The creative process (4): so many projects, so little time . . .

While I would have liked to have spent most of my weekend at the workbench, I decided to tackle the considerable job of cleaning up and organizing the workshop after five months of neglect . . . it took most of my time, fancy that. 

When I finally sat down at the workbench for some creative time, I found I could not concentrate on projects at hand . . . on Thursday I bought two tiny Moleskine journals on a whim at the checkout at Borders . . . and I'm just dying to make little copper journal covers for them.

Then there is this project:

I found the Mimosa seed pod in Baja, and over the last few months have been messing about with a design that incorporates a single pearl, an iridescent green and gold beetle from Kenya, and a richly patinaed copper background . . . it's not quite right yet, but I like the fabricated / fused silver branches.

And then while at Ace Hardware I found brass channel wire - prefect for quick, inexpensive bead bracelets. I envision this one with all black beads (wonderful Arizona black jade) with a single red one . . .

And so I messed about with a lot of little things, but in the end didn't finish anything . . .

So many projects. It's wonderful, but sometimes I wish there were 40 hours per day . . .

Beautiful patterns in nature ~ scales

Not everyone thinks snakes are beautiful, but to me they are. It's snake season here in the Sonoran Desert, so it means being a little more careful where one puts feet or hands. But when you chance upon a rattlesnake hunting, like this one, coiled near the bird feeders, it is a chance to appreciate the beautful colors and patterns in their skin, rendering them nearly invisible in the pebbly ground.

The creative process (3): keeping organized, keeping track

I tend to have a lot of projects going at once, and with hundreds of pieces of inventory (from gemstones to beads to found objects to silver, copper, and gold), I had to develop a way to keep the chaos at bay and yet still allow for my creative process to flow . . .

Developed over several years of full-time jewelry-making (with inventories for online sales, 6 galleries, and several craft shows), this system is based on using my own Desert Rose notepads (5 x 7") and slightly larger plastic bags from a jeweler's supply store.

When working on a project (or an idea, still in the 'bits and pieces' phase), I sketch the basic idea, dimensions, and materials on a piece of the notepaper. If a commercial project, I'll include the prices of the components and where I got them, so I can source them again; a tally of the final cost is simple and helps me to figure out wholesale or retail pricing. The piece above is a great example: a cheap cabachon ($5) because it seems to have a 'flaw' - but I saw it as nopportunity to pair with a perfectly shaped droplet of fire agate that will look like it 'dripped' out of the agate . . . ('GG' as the source is Galarneau's Gems; Jerry Galarneau is my favorite cab maker if I am not able to make my own.)

In between projects I place all the parts in the bag (usually in smaller bags, to protect stones and metal) and store in a tall baker's rack on wheels - the shelves are huge baking sheets; each shelf holds 50 or more bags and there is room for 15 shelves, though I use many  of them for bead and found object storage as well.

Finally, I file finished projects in a three-ring binder with a photo of the piece, so I have a record system that makes repeat projects much easier.

Copper Fire Series - New Forged Fire Bracelets

When I set aside the found-object copper bracelet (or necklace) project, I decided to try out an idea I'd had a while back using copper wire and scrap silver.

I cut 6" lengths of 10-gauge copper wire and took them out to my old railroad tie anvil, where I used a large hammer to forge their ends to tapered paddles, then a jeweler's ball-peen hammer to dimple and mar the surface all over.

Back at the bench, I filed and finished the ends, then got out my jar of silver scrap and chose pieces of wire and bezel strip to wrap around the copper. On goes the torch, and I heated the copper and silver to the point where the silver started to flow and fuse with the copper. Off with the heat and tossed the piece into cold water.

It was a slaggy blackened mess at first, but with some careful work with sanding blocks and detailed work with manicurists' foam-files (with three different grades of abrasive and polishing surfaces), and the colors begin to glow - deep red, bright silver and gold, deep black, and rich copper. 

A few bends on the bracelet mandrel, some Krylon clear satin, and we have a beautiful forged-fire bracelet that has a very organic feel.

These will be going up for sale in a few weeks, after I create an inventory.

Reward system - a cheetah-heart T-shirt

This past Friday I had to finish up some pretty complicated - and very un-fun - accounting for a client, so I promised myself if I got through it, I would work on a fun project that had been humming around the back of my mind for weeks . . . an 'altered couture' T-shirt using cheetah-print fabric left over from my Land Cruiser center console and visor covers.

I found this bright green T at my favorite thrift shop for $1 and set about copying Amy Tangerine's wonderfully simple reverse applique process to add some whimsy to a simple T (the idea came from the spring issue of Altered Couture magazine).

One hour, a needle and some embroidery floss, scissors, and some beads, and I have a cheetah-heart T-shirt reward for hard work.

The creative process (2): found object bracelet

Earlier in May I wrote about my creative process, and used as an example a collection of found objects (weathered copper and stones from a beach on the Sea of Cortez).

After sitting on my workbench for five months, I finally set about working them into a piece of jewelry today.

The second step for me (after playing with my piles of objects for days or weeks or months, until an idea 'gels') is to lay out all the bits and see if my idea will result - practically - into jewelry.

I wrote about how I envisioned the flat stones and copper as a linked bracelet, so that's what I set out to do. I sealed the copper with satin Krylon clear, to keep it from reacting when in contact with skin (salts and perspiration would cause an adverse reaction, both to the jewelry and to the skin).

I laid out the found stones (flat pieces of shale, in lavender and terra cotta colors) with the copper and started playing with the colors. Musing on shapes, textures, and colors, I then went to my considerable stash of stones and objects and started pulling out other pieces that might work well to add to the storyline: rainbow hematite, amber, amethyst, opal, iolite, copper, and a piece of blue-green glass.

Happy with the colors, I then started cutting out the copper into pieces I thought would work for bracelet links. It is very brittle, so the saw didn't work very well - it worked better to carefully snip with tin snips. 

All joins will have to be 'cold' (without a torch or solder, since that would destroy the copper patina), so I marked where I will rivet or use miniature bolts to connect the layers. I like the look, colors, and textures . . . but I began to worry about the fragility of the pieces. The copper is very brittle, and the stones might not stand up well to the abuse a bracelet must withstand.

So I started considering making it a necklace . . . I mused on a metal chain, then started playing with cord and ribbon - I thought the contrast might be nice with the rough stones and patinaed copper. 

At this point, I started another project, since I want to mull this one over a bit before continuing . . . 

Cream-white: the color of Sonoran Desert summer

As we move into full summer, the colors become bleached . . .

Saguaro cactus blossom

Soaptree yucca flower stalk

Seed pods of pincushion flower (Chaenactis)

Deer skulls and antlers

Beautiful patterns in nature ~ rocks

Today is cloudy and rainy, the colors muted, and the patterns in this little pile of rocks on my front porch just appealed to me in the soft light. All collected within a mile of home: tumbled amethyst-striped quartz; copper ore; chalcedony (white and amber quartz); and a translucent red and soft green (rock types unknown).

Yellow: The color of early summer in the Sonoran Desert

During April and May, the desert is awash with yellow.

Hillsides glow, trees are laden with flowers. Bees rejoice.

Mesquite blossoms

Prickly pear cactus blossoms

Coyote melons

(Squirrel snack, coyote melon)

Earth Treasures Collection

Pieces from Earth Treasures Collection, sold at galleries in the West from 2006 - 2008:

• Carnelian twist
• Agate and amber
• Picasso jasper
• Owyhee jasper and amber
• Rattlesnake jasper and faceted citrine
• Old Montana agates; amber earrings

Found objects - Travelers' Treasures Collection

These two pieces represent art made from treasures found while traveling. Pieces such as this can be some of the most treasured we have . . . with each bit reminding us of a moment, a place, a person.

Although created 10 years apart, they ironically were each inspired by focal points found along England's southern coast . . . a piece of green sea glass from near Dover, and a small granite beach cobble worn with a perfect hole.

• Olde England: Hastings bedrock granite pebble bead, made by the Atlantic, found last year (2008); feathers from a garden rook and an African lilac-breasted roller (we were en route back from an East Africa trip, stopping to see friends in Hastings), English coins, blue beach glass, obsidian, fossil ivory (from England), and amber, including an earring whose mate I lost on that same trip.

• Seaside England: Ten years earlier I had found the lovely tumbled green glass on a walk along the Dover shore; I drilled it, and used lilac waxed cotton to string pearls, seashells, and painted/dyed fish vertebrae beads from an old Seri Indian necklace bought along the Sea of Cortez on a trip with the same English friends we were with in Dover.

Do you have treasures from your travels? I will do commissions upon request. Please email me at this address.

Found object jewelry - vintage bracelets

My friend Debra is a wonderful inspiration for art . . . she is a patroness, supporting many artists in the U.S., and she encourages people like me to be creative by sharing her findings on her travels. One of my favorite things is to receive a 'Debra' package, a bag containing beads or findings or vintage jewelry or found treasures, with a note that reads simply - 'for Roseann.' 

