February 23, 2011 · 11:07 pm

A tip for templates

There are plenty of options out there for readymade templates to trace designs on metal clay, polymer clay, or sheet metal. But if you draw your own design on paper, it doesn’t last through many tracings before getting flimsy.

One option is to cut apart an aluminum soda can, and flatten it out.  Then trace the design on the unpainted side and cut it out with scissors. Voila! You now have a long lasting template of your own design.

I made most of my templates for use with sheet metal, before I started using precious metal clay. While aluminum can react badly with PMC, I have never had any trouble with the soda can templates. I think it’s because the paint on the outside and the thin plastic coating on the inside  keep the aluminum from coming in contact with the metal clay.

Top 2 figures: An aluminum template and a brass pin with silver eye.

Bottom 3 figures:  A drawing of a tuna on paper, the aluminum tuna template, and the tuna cut from a piece of 20 gauge sterling sheet.

The little brass pin is one of my oldest templates, while some of the templates in the foreground of the 2nd and 3rd photo are the most recent, used with PMC.

6 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as ,

February 22, 2011 · 8:47 pm

Nice day for a boat ride?

Not really.
It could have been worse, but it was a rough ride this morning between Islesford and Great Cranberry, with northwest winds blowing 25 to 30 knots. Still, I had planned to visit my mom in Bar Harbor, so off I went at 8:15.
My young friend Whitaker does not like boat rides like this. They make him seasick. So, he just sits by the open door, getting fresh air and keeping an eye on the horizon. Typical island kid, taking the boat ride in stride. We grow them tough out here.
Looking east through one of the boat windows:
Looking east through the same window a few seconds later:
Freezing spray. Good times.
I went into a little more detail about the winter boat rides in an article I wrote two years ago for the Working Waterfront.
In a nutshell, here are the 10 tips to consider when taking a winter ferry ride to the mainland:
1. Know the local weather forecast for the day. If a storm is predicted for the afternoon, you could be stranded on the mainland by a canceled afternoon boat.

2. Dress warmly and in layers. You may not feel the wind at your house, but it is almost always blowing at one of the docks.

3. Leave enough extra time before the boat leaves to scrape the windshield of the vehicle you are using to get to the dock. Also enough time to shovel, if there has been snow. Then take that shovel and scraper with you to the mainland because you will probably need them there.

4. Have a plan B in case you can’t get your island car started. As in: find someone else to give you a ride, or leave time to walk to the dock.

5.  Make sure you have the phone number of the mailboat and of Ted, the faithful crew member, in case you are running late. In the winter they are usually very good about waiting the extra few minutes, if they know you are coming.

6. Before boarding the boat, hang on to the railing and watch your step as you make your way down the stairs on the side of the dock. They can be extremely icy. Especially if the tide is going out.

7. When the wind and choppy water cause the boat to smash against the dock, or go up and down precariously, say “yes” to the person who offers to take your bags and reaches to give you a steadying hand as you board the boat. No matter how spry you may be, the moving target of a slushy boat deck is an unstable step.

8. The inner benches of the Sea Queen‘s cabin are the most comfortable seats. The boat windows above the outer bench seats have been known to leak in a few places, dripping slightly, and causing a wet bottom to the passenger who is unaware. This is not such a worry when the outside temperature is cold enough to freeze the spray before it leaks through the window.

9. Don’t sit at the stern end of the middle benches if you are a woman who is pregnant or of the age to experience hot flashes. The heater on the boat is just below those seats. On a cold winter day it runs at full blast. Conversely, do sit in those seats if you tend to feel cold, or you have poor circulation, or your thyroid is not quite working up to par. The new heater works very well.

10. Before you board, check the demeanor of those who are getting off the boat. If these people are shaky, ashen-faced, rolling their eyes, or looking stoically frightened; they may have had a pretty rough ride. This is your chance to reconsider your own plans, and go off the island on a calmer day.

4 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , ,

February 22, 2011 · 1:05 am

How much is too much?

According to Rio Grande,  the price of silver today was $33.70 an ounce.  This is the highest price silver has been since 1980 when it dectupled from $5 an ounce to $48.70 an ounce. It could be good news for your portfolio if you’ve invested in silver, but as a metalsmith who prefers using silver clay to all other types of silver, this is very bad news.  (The only good news here is that I got to use the word “dectupled” for the first time in my life, and I’m a word person. How nice it would be if  the next time I use it would refer to my annual income!)

Whatever the going price of an ounce of silver, the price of an ounce of silver clay is about 56% higher. If I were to buy a 28 gram package of metal clay today, (that’s just about an ounce) it would cost  $51.94. And that’s with the discount I get from having taken a certification course from Rio Grande. Those who do not qualify for the discount would pay $59.94.

