Quack, Quack, I was taking a bath...

 

We woke up on Easter Sunday to 16 baby ducks swimming in our pool with their mother.  She had been nesting under a bush in the back yard for about 3 to 4 weeks, so even though we knew the big day was coming soon, we were still surprised.  And so many of them!  This was the third year in a row that she has come to nest in our yard.  She arrives with her partner a couple of weeks prior to settling down and they can be found swimming in the pool in the early mornings.   They usually wake us up with their loud quacking and splashing about.

The mother ran out of the yard with about 6 little ones as soon as we could get them out of the pool, leaving us to fend for the others who seemed a little panicked that their mother had left them.  We were able to coax the rest of them out of the pool on a blue swim mat.  They headed to the fence, but couldn't get through, so I had to scoop them up with my hands and put them through the opening.  Mommy Duck was out there waiting for them, quacking away.  Off they waddled, single file, into the big pond in the woods.  It was an exciting Easter morning to say the least.

I've been working on forging recently.  I made these earrings from a solid piece of 8 gauge square wire (round wire would be fine, too).  After forging the ends, I ran them through the rolling mill, bringing them down thinner and thinner until they were thin enough to develop into ear wires, which I finished off with an Artifex wheel.  The entire piece was then cut in half and the earring was then made by forging a triangular design and finishing off with filing or a coarse wheel.  I shined them up by putting them in the tumbler.  Each earring is all one piece with no soldering at all.   (This technique was recently taught in one of John Cogswell's classes here in Atlanta, and he is such a master I would guess he makes the entire earring with a hammer and a file.  Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the class, so did what worked best for me.)

This necklace was made with a Peruvian Opal and a Mozambique Ruby.  No forging was done here -- I just liked how the green/blue of the opal complimented the pink of the ruby.  : )

Wildacres, 2011

Another summer at Wildacres came and went without my remembering to blog about it here.  So I'm going back and gathering the photos and thoughts I have from another memorable adventure to share with you.  That's Donnie in the video above.  Donnie helps us with all the equipment that we need during our stay and is always there to lend a helping hand...but watch out when he's got that whip in his hand!

This year was a special time at Wildacres because it was Jean Stark's last summer teaching there.  Jean had been there every summer for 25 years!  Everyone who loved her as a teacher looked forward to this time every year, so there were quite a few tears shed this week.  Jean took a liking to Donnie's whip, trying to convince us that she was going to come down hard on us if we didn't behave.

Jean taught a class in enameling this summer and we all learned how to create lovely little pears.  She brought along lots and lots of examples:

Leslie and Karen were very proud of their creations:

Gail (sniffling a bit) and Robert have been in Jeans class without fail every summer.  I hope they come back in 2012.  

This is one of Jean's enameled pieces that I find stunningly beautiful.   Maybe someday I'll be this good (hopeful thinking).

And here's me with another one of my favorite teachers, Julia Woodman!  She's always kind, encouraging and has a magical bag of forging techniques.  I'm presently back in her class at Spruill and feel like I've returned home again.

My friends, teachers and classmates:

Would you like to see my pear?  It's amazing that it took an entire week to complete two pears (I haven't set the other one into a bezel yet), but enameling can be a very long process.  

Okay - goodbye for another year, Wildacres.  I hope to be back in 2012.    

Etching with Carol Webb

In the beginning of November, Carol Webb arrived in Atlanta to give us an excellent, information packed three-day workshop on etching.  Here are a couple of Carol's finished pieces (copper and silver laminate) in case you aren't familiar with her work:

We started off by transferring our black and white designs onto blue PnP paper, which we then transferred onto copper (with heat from a warming tray).  Our first assignment was to completely etch through the metal.   

Here's Carol doing a little annealing:

We then layed our plates face down in a batch of etching solution and checked them every ten minutes or so until the design had etched all the way through.  You can see in the photo below where the etchant is cutting right through the metal.  

Here are examples of student experiments showing how the black sections of the design will stay copper while the white will be removed.  I can't tell you how many times we mixed this up.

We also did some heavy duty etching in this spray etcher.  It was amazing how deep the etchings were in a fraction of the time.  This technique is perfect for using etched brass plates to transfer onto sterling silver through a rolling mill.

The major reason I took this class was to learn how to make and etch copper and silver laminate (bi-metal).  To accomplish this, we started with sterling or fine silver sheet (20 to 12 ga), along with a sheet of copper (26 to 24 ga) and heated it until a eutectic bond was formed, which can take some time.  Often it takes more than one attempt with the torch.  We then rolled the bi-metal down to the gauge we needed for our project.  At this point, we simply followed the previous exercises in etching to get the results desired.  Carol also showed us how to use different patinas to cause a striking contrast between the silver and the copper (see first picture above).


