sure." This is where I took a detour. Let's just say that I thought I had more leeway than Lisa thought.

While Lisa was at her day job, I was happily working away on Moonscape 2. Later, when I revealed my progress, she was stunned to find lines of wire running along its surface instead of just holding the blue crystal. I thought they were great, but they weren't in the original design.

There were a few tense moments with me feeling that I had stepped on her creative input and her working past her vision for the piece. So we consulted a bit and realized the design was a nice blending of our styles. It wasn't exactly what Lisa envisioned, but it was a nice design all the same.

Now that it is done we love it. And we both learned a good lesson. Communication is more difficult and subtle, even after thirteen years of marriage, than either of us realized. Be very sure your partner truly understand what you are trying to say.

Peace.

--Joshua **content of this post approved by Lisa ;-)
-- except the title...I suggested "She Said, He Did" for the title...see? *laughing*...Lisa
--LOL. What about "Oops, I did it again!" Seems appropriate since you DID suggest your title before I came up with mine...Joshua

Sacramento's 2nd Saturday Art Walk

Last night Josh and I explored the art scene during Sacramento’s 2nd Saturday Art Walk. My original intention was to take pictures of a fire spinning group, see what the samba parade dance group was up to, and visit the gallery of another associate who was showing work.

None of THAT happened…although I did see a fire spinning group a block away, but we were hungry and sitting down for dinner at Tres Hermanas won the debate!

I had forgotten that it was the 2nd Saturday fell on the last Saturday of Spring Break! Therefore, it seemed that the crowds were very ‘young’ and very inebriated at a very early hour!

However, I thought I would share some of the artists that I discovered, as well as some shots that I took.

Yuko Oyaizu Carson does wonderful work that I immediately was attracted to. Bright colors and lots of cats! Her artwork portrays her love of cats, sense of humor and her excellent eye for composition. Check out her site at: http://www.yukosartstudio.com/.

Michelle Mackenzie does "contemporary abstract paintings". I found them to be quite lovely and ethereal. She paints what I see in my head as I sit down to work on jewelry. I have not achieved enough technical abilities to actually portray these wonderful images! Check out her work at: http://www.mmackenziegallery.com/.

Finally....Kristen Hoard. HER large metal sculptures LOOK like my jewelry. In fact, she was showing a couple pieces that looked like sketches in my book! Needless to say, I loved her work. PLUS...she uses fire as an element to her sculpture. I love fire. I spent a fair amount of time taking shots of the fire in her work! Check out her site at: http://www.metalphoria.com/.

The pic that opens this entry was taken at Ms. Hoard's installation.

(Lisa Kewish)