Here is what a 45 gram package of silver clay looks like. It’s the size I usually buy:

I bought some on January 27, for a workshop I’m taking next weekend and paid $75.57 for this walnut-sized piece of clay. If I ordered it today, I would have paid $85.42.  One year ago, the same package cost me $58.36. The prices of my jewelry on Etsy reflect what I paid a year ago for my silver. I am not going to raise the price on pieces I already have listed, but anything new will have to reflect the skyrocketing cost of silver. Especially if it’s made from Precious Metal Clay.

(Strike through made on an April 18 edit)

So, how much am I willing to pay for the silver clay I so love to work with?  $75 a package may just be my limit. Luckily I still have some sterling silver sheet from 6 or 7 years ago, when silver cost under $8 an ounce. At least copper is still pretty inexpensive. It’s time to rethink some of the designs I was planning to make with metal clay and come up with something different.

I’m fortunate that the first jewelry technique I ever learned was how to cut sheet with a jeweler’s saw. I still have the same saw frame I used over 30 years ago and it has served me well.

Hello old friends…..

15 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , ,

February 21, 2011 · 1:34 am

Sunday a.m. Portland, Sunday p.m. Islesford

We left our hotel this morning, headed in the opposite direction of home so we could go to Scratch Bakery in South Portland. If you are in Portland, it’s a quick 10 minute trip across the bridge to stop in at this famous local hangout. Do it! You won’t be sorry. Get there early if you want bagels. They are so popular that purchases are limited to 1 dozen, so more people get a chance to take them home. The breads are gorgeous, the cinnamon buns are light and crunchy like a croissant, and they stock some French butter that is delightful with its crunchy sea salt. And I haven’t even mentioned the sweet stuff. We didn’t expect to find our friend Al this morning, but there she was! Filling in for someone who was unable to come into work.

Tales were told of the “monster” bread.

Then back we went to Portland, bagels and cinnamon buns in hand,  for breakfast with Meg and Fritz, and Rick and Stevie. Stevie had made some of her delicious chicken terrine to have with breakfast. That’s artichoke in the middle, yum.

I shared with Meg what I had learned, so far, about sourdough bread. She made some dough yesterday, to rise overnight so we could bake it this morning. Al had said it would work fine to go straight from the fridge into the Dutch oven. The first loaf tasted delicious, but Meg and I both thought it could have risen a little more. The dough for the second loaf seemed pretty inactive when we first took it out of the bowl. So, we tried reshaping the dough and letting it rest a little longer in the basket. It was still pretty cold when Meg put it in the oven, but it looked like it had perked up from a little extra handling. Here’s how it looked when Meg took the lid off, before letting it cook more and brown up for another 20 minutes.

At this point Bruce and I had to leave in order pick up a few groceries and catch the 3:30 boat back to the island. I called to find out how the bread turned out, but was only able to leave a message. By the time I got home, Meg had sent this photo in an e-mail, happy to report the second loaf had come out well. I’ll say!

We were back on the island by 4. With friends coming for dinner, we headed over to the Co-op to pick up our version of fast food. Well, maybe not fast, but it’s one of the easiest dinners to cook and serve with fresh bread and a salad.

 

8 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

February 20, 2011 · 12:28 am

Saturday in Portland

Bruce and I took the 8:30 boat off the island this morning to drive to Portland for an afternoon and evening with our son, Fritz, his girlfriend Meg, and her parents Stevie and Rick, who drove up from Wenham, Mass.  The guys took off for lunch and an afternoon of whatever they could find. They spent some time at Kelly’s store, Nomads, and had lunch in a Japanese restaurant.  Meanwhile, the gals had a sweet little lunch at Blue Spoon and then headed over to the Portland Museum of Art. I wasn’t especially fond of the “Rackstraw Downs: Onsite Paintings” exhibit, though the detail in all of the large oil paintings was exceptional. I think it was his subject matter, urban landscapes, that left me a little cold. (You  have to wonder what this guy’s parents were thinking when they named their son Rackstraw. Yikes!) The paintings were a nice background in my brain as I moved on to the photographs of Edward Weston, taken to illustrate Walt Whitman’s poem, “Leaves of Grass.” Many his photographs featured “man-altered” landscapes, but of an earlier time, the 1940’s. I liked the black and white photographs a lot.

The rest of the museum has a nice and varied permanent collection. The size is just right to see it all in a short afternoon.

This photo reminds me to look again at some of my favorite paintings by Susan Landor Keegin. Actually just about any painting of hers is my favorite, but I especially like her museum series.

