April 13, 2011 · 10:39 pm

Today

was the exact opposite of yesterday. It was rainy (pouring actually) instead of sunny, a chilly 38º instead of 60º, and I was off the island for the day instead of home getting things done and going for a beachy walk.  All nastiness was related to the weather, and at least it wasn’t snow, so I am not really complaining. I’m just making a comparison and maintaining a little awe in the fact that the two days were so completely different.

Today had a full share of good things despite the gloomy weather. Bruce and I spent the off-island day together, which almost never happens unless we are taking a trip somewhere. We were looking at new couches and chairs, figuring out what we might get to replace our 17 year old recliner couch that is starting to look a little tacky and does not have the comfort it used to have to compensate for its appearance. Visually, I am not a recliner person. The exposed metallic mechanisms, when in recline, just make me want to look away and pretend they are not mine. But they really are comfortable and you can’t beat a good recliner for watching Netflix, so this is the kind of furniture we looked at. At the first store, most of the pieces we tried were overstuffed, or not comfortable enough, or had microfiber upholstery, or sported fake leather. Nothing really excited either of us, so on we moved to the next store….where there was no such thing as a recliner sofa. What they did have, though, were the most comfortable reclining chairs I’ve ever experienced. The chairs, made by IMG Norway, had a more contemporary design than I thought I would like, but I could get used to them pretty quickly. I have never sat in anything so comfortable in my life. An ergonomic reclining chair. Who knew?

We pried ourselves out of the chairs to go to our favorite restaurant, Cleonice, for lunch, where the food is consistently excellent. Bruce had the lamb burger and I had the spinach salad with goat cheese, hazel nuts, and bacon.  It is also where my friend and jeweler Cara Romano works when she is not at a show or in the studio. She was there today and we had a minute to catch up and discuss the price of silver before the lunch crowd started to arrive.

We finished up the off island day with grocery shopping, a quick visit with my mother in Bar Harbor, and a chance to read my book while Bruce had his annual check up at the Family Health Center. We made it back to N.E. Harbor in the nick of time for a windy wet ride home on the 3:30 mailboat. Bruce got a fire going in the wood stove while I put groceries away and then we went back out for a dinner invitation to celebrate our friend David’s 60th birthday party.

A full day.

 

 

8 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as

April 12, 2011 · 10:38 pm

Gilley Beach

Today, the weather here was just gorgeous. I didn’t even realize it until later this afternoon. I spent a good part of the day drilling rocks for necklaces. It’s a job that takes time and sounds tedious, but I like it and I seem to go into a “zone” when I do it. I listened to a book on CD, and thought about how I would use the rocks and which ones I wanted to drill next. I lost track of time. When I came up for air, the wind had died down, the sun was out and the temperature was above 60º for the first time since last November. Bruce came in from lobstering and we took a walk. Once again Bruce took the road home and I went home via the beach. Just before we split up, we saw our first Great Blue Heron of the season. We watched it land in the top of a tree. (So funny to see such a large leggy bird in a spruce tree.)

I walked home slowly, taking time to look for more little rocks to drill, hoping to find some sea glass or something else really unusual. I picked up a few things, but mostly just enjoyed being in the warm air and listening to the sound of the waves sucking at the rocks as they went out, then crashing gently as they came in.

A bit of a swell had come up yesterday with the wind,  stirring up kelp from under the water and tossing it up on the beach. Decomposing kelp can get kind of smelly, but with the wind direction, the warm air, and fresh kelp on the beach, the whole place smelled like an oyster tastes. Really fresh.

Along with the little rocks, I picked up some pieces of driftwood to use for photo props. I got home around 5:30, happy to have made spaghetti sauce and to have washed lettuce for a salad before I went out. It was one of the better walks I’ve taken, and they’re all pretty darn good.

 

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , ,

April 11, 2011 · 10:47 pm

Squirrel free zone

We have two windows in our kitchen, and through one of them, by the kitchen table, we can see the bird feeder Bruce built long ago when our kids were small. For my birthday, a few years ago, my brother Steve gave me a second feeder to put up so I could watch birds from the other window; the one I look through every time I am at the kitchen sink.

When he went to the bird feeder store, the salesperson showed him several nifty designs to discourage squirrels from eating the seed.

If you  Google “squirrel proof bird feeder,” within 16 seconds you will have 210,000 results. I guess keeping squirrels away from bird feeders is a pretty common problem. But as my brother explained to the helpful clerk, squirrels are just not an issue for people on Little Cranberry Island.  We have no squirrels. At all. None. (No chipmunks either.)  The sales clerk could not believe it. “I want to live there!” she exclaimed.

Sometimes, when I look out at my bird feeders, I have to remember just how lucky I am not to have to deal with squirrels.

 

 

13 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , ,

April 10, 2011 · 9:04 pm

Restringing

After stringing this beach rock necklace, I decided I did not find it very interesting. Too symmetrical, or predictable.  I like the peanut-shaped glass seed beads, but not necessarily with the beach rocks in this design.

I took the necklace apart and used some of the same beach rocks in a different sequence, with additional beach rocks and different handmade silver beads. I’m a lot happier with this one.

Sometimes I have to make necklaces I don’t like, before I can make the ones I do like.

4 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , ,

April 9, 2011 · 6:18 pm

Sign of Spring

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.

Sometimes I just can’t help myself. It must be spring.

3 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , ,

April 8, 2011 · 11:07 pm

Opportunity

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.

Not into forging wire? The world of base metal clay is expanding all the time. There are a variety of manufacturers of bronze and copper clay, and the price is very reasonable. For those of us who still like a silver colored metal, Hadar Jacobsen has developed a white bronze clay, and there is a wealth of information available on her blog.

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.

7 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

April 7, 2011 · 6:35 pm

a nod to e.e. cummings…

…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

 

 

 

10 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

April 6, 2011 · 9:46 pm

The raku match up

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.

 

8 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , ,

April 5, 2011 · 11:39 pm

Gray days and museums

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!

 

4 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , ,

April 4, 2011 · 11:05 pm

Mysterious pod bead saga

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.

 

 

 

7 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , ,