tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58953429037732021342024-03-08T00:19:28.531-08:00Unique jewellery by Anna MazońDrakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-67543824885267460202018-09-28T14:13:00.000-07:002018-09-29T02:41:03.823-07:00New classes and my schedule for 2019Some exciting news today :-). A little bit about my new classes for 2019 and some information about where and when I'll be teaching next year. Hopefully you will find something for yourself in this post :-). While I am still talking with a few studios about details (so new places might be added to the list), what you find below is already confirmed.<br />
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So - first the new classes. For 2019 I prepared three new classes - 3 days, 2 days and 1 day.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #b6d7a8;">1)</span> </b>The three days class - <b><span style="color: #b6d7a8;">"Fantasy eyes"</span></b> is packed with lots of different techniques, featuring an eye motif (hollow from the back), various, sculptural ornaments which create a narrative context for the eye and a bezel set stone (the shape of the stone is your choice).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_LSwoqELCyY1nHhwDFbOjJvF-s32CbNryNnndHJcmEqidflTCi7xEOF3wIb8putFZVEUhslnpDjx0EWwIRtNBjZISQ8EO4XoEuT6zAacBMkVvvYJYOijJgfQGAiUqFus23SIwPgU4GT56/s1600/fantasy_eyes02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="900" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_LSwoqELCyY1nHhwDFbOjJvF-s32CbNryNnndHJcmEqidflTCi7xEOF3wIb8putFZVEUhslnpDjx0EWwIRtNBjZISQ8EO4XoEuT6zAacBMkVvvYJYOijJgfQGAiUqFus23SIwPgU4GT56/s320/fantasy_eyes02.jpg" width="320" /></a>The eye can be made into a dragon eye, as pictured, but also an eye of the ocean etc. - depending on your preference when comes to additional ornaments. Wonderful textures, interesting shapes, lots of tricks for creating secure openwork constructions in metal clay, semi hollow forms and working with wet coils - this is what this workshop is about. <br />
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Every student will leave the workshop with their own, different „Fantasy eye”, so this workshop is not only an opportunity to learn new, technical skills, but also a treat for your creative self.<br />
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<span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><b>2)</b></span> The <b><span style="color: #b6d7a8;">"Climbing rose"</span></b> is a 2 days workshop featuring really ususual, elongated beadcap construction, adorned with beautiful, fully handmade, climbing flowers, interlacing coils and other small ornaments.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglvlsKBEAjCz2TzMtWkeWZFe51KKowYGWdOGW-vyqTO808M2SYIMWPRtXk8je8xZ37bGhJNSZjfQ4dFEiSu3UmdlxMgJTbvoOqHfrRL7QmIqifXJ7F90o1Kj1sGVM0MBuQOv18vrwLwpPY/s1600/climbingrose03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="818" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglvlsKBEAjCz2TzMtWkeWZFe51KKowYGWdOGW-vyqTO808M2SYIMWPRtXk8je8xZ37bGhJNSZjfQ4dFEiSu3UmdlxMgJTbvoOqHfrRL7QmIqifXJ7F90o1Kj1sGVM0MBuQOv18vrwLwpPY/s320/climbingrose03.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Interesting construction techniques, making long hollow tubes without using extruder, working with coils wet and dry (various approaches) – this is what this workshop is about. <br />
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Pieces created during this class may look in many different ways – you don't have to make climbing roses (though we will be focusing on this). For those interested I will show you for example how to make beautiful morning glories. We will also be making a matching, flowery, articulated bail for your pendant. <br />
As usually in case of my classes - using the same set of techniques everyone can create something slightly different.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><br />3) "Treasured trees"</span></b> is a one day class for those who love Nature, (obviously :-) ) trees and playing with textures.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWiFymRHRyqOkJxIeeiPeBx7MSWXop92yEqvg2XOWusJzWsbaH0eTbQk7pKEMOGP9uXpz54fhKv7eooIWbhBxmPPyNN2hcOE9liGIYHrxK0uExrnVC2bWzUPpa0sDbCftNBveDGd1X3u74/s1600/treasured_trees02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="900" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWiFymRHRyqOkJxIeeiPeBx7MSWXop92yEqvg2XOWusJzWsbaH0eTbQk7pKEMOGP9uXpz54fhKv7eooIWbhBxmPPyNN2hcOE9liGIYHrxK0uExrnVC2bWzUPpa0sDbCftNBveDGd1X3u74/s320/treasured_trees02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It features a three dimensional tree pendant, hollow from the back (very lightweight), covered with beautiful, organic bark texture. In a tree hole there is a cubic zirconia – little hidden treasure. This class is about playing with hand created textures, creating a believable, yet stylized tree form and making a strong openwork construction. This class can be done both in bronze or silver.<br />
Originally I designed this class for the amazing You Can Make It conference in United Kingdom, and after that I decided to add it to my portfolio of classes.<br />
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In 2019, on request of different studios I will also be teaching a few classes from the previous years - so, so far - the "Twig ring", "Herbarium pendant", "Mushroom dreams" and "Heart Deco", known also as "Pillow effects" :-).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70T-Kuqn-r-ahWFZj_6gFCDnj6FiFQn71nj_vp-BHP0OldpWATQLciEodbwvW2WU_vAIG06EC0Ov-4O_QVcSoQqi3wyzt_Ye4XPBRFs2kFsvDT5l6Ul9tpq9nZItXBffQfeLFSjlCh7vZ/s1600/grzyby_new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1003" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70T-Kuqn-r-ahWFZj_6gFCDnj6FiFQn71nj_vp-BHP0OldpWATQLciEodbwvW2WU_vAIG06EC0Ov-4O_QVcSoQqi3wyzt_Ye4XPBRFs2kFsvDT5l6Ul9tpq9nZItXBffQfeLFSjlCh7vZ/s320/grzyby_new.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNAyE4lRMHDJMovvC3DkJ2_DOBkASVjAD1eckYRATgfqe_i1AYvhqccjMeb6t4Edn5V9uD86dHL_xp_XWQ_4uXeC34yjm_1g9TOMYOG06IigTYB498eaVXAEirHyyuMZARz5cZG9FurZeX/s1600/twig_rings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="800" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNAyE4lRMHDJMovvC3DkJ2_DOBkASVjAD1eckYRATgfqe_i1AYvhqccjMeb6t4Edn5V9uD86dHL_xp_XWQ_4uXeC34yjm_1g9TOMYOG06IigTYB498eaVXAEirHyyuMZARz5cZG9FurZeX/s320/twig_rings.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWazckEtw6yctTAuQqhKA9uXZ46LZ1gRnS3JecSYH12NqKJXjXAiSHcZ68VzP1ZdyUqF4ttVVDE7XV9ixtfyAB2dX9AOVENNB9DbVBtnoIoqFrDOeJeAQJI7ToolwIQivZ2-NwAwETJ_J8/s1600/herbarium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="747" data-original-width="800" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWazckEtw6yctTAuQqhKA9uXZ46LZ1gRnS3JecSYH12NqKJXjXAiSHcZ68VzP1ZdyUqF4ttVVDE7XV9ixtfyAB2dX9AOVENNB9DbVBtnoIoqFrDOeJeAQJI7ToolwIQivZ2-NwAwETJ_J8/s200/herbarium.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><b>The schedule</b></span></h2>
As I said - I am still talking about a few other dates and locations, but I wanted to give you what I already know for sure. The classes are filling quickly, some are already full, so I didn't want to wait longer with announcing the dates (I know that quite a few of you don't know the studios I am working with, aren't on any studios' mailing lists, so the only way you can learn about the classes is from me).<br />
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<b><span style="color: #93c47d;">1) </span><span style="color: #93c47d;">January</span></b> - I am starting my teaching trips from my usual visit to Inge Verbruggen's studio in <span style="color: #93c47d;"><b>Belgium.</b></span> I'll be teaching there three classes.<br />
- <b>"Fantasy eyes"</b> - 11-13th of January, which is already full (you can sign for the waiting list if you want)<br />
- <b>"Herbarium pendant"</b> - 14-15th of January - last time I talked to Inge there was one last place available (!)<br />
- <b>"Twig rings"</b> - places still available, and probably this is the last opportunity to take this class in Belgium - I already taught it there 6 or 7 times.<br />
You can contact Inge via <a href="https://ingeverbruggen.be/">her website</a> or her <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ingeverb/">Facebook page</a>.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #93c47d;">2)</span></b> <span style="color: #93c47d;"><b>February </b></span>- At the beginning of the month I'll be teaching two classes in <b><span style="color: #93c47d;">United Kingdom</span>, </b>at Leigh Armstrong's invitation.<br />
- <b>"Mushroom dreams"</b> 1-3rd of February - this class is sold out<br />
- <b>"Twig rings"</b> 4th of February - sold out too, but bear with me for a few more captions ;-) I am teaching a few more times in UK in 2019.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #93c47d;">3) </span><span style="color: #93c47d;">April</span></b> - I'll be teaching again in <span style="color: #93c47d;"><b>USA</b></span> - McKinney, Texas. For the third time I'll visit the amazing <a href="https://www.threefrogalley.com/">Three Frog Alley</a> run by Judy Darrow and Dana Brock.<br />
- <b>"Mushroom dreams"</b> - 1-3rd of April<br />
- <b>"Climbing roses"</b> - 4-5th of April<br />
- <b>"Twig ring"</b> - 6th of April<br />
- <b>"Fantasy eyes"</b> - 8-10th of April<br />
- <b>"Heart Deco"</b> - 11-12th of April<br />
You can find the information about availability and everything else there is to know on <a href="https://www.threefrogalley.com/anna-mazon-workshops">the Three Frog Alley website.</a> You can sign up online there, or you can contact Judy and Dana if you have any questions.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #93c47d;">4)</span></b> <span style="color: #93c47d;"><b>May</b></span> - I'll be teaching in <b><span style="color: #93c47d;">UK</span></b> twice. First at Debbie France's studio in <b><span style="color: #93c47d;">Kent</span></b>, and then at Julia Rai's <span style="color: #93c47d;"><b>Cornwall</b></span> School of Art, Craft and Jewellery (CSACJ).<br />
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At Debbie's I will teach two classes:<br />
- <b>"Fantasy eyes"</b> - 2-4th of May<br />
- <b>"Climbing rose"</b> - 5-6th of May<br />
You can contact Debbie <a href="https://www.debbiefrancejewellerydesign.co.uk/">via her website</a> to ask for details and sign up.<br />
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At CSACJ I will teach also those two workshops:<br />
- <b>"Fantasy eyes"</b> - 26-28th of May<br />
- <b>"Climbing rose"</b> - 30-31st of May<br />
You can sign up for these classes via <a href="https://www.csacj.co.uk/product-category/classes-and-courses-at-csacj-in-cornwall/master-classes-at-csacj-in-cornwall/">CSACJ's website</a>.<br />
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<span style="color: #93c47d;"><b>5)</b></span> <b><span style="color: #93c47d;">July</span></b> is <b><span style="color: #93c47d;">United Kingdom</span></b> again. I will visit wonderful Tracey Spurgin of Craftworx in East Yorkshire and Helen Drye in North Yorkshire.<br />
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At Craftworx I will teach two workshops:<br />
- <b>"Fantasy eyes"</b> - 4-6th of July (this workshop is already sold out)<br />
- <b>"Twig rings"</b> - 7th of July<br />
You can contact Tracey <a href="http://www.craftworx.co.uk/anna_mazon.html">via her website</a> to sign up. You will find there all the details you need.<br />
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At Helen's studio I will also teach two classes:<br />
- <b>"Herbarium pendant"</b> - 9-10th of July (only two places left!)<br />
- <b>"Mushroom dreams"</b> - 11-13th of July<br />
You will <a href="http://www.silver-stonejewellery.co.uk/shop/herbarium-pendant-workshop-with-anna-mazon/">find here all the information about Herbarium class</a>, and <a href="http://www.silver-stonejewellery.co.uk/shop/mushroom-dreams-masterclass-with-anna-mazon/">for the Mushroom class here</a>.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #93c47d;">6) </span><span style="color: #93c47d;">August</span></b> 2019 I'll be in <b><span style="color: #93c47d;">USA</span></b> again. I will visit Connecticut (<a href="https://www.metalclaymojo.com/">Metal Clay Mojo 2019 conference</a> - the info for 2019 will be published soon - I wil teach there one class - the "Climbing rose" - and do some presentations) and Pennsylvania (Lara Ginzburg) and maybe one more place- time will show. Hopefully I'll be able to edit this part of my post really soon and provide all the details :-).<br />
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At Lara's, Philadelphia area, I'll be teaching two classes:<br />
- <b>"Climbing rose"</b> - 21-22 of August<br />
- <b>"Fantasy eyes"</b> - 23-25 of August<br />
You can contact Lara to sign up for these classes <a href="http://www.laraginzburg.com/contact.html">via her website</a> or on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lara.ginzburg/">Facebook</a>.<br />
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Ok, so that's it for now :-). After August I really need to come back to my home studio to make some jewellery ;-).</div>
Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com76tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-74993230148610337622017-01-13T13:52:00.002-08:002017-01-13T14:16:59.187-08:00New tutorial - 3-dimensional fun with base metal clays!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0fjh2w1yKyBQnW6ZtmVhkjObYezM17GFz-JXV0Qe9bO6JkalFmqCRjz68iYgVXmcOE5DscqfJThpbLD1XKStUZK7tGid_FoKTWsEm-i9ox79IyDkQ0JaTrsBT8TtLuJAit_emTZeRkgWf/s1600/etsy_wings_of_summer700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0fjh2w1yKyBQnW6ZtmVhkjObYezM17GFz-JXV0Qe9bO6JkalFmqCRjz68iYgVXmcOE5DscqfJThpbLD1XKStUZK7tGid_FoKTWsEm-i9ox79IyDkQ0JaTrsBT8TtLuJAit_emTZeRkgWf/s320/etsy_wings_of_summer700.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
New tutorial for the New Year! I am so happy I finally finished it. This is my fifth tutorial, but actually the first one I wrote since 2013. Those three years were so busy, I couldn't find time to write anything.<br />
This is also my first tutorial describing a project made of bronze clay (other four were written with silver clay in mind). I am pretty excited about it :-). Ok, so what is it about and what you can find inside?<br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/239336674/wings-of-summer-tutorial-metal-clay?ref=shop_home_active_6"><b>"Wings of Summer"</b></a></span> shows how to make a bronze, flower-shaped bead cap,
adorned with a 3-dimensional butterly. It is available in my Etsy shop:<br />
<b><a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/drakonaria" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.etsy.com/shop/drakonaria</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJNhQn2qA9HLZr-BJ4uWyxdv6cIz7ipOvTVehDoXFacXg6v6LsIlxJj-cEC2iKMyDq3-9HQJp2cBFFU8Xkq9NKW1vgf7iZXtH52PBtf-wEvxNaCMB5tYFPJkWr9b5jQmcwYXcTFpXuPFI/s1600/motylekadvert03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJNhQn2qA9HLZr-BJ4uWyxdv6cIz7ipOvTVehDoXFacXg6v6LsIlxJj-cEC2iKMyDq3-9HQJp2cBFFU8Xkq9NKW1vgf7iZXtH52PBtf-wEvxNaCMB5tYFPJkWr9b5jQmcwYXcTFpXuPFI/s320/motylekadvert03.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><br />
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It has <span style="color: #b4a7d6;"><b>39 pages</b></span> (!) and includes <span style="color: #b4a7d6;"><b>99 nice quality photos</b></span>. The instructions are super detailed and easy to follow.<br />
This time I chose a project perfect for advanced metal clay users and
those, who are looking for a good introduction to working with base metal
clays. In this tutorial I work with bronze clay – Goldie Bronze – but it can be easily adapted for other metal clays, including all varieties of fine silver .<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj254vDKjaBS5OSR0yYE8HsP_JQbyywA314unWL9d3sOTszLDmZt98LpFdEjfpLJgh8o-CVEVzdVAHSgenZ1DSo5O5yy27n1v__hWaWzMfEZQV4UAQy4jv96s9BJuS8ocm6yndVLrnUUjWI/s1600/motylek03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj254vDKjaBS5OSR0yYE8HsP_JQbyywA314unWL9d3sOTszLDmZt98LpFdEjfpLJgh8o-CVEVzdVAHSgenZ1DSo5O5yy27n1v__hWaWzMfEZQV4UAQy4jv96s9BJuS8ocm6yndVLrnUUjWI/s320/motylek03.jpg" width="320" /></a><b> </b><br />
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<b><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/239336674/wings-of-summer-tutorial-metal-clay?ref=shop_home_active_6">"Wings of Summer"</a></b> tutorial is a great proposal for those who like truly 3-dimensional, romantic jewellery.<br />
Being
quite advanced, this tutorial doesn't present basics of working with
metal clay (for example checking clay consistency, maintaining clay
