Isn't this a pretty background for something? At this moment, as I type this post, I forget where I got this artwork - someone blogged it this week and challenged us to use it in our artwork. I'm thinking maybe for an ATC. :)
I've been around lately, just too busy or maybe too lazy to post. Some days are good ones (like my class day I'm going to tell you about in a minute), some are tough (like the expletives deleted Sunday afternoon at my store with a group meeting, a class _and_ the computer system crashing and not accepting credit card charges) ... and some are just tiring. My diet is going fine - lost four more pounds last week! I'm beginning to feel better, too, which encourages me to keep going.
I took a class in an entirely new medium (to me:) on Saturday. Cauldron Crafts is a small bead/jewelry making shop in Ellicott City, right on Rt. 40. I've met the owner (Murph) and read their newsletter regularly, but had never actually been in the shop before. I found a listing in their class offerings for an introduction to Wire Wrapping - something I've been thinking about learning for years and years - so I took the class on Saturday (yes, I played hookey from my shop:).
I'm pretty much a klutz and untidy with any kind of media (I always get laughed at because I end up wearing any paint or glue I work with:) ... but I love to make things and I have learned, after years and years of struggle with my inherent perfectionism, to be patient and give myself time to improve (can't start off perfect the first go!). Here are some (not very good) photos of my four class project pieces.
First we did very basic wrapped/stacked circles, spread into mounts for stones:
The first one above is a piece of softly colored rose quartz (I think) on copper and the second one is a mother-of-pearl crescent on sterling silver (got better at wrapping the bale wires by the second one, but still a bit sloppy).
The next thing we did was to make a bundle mount for a slab cut from a geode. I definitely improved on the wraps on that one - but my little spirals on the front of the stone look a bit like grape tendrils instead of flat spirals. :)
The last piece we did was an irregularly shaped stone enclosed in a basket of wires. I made mine with twisted square wires for this one (the twist made the silver square wire sparkle:). I'm pretty happy with the wraps I managed to build the basket (on the bottom of the stone) and to finish the bale for hanging the stone.
I can definitely see that the wire wrapping skill(s) get better with practice ... I bought the basic tools to work with wire (we used the shop's tools during class) and I look forward to experimenting. :)
In other developements, I am still working on my Madrona Road fabric challenge piece ... and on the piece for the Cats traditional round robin crazy quilt...and on all the other stuff life throws my way. (grin)
Tomorrow is my day off - it's supposed to be mid40s and partly sunny, so I might take some outdoor time and go visit the local lake or even the big local park...maybe take my drawing stuff along to meditate on something beautiful. We'll see.
:) Linda
PS. I almost forgot to mention - this past week not one but TWO dear friends from the past got in touch with me (by telephone). Joe H. who is a colleague and friend from my graduate school days called to catch up with me - it was really nice to hear his voice! I heard from Sherry F., too, who has been a dear friend for almost 30 years. Very happy, happy week for social relationships. :)
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