Fresh Start

Thought I'd show my goodies I just received via Rio...I'm going to use vinegar sans the other stuff to keep my home studio a little more green...

oh and I can't wait to dive into that big round heavy leather forming bag...

hope this inspires you to want to restart, finish or work on something :-)
(it's me Care)

Colored Bud Vases

Today, in furtherance of the colored pencil on copper idea, I completed this set of three bud vases. I made these from some old beat up copper tubing I found kicked into a corner in the back room of Metalliferous some months ago. I was intrigued by the weird pear-shaped profile and knew I'd eventually come up with a use for them and here it is. Each vase has 3 sections to hold 3 stems. They can be used individually or grouped all together to hold 9 stems. What do you think?

Custom Order

I'm really loving using my saw...

The meaning behind these pieces is soooo moving! Ready to mail...anyone else??? (smithing today?)

Another try at the logo

Well, this doesn't always translate well into a .jpg from Illustrator, so it looks a bit washed out, but what do you think of this iteration?

A New Solder Area

I did it, have ordered and am ready for a clean new solder area, this time around I knew exactly what I wanted/needed...hubby put a new cover  on the old bench he made...(sharing my progress) Today I'm in my studio facing all the clutter, wow, it's harder than I thought...hard to let go of things I really don't need...

anyone else ever do a re-do of their studio?

New Logo Exploration

I've decided to "up the ante" and take an Illustrator class given through ACE- Fairfax County's Adult Community Education. Illustrator is a vector graphic software program designed by Adobe. Last night I took a stab at re-creating my Stone Addict logo. Below you see what I came up with last night, and below that is my "old" logo. I'm going to work on some more iterations before I decide on one. But I could use some critiques on what you think?

Below is my current or "old" logo; above is the re-worked version. Anyone care to lend me some suggestions? (I know you do!)

Thanks! :) Dana

What's your sign?

I finally got myself a disc cutter... and for some reason i thought it would be easier... in any case i managed to do 5 of the 12 zodiac signs... not sure if i'll actually do the other 7 ;)
Love that everyone is posting... thanks for sharing and allowing me to share as well. Fun!

Little Critter Series

these are helping add some color and take the winter blahs away...saw saw saw...
by CarolynArtist

butterfly effect

Ladysmiths art a day project:
This is a pair of earrings that I started today using a piece of metal that I etched a while back. It is etched on both sides. The back is a geometric collage that I put together and then transferred with pnp paper. The butterflies I handpainted using asphaltum. I've had it for a while wondering when I was going to do something with it. Then it just hit me. What am I waiting for? It's not like it's this rare commodity. I can etch copper whenever I want. Also, the metal itself stands alone as a design element, so whatever I do with it can be simple. I played around with beads either above or below the main rectangle. Didn't like that. I also considered curving the elements slightly, but I think that I'll leave them alone.
My plan is to solder half links vertically on to the backs and then connect with round links leaving some space between the links so that the round connecting link (that will be in the back) is visible in the front. I thought of doing that in gold but why? It's the butterflies that I want to highlight. I'll (prisma) color the butterflies. The half link that I use for the top links will continue up to be the earwire. That way I'll have only one solder for the back.

"Creative" Problem Solving

These are two examples of my "coffee bean" bracelet. The one on the left is the original, made a long time ago, which is still the bracelet I personally wear most. I've made it a number of times over the years for others, always with the simple hook-and-loop clasp you see here.

But when I made one for an old friend recently, she had trouble working the clasp and sent it back. After my adjustments were still not enough to enable her to wear the bracelet, she sent it back again. This time, I decided to cut a big hole in the last "bean" and created a toggle on a short chain to go through it. Here it is on the right. Much easier to manipulate and I think it looks better, too!

Unfinished

Clearly there is something inside of myself that doesn't want to set a stone...sort of like looking at an MRI or Xray of bones and the things that live underneath all we find to be pretty. These are pieces I've started and abandoned, and pulled out to the bench to ponder over.  There's a part of me that dares to want to make and finish pieces meant to look unfinished...

this was snapped this morning with the pretty light streaming into my studio. Even the little ink drawing is not finished...

posted by CarolynArtist

art-a-day project found and fabricated

For a while now I've been creating componets and collecting others that I love with the idea that they would eventually find their place together. This is the first of what I expect will be many in a series of found and fabricated pieces.

Ring Challenge

In Gretchen Raber's classes at the Art League School, she often hands out some weird random "thing" and challenges each of us to make a particular item out of it. Past challenges have included: making a necklace out of a sheet of window screen, a necklace out of a pencil, earrings out of a piece of gray packing foam, etc. This week's challenge was to make a ring out of 2 popsicle sticks, using all of the popsicle stick material and adding only glue, metal and paint.

Here's what I came up with. I could say it was inspired by all the ruins I saw on my visit to Rome earlier this month, but the truth is it just came together this way. Not fabulous, but it is a ring and it does fit!

Elements-Cloud and Rain Necklace

by CarolynArtist...I made this piece from beginning to end on Sunday. I purposely chose a piece where none of the components required solder. I also chose not to use liver of sulfur in my home studio on such a frigid day out where windows would need to be open. The rivets on the top part of the cloud where the chain is attached were satisfying to hammer.  This started from a sketch the night before.  It's been very cloudy lately, eh? So cloudy my studio has barely enough light to get a proper pic, so I chose this one for our site. (there's only so much a gal can do with a bag of frozen peas on the knee and a little loopy from Vicodin...) Hope this helps to inspire :-)

The Ladysmiths Art-A-Day Project

The idea is to take a moment every day to share something creative that relates to the creation of a form of art.

What have you created today?  Is it tangible? Is it a ring, a poem, a painting, a sketch or a motivating thought?  Are you re-imagining over and over a finished piece as you move around in your day? Is it a work in progress? Something you’re thinking about creating? Or what have you seen (or heard) that sparks a creative idea?

By making sure we think and act creatively each day, we challenge ourselves to step out of a comfort zone and into a lovely area where anything is possible.

Through this process we will encourage each other on a daily basis.

 Blog posting guidelines:

• Post a photograph of your piece or concept on the Ladysmiths blog.
• Identify each posting as part of the “Ladysmiths Art-A-Day Project” both in the blog area and in the Label area of the blog post
• Describe what this image means for you today. What process did you go through and how did it make you feel? Are you pleased with your results?  Are you looking forward to moving to the next step of your unfinished piece? If your image is not something you’ve made, explain what about it intrigues you.

• Post something new every day – or as often as you can!