moisture, drying etc.). This information may be found in <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/91560881/fingerprint-of-love-tutorial-for-total?ref=shop_home_active_3">"Fingerprint of Love"</a> which I highly recommend for total
beginners.<br />
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<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/239336674/wings-of-summer-tutorial-metal-clay?ref=shop_home_active_6">The tutorial </a>shows you how to make a 3-dimensional butterly sitting on a flower, but you can use all the elements in a lot of different ways. Make two butterflies and you'll get a pair of amazing, feminine earrings. Add a bail behind a flower and use a butterfly as a dangle. Use those elements in your rings... Possibilities are endless :-).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi295F6LvJOImYmRt-B7gTOdu7XGTZsFj51t07jAYrO_K8rIDRopSmDXGjQa_grUMdrlSYIrDPOQdL-oGSlRl5cB3tyKVc4y4FlcuqWHi4rwKJJfzvTSbDDgQ0HvKBoxdqqrOFaNyPSIBb0/s1600/motyl76.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi295F6LvJOImYmRt-B7gTOdu7XGTZsFj51t07jAYrO_K8rIDRopSmDXGjQa_grUMdrlSYIrDPOQdL-oGSlRl5cB3tyKVc4y4FlcuqWHi4rwKJJfzvTSbDDgQ0HvKBoxdqqrOFaNyPSIBb0/s320/motyl76.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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ADDITIONALLY with<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/239336674/wings-of-summer-tutorial-metal-clay?ref=shop_home_active_6"> <b></b></a><b><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/239336674/wings-of-summer-tutorial-metal-clay?ref=shop_home_active_6">"Wings of Summer"</a></b> tutorial you'll also get a separate file with my
updated test of Goldie Bronze clay (its original version may be found on this blog), showing how to run a proper test of a
new clay and what you can learn from it :-).<br />
It also gives you a lot of
additonal, valuable information about working with base metal clays.<br />
At the end of the tutorial you'll also find exhaustive answer to a few, frequently asked questions, concerning most common problems you can encounter while working with bronze metal clays.<br />
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Ok :-) So <b><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/239336674/wings-of-summer-tutorial-metal-clay?ref=shop_home_active_6">"Wings of Summer"</a></b> tutorial may be found<a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/drakonaria"> in my Etsy shop</a>. I hope you'll enjoy it :-). I had a lot of fun writing it. It couldn't be done without my amazing partner, Sebastian, who patiently took all the photos :-).<br />
Aaaand, if you prefer to learn face to face - check my previous post, about <a href="http://drakonaria.blogspot.com/2017/01/classes-in-first-half-of-2017.html">my classes abroad in the first half of 2017</a>.<br />
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<br />Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-16228391761745787822017-01-08T12:44:00.000-08:002017-03-14T04:16:06.592-07:00Classes in the first half of 2017In this post you''ll find some information about my teaching trips this year, specifically in the first half of 2017. I'll be pretty busy till May, visiting really exciting places and events :-). Can't wait!<br />
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<span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>1.</b></span> First, like every year, I will visit my friend <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ingeverb/?fref=ts">Inge Verbruggen</a> in her studio, Temse, <span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>Belgium</b></span>. After so many times of doing classes together we already work like a good team :-). Inge is a wonderful hostess.<br />
I'll be teaching there three classes - "Mushroom dreams" (January 23-25) , "Heart Deco" (January 28-29) and "Twig rings" (January 30). Both "Heart Deco" and "Twig rings" are already sold out. There is only one place left in "Mushroom dreams" class (you can contact Inge about this class via <a href="http://ingeverbruggen.be/">her website</a>) <br />
You can see little posters for each class at the end of this post.<br />
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<span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>2</b>.</span> My next trip will be to USA - two states - <span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>Pennsylvania and Florida</b></span> - just like last year. <br />
-> First I'll teach in Sarasota, Florida "Mushroom dreams" (February
24-26) and "Heart Deco" (February 27-28). Contact person is Silvie Waals (
<a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.silsartstudio.com%2F&h=nAQEIEeSrAQFwiRxWKIlUUSrEzBfnX-YC2-QyC82A7uqbhw&enc=AZORAuGJyek8qX2GORnHZEsFuhBgdzRIvQvd4gq8cUcK_npZ8ArzGDOqiAuKCpODYnO0_kyCY0sbfuY_WYaMxpDGurnvjw7txX9C6TnK82URsODtcPDKtkwztImV7QTzbj-3JkydXEyDvG17pq20juJ6V0RGFN620cp_ol2aknUwmWznWDmR4bkc0d1-QtrMf2w&s=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.silsartstudio.com</a> ). I totally fell in love with Sarasota - really fantastic place to visit - so - if you are thinking about taking a class with me, it might be a great idea to come to Florida :-).<br />
-> Then I'll travel to Pennsylvania, specifically Chadds Ford (Philadelphia area) to teach i<span class="text_exposed_show">n <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=100005335068515" href="https://www.facebook.com/christysmetalclayworkshops">Christy Miller</a>'s studio, "Mushroom dreams" (March 3-5) and "Night Scene pendant" (March 6). Contact person is<a href="http://www.laraginzburg.com/workshops-in-the-making.html"> Lara Ginzburg</a> at lkeginz@netscape.net <br />I taught at Christy's and Lara's already twice and can't wait to see them again :-).</span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>3</b>.</span> Later in March you'll be able to meet me in <span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>United Kingdom</b></span>. I'll teach my "Night Scene pendant" class during a fantastic event - <a href="http://www.ycmi2017.co.uk/">You Can Make It</a> conference in beautiful Wareham, Dorset. My class is already full, but there are other classes from really great tutors still available. I am really excited about this event - about meeting metal clay people from all around Europe (and not only!) and attending interesting presentations and demos (I am also preparing a demo and a presentation for this conference). </span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show"><b><span style="color: #f1c232;">4.</span></b> After that, at the beginning of April I'll be teaching some private classes in <span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>Romania</b></span>.</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><br /><span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>5.</b></span> At the end of April I will visit USA again - this time <b><span style="color: #f1c232;">McKinney, Texas</span></b>. </span>The hostesses are fantastic Judy Padgett Darrow and Dana Brock ( you can contact them via <a href="http://art-on-the-veranda.myshopify.com/collections/all">Art On The Veranda dba Three Frog Alley</a> ). I'll be teaching there three classes. First "Night Scene" pendant in a little bit more complex, two days version (April 21-22), "Miniature Teddy Bear" (April 24) and "Mushroom Dreams" (April 25-27). <br />
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Below you can see some photos advertising the classes :-). <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpyb0KaDttoTYOSBjDmoVRXKizvjutDhvmEoDWwdmxExEEYp2EFSynjqsyRoTLZEdUl9BvPgglOiVDOSgj7NleDHeL5lHhKNh77mb-yRrGuoKChoole0o5gmvr_zPGk4GUMudhQxpSemRF/s1600/mushrooms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpyb0KaDttoTYOSBjDmoVRXKizvjutDhvmEoDWwdmxExEEYp2EFSynjqsyRoTLZEdUl9BvPgglOiVDOSgj7NleDHeL5lHhKNh77mb-yRrGuoKChoole0o5gmvr_zPGk4GUMudhQxpSemRF/s320/mushrooms.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi96XRC3HWIZo9EoPYt3JB_qPb3gIasZeFjjUxZROx1t_i83ipoEZtIWP6_lnWzEF2vK4Ym7ZhlbM7XAJE-4B1R4wLoUibyg4MMygMiMORPIaVRvY0LaMAzu3y4uUYbieBazGEvxyjQ_wrA/s1600/deco.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi96XRC3HWIZo9EoPYt3JB_qPb3gIasZeFjjUxZROx1t_i83ipoEZtIWP6_lnWzEF2vK4Ym7ZhlbM7XAJE-4B1R4wLoUibyg4MMygMiMORPIaVRvY0LaMAzu3y4uUYbieBazGEvxyjQ_wrA/s320/deco.jpg" width="320" /></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsla44NxiPaiziCZPTWHp1pCJPTX79B5GFNzM73Jz_mbdVsAyeZhFRjq9Squ_2olHyAuwPrMprZiL8AoRoVYkbH1QZe6uarPnIbqsfvXZJfKVGB36JiuTWmjcIwY4N5n9FPLvAANJxbkU/s1600/teddy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsla44NxiPaiziCZPTWHp1pCJPTX79B5GFNzM73Jz_mbdVsAyeZhFRjq9Squ_2olHyAuwPrMprZiL8AoRoVYkbH1QZe6uarPnIbqsfvXZJfKVGB36JiuTWmjcIwY4N5n9FPLvAANJxbkU/s320/teddy.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiM4e65H3Rf5jIX1NlEn8SznzIKJkf-Y05N3iNJP7w8KvGLHQ6VBUuwo_YlgxCNNz-oDs7SrykzbVXoOj0ZAwN-0YJoqdQSeJdH-8VbYLsG8ioR5y7BhycMJv1-xIC3LCCmqmTww9LwQiX/s1600/nightscene_small_writings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiM4e65H3Rf5jIX1NlEn8SznzIKJkf-Y05N3iNJP7w8KvGLHQ6VBUuwo_YlgxCNNz-oDs7SrykzbVXoOj0ZAwN-0YJoqdQSeJdH-8VbYLsG8ioR5y7BhycMJv1-xIC3LCCmqmTww9LwQiX/s320/nightscene_small_writings.jpg" width="300" /></a>
Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-441862178461633172016-04-17T05:06:00.000-07:002016-04-23T07:37:18.962-07:00New versions of older designs and fun of learning :-)<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/17042016/drzewo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/17042016/drzewo.jpg" height="245" width="320" /></a><br />
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Recently I am playing a little bit more with wonderful possibilities of hand creating prototypes of jewellery in metal clay and then translating them into pieces made with lost wax technique. I am pretty happy with the results and I definitely think this is a fantastic way of using properties of metal clay. I already posted here a few of my flowery designs, but recently I also made a few symbols, which I always loved. All the pieces in this post are made of traditional sterling silver.<br />
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This is only the beginning of a whole collection of symbols, but I wanted to start with motif of trees, Sun ("Solar mandala") and tiny, crescent Moon. All these designs were totally hand formed and carved (no ready moulds etc.), then made into sterling silver, and adorned with natural stones. I really enjoy the whole process. <br />
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On example of my first metal clay designs meant for lost wax casting technique I learned really a lot about dos and don'ts of the whole process. Avoiding undercuts, paying attention to thickness of all elements, thinking about how wax will flow when filling the mould etc.<br />
And, yeah - this was a hard lesson - I also learned that if I don't say a loud STOP to myself, I can work on a design FOREVER. It's never good enough. But the funny thing is that it seems these imperfections are what make my pieces natural, and interesting to the eye. At least this is what I keep hearing from my clients. My inner perfectionst is crying ;-).<br />
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I am also super happy that I designed my own bails - they work nicely and correspond really well with the designs they are meant for (at least I think so ;-) ). They will probably be suitable for some other pieces I want to make and some of my one of a kind work. So, definitely no more generic, ready bought bails in my jewellery and I have some more ideas for this type of articulated bails coming.<br />
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As for other interesting things - I finally visited <a href="http://wytwornia.antidotum.pl/">Wytwórnia Antidotum</a> - jewellery making school based in Warsaw, to "collect" my prize for a <a href="http://drakonaria.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-few-exciting-news.html">contest I won last year with my pendant "Natura abhorret a vacuo"</a>. The prize were private classes in the school and I used it all to learn a little bit more about traditional techniques of stone setting. We focused on faceted stones. Here you can see some of my trials with different types of settings (yeah... A drunken hedgehog would probably do it better then I did, and I definitely need to practice, practice and maybe practice a little bit more ;-) , but hey - learning on your own mistakes also works :-) ). I generally knew how all these settings work, but it's a completely different story, to actually try it yourself under a guidance of someone experienced (big thanks to Remigiusz Grodzicki :-) ). I also did a few tube settings, but they are not in the photo. I had a lot of fun, but my hands really hurt :-))). After all - I am a delicate metal clay girl ;->.<br />
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Just one more nice photo for the end of this post ;-). One of my sterling silver "Twig rings", which also started their life as metal clay pieces, photographed in a pretty surroundings :-).<br />
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<br />Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-10679623732050924302016-03-07T09:10:00.001-08:002016-03-07T09:13:17.444-08:00...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This will be a very personal post, so if you don't feel comfortable with this kind of things, you can stop reading right now.<br />
My dad died on 17th February, after three wonderful (yes!) years of fighting with cancer. The most kind, wise, patient and loving man I've ever known. The best dad I could ever imagine. During his life he fought so many life-threatening health conditions and still lived a full, beautiful and meaningful life to the very end. I will be always thankful for him to all forces of the Universe. <br />
He was also my greatest fan - always curious about new things I made, new tools I bought, starting his day from checking my website and Facebook page. Of course I know, that at the beginning, when I decided to start my own business he was worried about me. Still, he always was my greatest supporter. This is one of my favourite photos of him. I took it during one of our "sunrise" trips we had last year. Me, my dad (on the right) and my brother. <br />
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One of the last pieces I made that my dad saw, was that teddy bear with a heart I designed for the new one day class. He showed it immediately to my mom, and because she loved it too, he asked me to make similar one as a gift from him to her, for Valentine's day. I managed to finish it, just 2 days before he died. I will always remember him, so weak, in a hospital bed, giving it to my mom, with all his love. Now she wears it every day. This tiny, silver bear probably will remain the most important piece I've made in all my life.<br />
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The same day I also managed to show him the cover of the newest issue of Handmade Business with me on it, wearing one of my pieces. I was so happy I could make him proud once again. He was only able to smile, but it meant the world to me - I will always treasure this moment. He collected all the publications with my pieces, showing them to his friends. I miss him so much. So much. And I am so thankful for all these years. For all the books he read to me when I was a child (and recorded some of them! So I can still listen to them...), for all the conversations about science and philosophy, for unconditional love and all his wisdom. Also for showing, not only to me, but to everyone around, that being terminally ill doesn't mean dying. It means LIVING and appreciating every single day.<br />
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Thank you dad. I will always love you.Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-58819191205139812202016-02-04T07:04:00.003-08:002016-05-11T07:00:19.132-07:00Three new workshops for 2016Hello in 2016! 2015 was a really great year, full of smaller and bigger successes, lots of changes, travelling and meeting new people. One thing remains the same though - I am still really great at writing regular posts on my blog ;-). Maybe this year, maybe this year... :-)<br />
Today I want to tell you a little bit about my new classes for 2016. I will still teach my old ones ("Herbarium pendants" and "Twig rings") in a few places, but I felt need of something fresh and new. So here they are :-).<br />
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<span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><b><u>"Mushroom dreams"</u></b><br />
I am particularly excited about this one.