We somehow managed to do all of this in three days!  It was an amazing amount of information to to cover in such a short time, but Carol was organized and kept us all on task throughout the entire class.   She gave excellent instructions and handouts to help us along, plus provided us with pages and pages of designs to use in our projects.  I learned so much my head was spinning...and that's the way I like it.  


Upon returning home, I decided to enamel one of the copper pieces I etched and make a simple necklace out of it.

Juan Carlos Caballero-Perez Workshop

The Georgia Goldsmith's Group had a workshop recently with Juan Carlos Caballero-Perez.  Juan Carlos is an Associate Professor at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York and I first came across his work at Wildacres in North Carolina last summer.  All of the students in his class carried on and on about what a wonderful learning experience they were having, and I have to admit I was a wee bit jealous.  So when I heard GGG was bringing Juan-Carlos to Atlanta, I signed up immediately.

Juan Carlos

Our class was all about textures and embellishments.  We started off texturing round steel blocks (in any pattern we desired), which we can now use to add texture to our metal.  We also textured hammers and made numerous stamps out of steel and nails.  The picture below is one of the steel blocks I textured with separating disks ground into the metal.  The photo underneath shows how the texture looks after hammering a piece of silver onto the block.

We also spent a good amount of time etching.  We used PnP, paint pens, sharpies, contact paper, stamps, universal etching ground, bees wax...just about anything that would resist the etching solution.

Kathy and Debby

Barbara, Cyndi and Anna

Juan Carlos demonstrated how to obtain many of the techniques used in this piece below, i.e., texturing, scoring and folding, rolling mill techniques, forging.  He demonstrated flush setting tiny stones (and he made it look so easy), depletion guilding and cleaning with a DRY brass brush (great tip!).

I think we all agreed it was a wonderfully inspiring week.  We'll take everything we learned back home with us and, hopefully, some of what we absorbed will come out in what we now create.

The Making of a Cuff Bracelet (Repousse/Chasing)

Before I began my cuff bracelet in silver, I did a demo in copper.  Even though it took hours making the demo cuff, I learned so much and it was well worth the time and effort in order to save me from making the same mistakes in silver.  Gia is a wonderful teacher and was able to walk me through every step of this process.  

After chasing the design on the front of the piece, this is how the design appeared after the first attempt at repousse (the pushing out of the metal from the back side.)

Here we have more definition.  I've done the necessary chasing on the front and more repousse from the back, and it's just about done!

I decided to use a half round wire that will form the outside edge of the cuff.  I then textured the background before cutting off the extra silver around the edge, and filing for a smooth edge.

It's now time to form the cuff on a mandrel, very, very carefully.  I was nervous that I would cause a crease in the metal, so first used a wooden mandrel and then finished with a steel mandrel.

It's finished!  I'm really happy with the results!  Thank you, Gia!

Every Good Boy Does Fine

Michael Good came to Atlanta recently to share his knowledge and skills with a group of us from the Georgia Goldsmith’s Group.  He gave a five-day workshop in Anticlastic Metal Forming, which was an amazing experience.

Michael's skills as a goldsmith are well known and respected.  He studied under the famous Heikki Seppa, from Finland (same as my teacher, Julia Woodman did).   His jewelry forms are like small pieces of sculpture - full of fluidity and movement.  


Michael gave us numerous demonstrations on how to turn metal one way, hammer it, then turn it another way and hammer some more, twist it, untwist it and form our metal into lovely, flowing designs.  We were encouraged to learn and master his techniques, and to then use those tecnhiques to come up with new and interesting designs of our own.  

Our first assignment was learning how to make a hyperbolic paraboloid.  Do you think I spelled that right?  This started from a perfect square, flat piece of copper.  

Terry & Mary, hard at work.

This bracelet is a challenging project to attempt:

Of course, Michael made it all look easy, which it certainly is not.  

Here is a photo of an earring I would love to be able to make someday:

Come back soon, Michael!  This was an excellent workshop and I'm looking forward to being in another one with you again soon.

It's Still Rock 'n' Rubies to Me

My friend Maggie and I began our adventures at the Tucson Gem Fair with a morning seminar on Thursday called, "Best Buys in Tucson," presented by Richard Drucker from GemWorld International.  He discussed issues facing colored gemstone dealers, which gemstones are most popular (and most expensive), the quality and sizes available, and to prepare ourselves for higher prices.