We ended the day with dinner at Fore Street, where Fritz works. Tonight was his night off, and it was great to hear about his job in the midst of where he works. The chef sent out some special dishes for our table. One, a plate of cold seafood including poached lobster, raw scallops, sherry shocked shrimp, and some kind of fish tartar. The cold seafood was delicious. The raw scallops were a first for me, and most likely a repeat. Another special plate had fried sweetbreads and rabbit liver.

Yum? Well, I tried it. Not the liver, because I don’t really like liver. But I decided to see if I liked thymus gland any better. And….not so much. My arctic char was delicious, as was everyone else’s meal.  And the desserts were incredible too. A great night of fine food and fine company.

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , ,

February 18, 2011 · 11:13 pm

No focus Friday…

…as in: What is there to post tonight?

This is when “Post a Day” is a challenge to me; at the end of a day when I feel like I had no focus. Which also means it is  exactly the time I should write a blog post. It causes me to look back at my day and note what was more interesting than I thought it was, or what I accomplished that I forgot about because I ended the day focusing on what didn’t get done.

For one thing, I sent off a large selection of glass and lucite beads to my sister-in-law Karen for the upcoming Empty Bowls fund raising event in Baltimore. I had hoped to be there to help out in person on Saturday, March 12. I was going to lead a family-friendly activity by providing supplies, instructions and help for people who wanted to make a beaded elastic bracelet. It is something that does not require a lot of time or prior knowledge and provides participants with a piece of jewelry to take home. It would have been easy and fun, but I couldn’t be in Baltimore on the 12th and still get home in time for our town’s annual Town Meeting, two days later. So I sorted through the huge stash of beads I haven’t used in a while and those I was willing to give away, and I packed a bunch up in zip-lock bags. I took the time to write out clear instructions and make several copies. I fit it all into a “large flat rate box” from the post office and saved over $5 by sending the heavy box to Karen that way. An accomplishment.

Hint: When working with beads, spread terry cloth hand towels out on the table where people (especially kids) will be working. It keeps the beads from rolling around and it makes them easier to clean up afterward.

As for something interesting: My friend Stefanie called me around 9 a.m to say she was on the island and planning to take her Dip of the Month today since it was 40º. February is such an iffy month. You always think you can wait until a little later for it to get warmer, but the weather does not always cooperate. If someone wants to take a February dip, and you are a member of the club, you better just do it. My plan was to just accompany her to the beach as a life guard, and wait for our friend Cindy to return on the 11a.m. boat and go for a dip with her later in the day when it might be even warmer. (like 47º) I knew as soon as I hung up from Stefanie, that I would feel like I was missing something if I didn’t go in the water with her. So I did. I dipped at 10 a.m. and stayed in my damp bathing suit at home until noon when I went for another dip with Cindy! Yes, my interesting part of the day was also another accomplishment. The oh so rare February Double Dip. The water temperature was 37º.

 

4 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , ,

February 17, 2011 · 9:45 pm

Matinee

I worked in the studio this morning and then took the 11:30 boat off the island to take my mother to a matinee  in Bar Harbor. During the winter, Reel Pizza, one of the local theaters, shows movies on Thursdays at 1:30, for a “cabin fever special.”  Senior citizens pay $3. They make delicious pizza, and the theater is set up to allow you to eat a pizza while watching the movie. Most evenings they show 2 movies at a time, (two small theaters) to a full audience, but the matinee is usually crowded or not depending on what’s showing. Today it was not too crowded; there were maybe 15 of us there to see the Selected Animated Shorts that will be voted on for an Oscar. (Some were good and some were so-so, but this will be the first year that I watch the Academy Awards and know what films they are talking about in that category.)  We didn’t care what we were watching. Mom lives in an assisted living facility and this is an easy outing for us to take with her wheelchair. It is a win-win situation for both of us. Mom gets to get away from the tedium of seeing the same 15 residents everyday, and I get a break from hearing about it. For two hours, any of our mother/daughter baggage is suspended and we are just two friends at the movies. Next week the movie is “The King’s Speech.” I saw it a few weeks ago when I was in Baltimore and it was fantastic. I can’t wait to see it again with Mom next week. We’ll be getting there early to make sure we get a good seat.

On my way home on the 5 p.m. boat, I looked out the window and saw what was a pretty, but unspectacular sunset. Not worth putting my book down to take a photo, I thought. A few minutes later I looked out a window on the other side of the boat and realized I was a few minutes too late for a pretty spectacular moon rise. One thing about my commute, it’s never dull.

Starboard side sunset:

Port side moon rise:

 

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as

February 16, 2011 · 11:00 pm

Help on the shelf

Yesterday, when I began my riveting experience, I knew that somewhere I had a chart that would show what size drill bit I needed to match the gauge of silver wire I was using for my rivets. I had 20 gauge wire and 18 gauge wire and a number of drill bits in various sizes.

