Too Darn Hot!

It appears that NW Arkansas is in for a long dry, hot, muggy summer.  Ugh!

Previously mentioned going back to work.  Big lie.  Haven't done a thing except to try an organize a bit more.  Digging through the piles of stuff and stuff and more stuff, running across all sorts of unfinished work.  Why do I start something, go so far and then get bored and don't finish.  I must have a mental block  there working overtime.  I just like to experiment with this or that process to see where it leads and then go on to something else.

Speaking of stuff.  Go to Nancy L T Hamilton's website http://www.nancylthamilton.com/ and look for her studio tour video.  It's a lot of fun and interesting.  She's a fun lady.

When I get my STUFF better organized, I going to go back to working with faux bone.  That way I'll stay out of the hot garage here half of the metal work is done and stay in the cool.

I'm quite taken with Adirondak's Alcohol Inks.  Couldn't resist getting some more.  I order mine out from Lima Beads.  I can get individual bottles, pick and choose the colors, and don't have to by them in sets as they are often sold.  The colors are supposed to make a palette that go together which is fine for scrap booker's, but are of little use to me.  I am such a fabulous artist anyway.  I don't need any help in choosing colors!  Now if you believe what I just wrote, perhaps I can interest you in some beach front property on Lake Chad.  Cheap!

No more tutorials!  Too much wasted time. too many rules and regulations, and very little reward.  If I have anything meaningful about various process I use in my kind of jewelry making, I'll put it here, free of charge.

Back to work, sort of.....

New addition.  Broke down and decided to try one of these gizmos out.  As it turns out, some tools fit fairly well, some barely fit, and some are simply inadequate for the job.  I'm going to need to make some adjustments.  The only way to get the hammer section to hang right was to clamp a piece of 3/8's inch plywood to the back to give some support.  I need to put some grommets in the apron so that the backing board can be held on with some small bolts.  Then I can get rid of the clamps.

I've tried to fit the most used tools into the apron.  These are primarily metal working.

One thing I've put off, for who knows how long now, is color coding my files.  Just too lazy to take the time.

Other changes in the fabulous studio include resurrecting a multi-drawer storage cabinet for storing the miniature mandrels, grinders, polishers, sanders, buffs, etc., etc., etc.  Moved the soldering out to the garage.  No real space set-up for that stuff as yet.  Just another add-on to the never ending to to list.  I used to like to do soldering, but anymore it seems a chore.

New tools.  At last, I found some matting stamps.  These make very fine textures on metal and devilish hard to find in the US.  I am pretty sure that if you take a trip to Europe you can find some.  These were apparently made in the US by Nechampkin, a mark of high end chasing tools.

Another acquisition which I'm kinda liking are the abrasive fiber wheels Rio is carrying.  These come in four grits and put a nice finish on metal.

Burned out

The tutorial is finally finished and sent off to JewelryLessons.com, ID:# 123237.  That is, if anyone is interested.  Only thing is you must be a member of the site and pay if you want to see the whole thing.  You'll have to decide if it' worth it.  I seriously doubt I will receive much out of it.  98 percent of member are wire wrappers of one kind or the other and what I do in making jewelry doesn't generate much interest.  The tutorial in reality is an exercise in futility due to the environment of the site.  I don't have anything against the wire people, it's just that the tutorial is an ugly duckling, something to be ignored.  There is a good chance that I will do no more tutorials.  They take up far too much time and effort for the reward.

I'm taking a break from doing anymore jewelry and posting.  Back in a couple weeks.

Still experimenting

It has been awhile since I posted anything.  I keep trying one thing or the other to color metal other than the traditional patinas and the more advanced methods of anodization. enameling, plating, etc.  Below is a new photo of the latest efforts in coloration.

Suminagashi

This is an adaptation of a very old method of adding ink to a water bath, then a dispersant, then ink and so on until the artist feels enough ink has been added, then either gently fans the mix, or gently stirs it to create patterns, then places paper on top of the bath and pulls it away.  The ink pattern is transferred to the paper.

I find that some inks work better than others and that I get different results from different inks.  Some inks which work well in certain colors and other colors of the same brand don't work at all.  At least concerning how I am using them.  Although I am fairly well satisfied with the results, I don't believe I've quite mastered the technique as yet.  More experimentation is in order.  A lot depends on how the ink is added to the water, how the piece is dipped into the mix, and so on.

Some ladies paint their fingernails with a similar method using different colors of  fingernail polish.  While some interesting patterns are formed, they are not what I want to achieve.  Scrap bookers and some bookmakers also use similar methods the results are again, not what I wish to achieve.  Part of my problem may very well be the small scale of the pieces.

It is said from some sources that acrylic paint will work in creating patterns.  No so.  It will depend on the brand, and not all acrylic paint is created equally.  I've tried three different brands and the results have been zilch.

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this little effort, and I hope to be back soon with some different stuff to bend your ears.