Then we hit the AGTA show.  Oh. My. Goodness.  I have never seen so many exquisite stones in one place.   We saw diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, rubies, aquamarine, opals, peridot, spinel, tourmaline, chrysoprase, garnet, chalcedony, pearls, morganite, moonstone, kunzite, tanzanite, topaz, citrine and more.   Expensive? Very!

One of the highlights of our day at AGTA was spending a little time with the famous Bernd Munsteiner and his son, Tom.  Bernd Munsteiner is one of the greatest gem carvers ever.  Tom has carried on the family tradition and his wife,  Jutta, is a master goldsmith who designs all of their jewelry pieces.   Maggie and I tried on a couple of their bracelets, which were eye-popping gorgeous.   Bernd even let us take pictures with him.  : )

On the second day we shopped the GJX.   Again, we found prices higher than we had expected and simliar to AGTA, but with more vendors from outside the country.


Third day: Holidome.   What a difference.  It felt like a gigantic flea market.  The pearls dropped from thousands of dollars a strand to two dollars a strand.  Certain items were of a lesser quality, but by doing some searching, we were able to find some nice stones for  excellent prices.  This is where I found some very unusual cabachons in peruvian opal and sugalite, which completely made my day.


What else did we do in Tucson?  Ate lots and lots of Mexican food!  Here is a photo of a unique entrance to one of the restaurants we tried.

We never even made it to any of the outdoor shows.  Maybe next year?

Gluten Free Ebelskivers (Scandinavian Pancakes)

While searching for interesting gifts for people during the holidays, I came across this Cast Iron Aebliskiver Pan (that's how it's spelled at Amazon.com - made by Lodge Pro for $19.99). I then researched what one could make with it and found a recipe at Williams-Sonoma and another one in a cookbook titled, "The Cast Iron Skillet cookbook." So I sent away for both the pan and the cookbook, thinking it would be a great gift for someone who likes to cook. But the problem was, once it arrived, I couldn't bear to give it away. (The pan arrived completely seasoned and ready to cook in. A big plus!)




Now that I've made these delicious goodies, I'm thoroughly delighted I kept the pan. Maybe next year someone will be the the lucky recipient of one, though. :)

To make them, I used most of the ingredients from the cookbook, but also added the berries & Jam and technique from the Williams-Sonoma recipe. It called for regular flour, of course, but I substituted Gluten Free flour (the gluten free pantry all purpose flour).

EBELSKIVERS

1 1/2 cups Gluten Free Pantry all purpose gluten free flour (or your own)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

2 eggs, beaten
2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup milk
3 1/2 tsp. butter, divided

Fresh blueberries, rasberries, blackberries or a simple jar of jelly. (I used thawed frozen berries and it came out okay, as well.)

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream and milk. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat by hand or with an electric mixer until smooth. (I did it by hand.)

Heat a cast iron ebelskiver pan over medium-low heat. Place 1/2 tsp butter in each indentation. Allow to melt, and then fill each cavity with 2 tablespoons batter. Add 2 or 3 berries or a dab of jelly and top with 1 tablespoon batter. Cook until light brown on the bottom, about 2 or 3 minutes Turn gently (either with a fork or 2 wooden skewers) and brown the other side. Transfer to a platter and dust with confectioners sugar. Makes about 25.

You can also just cook them without anything in the middle and spread the jam on when they're done. They can also be served with maple syrup.

Enjoy!

Bewitched by Pitch

Gia has been teaching at Spruill, so I have been able to continue learning Repousse/Chasing, which I am truly loving. It has taken me a few starts and stops to get to this point. My first exposure to Repousse/Chasing was in a four-day workshop with Valentin Yotkov a few years ago (brought here by the Georgia Goldsmith's Group). I thoroughly enjoyed learning this new technique, but the class lasted only four days, and I wasn't quite sure what to do on my own after it ended. A couple of years later Victoria Lansford taught a class and I learned a few new techniques I had not learned from Valentin. But not until I started working with Gia did it all begin to come together. Gia is a true master and makes it all look easy, which, of course, it is not. Here he is showing us one of his own "works in progress."


I recently began an experimental design on copper for a cuff bracelet. I then transferred the same design (with a few modifications) onto sterling silver and am working on it presently. Doing a model in copper beforehand is extremely helpful. The mistakes are made in the copper, not in the silver. The one error I made on this copper piece was taking the design too far to the ends of the cuff, which I have corrected in the silver piece.


We often begin our designs on a "hard or medium" ROMA Plastilina before placing the metal in the pitch, but if there is not a lot of height desired on the design, using only pitch is completely acceptable. Here's is Gia's example of a project he's been teaching the beginning students, this one done totally on red pitch.

This is the design the entire class is working on.   Here we have Gia's example:

This is my final design, which I sawed out of the copper when finished.