This morning, as I headed off island for the day, I experienced one of the sure signs of spring on the island. The float was back in the water at the Town Dock. This means we switch from boarding the mailboat at the stairs on the side of the dock,
to using the ramp to board the boat from the float. The float will stay in the water until November.
This photo I took before a meeting I attended today. A sure sign of feeling mischievous.
Filed under Uncategorized
Less than 2 months ago I asked the question, “How much is too much?” when it comes to paying for fine silver metal clay. The price of silver was $33.70 an ounce. I could not imagine that price would ever sound like a bargain, but today the price of my favorite precious metal reached $40.41, making that February 22 price look a lot better than it did then.
Today this much PMC would cost me $95.16. I have 2 packages on hand that cost me about $20 less, and I will not be rushing to open them or to order more. It’s hard to think that in another 2 months I may kick myself for missing out on the “bargain” price today. I would rather hope that the price will come back down sooner than later.
Most of the people I know who work with PMC, (myself included) are starting to freak out, wondering how much higher the price of silver will go. But whining or worrying is not going to get us anywhere. What’s the worst that can happen if we stop working with it for a while? If the demand goes down will the price go down? Who knows? In the meantime, we have an opportunity to grow as artists. We can find ways to make jewelry from other materials, learning new techniques and expanding our base of experience.
Think of Alexander Calder and the jewelry he made from brass and copper.
Alexander Calder (1898-1976) Untitled (spiral pendant), copper, 3½ x 2 1/8 in. (8.9 x 5.4 cm.). Executed circa 1957.
My friends Angie and Marly, from Studio 28, have been working with Hadar’s white bronze clay lately, and they have a wonderful blog entry about it. Their earrings below are a combination of white bronze and copper. (Looks like silver, eh?)
The white bronze is something I hope to try soon.
But first, I have ordered some patina solutions and an e-book from Shannon LeVart at Miss Ficklemedia. Her patinated beads and components fascinate me, and the process is one I’ve wanted to try for a while. I like the idea of creating my own colors on copper and brass to use in my necklaces and earrings. I will use silver, too, but I can stretch my silver supply a little farther when I combine it with other metals.
After I ordered the solutions and instructions from Shannon, I checked out some of her sources for copper beads. I also found some copper and brass pieces at the Beadin’ Path. So I ordered a few things on which to apply patina. I spent some studio time stamping, dapping and drilling holes in some of the flat pieces to leave my own marks on the metal.
See the plain willow leaf shapes in the center of the photo above? This is how I made them “my” copper leaves:
The next step(s) will be to clean all the metal surfaces, making sure any grease is gone. I’m excited and nervous to try something new, especially applying the patinas that require heat.
Filed under Uncategorized
…from my cousin Will Luke. Will’s mother, Lisa, and I are first cousins, making Will a first cousin once-removed. At a family dinner, one summer, another first cousin of mine (actually she is my father’s first cousin, making us also first cousins once-removed) helped me to finally get straight all the first cousin, second cousin, once or twice removed details. It’s one of those random things I’m glad I know.
Lucky me, I get to see all of my cousins on my father’s side of the family because we share a summer house on Islesford. Sooner or later they all come to the island to spend some time in one of our favorite places on earth. (Lucky me again. I am the only one of us who figured out how to come to the island to stay for the rest of my life.)
Where does old e.e. figure in to this? Will, a 7th grade student in New Jersey, was studying poetry in his English class. Their recent assignment was to write a poem in the style of e.e. cumming’s poem, “in Just-.” The students had to pick a season, other than spring, and write their own similar poem.
Will chose to write about summer, and Islesford. I was so surprised and happy that my cousin Lisa thought to e-mail Will’s homework to me last night. I just loved it! Here it is for you, reprinted with the author’s permission.
in Just
by W. T. Luke
in Just
summer when the air is mosquito
licsious the little
annoying seagulls
caw far and close
and nedanddan come
jogging from football
and slingshotting
and it’s
summer
when the world is relaxation-wonderful
the annoying
old seagulls caw
far and close
and barbandbruce come laughing
from fishing and jewelry-making and
it’s
summer
and
the
flapping
seagulls caw
far
and
close
Summer 2011
Filed under Uncategorized
A while back I started a batch of fine silver PMC beads to pair with green raku beads made by Keith O’Connor that I picked up at the Beadin’ Path in Freeport in January.
My PMC beads, fired and tumbled…
liver of sulphur patina added…
final polish after patina…
I alternated the silver and raku beads in a symmetrical necklace, about 18″ long.
I had only three of Keith’s beads remaining, which made me stretch to come up with a way to use them. I didn’t want to make earrings and end up with a solo bead that had no place to go. So I looked for beads to combine to make an asymmetrical necklace. I think I ended up with an interesting combination. This kind of necklace takes me much longer to make, but I always have a blast doing it.
Filed under Uncategorized
Hoo boy, was it a gray gray day here, today. No snow to complain about, and no torrential downpours, but very gray, with very little light. I poo pooed the new beginning Daylight Saving Time in March, but I have adjusted to it. I actually like it now. The darkness of today at 5 p.m. threw me off.
This was the kind of day where, if I lived in a city, I would abandon my work and spend a few hours in an art museum. I thought of my trip to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore in January where I saw work by Monet, Cassat, Picasso, Renoir, Degas; all those people I first met in high school during art appreciation class. Today would have been perfect for the quiet anonymity of walking through an art museum.
I have tried painting with oils a little bit, and I let myself get so frustrated when I do. Creating a realistic or recognizable image of life does not come naturally to me. I am drawn more to the abstract images with sharp lines.
Like the work of Paul Klee
and especially Joan Miro
I like the lines of this sculpture by Louise Nevelson
and the simplicity of this pre-Columbian sculpture. I wonder if the artist worried about how life-like his figure was?
I know I am really lucky to be able to live on a small island off the coast of Maine, where all I have to do is go outside to be surrounded by natural beauty. But if you live anywhere near an art museum, especially on a gray day, I think you are lucky too!
Filed under Uncategorized
In trying to describe how I made the pod bead , I began to wonder what was the thing I picked up on a walk last fall, and of which I made a silicone mold? How do you Google something that you can see, but you can’t name? I tried to remember where I picked it up. It was from a dried plant stem, so I Googled “bumps in plant stem,” which only netted me information about tomato plants. I know I found the bumpy thing in a place where heliotrope grows wild in July. My next search term was, “large round bumps in stem of heliotrope.” Plenty of heliotrope information, but nothing about bumps. Hmmm…how about, “insect caused stem bumps?” Bingo!
The bumps are called galls. More specifically a goldenrod stem gall.
I’ve seen them many times, but never knew their name, and never paid much attention to them. Once I had the name, I Googled images for the stem gall and looked at over 13 pages. None of the images had a triple gall like the one I used to make this bead, so I think I picked up quite the unusual gall!
I have tried to pair the bead with other beads I have on hand. I switched out the reddish glass beads I bought from SueBeads. (Although just now, looking at Sue’s Etsy shop, she is selling Pod Beads that may be the perfect match with my pod bead.)
I strung it with some patinated copper beads from Miss Ficklemedia. I love the color of these beads with the silver, but I am unsure about others of my own beads I used in the necklace. Hmm, Sue’s pod beads will look lovely in between mine and Shannon’s….
Below: The triple goldenrod stem gall, the silicone mold, and the fine silver pod bead.
For the many times I’ve considered how I want to use this 2″ bead, I have also wished I had a mold of a single “pod” so I could make smaller beads with this texture. Now I know to look where the goldenrod grows (next to the heliotrope) and I also know the name of what I’m looking for. I think I like saying “stem gall” and I know I like like saying “pod bead.” And the cool dark pod beads with a metallic finish from Suebeads? Just bought ’em.
Filed under Uncategorized
Bruce and I try to walk together every afternoon, though he has become such a badminton fanatic that his games often compete with our walk schedule. No badminton on Sundays, so today we walked to the old Coast Guard Station. (Now a private home.) It’s a walk we take quite often and if the tide is low, I like to walk back along the beach where it’s only sandy at the lowest tide. Bruce knows that means I want to look for rocks and beach glass. He wants to get home sooner so he walks back on the road.
I did not find the fascinating little pieces I always hope to pick up, but I did find inspiration in the lines and patterns left by the receding water.
Filed under Uncategorized
Sunny Saturday, low tide.
Yesterday’s snow is still on the mountains of Mount Desert Island, but not on the beaches of Little Cranberry Island.
Filed under Uncategorized
No, it’s not a spring snowstorm drink. Although we did lose power for a few hours this afternoon, convincing me that taking a nap was exactly the way to beat the storm.
With several necklaces in progress, and only one finished, I took some photos of what’s on my bench. My process is to string beads, on and off pieces of wire, until I like the combination. No matter how many times I organize the beads in front of me, I always end up with messy piles to feed my creativity. Out of sight, out of mind, you know. I like to have everything out where I can see it. I might sketch a few basic ideas, but my best results come from trial and error. I worked all winter to create and gather lots of components, so I could make a big mess finding ways to put them together.
I really liked making the pod bead, below. I might pair it with the reddish glass beads from SueBeads.
Beginning a beach rock necklace with some PMC beads.
Considering ways to put sea glass together.
Filed under Uncategorized
…only to keep up with my daily blog post record! The power just started to blink a little, and if we lose it, we’ll lose our internet connection.
It’s snowing and raining here on Little Cranberry Island, a heavy mix for the trees and the wind is picking up. At least the intermittent rain is keeping the snow level down. AND I have my own special aroma therapy for days like this.
Filed under Uncategorized
Barbara S Fernald Jewelry 