It's a 3 days workshop packed with lots of different techniques,
featuring a branch (empty inside, so it's perfect for a bead-strung
necklace), various, 3 dimensional mushrooms, and a small, bezel set
stone. Wonderful textures, interesting shapes, lots of tricks for
creating secure openwork constructions in metal clay - this is
what this workshop is about.</span></span><br />
<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/29012016warsztaty/01mushroom_dreams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/29012016warsztaty/01mushroom_dreams.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a>
<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/29012016warsztaty/grzyby_class.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img a="" border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/29012016warsztaty/grzyby_class.jpg" height="282" href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/29012016warsztaty/02heart_deco.jpg" imageanchor="1" width="320" /></a>
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<b>"Heart Deco"</b><br />
It's a 2 days workshop
featuring really cool "pillow" effects, interesting filing
techniques for creating lovely ornamentation, various ways of working
with coils, clean setting of fireable stones, articulated bail or a little "dangle" and
much more. Pieces created during this class can look in many
different ways - not necessarily like stylized hearts. As usually in
case of my classes - using the same set of techniques everyone can
create something different.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/29012016warsztaty/02heart_deco.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/29012016warsztaty/02heart_deco.jpg" height="320" width="320" />
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<b><br />"Miniature Teddy Bear"</b><br />
This one is a one day
class for those who love tiny, cute creatures. Creating a tiny teddy
bear, which is mainly empty inside (to save on clay) is not as
difficult as it might seem. It's just about following certain steps
and using your imagination. Your teddy bear can hold a tiny heart or
have a miniature tie or maybe a necklace... This class is about
playing with miniature shapes and having a lot of fun! You will learn
working in a small scale, building tiny, hollow elements and creating
details in both wet and dry clay.</div>
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I already arranged classes in a few countries for 2016 - in some places everything is set, in some places we are still talking about some details.<br />
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In the first half of the year I'll be teaching in United Kingdom, then Belgium, and finally Austria.</div>
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<b>-></b> In <b>UK</b> you can meet me in <a href="http://www.metalclay.co.uk/">Metal Clay Ltd.</a> (Wareham, Dorset). I'll be teaching two classes. First "Heart Deco" - 30th April- 1st May<br />
"Twig rings" - 2nd May</div>
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<b>-></b> In <b>Belgium</b> I will teach yet again in <a href="http://ingeverbruggen.be/">Inge Verbruggen's </a>studio. Two classes.<br />
"Mushroom dreams" - 14th -16th May<br />
"Miniature teddy bear" - 17th May</div>
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-> In <b>Austria</b>, I will teach in Vienna, at <a href="http://vienna-expressions-studio.at/">Sulie Girardi's</a> studio.</div>
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The plan is...<br />
"Mushroom dreams" - 27th - 29 th May<br />
"Miniature teddy bear" - 4th June<br />
"Twig rings" - 5th June<br />
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Later you'll be able to take my classes in several places in <b>USA</b>, we are still working on some details though.<br />
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For sure you'll meet me in<br />
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<b>-></b> <b>Pennsylvania</b>, Philadelphia area (10th-12th September) ( I will teach there "Heart Deco" class and "Twig rings" - contact Lara Ginzburg and Christy Anne Miller for more info)<br />
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<b>-></b> <b>Florida</b>, Sarasota (I'll be there 15th-20th September). The hostess of my classes is Silvie Waals. I'll be teaching two classes there - "Herbarium pendant" and "Twig rings". </div>
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<b>-></b> <b>Texas</b>, in July, 18-22. "Herbarium pendant", "Heart Deco" and "Twig rings". The hostess is Judy Padgett Darrow ( Art On The Veranda dba Three Frog Alley ).<br />
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I also have already some plans for 2017, but it's far too soon to talk about this :-).<br />
That's all for now :-).<br />
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Ah, and in case you forgot what are "Herbarium" and "Twig rings" classes, here are the photos :-).</div>
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Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-42402521469990063832015-08-27T19:54:00.000-07:002015-08-28T05:39:41.557-07:00Visit in Aida Chemical Industries<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2QcXWn5Vwy_GJLeChZwUyBcZHWqIRGQdE5ArrJ-83NiP2RyzTKi_zA4sX7z6qS0uao9jVyGtBkP1EnV7Gn4wBnDHqe1qHjMK06Zl0EiVjnx_w4b5pFSu1ZARg6ieOGdTBhGhK15A7UyVE/s1600/11894536_911663808871431_7760445312452962534_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2QcXWn5Vwy_GJLeChZwUyBcZHWqIRGQdE5ArrJ-83NiP2RyzTKi_zA4sX7z6qS0uao9jVyGtBkP1EnV7Gn4wBnDHqe1qHjMK06Zl0EiVjnx_w4b5pFSu1ZARg6ieOGdTBhGhK15A7UyVE/s320/11894536_911663808871431_7760445312452962534_o.jpg" width="320" /></a>This time I will start my post by saying "Hello from USA" :-), specifically from New York. I got here yesterday, after the most fantastic metal clay conference - Metal Clay Mojo Retreat, which took place in Chester CT (photo by courtesy of Paddy Marcotte). I was teaching there two classes and making a few presentations (I will write about the whole conference experience later). But to make things even more interesting ;-) today I want to "come back" to my recent trip to Japan and write a little bit about my visit in <a href="http://www.artclay.co.jp/htm/">Aida Chemical Industries</a> - the producer of Art Clay Silver, Gold and Copper.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/aida/j05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/aida/j05.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><br />
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I went to Japan mostly for vacation, but at the end of our stay in this beautiful country I had an amazing opportunity to actually visit Art Clay Studio in Fuchū, Tokyo. I was invited to show my jewellery and talk about my work during a meeting with Japanese artists and instructors (<a href="http://artclay.exblog.jp/24353049/">you can find a blogpost in Japanese on Art Clay blog here</a> - lots of nice photos :-) ). I also did a little demo showing my technique of working with coils.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLEBB-fEMW1GhZQMddhOaOPFZ8nv5oqS8jg7kZ97Z7okP8iTWRxp0UVyrT-JacKSh6KQFzZqXyCKY6thZLQibmVfxb6dJRZPDmdYe_8z6pK-k6P9VLrg_dtwblM_keUO3r8AjWdCNfWXbH/s1600/gift.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLEBB-fEMW1GhZQMddhOaOPFZ8nv5oqS8jg7kZ97Z7okP8iTWRxp0UVyrT-JacKSh6KQFzZqXyCKY6thZLQibmVfxb6dJRZPDmdYe_8z6pK-k6P9VLrg_dtwblM_keUO3r8AjWdCNfWXbH/s320/gift.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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I was so greateful<span class="text_exposed_show">
for such a warm, wonderful welcome, interesting
conversations, smiles and good energy. It was also very exciting to meet all the artists whose pieces I saw so many times, published in various publications, to learn about cultural differences and how they influence our designs. I wanted to say THANK YOU once again also for all these fantastic, unexpected gifts. They will be a beautiful reminder of that day.</span><br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/aida/j04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/aida/j04.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><span class="text_exposed_show"><br />After "Meet the artist" part of the day I
went to see Aida Chemical Industries' refinery. Such an interesting
place! I learnt about the process of reclaiming silver and gold from
x-ray images, electronic circuit boards and dental gold&silver
scrap.<br /><br /> I also played a little bit with 20 kg silver ingot (which
basically I couldn't lift in any way, so my great guides found a
smaller one for me to pose with ;-) ). In the photo you can see yet
another ingot - gold one (oh, that shine! :-) ). Then, if you are able
to take your eyes away from the shiny stuff, you might notice that in
this photo there are also two people ;-). Me and fantastic
Daisuke Minagawa.<br /><br /> I would like to thank him once more for taking care of
me during my visit in Aida and Art Clay studio, organising everything, and being such a
warm, welcoming person. I also want to say thank you to Mark Atkinson
for all his help during our stay in Japan!</span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show"><a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/aida/j01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/aida/j01.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show"><br />And this is one of my favourite photos I
took during our trip to Japan. Hopefully, when I come back to Poland, to my own little studio, I
will have time to work on some new pieces inspired by our trip. We saw so many different, amazing things. I already know that I
want to come back there one day. Those 2-3 weeks was definitely not enough time to see and appreciate everything...</span>Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-89876297401382629852015-07-23T03:18:00.001-07:002015-07-23T04:27:14.944-07:00Some exciting news :-)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/pustka/natura01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/pustka/natura01.jpg" height="320" width="218" /></a></div>
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This post will be quite hectic, but I start travelling again tomorrow,
and still have a lot of things to do before leaving. It was just too
long without writing :-).<b><br /><br />First of all</b> - that piece from the previous post - <a href="http://drakonaria.com/natura-abhorret-a-vacuo,en,483.html">"Natura abhorret a vacuo"</a> - actually won that competition it was made for. I am really happy, especially that I got the most wonderful prize - some free classes in <a href="http://wytwornia.antidotum.pl/">Wytwórnia Antidotum</a> jewellery making school! I will "collect" my prize this Autumn - I am super excited. I am sure this will be very beneficial for me.<br />
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<b><br />Second of all</b> (or maybe I should have made it "first of all", because I am just over the Moon about it ;-) ) my piece <a href="http://drakonaria.com/startled,en,445.html">"Startled"</a> was published on the cover of <a href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/3f05bbad#/3f05bbad/1">"Handmade Business", issue August 2015</a>. You can even find a <a href="http://drakonaria.blogspot.com/2014/11/i-see-you-startled.html"> post</a> about its making here, on my blog :-). It was such a great surprise. Inside there is also a <a href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/3f05bbad#/3f05bbad/28">wonderful article </a>about metal clays, written by Jeannette Froese LeBlanc.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/23_07_2015news/wisiorek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/23_07_2015news/wisiorek.jpg" height="252" width="320" /></a><b>Third of all</b> (I wonder if this expression goes beyond this number ;-) ) I started an exciting journey with preparing pieces for my permanent collection, using lost wax casting method. Finally! I was thinking about it for a year or more. I found a very reasonable caster, made a few models using metal clay and they made the molds. For that first time I prepared a flowery pendant, three of my twig rings, and some tiny items meant mostly for stud earrings. I was quite impressed with the result. Of course there were some issues, but the caster is willing to work on the molds a little bit more, to make sure they work perfectly.It actually seemed that they had a little bit of fun too, because they hadn't worked with this type of design before.<br />
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It's a long story, and I will surely write a separate post about it. For now I am just showing you photos of two of my casted pieces. In the pendant above I left the place for the stone without a setting, so it can vary in size, type etc. and I can make each piece unique in a way :-). And the earrings are actually super tiny :-). I learned so much through this experience, and this is another thing I will continue this Autumn, when I come back. I have a lot of doubts and various thoughts about the whole idea. I am also preparing a presentation about the whole process for <a href="http://metalclaymojo.com/">Metal Clay Mojo</a> retreat in Chester CT - I will show some interesting things on example of a tiny owl, which started as a metal clay prototype<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/23_07_2015news/tree01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/23_07_2015news/tree01.jpg" height="282" width="320" /></a><b>Conferences, classes and stuff </b>;-). <br />
Another exciting thing are all the journeys which start tomorrow. First I go to Japan - mostly for vacation, but I will also visit Aida Chemical Industries' studio in Tokio. I will have there a little presentation of my work. So - if you just happen to be in Tokio on August the 10th - let me know, I will give you some details :-). Of course I am very stressed :-) - my whole jewellery making life I have somewhere in my head, this little voice, whispering "when they (whoever they are at a moment) see my work in person, they all will think - 'yeah... we thought it was better'" :-). Having this meeting in mind I made a few new pieces with Art Clay Silver - this tree among them. It's a good example of one of the techniques I use. Of course I am freaking out about the finish, "askewness" etc. but I try to think that all my jewellery is Nature inspired, and you know what? There is no such thing as "perfection" in Nature. At least if we define perfection in our weird, human way.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/23_07_2015news/finished.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/23_07_2015news/finished.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a><b><br />Classes</b> - Yes. When I come back from Japan, I will have four days to prepare for my trip to USA. In one of the previous posts I wrote about <a href="http://drakonaria.blogspot.com/2015/03/a-few-updates-on-my-upcoming-classes.html">my schedule of classes there</a>. I will visit three states - Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Illinois. I am hoping to see some familiar faces and meet new people :-). I will teach my <a href="http://drakonaria.com/index.php?p=search&dict=57">"Herbarium pendant"</a> class in all the studios I visit. When I come back, I will fly to UK, to teach in Metal Clay Ltd. And then I'll be back for good :-). I also prepared quite a lot of things made of PMC Sterling and other materials, to be able to show some new work, wherever I go.<br />
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Ok, so I guess that's all. I am just leaving a few more pictures of my recent work, and come back to packing!<br />
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Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-44717310339031107492015-06-06T00:35:00.000-07:002015-06-06T00:35:34.546-07:00Natura abhorret a vacuo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/pustka/natura01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/pustka/natura01.jpg" height="400" width="272" /></a></div>
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This piece, called "Nature abhors vacuum", was made for a competition organized by one of Polish jewellery making schools. The theme was vacuum/emptiness (Polish word "pustka" actually can be interpreted in a lot of ways). It felt really inspiring and it made me think about the idea that vacuum is like the priciest jewel - so rare, with a life so short - immediately "destroyed" by Nature. I wanted to catch this feeling of temporariness, constant movement, that hostility and greediness of Nature. Beautiful, but blind, thus scary. And this little jewel of emptiness, in the very centre, just for a blink of an eye. When I look at it, it also makes me think that sometimes emptiness is even more precious, because it's a reminder of something that was there. And filling this empty space, which is inevitable, is like loosing something again. So why not to freeze that moment - even if only like this. <br />
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This piece feels quite sad actually, on some level it's simply about death, or maybe I am just in a little bit dark place right now. Anyway, funny feeling - I think it's the very first piece in my life I am truly in peace with. I am deliberately not saying "happy with". It's a different feeling. I just wouldn't change anything.<br />
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Enough of serious talking ;-). Let me show you a few photos I took while making this pendant. First, as usually, I made a sketch which later led me through the whole process. My sketches are not super detailed. I just want to catch a feeling, general idea etc. I just need to know what I meant.<br />
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I wanted the pendant to have a lot of volume, to create really sculptural look, but obviously, because I decided to work with silver (PMC Sterling in this case) I didn't want to use too much of the material. That's why main elements are openwork or empty inside. By the way - I took this photo also because I liked the way how I accidentally positioned these three "worms" - it made me think about an idea for another piece.<br />
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I attached my three, empty "worms" to the backgroud and started working on building the whole composition, details etc. It's not so clearly visible in this photo, because there is only a slight difference in colour, but sometimes, when I want to see how something will look like, I make it from polymer clay first, and place it where I want it to go (these three fangs), just to test the idea. Sometimes it's convenient to put an element made of wet clay in the right place quite quickly, while it's still elastic. That's why it's nice to know beforehand what I really want to do with it ;-).<br />
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First textures and some new elements... And of course my very favourite tool - scalpel blade. No, the flowers are for something different ;-).<br />
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Some carving, slip painting, drilling, filing, forming wet clay... I just use whatever technique I need to use, to get the look I want.<br />
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More and more details. I wanted to create totally different textures on each element, to get this feeling of abundance in Nature. But I didn't want to end up with any kind of a sweet-cute-Nature-flowers&peace look, rather something more primordial, predacious, but still with this kind of a flow which makes you think of an inward movement.<br />
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Then I moved to the center of the composition. I thought about colonisation, uncontrolled growth, Nature filling every possible space. And the thing is that I even don't mean Nature only in terms of biology and the Earth. Do you know how difficult it is to find perfect vacuum? Well, it's actually impossible. This is how rare this "gem" is.<br />
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And here is the pendant ready for firing. Because it was made of PMC Sterling, and I still have some problems with distortion in case of rings, I was afraid that something so complex might change its shape really badly in firing. I took a piece of ceramic paper and cut out an opening inside it, so when I placed the pendant on it, the bail fitted into the opening (and to the carbon beneath paper) and the pendant lied perfectly flat. I also stuck little bits of ceramic fiber inside empty elements and supported some raised parts that could droop. Stainless steel mesh cage went on top, to prevent pieces of activated carbon from getting in between parts of my pendant. Then of course more activated carbon, and the whole thing went into the kiln. It sounds more complicated than it was ;-).<br />
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Honestly I was even a little bit surprised how well it fired. There was no distortion at all. At least I didn't see anything aparent - the "flow" was still there. I was super happy when I saw it. Then some oxidation and finishing, and it was done. This time it was pure metal clay technique piece. Nothing else.<br />
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So, here are a few more photos :-). The results of the competition weren't announced yet, but honestly, this was just an excuse to make this piece. I guess this is what all competitions are about ;-).<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/pustka/natura03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-right: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/pustka/natura03.jpg" height="320" width="231" /></a>Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-46157183276101916582015-04-23T05:14:00.000-07:002015-04-23T12:54:17.434-07:00Emperor Sun - on a learning curve :-)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here I am again, trying to learn a little bit of traditional metalsmithing skills and thinking how to marry them with metal clay :-). I really enjoy acquiring new knowledge and challenging myself. Recently, when I taught in Germany I took with me a book written by Andrzej Bandkowski, entitled (loose translation - the book is in Polish) <a href="http://www.ksiazka-kurs-zlotniczy.pl/">"A class of making artistic jewellery"</a>. It's not really a "class", you won't find any real tutorials there either. It's rather a quite personal take on basics of jewellery making with a ton of great tips and tricks. In my spare time I read the book, and what I especially liked, were all kinds of box-like constructions. So this time I wanted to try building something more 3 dimensional out of sterling sheet, train multiple soldering and sawing.<br />
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Sooo... Once upon a time ;-) I sculpted this tiny sun, using fine silver clay. I fired it, and left it for later. I even made a mould of it, which I rarely do, and added bronze versions to a few pieces, but the original little sculpture still wasn't used.
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Finally I chose a stone and made a rough sketch of a general idea, slightly inspired by Art Deco (As if you could see anything in this sketch ;-)).<br />
I didn't want to do anything too complicated.<br />
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Then I made more detailed templates, and glued them on a piece of sterling silver sheet. <b>Note to self </b>- really, really, you should buy a printer and start using vector art programs again (or a protractor, compasses, ruler etc. YAY! I loved geometric contructions at school ^^). Sketching freehand, in case of something that is not "organic" or super "flowy"doesn't lead to anything good. All the irregularities and inaccuracy started here. If you don't have a precise template for sawing, your sawing won't be precise. Yup, learning on mistakes again. <br />
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Anyway - I used what I sketched, marked places where I wanted to drill holes with a center punch and drilled them.<br />
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And here are my two elements after sawing and some cleaning. It's the first time I tried to saw elements that weren't "organic", but a little bit more geometrical and I have to say that it's so much more difficult than sawing<a href="http://drakonaria.com/view-from-the-moon,en,402.html"> swirls, waves</a> ,<a href="http://drakonaria.com/dreams-and-leaves,en,392.html"> leaves </a>and other <a href="http://drakonaria.com/sindarin-gil-galad,en,453.html">pretty things</a> ;-) (you can see under the links some examples of my other sawing attempts).<br />
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Then I started building the boxes. I measured circumference of the round element and cut a strip of sheet to form a circle that had a diameter and height I needed (more or less... next time I will REALLY measure things). I soldered two ends of the circle together, and then soldered it onto my round element. I also cut two more strips to form a crescent-like shape - the walls of the other element. <br />
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You can see in the photo that the strips are of different width. If I used a proper tool to make sure that they are equally wide I would definitely save some time... ;-) But, yeah, no... Learning. I am just too impatient and excited when I try something new. I just cut them freehand.<br />
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I formed a crescent shape out of the strips (it was quite difficult to get the same curve - I just used my hands and forming pliers - maybe there is an easier way... Again - coming back to the beginning - if my crescent shape was really made of two nice archs, I could simply use ring mandrel to get the right curve on the strips...). Then I filed the ends of the strips (I needed the places where they met, to be pointy, so they weren't visible from under the open work crescent shape), soldered them together and then soldered them onto the shape itself. I also found somewhere (you never know what you can find in your workshop one day ;-) ) twisted, decorative wire, and decided that this might be a nice touch to the whole look of my pendant, so I added it to both elements.<br />
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In case you're wondering why silver is so clean - I just took all the photos after pickling - otherwise everyhing would be covered with a ton of flux residue.<br />
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Now my boxes needed bottoms, and my stone needed a bezel cup. I formed a bezel, soldered it onto a piece of sheet, and cut out the inside. The stone has a nice back, so I wanted to show it, but my cunning plan ;-) was also to use this piece of sheet from the inside, for the bottom of the round element. Of course, because I judged it by eye, it turned out to be too small, so I had to find another piece of sterling to cut out the circle... Seriously... (facepalm ;-) ) Measure, measure! It's not metal clay where I can take a little bit more and roll it out again.<br />
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Before the last soldering I also filed/drilled a few holes in the walls, to make it possible to join the two parts of the pendant and to be able to string it somehow later. Then with an easy solder I soldered the crescent shape on top of the part with the bezel cup. In case of the round part, first I applied some solder on the back of my metal clay sun, flattened it on sanding paper, placed it in the right position, and then at the same time I soldered the round shape onto the circle and sweat soldered the sun on top of the box.<br />
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When I made sure that everything is really soldered I cut/file off spare silver from the edges and made sure they looked seamless.<br />
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I set the stone, made some finishing, and it was ready :-). You can see the back in the other photo below. I have to say that making this piece was a great lesson.... of cursing in all languages I know :-D. Just joking (yeah ;-) ).</div>
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Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-74347591292209640322015-04-19T07:29:00.000-07:002015-04-27T07:47:03.351-07:00Some news :-)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ok, so I guess it's time to say that I am so happy and proud to announce that I am a finalist in <a href="http://saulbellaward.com/">Saul Bell Design Award</a> competition again :-). This time with a necklace. Thank you very much!<br />
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This necklace is called "Midsummer night" and was inspired by a celebration of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer">shortest night</a> of the year in Slavic culture -<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kupala_Night"> Kupala Night</a>. It's a festival of fire, water, joy, fertility and love. People gather around bonfires to dance and maidens plait flower wreaths, which are later thrown into rivers or lakes to tell the future or to be caught be a beloved man. It is said to be dangerous to swim though, because especially during this magical night you might encounter rusalkas - female water spirits. If they saw handsome men, they would fascinate them with songs and dancing, mesmerize them, then lead them away to the river bottom to their death. You can see three of these water spirits in my necklace, peeking out of the lake, surrounded by water plants and fireflies.<br />
The necklace is made of fine silver clay, 18K green gold clay, sterling silver, labradorites and silk.<br />
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It's the third time I am one of the five finalists in metal clay category in this competition. My first lucky entry was my <a href="http://drakonaria.com/flower-storm-bracelet,en,324.html">"Flower storm" bracelet</a> (SBDA 2013). It was one of my first pieces made with <a href="http://goldieclay.com/">Goldie bronze</a>, and right now it's owned by Goldie's creator - Waldo Iłowiecki :-).<br />
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My second finalist piece (<a href="http://www.saulbellaward.com/Winners/Year/2014">SBDA 2014</a>) was inspired by Slavic folklore. It was <a href="http://drakonaria.com/slavic-tales-leshy,en,423.html">Leshy</a> - keeper of the forest. At the end it placed second and I was lucky enough to attend the award ceremony in Albuquerque, and <a href="http://www.santafesymposium.org/">The Santa Fe Symposium</a>, which was really very interesting and truly inspiring. The whole thing was a wonderful experience and I can recommend it to anyone :-).<br />
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So, this year, my "Midsummer Night" necklace is in the final five, but of course I won't tell you how it placed, yet :-). I don't want to ruin fun of guessing for anyone ;-). It's also very mysterious this year, with no announcement of the finalists. Even I don't know who else is in the final five in my category - besides <a href="http://www.janetalexander.net/">Janet Alexander</a> with her wonderful "Mom's Jewelry Box", who already announced her achievement on her website. I always love looking at the finalist pieces - there is so much eye candy there every year :-).<br />
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<b><span style="color: #f1c232;">EDIT :-)</span> </b>So now , a few more people decided to share their great news, so I can congratulate again Janet Alexander, but also Terry Kovalcik, Holly Gage and Ivy Solomon! I have to say that it's a huge pleasure to be a finalist with so talented and accomplished people.Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-25448159104823305382015-04-06T05:31:00.000-07:002015-04-07T01:50:44.336-07:00Rendez-vous with PMC Sterling :-)<a href="http://drakonaria.com//blogspot/05042015sterling/drawing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com//blogspot/05042015sterling/drawing.jpg" height="289" width="320" /></a><br />
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Yes, I know, I am behind everyone when comes to sterling silver clay :-). I guess it's simply because we don't have PMC distributor in Poland (anyone interested? ;-) ), so I rather stick to Art Clay. But last year when I got Rio Grande gift certificate for <a href="http://drakonaria.com/slavic-tales-leshy,en,423.html">Saul Bell Design Award</a>, I decided to spend it mostly on something that is not so easily accesible in my country, so PMC Sterling and Argentium :-). I already played with Argentium a little bit (fun!), but sterling clay was waiting and waiting... Finally I decided to try it.<br />
Sooo, my plan for this post is to write a little bit about how did it go ;-).<br />
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Generally - I like the texture of this clay when it's wet - it's super fine, quite similar to PMC3 - a little bit like a bubble gum :-) (if compared to Art Clay). Long working time, darker colour than fine silver clay - blablabla everyone already knows these things - a lot of really great tests were published in various places. <br />
What surprised me was how dried clay behaves. This material is undoubtedly designed for carving, and I don't really carve. I file. So at the beginning I was super annoyed by the fact that this clay, even when it's dried, is a little bit "buttery" and it clogs files immediately. So, in a way, I was forced to change my way of working, especially for this clay, but you know what - at the end I don't mind it. I learned a lot.<br />
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Another thing that I don't like is high shrinkage rate - I really don't need my pieces to become smaller. I can live with 10% of fine silver clays, but 20% is a little bit too much. And it comes with a price ;-) - bigger distortion. It turns out that it's not a problem in case of more or less flat pieces (all the pendants were ok), but in case of rings it is an issue. I had to reshape all the rings that I made so far, to make them round again after firing. I'll have to try firing plugs, but I don't like using additional stuff in firing process.<br />
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Yeah - as for the additional stuff - after a few first firings that left some carbon marks on backs of my pieces I learned (thank you Terry Kovalcik and Ros Wood! :-) ) that it's better to arrange firing in such a way that pieces don't have any direct contact with carbon - so cover them with a stainless steel mesh or something like that. With those first pieces I also tested soldering traditional sterling to fired PMC Sterling, and it works ok.<br />
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It seems that yes, this clay has its cons - no doubts about that -but the strength - it makes up for everything, and that's the reason why it's definitely not the last time I am using it. I want to use it more, especially for rings, but first I have to solve the distortion problem.<br />
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Here is another example of PMC Sterling work, mixed with sterling sheet and wire (the stone setting, bail behind it etc.) - <a href="http://drakonaria.com/dream-keeper,en,476.html">"Dream Keeper"</a>. I cut sterling sheet in a shape which fitted exactly in between the ornaments on the back of the pendant, so it was easy to solder it. Then I soldered prongs on top of it and a bail on the back. It worked nicely.
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If you are curious, here you can see a few steps of making my <a href="http://drakonaria.com/drawing-down-the-moon,en,477.html">"Drawing down the Moon"</a> pendant (the first photo), inspired by a<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drawing_down_the_Moon_%28ritual%29"> Full Moon ritual</a>. Someone asked in one of the internet groups, where did I get the mould ;-))))))), so I just thought that it might be interesting to show the process at least partially.<br />
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Here you can see some progress of making the face. I work mostly in an additive way. Then I take away some clay in "strategic" places ;-) with a file. I don't use any fancy carving tools etc. People who attended my classes know that I have just two favourite tools - something for cutting and a pointy file - this would be all.<br />
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Some more details. I didn't do anything to the face from that point - I was quite happy with the expression. I am still learning how to sculpt human faces and there is still a long way to go, but I feel I am finally starting to think about expressions and not only "how to make a face that looks more or less like a face" ;-).<br />
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Details, details. It's like building a tiny model :-). Adding a little bit, filing off a little bit. It's not easy, and it's not fast, but I think it's worth it. I just love this complex, three dimensional look I can get this way.<br />
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And some more building and filing - the piece might look quite openwork and delicate, but you might notice that each element is attached to something, really firmly, at least in two places. <br />
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Almost ready. I just added a little bit of <a href="http://drakonaria.blogspot.com/2012/11/green-gold-really-woow.html">18K green gold</a> inside the eyes - I wanted to create this feeling of her being "filled" with the Moon, with this otherwordly shine in her eyes :-).<br />
And it was ready for firing. It turns out that manufacturer's schedule works just fine in my kiln, so I fired all my PMC Sterling pieces in two phases - first open shelf 538 <span class="st">°C</span> for 1 h, and then buried in carbon 815 <span class="st">°C. for 1-2 h (depending on the size of the piece). After getting some marks from carbon in my first firings I make sure that I have some ceramic paper under the piece and stainless steel mesh above it. I don't mind quite long firing time at all - especially if I work on a piece for a few days. But I understand that this might be annoying for people who make a lot of simpler pieces.</span><br />
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Because of the green gold addition, in this particular case I repeated the second phase of firing twice. According to the manufacturer (Michelle :-) ), it requires double firing. You can read <a href="http://drakonaria.blogspot.com/2012/11/green-gold-really-woow.html">more about this material here</a>. And I guess that this would be all for today ;-).
Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-33338515327188672302015-03-04T14:11:00.001-08:002015-03-11T11:15:06.455-07:00A few updates on my upcoming classes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Not so long ago I came back from Belgium, where I taught three different workshops - my first classes abroad in 2015. It was actually the second time I taught at <a href="http://ingeverbruggen.be/">Inge Verbruggen's</a> studio (first was July 2014) - she is a great hostess and a friend. We met for the first time during my workshops in Netherlands in 2013, and later during a retreat in UK. This is what I love about metal clay community - it makes the world a really small place ;-).<br />
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Sooo :-), in this post I just wanted to leave here an update on a few of my upcoming classes that are already (or soon will be ) opened for registration.<br />
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First place is <b>Hamburg, Germany</b>:<br />
10th April - Twig rings<br />
11-12th April - Herbarium pendants<br />
To register contact <a href="http://www.susand-design.com/termine/">Susan Diana Wilson</a><br />
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And then, later in the year, you'll be able to meet me in several places in <b>USA</b>:<br />
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1. At the <a href="http://www.metalclaymojo.com/">Metal Clay Mojo Conference</a><b> </b>in<b> Chester, Connecticut</b> I'll teach my "Herbarium pendants" twice, as a pre and a post conference class - August 18-19th & August 24-25th.<br />
The contact person is <a href="http://www.metalclaymojo.com/#!contact/c21dx">Lis-el Crowley</a>.<br />
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2. Then I'll visit <a href="http://www.laraginzburg.com/">Lara Ginzburg</a> in <b><span class="null">Philadelphia area, PA</span></b>. August 29-30th I'll teach there my "Herbarium pendants" and then again the same class August 31st & September 1st.<br />
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3. The last place will be <b>Chicago, Illinois</b>. At <a href="http://www.artclayworld.com/prod-3500.htm">Jackie Truty's</a> Art Clay World USA I'll teach my "Herbarium pendants" class - September 5-6th.<br />
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I'll let you know about my other classes abroad this year (in Europe) a little bit later. We are still in the process of arranging things :-).<br />
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And here is a class sample I made during my "Herbarium" workshops in Belgium, in February. It was a Valentine's day ;-).<br />
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Every time a piece is a little bit different, showing possibilties of creating different shapes, looks etc.<br />
I taught this class in so many places, and each time I am amazed by how varied are the final pieces made by the students - all created with the same set of techniques :-).<br />
So, stay tuned and, hopefully, I'll see some of you, my dear Readers, during my workshops ;-).Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-67267228853496741632015-01-07T14:33:00.000-08:002015-01-10T03:59:05.105-08:00The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It's this time of a year, when I can proudly say:</div>
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<i>"Hello, my name is Anna Mazoń. I'm one
of 500 people who are involved yet again in an amazing
initiative called <a href="http://bizuteryjki.pl/">Jewellery Makers for the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity.</a>"</i><br />
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Actually I said exactly this sentence just a few hours ago, in <a href="http://www.thenews.pl/1/6/Artykul/192876,Internet-auctions-raising-money-for-WOSP">an interview</a> for the Polish Radio External Service, so I thought that if I was already prepared to talk about this topic in English, I could write about it on my blog as well. <br />
And believe me, it's really worth reading! I promise you LOTS of eye candy ;-). But first a little introduction.<br />
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<a href="http://en.wosp.org.pl/"><br />The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity</a> (GOCC, in Polish: Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy) is one of the
biggest, non-governmental, non-profit, charity organizations in Poland.
Its main objective is protecting health and saving children's lives by
providing medical equipment to public hospitals. Every year (since 1993)
milions of Poles donate to the GOCC volunteers from all around Poland,
who are collecting money on the streets of almost every Polish city.
Each year GOCC specialists choose different health issue, ask hospitals
what they really need to deal with it, make analysis and then, after the
money collection, they buy needed medical equipment. Simple and
effective. Almost everyone in Poland knows someone who was treated in a
hospital unit equipped fully or partially by <a href="http://en.wosp.org.pl/">The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/7_01_2015wosp/ksiezycowa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/7_01_2015wosp/ksiezycowa.jpg" height="236" width="320" /></a>It's already the fourth time when a group of talented people from Poland decided to create totally handmade, collaborative items to be auctioned off for <a href="http://en.wosp.org.pl/">The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity</a>.<br />
Each year our initiative grows - we make more pieces which raise more and more money. During our first year we made just 7 bracelets, each one consisting of a base and a set of handmade heart-shaped charms - each charm made by a different person. This basic idea is still the same - each project we make is created by at least a few people working together - but the size of our group and amount of projects definitely changed.<br />
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This year the group has 500 members, and overall we made more than 70 unique, really precious items. <br />
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So let me show you just a few of my favourite pieces created for this year's bidding. Look at this amazing necklace - it's called <a href="http://bizuteryjki.pl/do-kwadratu-do-szescianu/">"Music of the Spheres"</a>. You can arrange it any way you want and wear as many elements as you want together, in all possible colour combinations. Someone calculated that there are 6832 ways of wearing it! :-). Each facet of this beaded beauty was made by a different person.This truly is a work of art and heart :-). <a href="http://aukcje.wosp.org.pl/en/listing?sellerId=37886662">You can bid it here.</a><br />
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Another beaded and embroidered necklace was made by 39 talented ladies. Not only from Poland - one of them is from USA :-). It's super sparkly but still very elegant and nostalgic. It's called <a href="http://bizuteryjki.pl/bizuteryjki-w-czasie-deszczu-sie-nie-nudza/">"Rainy necklace"</a>. It definitely has this WOW factor :-). <br />
All the crystals used in this necklace are original Swarovski crystals - 84 raindrops - adorned with Toho beads. <a href="http://aukcje.wosp.org.pl/en/kolia-deszczowa-i-kolczyki-bizuteryjki-swarovski-i1227138">You can bid it here</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/7_01_2015wosp/queen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/7_01_2015wosp/queen.jpg" height="263" /></a><br />
Yet another necklace, but made using a different technique - soutache embroidery - was created by a team of our soutache experts. It's called <a href="http://aukcje.wosp.org.pl/en/kolia-queen-elizabeth-rubiny-szafiry-bizuteryjki-i1227132">"Queen Elisabeth"</a> and, in my humble opinion, this is a perfect name for it. It's so beautiful, regal and elegant... It is adorned with natural rubies and sapphires.<br />
I really hope that you already get it, why I am so proud to know some of these talented and generous women and men.<br />
Our model here is a great Polish actress Kinga Preis.<br />
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In case you don't like jewellery, we have also a lamp made of thousands of tiny white and silver beads, adorned with snowflakes and spirals - it looks like a dancing Snow Queen and its name is <a href="http://aukcje.wosp.org.pl/en/magia-swiatla-unikatowa-lampa-bizuteryjki-i1227656">"Magic of light"</a>. It was made by 36 people working together. I think this one actually is my personal favourite. I could totally have it in my living room :-).<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/7_01_2015wosp/kon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/7_01_2015wosp/kon.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a><br />
Or maybe you like.... horses? No, we don't have a beaded horse, but... in case you need a cool outfit for your four legged friend, this is yet another thing <a href="http://aukcje.wosp.org.pl/en/prezenterka-i-napiersnik-al-shamaal-bizuteryjki-i1234262">you can find on our auctions</a>. It's called Al Shamaal - The Warm Wind. I have to admit that when I heard about this project for the first time I thought that it probably was just a joke. Now I can say that it definitely is anything but a joke! Beautifully designed and crafted by 60 ladies from Poland (and United Kingdom!), photographed on a very handsome and patient model.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/7_01_2015wosp/goldie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/7_01_2015wosp/goldie.jpg" height="249" width="400" /></a><br />
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Another beautiful necklace -<a href="http://aukcje.wosp.org.pl/en/naszyjnik-zlote-wspomnienia-i1227142"> "Golden memories"</a> - was created using metal clay and coppersmithing techniques. All these sculpted circles were made by 20 women, during an amazing retreat in <a href="http://www.pnbt.com.pl/en/">Bory Tucholskie </a>- really beautiful part of Poland. Each little circle tells a personal story - just take a closer look.<br />
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Yet another example of a project made by 10 super talented ladies from our group - bracelets with<a href="http://aukcje.wosp.org.pl/en/pastelowe-slodkosci-bransoletka-charms-bizuteryjki-i1226968"> insanely detailed miniature sweets </a>:-). They are so life like and cute, that it is really hard not to eat them ;-). I have to say that I am also bidding this one. This is probably one of the most popular items on our auctions. These tiny charms are entirely made of different types of polymer clays.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/7_01_2015wosp/grecka.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/7_01_2015wosp/grecka.jpg" height="250" /></a><br />
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We also have quite a few projects for men, inspired by different cultures. <a href="http://aukcje.wosp.org.pl/en/bransoleta-meska-grecka-w-brazie-bizuteryjki-i1227030">This bracelet</a> is my favourite among them. It was inspired by ancient Greece and made by 10 generous women. I especially love the design burnt on this leather strap. Our model here is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df4UNS01Cxg">Sławek Uniatowski</a> - Polish musician. Photo by gorajka.pl.<br />
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Maybe just one more ;-). This one is VERY special. This year our initiative has also an educational aspect. Younger generation - children of moms from our group - also decided to make a few beautiful things for the auctions. Small teams of girls and boys created together bracelets, key charms and beaded bookmarks. My personal favourite is this <a href="http://aukcje.wosp.org.pl/en/bransoletka-dla-dziecka-z-sowami-sowkowa-i1227565">bracelet with super cute tiny owls</a>. Probably the most important thing is that this way children learn, that by using their talents and creativity they can help others.<br />
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Ok, so let me show you what I made for this year's auctions. I took part in a project called <a href="http://aukcje.wosp.org.pl/en/motokurtka-wild-eagle-unikatowa-bizuteryjki-i1234288">"Wild Eagle"</a> - it's a hand embellished leather, biker jacket, which was donated to us by a former Polish Superbike Champion - <a href="https://twitter.com/adambadziak">Adam Badziak</a>. Our team added to the back of the jacket hand embroidered wings and the lovliest, steam punk stylized motorcycle. I made a pair of heart shaped charms to go with the jacket. It was a quite tough design challenge for me - I've never designed in this style before. Each of the charms is a stylized heart, but when they are put together, two eagle's claws form yet another stylized heart. In a picture below, you can see how I made them.<br />
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<b>If you want to see our other auctions ( more than 70 exciting items), use this link:</b><br />
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<a href="http://tinyurl.com/itemswithheart"><u><span style="color: #bf9000;"><b>http://tinyurl.com/itemswithheart</b></span></u></a><br />
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And these are my charms :-).</div>
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Ok, that's all I wanted to write today :-). If you read it all I am genuinely impressed! :-) I hope you enjoyed this little story.
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P.S. I just saw a video from a backstage of photo shoots of our projects :-D I had to share this - it's wonderful. People who are the models are Polish stars :-). My little charms are also there - with a HUGE motorcycle :-D<br />
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<br />Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-67819106670954147592014-12-31T11:58:00.002-08:002015-04-07T02:04:06.363-07:00Around the World Blog HopRecently <a href="http://www.redtree-studio.com/2014/around-world-blog-hop/">Kim Paige</a> invited me to participate in <b>Around the World Blog Hop</b>. The point of the whole thing is to write a little bit about yourself and your creative friends, share some links, eye candy, and whatever you consider to be worth sharing ;-).<br />
I met <a href="http://www.redtree-studio.com/2014/around-world-blog-hop/">Kim</a> last year, during a wonderful retreat in United Kingdom. We spent some great time together and hopefully we will meet again, this time in USA - during <a href="http://www.metalclaymojo.com/">Metal Clay Mojo Conference</a>. <a href="http://www.redtree-studio.com/2014/around-world-blog-hop/">Kim</a> will have there a talk on social network marketing and I'll be teaching.<br />
Here you can see an example of work by <a href="http://www.redtree-studio.com/2014/around-world-blog-hop/">Kim</a>. Jewellery she makes is nature-influenced with subtle textures and simple, elegant designs.<br />
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Ok, so lets answer some questions :-)<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/31_12_2014hop/hop02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/31_12_2014hop/hop02.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a><u><b>1. What am I working on?</b></u><br />
At this particular moment I have a very special piece in my kiln. It's special, because I started it... almost two years ago :-)))))))))))). It's not an insanely elaborate work of art or something ;-), it's just that I started it before leaving for North Yorkshire, to teach my first workshop abroad ever (it was May 2013), and I lost my way with it. For some reason I decided to make a sea themed piece, and I don't even like water that much. Unless it's a hot shower ;-). But I already made a base, I chose stones, added a few elements, and I felt I went too far to simply scrap the whole thing. Do you know <a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sunk-cost-trap.asp">sunk cost trap</a>? It was exactly the case ;-).<br />
I kept this piece on my desk that whole time, just in case I felt sudden urge to work on it ;-). Finally a few days ago, I decided, that I REALLY want to finish it before the end of this year. So, I'll see. Maybe it will be ready, before I finish writing this post. If so - I'll add some final photos :-).<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/foto-prod/432.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/foto-prod/432.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a><b><u><br /><br />2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?</u></b><br />
This is a really difficult question, because there are many people out there whose work convey similar qualities as mine does. <br />
A lot of jewellery makers love heavily detailed pieces. A lot of them create sculptural jewellery. Thousands of people feel inspired by mythologies, folklore and Nature. But I think that maybe this is not the most important thing - the point is to put all these things together and create with what you do, some kind of a narrative coherence. <br />
What I mean is that I hope that the story I tell through my jewellery is unique and differs me from others. It's mine and it feels true, so I am really comfortable with it.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/foto-prod/453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/foto-prod/453.jpg" height="320" width="237" /></a><b><u><br /><br /><br />3. Why do I create what I do?</u></b><br />
This one is easy. I am definitely a hedonist, so I rather do things that I like than those that I don't ;-). It is as simple as that. I probably should say something like "through my jewellery I am on a quest to change the world" or "it's this weird inner calling, that forces me to create", or PlaceHereAnythingCoolEnough, but the thing is that for me it's simply about doing what I feel like doing. <br />
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Changing the world is just a side effect ;-D.<br />
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First of all sometimes I feel like it is happening ALL THE TIME - it's even a little bit tiring. It feels as if I had thousands of moving gears inside my head. <br />
I just keep sketching, writing, memorizing ideas, collecting them for later, because I am doing something else at a moment. The most difficult thing is to choose what to do next, especially that for me the most satysfying part of the process is just producing an idea. I could stop there. The ideas are so perfect, and in hard matter always something is not exactly as I wanted it to be. <br />
Many times I start actually making something and my mind already is elsewhere, focused on another idea, which at the moment feels more attractive. I really have to work hard to keep my mind in one place. Another difficulty is to recall that feeling of excitement that was connected to each idea. I have to feel excitement to work. So- when I produce an idea, later choose to work with it and recall that feeling of excitement, I make a proper sketch which I use as a reference. <br />
Then there is some hard work ;-), and I usually end up hating what I made. But I know myself already a little bit, so I leave the piece hidden somewhere at least for a day. When I look at it again later, it looks better than the day before ;-D. I am sure, that these are faeries or something ;-). <br />
Being more serious - it's just about getting some distance from what I made. Sometimes I decide that it's finished and sometimes I alter or correct something. When a piece is done, I feel something like a relieve - it's a very nice feeling. Addictive.<br />
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<b><br /><u>Who is next in the blog hop?</u></b><br />
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The next person in Around the World Blog Hop will be <a href="http://metal-clay.com/">Lynne Glazzard</a>. I love her work for its contemporary vibe and elegance. I especially adore her enamelled pieces. <br />
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I also have a very special place in my heart for <a href="http://metal-clay.com/">Lynne</a> ;-). She was the very first person who invited me to teach in her studio. Since then I taught in many lovely places, met wonderful people and did a lot of super exciting sightseeing.<br />
Make sure you'll check <a href="http://metal-clay.com/">Lynne's</a> work! :-).<br />
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Aaaaaand.... Here it is finished :-). Before the end of this year! I called it "Reef Princess". Now, I am off to have some New Year fun :-).<br />
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Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-85477136625420286922014-12-06T13:49:00.000-08:002014-12-06T13:49:40.300-08:00Simple pendant with a special touch, AKA, why metal clay is so freakin' awesome ;-)<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/05_12_2014ludowo/ludowofb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/05_12_2014ludowo/ludowofb.jpg" height="253" width="320" /></a>Of course there is a million reasons why metal clay is so wonderful (and another million why it's not - just like with any other medium :-) ), but what I mean in this case is, that the smallest addition of metal clay can turn boring and very generic piece into something visually exciting. Less than 1 gram of hand sculpted metal clay can raise value of a piece twice, trice or even more.<br />
So, is metal clay such an "expensive" technique (yes, I also hear this all the time)? I guess it simply depends on what you do with it. Of course you can make an "organic" (my favourite word :-P) silver ball, out of 50 grams of clay... It's just about using the medium for what it is the best.<br />
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And - by the way - is really "expensive" that important when we are talking about one-of-a-kind, where price of the final piece doesn't really have a lot to do with the price of metal (I am talking about silver or base metals)? Some people say that using a kiln is so pricey - I wonder if they ever made any calculations. I did and what can I say - this just doesn't bother my mind anymore.<br />
Anyway - I guess that what I really wanted to say is, that we, metal clay people, are not a bunch of naive idiots who just can't learn anything else, so we stick to that ridiculously expensive plasticine ;-). It's usually a deliberate choice, which many times leads to very successful businesses.<br />
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Well, actually, a few minutes ago, when I started writing this post I had something totally different in mind, but...things happen ;-).<br />
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Ok, so just to show a few pictures :-). First I made this tiny element with flowers using silver metal clay and fired it with a few other pieces (because, guess what, metal clay kilns can fire a lot of pieces at once ;-), so the firing becomes even less expensive). Meanwhile I prepared a bezel for the stone and soldered it onto a piece of sterling sheet. I cut out some sheet from the inside of the bezel cup (to save on silver, show beautiful back of the stone, and because I wanted to use that piece of silver later).<br />
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I sweat soldered my sculpted piece onto that piece of silver that I cut out from the center of my bezel cup. I soldered a jump ring to the bezel cup, and joined two parts of my pendant.<br />
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Wait, soldering, sterling sheet, what? I remember, when I was discussing terms of teaching my <a href="http://drakonaria.com/?p=workshops">Herbarium class</a> in one of the countries I taught in this year, someone said "Why do you want to solder those bezels? The whole point of metal clay is not to solder.". Well, I don't agree with that. <b>The point is to create jewellery using techniques that are the best for what I want to achieve.</b><br />
This sounds almost smart and serious ;-).<br />
That's why I think that the second most important thing is to keep your mind open and learn new things - whoever you are. The first one is to have fun with what you're doing :-).<br />
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Ok, and here you can see the back of the piece before setting the stone, and how both parts are connected. I just cut a strip of silver sheet and formed a bail that also caught the jump ring soldered to the bezel cup. I soldered the bail to the back of the upper part of my pendant, and that was it. Then just oxidizing, some finishing and setting the stone.<br />
From technical point of view this is a super simple piece (and the traditional part took me a half of the day, because I still totally suck at it :-D - practice, practice, practice), but I really learned a lot by making it.<br />
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As for other things ;-)- I set up a Pinterest account recently. I am still not sure what's the point of the whole site, but, if you're into Pinterest, <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/annmazon/unique-jewellery-by-anna-mazon-drakonaria/">here you can find a board with some of my jewellery</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.drakonaria.com/">www.drakonaria.com</a>Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-85440695960447063872014-11-30T04:27:00.000-08:002014-11-30T07:48:08.068-08:00I see you ;-) "Startled"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014sploszenie/eye00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014sploszenie/eye00.jpg" height="252" width="320" /></a></div>
Recently I've been trying to downsize my stash of cabochones, at least a little bit. I solemnly pledged not to buy any new stones, but use what I already have (a TON :-D ). Since then I go over all my stones daily, and each time I find something that is particularly inspiring at the moment. <br />
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The thing is, that over the years my work became more sculptural, and usually the focus is on metal, not on the stones. I discovered that it was not so easy for me anymore to design something that features a stone, which is relatively big. I think, automatically, about huge forms, because I feel that there have to be a lot of additional stuff around the stone - I feel that the stone is just not enough. <br />
Yeah. I know - when I said this to myself for the first time I realised right away how stupid this is. So, I decided to push myself a little bit out of my comfort zone, and from time to time focus on the stone and let it lead me wherever it wants. This part is particularly hard for me - I am such a control freak... Anyway - this is one of these projects.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014sploszenie/eye01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014sploszenie/eye01.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a><br />
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When this cabochon of agate caught my attention I immediately felt very strongly about its pattern and its "energy" (no, I don't mean Capricorn-New Moon-red candle&black cat type of energy ;-) ). I mean that it was timid - those muted hues of purple - so not into your face - but very dynamic at the same time, like something that stares at you from behind the bushes and suddenly realizes that you see it too. Then there is a sudden outburst of movement, UP! UP! To the sky, where you can't reach it.<br />
ekhm...<br />
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You can see in the picture above, that I scultpted and carved the upper part of the pendant is silver metal clay. The hardest part was leaving this smooth, raised area - I hate empty spaces ;-). But it just had to be there.<br />
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After firing I formed bezels for the stones - big one for the agate and tiny one for a small amethyst.<br />
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Then I soldered the smaller bezel...<br />
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... and cut out of a silver sheet a shape that became a backing plate for the main stone, and the bail at the same time. I soldered the bigger bezel onto this piece of sheet, then formed c-shaped bails and soldered the whole piece onto the back of sculptural part of my pendant.<br />
It's so dark, because I took this photo after oxidizing and before finishing.<br />
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And here is how the front looked like after all the soldering, oxidizing, but before finishing and stone setting.<br />
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I called this piece "Spłoszenie" in Polish... I am not sure if this is the best translation possible, but I guess that "Startled" would be the closest thing.<br />
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Finished piece looks like this. Of course I am not fully happy with it, I wish some angles (especially the "wing") were a little bit different, but I was really happy with the process itself. It was different than usually. No sketches, more like "listening" and waiting what comes next. I really enjoyed that.<br />
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Ok, and just to share some exciting recent news ;-)<br />
- <a href="http://riograndeblog.com/2014/11/saul-bell-design-award-winners-christi-anderson-anna-mazon-stories-behind-artists/">An interview</a> with me and Christi Anderson, as the winners of "Saul Bell Design Award" 2014, metal clay category, was published on <a href="http://riograndeblog.com/">"The Studio"</a> (Rio Grande's blog).<br />
<a href="http://riograndeblog.com/2014/11/saul-bell-design-award-winners-christi-anderson-anna-mazon-stories-behind-artists/">Here you can find the whole interview.</a><br />
- <a href="http://meettheslavs.com/polish-artist-anna-mazon-slavic-tales/">An article</a> about my <a href="http://drakonaria.com/index.php?p=search&dict=87">newly started collection, "Slavic Tales",</a> was published on <a href="http://meettheslavs.com/">"Meet the Slavs"</a> - website devoted to Slavic culture, history and mythology. You can find it here.<br />
Wohoooo and that's it for today ;-).<br />
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<br />Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-11486221846575596892014-11-12T10:21:00.000-08:002014-11-13T06:03:45.739-08:00New website! Finally! :-)<br />
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I'm so glad I can finally say this: I have a new website! :-)</div>
You can find it in the same place: <br />
<a href="http://drakonaria.com/"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>drakonaria.com</b></span></a><br />
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My previous website was hacked and almost completely destroyed - I couldn't update it in any way, and it took me quite a lot of time to find <a href="http://pixel-riot.pl/">the right person</a> to build a new one. That's why the old one was still there - looking like a haunted house ;-). The mobile version is still being enhanced, but I am so happy, that finally I can keep my place online up-to-date.<br />
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Of course, one of the most important things for me, was the look of my new website :-). I knew exactly what I wanted - a tree motif, a lot of green and fantasy-like feeling, but without too many embellishments. I was so happy when I found this illustration, painted by <a href="http://mariagulland.deviantart.com/">Maria Gulland</a>. She was so kind, that she gave me a permission to use it as a background of my website. Make sure you check <a href="http://mariagulland.deviantart.com/gallery/">her lovely deviantART gallery </a>:-).<br />
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I added to the gallery section a ton of jewellery, that I made while my old website was not functioning properly. The majority is sold, but I just wanted to have in one place all those pieces that I considered worth showing. I also tagged all my creations in a lot of different ways - I love it how you can browse through the gallery using colours, gemstones, collections etc.<br />
I also love this clear and simple <a href="http://abodesign.pl/">menu and general layout</a>.<br />
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There is also a section devoted to my workshops (that I want to extend a little bit over time), and another one with my tutorials... And a lot more. <br />
I guess there is no point in describing everything ;-) - just please, <a href="http://drakonaria.com/">visit it, if you are interested</a> :-). Ah, and of course it has both English and Polish version.<br />
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I know that the majority of my clients stopped checking this site, because it was basically dead, so now I have to let everyone who might be interested in my work know that <b><a href="http://www.drakonaria.com/">www.drakonaria.com</a></b> is working again :-).Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-71641249822214585082014-11-06T04:39:00.000-08:002014-11-07T04:47:30.342-08:00Flash drive enclosure kit - (mini) test :-)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I should have written this post a long time ago (I think I have this kit for a year or so ;-) - I got it from <a href="http://metalclays.com/">metalclays.com</a> ). I just really wanted to try it with different metal clays, different types of ornamentation and time flew by... So let me share with you a few of my thoughts and in-process pictures, of using this flash drive enclosure kit. In this photo you can see all three flash drive pendants I made so far. Each one made of different metal clay - Art Clay Silver, Goldie Bronze and Noble Clay (Classic Colour).<br />
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Here you can see what you actually get. Two blue parts for making walls of your flash drive enclosure, pink mould for making plugs which help to keep both parts of the pendant from shrinking too much, white investment powder to make the plugs, a magnet (for a closure) and a USB flash drive.<br />
On their website you can also find quite easy to follow, very detailed instruction, and even a few videos.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen02.jpg" height="207" /></a>The first part of the whole process is making the walls. You just have to roll out the clay into that big, blue mould. At this point, while the clay is still in there, you can add some textures - they will be visible on walls of your enclosure. Cool, but I'm really not into textures and I already knew that I wanted to make a sculptural piece, so I just left my walls smooth. <br />
At this point it is very important to follow the instructions about when to remove the walls from the mould, because it really makes a difference (walls fit better to each other). This is also the moment when you realise how much clay this project requires and you start regreting that you decided to make the very first test piece in silver ;-).<br />
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After cleaning edges of the walls (honestly this was tricky - I filed them a little bit too much and changed the angle of the edge, which originally was 45<span class="st">°</span>...) you put them together, simply with a bit of paste. This blue cradle makes things much easier. First of all it helps with keeping 90<span class="st">°</span> angle between the walls. You can also notice in the photo that inner surface of each wall has a lot of little holes (they are here to save some clay) and letters, which indicate what goes where - A to A, B to B etc. etc. It takes quite a lot of time to put the whole box together, because ideally after adding each wall you have to wait till the new joint dries.<br />
If you applied some textures on the outer surface of the walls, watch out not to stain them with paste - I had quite a lot of paste on the other side of the seam.<br />
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On the side of the cradle, through a little "window", you can check if your walls really fit well together. I have to say I liked this detail.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen05.jpg" height="207" /></a><br />
Here you can see how my first assembled box looked like. It definitely wasn't perfect - the edges weren't super crisp - I had to file them a little bit. I also had to patch a few places with paste from the outside. If I applied a texture on the walls in the first step, this wouldn't be so easy. I would probably destroy the pattern a little bit with all that filing and adding paste.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen06.jpg" height="207" /></a><br />
Then I took out my magic wand, and I made my little elves work... HARD ;-). And here is what they made - my flash drive enclosure was almost ready for firing.<br />
Being more serious - at this point you can embellish your box any way you want. My pendant was inspired by a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A1n">Norse sea goddess - Rán</a>. I just formed and carved each detail using two of my favourite tools - a scalpel blade and a round, pointy file.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen07.jpg" height="207" /></a><br />
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There is one more thing you have to make before firing - the plugs. Just mix a little bit of that white powder with water and pour it into these pink moulds. Now I know that it's a good idea to do this BEFORE you even start working on your pendant. These plugs dry quite slowely and they have to be really dry before you put them inside both parts of the box.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen08.jpg" height="207" /></a><br />
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And here is my flash drive enclosure ready for firing with both plugs inside. You can see a part of the plug in the smaller piece. The second one is almost fully inside. Then I just followed my usual firing schedule for Art Clay Silver (full ramp to 800<span class="st">° C, hold for 2 h).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen09.jpg" height="207" /></a>After firing and some finishing the pendant looked like this. I was <b>really happy</b> with the final result BUT the thing is, that I had to do A LOT of post firing filing. The plugs didn't really prevent the clay from shrinking too much - the USB flash drive didn't fit in there at all. My theory is that the kit is rather meant for texture-type embellishment, and I added a lot of additional clay on my box. It's probably exactly as it is with rings - heavily embellished, sturdy rings seem to shrink a little bit more than thin, delicate ones. I'm also always aiming for the highest shrinkage possible with my firing schedule - I fire long and hot. It's just a habit connected to the fact, that a lot of my pieces are delicate and openwork, and I need the material to be strong. So - the kit worked ok, but some additional work was necesarry.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen10.jpg" height="207" /></a> </span><br />
<span class="st">Later I decided to test the kit on a different clay. I got a few types of Noble Clay to try, and after one test firing (now I know I should have made more tests...) I decided to make something more serious than just a test strip. Following the instruction once again I made this flash drive enclosure. I have to say, that this time, with some experience from the first trial, it was faster, easier and the result was more precise.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen10a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen10a.jpg" height="207" /></a>Imagine my disappointment when after firing I saw this... Actually at first I saw the top of my enclosure which was fine, but when I turned it over I saw all these blisters (back was originally flat and smooth). There was also a lot of distiortion. It was very interesting, that the top was ok, but the back was basically melted.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen11.jpg" height="207" /></a><br />Again - I did a lot of filing, tried to make it straight again (which was super hard), and I left the back the way it was - I just polished it (funny thing is that the person who owns this pendant, actually said that this back looks very interesting ;-) - everything is a matter of taste ). Well - honestly I was quite annoyed, and I haven't used Noble Clay anymore from that moment :-))))))). One day I will - I still have a few packages, but I have to be in a right mood for further experimentation.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen12.jpg" height="207" /></a><br /><br />For my last experiment with that kit I used Goldie Bronze. The construction of the box was easy peasy this time - I already knew very well how to use this kit. <br />I added some intricate, sculptural ornamentation, and fired it the way I usually do (350</span><span class="st">° C on top of carbon for 1 h, and 825</span><span class="st">° C for 1 h with more carbon and closed lid).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/07_11_2014flash/pen13.jpg" height="207" /></a> <br /><br />This time everything went ok, and the flash drive fitted inside - I guess it's because Goldie has such a low shrinkage rate. So here it is ready. It was inspired by a visit in <a href="http://www.josephinewall.co.uk/">Josephine Wall gallery</a> in Poole, last year.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">Ok, so here are my general thoughts:</span><br /><br />- </b>Flash drive enclosure kit is definitely a smart tool.</span><br />
<span class="st"><b>- </b>Follow instructions really carefully, otherwise it won't work precisely.</span><br />
<span class="st"><b>-</b> If you fire to the highest shrinkage and /or add a lot of additional clay on top of the boxes, be prepared for a lot of post firing work. The flash drive probably won't fit inside (I guess in my case I should try with Art Clay Silver that version of the kit, that is meant for PMC, which has higher shrinkage rate).<br /><b>-</b> The price is high, so I guess I would rather recommend this kit for people who really plan to use it a lot. I saw some wonderful flash drive enclosure pendants, that were adorned mostly with texture sheets and didn't have any issues with too much shrinkage (Inge Verbruggen uses this kit very successfully).</span><br />
<span class="st"><b>-</b> Yes, it makes things easier and faster, but of course you can construct this kind of a box without help of any kit. It's just about saving time, and not everyone is great with construction.<br /><b>-</b> Will I use it again? Probably yes. But only with Goldie. I spent too much time filing silver one, and next time I'll just construct the boxes my own way, and make my own calculations, to be sure that after firing everything will fit ok.</span>Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-38769417112473738842014-10-31T04:05:00.000-07:002014-11-05T05:45:49.990-08:00Winter Holidays themed challenge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014WinterHoliday/mistle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014WinterHoliday/mistle.jpg" height="297" width="400" /></a></div>
Long time without any posts... I'll try to be a better "writer" this year (well, not so much of this year left ;-) ). <br />
You probably noticed that during last month a lot of metal clay folks posted pictures of Christmas related pieces. Quite a lot of people across Europe got some free fine silver clay (I don't know about other countries, but in Poland it was 20 g) to make Winter Holidays related piece, post pictures of it, write about it, and of course, this way, make some good publicity in social medias for Art Clay ;-). I felt for a moment like a fashion blogger who got some free clothes (which I wouldn't mind at all );-D BUT - free silver is free silver - you can't say "no" to a material that is simply good :-).
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014WinterHoliday/01mistle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014WinterHoliday/01mistle.jpg" height="175" width="320" /></a>Being me, I wanted to make something related to Winter Holiday, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice">Winter Solstice</a> rather that actually Christmas. But at the same time I wanted to create something that would be easily associated with this time of a year by everyone. Recently I'm really into carving faces of all kinds, so I immediately thought about (a little bit speculative, but beautiful) archetype of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holly_King_%28archetype%29">Holly King</a> and his neverending "battle" with the Oak King - winter versus summer. I also chose a stone - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seraphinite">seraphinite</a> - it has this particular shade of cold green and distinctive feather-like pattern that to me looks like a frost on evergreen plants. Having all that in mind I started sketching. Yup - my sketches are almost always that awful ;-D.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014WinterHoliday/02mistle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014WinterHoliday/02mistle.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a><br />
As you can see at the end I switched for a different seraphinite cabochon, and was still thinking red&green - the most "christmassy" set of colours - but as soon as I carved the face, I noticed that the red is not right shade of red and actually he (the creature) already got his own personality :-). I decided that I would simply see where he takes me with his story. It is so true what Carol Douglas says about all the creatures having their own stories. They simply do. Period.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014WinterHoliday/03mistle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014WinterHoliday/03mistle.jpg" height="318" width="320" /></a><br />
So I started forming some horns (so once again I reached for a Keeper of the Forest atributes), some flowy ornaments.. Honestly, when I look at the photos right now I wish I stopped here :-)))))))). I just love the shapes around his face... But I kept going - one day I'll learn how to edit myself.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014WinterHoliday/05mistle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014WinterHoliday/05mistle.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a>When I was ready he looked like this. He already changed into something different. I switched carnelians and red zirconias for white pearls and white cz - I liked that freezing pallete of colours much more. I also decided that all kinds of evergreen plants would be too much - I just felt drawn to a particular one - mistletoe. So the Holly King turned into a Mistletoe Spirit. This suited him much better, and was definitely related to Winter Holidays with all that symbolism surrounding mistletoe.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014WinterHoliday/06mistle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014WinterHoliday/06mistle.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a>When he was ready for firing I realised that I definitely hadn't used all 20 grams of clay, so I decided to make a quick, and rather simple winter-related piece with snowflakes, just to use the rest. And then it turned out that 20 grams is really a huge amount of clay :-))))), because I had to make a third piece - well, this time not related to anything ;-). Usually I don't really control how much clay I use, and I was quite surprised by how clay efficient these pieces were. I weighed them before firing, just out of curiosity. The Mistletoe Spirit weighed 12.4 grams, the one with snowflakes - 4.2 grams, and the one with flowers 2.7 grams.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014WinterHoliday/07mistle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014WinterHoliday/07mistle.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a>After firing I did some more traditional work on all three pieces. Whenever I see in my design spots that need extra strenght constructionwise (well, I'm not sure if this word does extist, but I just assumed that if you can say "timewise", than you can say all sorts of Xwise things ;-) And it sounds smart ;-D ), I use regular sterling, soldering etc. The same with very simple elements. In case of this seraphinite cabochon, I just wanted to set it in a very simple setting, and I wanted the sculptural part to move freely under the stone, so there was no point in using metal clay for that. I just made it out of silver sheet. So here you can see the piece after some soldering and before pickling.<br />
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<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014WinterHoliday/08mistle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/30_11_2014WinterHoliday/08mistle.jpg" height="235" width="320" /></a>
And here they are - after all the soldering, pickling, and I already set the stones in smaller ones. Plus some heavy LOS patina of course :-).<br />
Please, don't judge me too hard on my traditional work - I'm just learning :-).<br />
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And here are the final pieces:<br />
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Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-28446625941063048942014-01-23T14:21:00.002-08:002014-01-23T14:21:53.161-08:00Classes in Vienna :-)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last year I taught quite a lot in a few places abroad and it was a
WONDERFUL, new experience :-). I met so many great people and talented
students from all across Europe. <br />
It was really great
opportunity for me, to practice my teaching skills, see beautiful places
and make new friends at the same time. <br />
This year I already made
some exciting teaching plans and I'm still working on details of a few
more trips :-). In this post I want to tell you about the very first
workshop abroad I'll be teaching this year...<br />
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I have some good news for those who live in <b>Austria</b> and want to attend my classes (or those from other countries who want to visit the wonderful city of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna"><b>Vienna</b></a> :-) ).<br />
<span class="userContent">In <b>March 2014</b> I'll be teaching <b>"Twig rings"</b> and <b>"Herbarium pendant"</b> classes there - each class twice.<br /> „Twig Ring“ is a one day class that will take place on Monday, March 3rd and Friday, March 7th.<br /> „Herbarium Pendant“ takes place on two days<span class="text_exposed_show">: Tuesday and Wednesday, March 4/5th and Sat.and Sunday, March 8/9th. There are still a few places available.<br /> More information (In German) can be found here: <a href="http://www.vienna-expressions-studio.at/12.html" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.vienna-expressions-studio.at/12.html</a><br />