How can any artist not love that?

These bracelets and earrings are early Debra-inspired pieces, with vingage findings, old beads, costume jewelry links, and bone spacers. The green bracelet at top is a real miracle, an amalgem of inexpensive (ie: really quite ugly on their own!) plastic faux-pearls and vintage earrings that just  . . . works. 

My favorite kind of jewelry - unplanned, one-of-a-kind, and from the hear.

Milagro scarf

In my "Creative process" post below, I mentioned how sometimes I head out to the studio to create a piece of jewelry, and something entirely different will happen . . . this is one of those 'different' moments.

I stopped at my favorite thrift shop in Tucson last week, and among the items I grabbed was an eggshell silk scarf for 50 cents. My friend Debra had given me a little baggie of carved bone milagros, and had mused that she thought they would look wonderful lining a scarf . . . and the idea was born.

I bought a $2.99 box of Rit "rich brown" dye, and set about scrunching and dying the scarf so it would have an old 'worn' appearance. It didn't dye 'rich' but the lovely brown-maroon hue was just right.

So I tied the milagros - a cross, fish, raven, hand, and two other charms - onto the ends of the scarf with brown embroidery floss, then tied a sprinkling of metal and glass beads on as well, with gold and brown floss. Finally, I painted swirls, crosses, stars, and dots onto the silk with gold metallic paint . . . and voila, a quick and easy designer scarf.

The creative process

The creative process fascinates me almost as much as colors, textures, and patterns. By 'process' I mean how one makes the journey from raw materials to finished art. Each artist has his or her own preferred method for inspiration, planning, and execution. I don't know how typical my process is, but I'm going to try to catalog it as much as I can, because I find it fascinating.

To begin the process, one must have the materials (whether it is jewelry or food, one has to have the basics on hand). As an artist interested in many media, I collect just about anything - stones, beads, textiles, beetle wings, feathers, scrap metal, shells, seeds. They reside in my studio in baskets or boxes or out in the yard in little piles. 

The next step is to have lots of inspirational material at hand - magazines, books, websites. I have hundreds of books on jewelry, art, and other visual inspiration (textiles, photography). I also buy magazines like Ornament, Lapidary Journal / Jewelry Artist, Art Jewelry Magazine, Stampington's line of publications - Altered Couture, Artful Blogging, and Belle Armoire Jewelry, to name just a few. I flip through them (like I do recipe books and food magazines) during lunch or at night. The ideas just sift around in my head. 

When I have just a little time to create - or I am giving myself 'permission' to create (that is, when I'm not fully engaged in a large contract for a client, or an event) - I notice that a part of my brain becomes locked in to seeing colors, textures, and patterns and processing them, no matter what I am doing at the time. I can be eating, sleeping, walking - and an idea just pops into my head. It can be jewelry, clothing, food - anything. 

When a specific idea comes to me that I like, I keep a journal for sketching my ideas.

Then, when I set aside time to create, I head out to my studio and set out my current piles and sketches and I start fiddling with the bits and pieces . . . and the funny thing is, I can set out to create a bracelet but I might end up making a dyed and embellished scarf. I try not to force things, to "have" to do what I set out to do. This makes the whole art process so much more enjoyable to me.

The photos above are a collection of small pieces of slate, obsidian, bottle glass, and weathered copper sheet found on a beach in Mexico.  This pile has been sitting on a corner of my workbench for months . . . when I'm on the phone, I sift and sort and play with the bits. I've been waiting for ideas to solidify. The copper is gorgeously, naturally patinated and I want to get it just right.

Right now I'm leaning toward a bracelet incorporating the small pieces of slate alternating with the copper sheet somehow. I like the verdigris, warm peach, and lilac colors together. I'm envisioning silver bezels or frames . . . and link connectors, for a loose bracelet. It hasn't quite 'gelled' yet, so we'll see.

As this project progresses, I'll continue to share in the process.