I found what I was looking for in the book: “The Complete Metalsmith an Illustrated Handbook” by Tim McCreight. I’ve had this handy 150 page book since the 1980’s (before metal clay was invented). The version available on Amazon is the revised edition from 1991. It is full of information and charts, such as the one I was looking for.  Of all the books I own, this is still the one I turn to most consistently when I want to figure out the mechanics of a clasp, learn about specific alloys, or just about anything else. (Like, what size drill bit do I need to make a hole for a rivet using 18 gauge wire?) The illustrations are clear and the spiral bound book lays flat. It is packed with information. I highly recommend it if you don’t already have it.

The drill bit size for 20 gauge wire is 65. I bought some from Rio, in the fall, after taking Celie’s class.  I must have had the information in my notes to remind me to order them at the time.  They were handy by on my workbench. The drill bit size for 18 gauge wire is 56. Not something I had among the new packages. But last year when I did a major overhaul of my studio, I made an effort to put things I wasn’t using into labeled drawers. At the bottom of the “drill bit” drawer, the last package I checked, was this:

I purchased these from Rio Grande a long time ago. Glad I held onto them, so I had them to use  yesterday. It was just the kind of instant gratification I needed to keep moving forward.

5 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , ,

February 15, 2011 · 10:27 pm

A riveting story

Today was the day I finally addressed my last resolution from last year. I taught myself to rivet.

I’m shocked that I put off learning this simple cold connection for so long. What was I thinking? (I admit it. I was afraid to fail. Let that be a lesson to me. It was actually pretty easy.)

 

For my first rivet experience I used an unfinished piece I made in Celie Fago’s  workshop last September. I had already drilled holes in the back of the piece where I wanted to put rivets. That’s as far as I got. No holes were drilled on the front because I would be drilling all the way through, one hole at a time, to make it easier to line up each rivet.

I had two of these unfinished pieces. Potential pendants. Below are 3 successful rivets with 20 gauge wire. (And one unsuccessful spot.) My very first rivet is the one inside the red marker. The rivet at “12 o’clock” on the piece was made with a piece of silver wire that I balled on one end.

Now, about that unsuccessful spot. When I drilled through the hole in back, the hole in front was half on the silver and half on the recessed area with the polymer clay. Arrgh! First I tried to make up for it by using a balled end piece of wire:

Yeah, I knew it wouldn’t work. But maybe adding a little washer would work. (Notice the hole in the washer is too roomy for the wire…)

The look I wanted…

What actually happened…

I kept trying to make a bad fit work. It never did.

This is the point where I stopped worrying about making this into a wearable piece. I left this trouble section alone for a while and started to drill holes in other spots to see what would work for a rivet. 18 gauge wire vs 20 gauge. Copper wire. Gold-filled commercial head pins. Glass bead washers. (That one didn’t work so well.) Another attempt with 3 washers to fill in the trouble spot.

I knew this was not a piece to wear, but it was a great opportunity to figure out a way to make a bale and rivet it, so it could be worn. Now I’ll know what to do when I do make a piece to wear.

A tight fit is necessary for hot connections. (Are they called hot connections?) Solder won’t fill a gap and fine silver won’t fuse across a gap. This I already knew. Today I learned, from experience, how important a close fit is for a cold connection. The hole and the wire rivet need to be the same size/gauge.

Designs with rivets are flying through my head. At last!

 

9 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , ,

February 14, 2011 · 3:23 pm

My Valentine

We’ve had our ups and downs, but after being together for 34 years, 31 one of those married to each other, we both recognize that we have a pretty good thing going. I wish everyone felt this way about their partner. I know I’m pretty lucky to have a partner with a good sense of humor, who knows how to be silly, who likes to cook, and who leaves me notes as often as I leave them for him. Almost any day I head off island to the grocery store, Bruce has written a little note to me at the bottom of my list, and I discover it while I am racing through the aisles with the boat schedule in the back of my mind. Whenever I am away from home overnight, I leave a note on a heart under his pillow.

If I were asked what the secret to a happy marriage is, I would say it comes down to 3 simple things: Find humor in everything and laugh a lot, thank each other for even the simplest things, and leave little notes around.

One morning, Bruce had already left to go lobster fishing for the day, and I came downstairs to clean up the stuff I had left out from the night before. Something that had involved q-tips for some reason. This is what greeted me in the kitchen, on top of my laptop:

My favorite note, dates back to Valentine’s day 20 years ago. It may have started our habit of leaving notes for each other. Bruce woke me up and said, look out the bathroom window in about 5 minutes. This is what I saw:

It was the best use of a spray bottle and red food coloring I’ve ever seen, and it’s the best Valentine I’ve ever had. We keep the photo on our refrigerator and people still comment on it. I hope they are inspired.

 

 

 

 

 

7 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , ,