Good Day...or not!

On Saturday, September 10, the vendors at High Hill Ranch/Apple Hill received a notice that "Good Day Sacramento" would be filming a segment...and if we were interested in being filmed...be at our booths at 7a.m. "working."

Well...what artist wouldn't love some free promotion?

We did. As did others.
So, most of us crawled out of bed EARLY, to show up EARLY...and then wait.

Note: usually we show up at 8:30am-ish to open at 9am. So...many of us were minus sleep and coffee. By the way - not a drop of coffee to be found anywhere. :-/

To make a short story - shorter - We did not get on the segment...nor did most others. Just two. The candlemaker and the glass blower.

I can't find the segment to embed. But I did take some photos...just for fun.

Camera guy sets up while artists wait....

More set up....

And yet more set up...wait...it gets better...

LIVE!

More LIVE!

LIVE! Explaining how a glass bead is made...

Setting the glass bead in the clay to cool...

Wrapping it up...

"Did ya see us on TV?"

Mike vows he will never EVER show up early again. Three years in a row...he's done this and has never made it on TV.

Dazzling Dawn...I think she should win the most beautiful booth award...if we gave them out! She hand-paints all her glass!

Meanwhile, while most of us were just standing around being disappointed...he just kept working.

And Josh and Michael did some yoga.

And least our booth was pretty.

So...I think next year Good Day Sacramento should send someone up the day before...have him/her choose the artisans they want to film. That way only TWO will have to get up early...and the other TEN won't be sleepy, grumpy and without coffee.

(such are the things that make stories in our lives!)

:)

Something Very Different (by Lisa)

Sharing something new. A collaborative piece. 

My friend, Tania von Allmen, handed me a moldavite...

I tossed in an onyx...

she said my favorite line, "Go for it...whatever you come up with."

I did some drumming and journey work and kept seeing the same vision.
I argued with myself...
"No...I don't do that kind of work..."

Repeat this scenario two more times!

At the end of the third journey session I realized that I needed to contact another to work with - and so I did.

So here is my design with the beautiful craftwomanship of North Marques. 

North did the wax carving, silver casting and stone setting. 

(Actually, she carved the hand and I did the surrounding work in wax...and she fine tuned it a bit.)

When amazing minds come together to create - amazing new life forms emerge!

Had I stayed "small" and argued with myself..."I can not do this..."

this never would have made it into the world.

End Credits:
Friend and amazing artist....Tania von Allmen... check out her work as a Symbolist.
Friend and amazing artist....North Marques... check out her artisan designed sterling silver sculptures.

Piece a Week #3: Creating Peace

I can not work in chaos. I get frustrated and grumpy. Too bad I don't have a before picture of the workbench. Trust me -  it was piled with...stuff. The bench was a confused multitude of things. I needed to get rid of the excess.

After we expanded the entire studio, I began the process of making sense of the confused multitude of things on the workbench. Scrap copper goes in that bin. Little bits of silver saved. Tools have their space. Pieces of paper towels tossed and dust swept up.

Cleaning was its own creative act.

The Zen Workbench

Pristine! Clear of clutter! No stuff! A peaceful place to create!

I thought about pushing through and making something "just" to have a piece to post - but realized that creating a pleasing space is just as valid.

For next week: I have a rather wild idea for setting a chunky raw cut yellow opal...

A Piece a Week 2011

mmmm macchiato...photo by Lisa

Josh and I have challenged ourselves to make a piece a week this year. Each of us. Two artists making a piece a week.
Do the math.
104 pieces!

A few hours into 2011, I came up with a medium that is outside of my comfort zone. Outside and unknown.

Dryer lint clay.
Just found a recipe.

Now...what could possibly say "recycled jewelry" better than homemade dryer lint clay?

I once read a story of a women who painted pictures using dryer lint. She would have the entire neighborhood bring her their dryer lint...for the various colors! I probably won't do that...but I am eyeing a few blankets that have distinctive coloring.

Hmmmmm just realized that much of our dryer lint usually contains cat hair.

I think I have just talked myself out of that type of clay...but there is another clay...that I can make at home...

Off to research and play.

Due date for my first piece is Friday, January 7, 2011. Will report back on the 7th with my results!

PARTICIPATE!!!!
We have created a page to showcase the work that other's have done! Send in a .jpg with a brief description of your work to kewishdesigns@hotmail.com and I will add it to the 2011 Challenge page!

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)