Copper Fire Collection

Pieces from my Copper Fire Collection (sold, or in my own collection). From the top:

• Rainbow hematite shard, heat-patinated copper
• Ammonite and garnet, heat-patinated copper
• Rainbow hematite on copper disks with iolite and garnet accents
• Ammonite and quartz, heat-patinated copper

 

Food as art . . . chipotle salsa

Cooking is a creative process, identical to creating jewelry or painting or clothing. You begin with an idea, you work with flavors as a palette, and there is a definite aesthetic. A few days ago I cooked up half a dozen jars of my chipotle salsa - and I think it is a good example of Food as Art: the flavor palette includes spicy fresh jalapenos, smokey chipotles (smoke-dried jalapenos) reconstituted in a homemade sweet-vinegary adobo sauce, tart onions, and acidic tomatoes. The aesthetic includes a not-quite-smooth texture, with small bits of onion and chile and tomato, and a color that is deep oxblood red. 

Beautiful patterns in nature ~ cryptic coloring

Summer is dawning on us gently this year in the Sonoran Desert. Two nights ago the Lesser Nighthawks began trilling - one of the signature sounds of desert summer. It is still cool - we haven't had any hot days yet. But the ancient rhythms carry on. Soon there will be nighthawk nests, which aren't really nests at all but just barely discernible indentations under a small shrub. A cryptically colored egg or two is laid. In a few weeks, a chick will hatch, if the parents are lucky, and it will be ready to fly very soon - nighthawk young are precocial, like baby quail - they must be ready to run or fly from predators very soon, since their rocky nests offer no protection. The egg above is beautiful - inspiration for a future art project. 

Copper Bracelet - Copper Fire series

This is one of those really great creative projects that just worked right the first time - I have yet to repeat the method, but will do so for some gallery pieces, part of an inexpensive line of jewelry I want to create called Urban Tribal.

The idea came from a 2007 issue of Art Jewelry Magazine - as soon as I saw the technique, I had to try it, since I had already been working on copper (see Copper posts) for a successful line of pendants and brooches.

In two hours I had a finished bracelet: I cut the form (a simple, squiggly-line bar) from medium-gauge copper sheet scraps; cut the brass-wire circles from more scraps (I have a big scrap jar); soldered the brass rings to the sheet; and punch the metal domes using 2 smaller dome punches, but having to improvise on the larger ones with the handles of a couple of awls held in the vise. I gently formed the bracelet with a wooden mallet over the bracelet mandrel, cupping it slightly over the awl handle, and then came the fun part: heating and quenching to produce the wonderful patina.

I managed to draw out the beautiful dark reds. A quick polish of the brass rings with a cloth, careful not to rub off the patina, and then sealed with Krylon clear satin. 

Beautiful patterns in nature - spots

Since I was 12, I have been in love with spotted cats. I am irrationally moved to possess anything adorned with the gorgeous patterns of leopards, cheetahs, or jaguars. I am normally quite a rational, even frugal person. But I can be walking through the grocery store on a mission to buy a gallon of milk, and out of the corner of my eye spot (pun intended?) a leopard-print mug - and I'm completely sidetracked. I often buy it, even if the price is silly. I recently found myself spending an extra $20 for a Flip Video, just so I could get the 'custom' version with cheetah spots. I bought leopard-print fabric to cover my truck's center console, then it ended up on the visors, too . . . How bad can it get?

Here is video proof. 

Copper shield and rainbow hematite

This is one of the first pieces of jewelry I made several years ago, a heat-patinaed copper shield inspired by a triangle of rainbow hematite from Robert at Sweetwater Minerals. The hematite is a wonderful mix of irridescense and texture, with a clear horizontal slash and surficial droplets of silvery pyrite inclusion. I mimicked the pyrite droplets with balls of silver, slightly flattened, and a top bar of silver balls. The color comes from heating the copper until it is nearly red, then quenching quickly in cold water. The results are never certain, which is part of the fun. Sometimes the color (which is oxidized minerals drawn out in the copper as it heats) flakes off, and sometimes it stays magically in place. In what became a series of copper shield pendants with the purple-blue hematite and cut ammonites, I was always aiming to capture the beautiful blues and purples. The necklace is one of my Bella Bolas, a 15-inch length of hand-woven calfskin with sterling end caps and hooks that can be used on many different necklace types that I developed.

Ancient Seas Collection

From early work combining beadwork and fossils or amber. From the top:

• Hundreds of amber beads strung on waxed linen, then woven into a 'nest' necklace.
• The first ammonite I worked with, glued to leather and surrounded with stitched and woven vintage crystal, amber, and stone beads, with a matching beadwork necklace and seashell accent. 
• A piece of fossilized coral with a beadwork necklace of pearls, fluorite, and carnelian chips.
• Fossil orthocereus shell drop, paired with a smokey quartz cabachon affixed to leather and beaded with vintage tube and crystal beads.