English speakers, feel free to contact Sulie Girardi (the hostess of
the class - amazing person - we met during my classes in Netherlands :-) ) through FB or email (vienna-expressions-studio@gmx.at) for
details.<br /><br /><br /><b><br /></b>Just to tickle your fancy ;-) - I visited Vienna a few years ago, and this is my favourite place there, and my favourite dish :-). It's a really magical city.<br /></span></span><span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show">
<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/vienna02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: center; float: center; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/vienna02.jpg" width="500" /></a></span></span>Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-56618407959222959582013-05-09T07:08:00.000-07:002014-10-30T08:59:07.579-07:00New experiences coming ;)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Long time since I last wrote here - it's not because I forgot about my blog ;) - I'm simply super busy. And productive. I had to add this, because being busy doesn't always mean that something constructive is happening.<br />
This post will be very short, because in a few hours I have to catch a plane to United Kingdom, Leeds. A few months ago I wrote here about <a href="http://drakonaria.blogspot.com/2012/09/herbarium-openwork-pendant-workshop.html">a class I would teach at Lynne Glazzard's studio</a>. Well, it's happening :) and the class will take place this weekend. This is very exciting and a bit stressful for me (aaaa!! the first class ever I'll conduct in English. Luckily I can also draw or use sign language ;) ), but I really can't wait to meet all these wonderful metal clay artists that will attend the class. I'll finally meet those people whose works I admired for such a long time online.<br />
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I had been preparing for this class to the last moment, and this morning I finished a few new class samples (all but one from the photo above sold, so I needed to prepare something new to show). Here they are. The photo isn't good, because my more "professional" camera is already packed in my luggage, but still, I'm quite happy with them :). I hope we all will have great time together, and some beautiful pieces will be created :). When I'm back, I promise, I'll write a long post :)))), this time about quite cool thing I tested recently - flash drive enclosure kit. Really neat tool, that helps to build nice pen drive enclosures, using metal clay.<br />
So, wish me luck and "see" you soon :).<br />
<br />Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-26784046870982022922013-02-27T17:00:00.000-08:002013-05-30T07:23:16.582-07:00Missed deadline and jewellery recycling ;)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/cobalt/cobalt0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://drakonaria.com/blogspot/cobalt/cobalt0.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
What good can come from missed deadline and jewellery recycling? Well... This pendant was a result of these two things :). Once upon a time, there was this <a href="http://riograndeblog.com/2013/02/tales-of-the-heart-competition-winners-announced/">"Tales of the heart"</a> PMC contest (again huge congratulations to the wonderful winners! :) ). I'm always very eager to take part in all contests I hear about. Of course I immediately have SO brillant ideas ;), and of course I usually don't meet contests' deadlines... (I guess that a good shrink would make me think about subconscious self-doubting and self-sabotaging ;) or maybe just about laziness and lack of organization ;D ). In this case I had an idea of Art Nouveau stylized pendant with a discreet heart motif intervined with some subtle, organic lines. Long story short - I had a lot of work with Valentine's Day custom orders, started making this pendant a day before the deadline, and (not a surprise), didn't finish it on time.<br />
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Feeling free from the deadline and this heart theme, I changed a bit the original design and finished the pendant a few weeks later. But if you look closely, you can still notice one small heart there :).<br />
Below you can find a few photos I took while making this piece. Ah, and of course this "recycling" thing explained ;).<br />
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Everything began with a stone - lovely, slender lapis lazuli cabochon. I just drew a general sketch around it. I used it later as an actual reference, so I made sure it was accurately sized and symmetrical.<br />
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And here is the piece ready for firing. I stuck some ceramic fiber in a few places, to support the pendant and prevent distortion in firing. This time I used PMC3. I really like it.<br />
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After firing I soldered a stone setting and two small jump rings (Actually I had to do this two times... During first soldering I overheated my bezel wire and it became totally brittle, so I had to "undo" all the soldering, clean the piece, prepare new bezel and solder it again - this time more carefully...).<br />
I also gilded all tiny balls and flower centers using Art Clay 22K gold paste. I decided that yellow gold would look nice combined with the colour of my lapis lazuli cabochon and gold pyrite flecks on its surface. In this photo the piece is oxidized, but still mat and dirty, waiting for finishing touches.<br />
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And what about all that recycling?;)<br />
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For almost a week I couldn't decide what to do with these four flat, empty spaces. Originally I thought - more gold! But then I decided that something lapis lazuli coloured would be better. It was too late for glass enamel (the cab was already set and all soldering done), so I tried UV resin. I had primary colours dyes so I thought I would be able to create lapis lazuli shade, but it turned out to be more difficult than I expected.<br />
Then I recalled a pair of earrings with lapis lazuli intarsia I bought many years ago at a mineral fair. I lost one of these earrings, and what can you do with just one earring? I pulled it to pieces, took all the stones out and made my own lapis lazuli inlay. Lapis lazuli is quite a soft stone (5-5.5 in Mohs scale), so I was able to slowely shape it with my rotary tool and some files. This way I got four thin, tiny pieces of lapis lazuli that fitted well into those four empty spaces :). I secured them in place with special resin.<br />
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And that's the whole story ;).<br />
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<br />Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-90914636291877538602013-02-14T07:42:00.000-08:002013-02-15T09:37:41.620-08:00Riveting - after workshops in Warsaw :)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://drakonaria.blogspot.com/2013/01/something-nice-something-interesting.html">The workshops</a> in <a href="http://wytwornia.antidotum.pl/">Wytwórnia Antidotum</a> jewellery making school were really great :). Quite surprisingly, the most interesting thing I learned there was riveting. Well, I generally knew how does it work, but I've never tried it before and it's always about details, not "general knowledge" ;). Here is what I did - pure work of art, isn't it? ;)))))))))). Thanks to this utterly ugly piece I practiced two types of rivets - "normal" ones and stilt rivets. <br />
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I also saw a lot of scary, huge machines ;). I mean professional jewellery making equipment :). I was really startled by the fact that these things are usually so specialized... I saw special tool for cutting pieces of tubing (!!!), special tool for making dome shaped pieces of metal sheet, special tool for cutting circles (seriously? :))))... If I wanted to have fully equipped, traditional workshop I would need another apartment to put all these things there. Yes. I know. It usually works exactly this way. I'm simply quite an anti-tool person. I usually have as few things as possible. Generally my hands are my best tool. I guess it only shows how unprofessional I am ;).<br />
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But of course I'm really happy I was there, learned a lot of new things and met great people (huge thanks to the teacher of our group - <a href="http://www.nieformalna.pl/grodzicki_03.htm">Remigiusz Grodzicki</a>). It was a wonderful experience and I wanted to try my newly acquired skills as soon as I came back to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak%C3%B3w">Cracow</a>. And here is what came out of it. It's a ring with hidden rivets.<br />
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This enamelled "bowl" part with sculpted flowers is made of silver clay, and band plus stone setting is made of regular silver sheet.<br />
Below you can see how I made it.<br />
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First of all I made this element out of <b>Art Clay Silver</b>. This was also the first time I worked with <a href="http://www.sklep.planetart.pl/en/art-clay-new-formula"><b>"the new formula"</b></a> which recently hit the market. I got a package from my wonderful supplier - <a href="http://www.sklep.planetart.pl/en">Planetart</a>. Honestly I'm a bit dissapointed. Yes - this new formula is softer, has great workability, longer working time, is a bit more like polymer clay or a bubble gum ;) etc. etc., but for me Art Clay Silver became second PMC. And I don't like this. I really liked to be able to choose. Art Clay was better for filing, but worse for carving and PMC quite the opposite. Now there are two brands of silver clay that are great for carving, but non of them is good for filing. The silver lining is that I recently really like to work with PMC3 (which isn't available in Poland) and now I won't have to buy it abroad. Art Clay will do just fine. But enough about the clay.<br />
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As you can see, the piece in the photo is already fired. I made two holes for future rivets before firing and used wet packing technique to put white enamel on its surface.<br />
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And here is the piece after firing enamel and oxidizing. I also tried another new thing here. I found on <a href="http://blog.vickiehallmark.com/">Vickie Hallmark's</a> blog an information that it is possible to use a pencil to create sketches on enamelled surface. It really works and I love it! It was the first time I tried it, so it isn't exactly what I intended, but I will definitely practice this technique.<br />
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Then I made an irregular band out of silver sheet and drilled two matching holes in it. Why two and not just one? I wasn't so sure about my riveting skills, and I was afraid my ring would spin. So I decided to make two rivets instead of one, to constrain potential movement.<br />
Then, also using silver sheet, I made a bezel cup with corresponding holes in its base...<br />
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...and riveted the hole thing :). Fortunately it turned out nothing was moving and my rivets were very tight.<br />
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Finally I set a stone (it's a citrine - with faceted front and flat back), made some finishing and the ring was ready :).<br />
I'm totally in love with white enamel. There is something so pure and magical about it. It is simply inviting to "spoil" it ;). With a sketch, with a drop of colour... Just like a blank piece o paper :).<br />
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Ok, enough for today. Ah, and one more thing. If you want to read some more of my blabbing ;) check<a href="http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Hello-from-Metal-Clay-Academy.html?soid=1102135370063&aid=pLy-I4uUz18"> the latest newsletter of Metal Clay Academy</a>. I was honoured to be chosen as a Featured Artist there. I'm really happy about this :).Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895342903773202134.post-60786855439167426672013-01-25T04:35:00.001-08:002013-01-25T08:51:58.972-08:00Something nice, something interesting, something weird ;)First of all <a href="http://drakonaria.blogspot.com/2013/01/jewellery-makers-for-great-orchestra-of.html">our jewellery auctions</a> for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Orchestra_of_Christmas_Charity">The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity</a> were very successful :). We collected almost 19 000 PLN (which is over 6000 USD). And The Orchestra, during The Grand Finale, collected in the whole country almost 40 millions PLN (which is about 13 millions USD :) ). It was great to be a part of this. So this is "something nice" :).<br />
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The "something interesting" is my article in the latest issue of <a href="http://www.metalclayartistmag.com/">Metal Clay Artist Magazine</a> (well, I hope it is interesting ;) ). Some time ago I made this dragon pendant with a moonstone as a custom order and took a lot of photos of the whole making process. I decided it would be nice to write something about this. Originally I showed it only to the girls from <a href="http://etsymetalclay.blogspot.com/">Etsy Metal Clay Team</a>, but Joy Funnell told me it would be a good material for an article. Thanks Joy! :) So here it is :). If you haven't read this <a href="http://www.metalclayartistmag.com/Default.asp">MCAM</a> issue yet, check it out. There is a lot of interesting things in there. My personal favourites are Michael Sturlin's article on time management, Wanaree Tanner's "how to" on sterling silver clay ring and an interview with Evelyn Pelati Dombkowski.<br />
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And as for "something weird" - this is a longer story ;). A few weeks ago I was invited to a free metalsmithing jewellery workshops organized by <a href="http://wytwornia.antidotum.pl/english/">Wytwórnia Antidotum</a> (jewellery making school based in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw">Warsaw</a>). I chose a class on casting and it will take place this weekend (can't wait!), but the fun began sooner ;). The official invitation I got by mail was everything but ordinary.<br />
As you can see in the photo, it was a lovely wooden box, with a few weird things inside: a piece of aluminium mesh, a circle made of plexiglass, a cinnamon stick, playing card and a glass cabochon. There was also an instruction saying that I should choose at least two of these things, add anything I want and make this way a wearable piece of jewellery :). Just for fun!<br />
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I immediately had a few ideas, but finally I drew this and decided to use the cinnamon stick and aluminium mesh. The cinnamon stick because I liked it the most from the very beginning and the mesh, because it was so ugly I just felt I needed to do something to make it easier on eyes ;D. This project was totally not "me", but I just wanted to have some fun, so why not? :)<br />
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I chose to work with Goldie Bronze ™, simply because it's relatively cheap (so I wouldn't feel remorse that I'm wasting materials just to play) and I needed something warm-coloured for that project.<br />
I constructed a few cuboids, that I planned to put together in three segments that would form three parts of the pendant. I wanted them to be rather rough and slightly irregular.<br />
Later I removed excessive clay with a file, added some texture and granulation. I also chipped them a bit...<br />
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After firing and some finishing they looked like this. I decided I would try something new for finishing touches and finally test <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0QZtHIB8nQ">Vintaj Patinas</a> I bought some time ago. I used three colours - moss, cinnabar and rust. I used them for the first time, so I didn't do it really "professionally", but I guess I can say something about this product. Generally I like these patinas, but to be honest I wouldn't call them patinas. These are just cool semi-opaque paints for metal, that stick really well to its surface, are water resistant and generally durable. They look really nice and I already can see that it is possible to create very interesting effects with them, but this never will be a real patina look. They don't react with metal, they just cover it, so the look always will be different. But I still like them very much! I just wouldn't call them Vintaj Patinas, but Vintaj Metal Paints :).<br />
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Then I began assembling the whole thing. I cut the cinnamon stick into two pieces (I used a piercing saw for this) and put them in the right places (yes, I used epoxy glue for this, and yes, I'm very ashamed of this ;) ).<br />
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I needed two more cuboids I planned to make of aluminium mesh, but finally I decided I would also use the playing card from the wooden box. As you can see I just folded it and scotch taped it from the inside. Later I made the same shape from the alumium mesh.<br />
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And here you can see the finished pendant. I used Vintaj Patinas again on paper and mesh cuboids. I painted the inner surface of the mesh with "rust" and the outer with "moss". It looks quite interesting when you can see orange colour peeking out from behind the green. I applied the same colours on the surface of the playing card cuboid. I just irregularly layered them one on top of another. When patinas dried I covered them additionally with glossy decoupage lacquer to make the cardboard cuboid more durable and harder.<br />
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So here it is :). I would never make something like this normally, but I have to say I had a lot of fun, I learned a lot and I got inspired! I will definitely make something else with cinnamon sticks (this time something more consistent with my aestethics ;) ). This is a wonderful material. Its texture and colour is so beautiful and the smell is heavenly :). Drakonariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934565573283703487noreply@blogger.com11