Sunday, August 2, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Lessons in staying true to your creative self from a master
Just got through Hugh MacLeod's book Ignore Everyone - it is filled with wisdom, inspiration and truths that resonate. And it will have you LYAO.
Some particularly poignant points for me:
- Good ideas alter the power balance
- The sovereignty you have over your own work will inspire far more people than the actual content ever will
- Doing anything worthwhile takes forever (have learned this many times from the hours I put in to making each of my jewelry pieces)
- 90% of what separates successful people from those who fail are time, effort and stamina (interesting to note how talent doesn't necessarily factor as much as tenacity)
- Pillars are a hindrance
- Never sell anything you love (this is hard for me because I LOVE everything I make)
- The more you need money, the more people tell you what to do, the less control you have, the more BS you have to swallow, the less joy it will bring
- The creative urge is a primal calling- (now that I am back to making jewelry again, I know this to be true... I must create)
- The best way to get approval is not to need it
- Power is never given, but taken
- Beware of turning hobbies into jobs (since I've tried it, I can relate to this point...my goals this time around are much simpler, to simply fund my habit.. materials and class costs)
The book like all of Hugh's work is exceptional - brilliant, hilarious, and insightful. The "Ignore Everyone" Limited edition print you see below is available for purchase on his website.
Keys to creativity by Hugh MacLeod
Some particularly poignant points for me:
- Good ideas alter the power balance
- The sovereignty you have over your own work will inspire far more people than the actual content ever will
- Doing anything worthwhile takes forever (have learned this many times from the hours I put in to making each of my jewelry pieces)
- 90% of what separates successful people from those who fail are time, effort and stamina (interesting to note how talent doesn't necessarily factor as much as tenacity)
- Pillars are a hindrance
- Never sell anything you love (this is hard for me because I LOVE everything I make)
- The more you need money, the more people tell you what to do, the less control you have, the more BS you have to swallow, the less joy it will bring
- The creative urge is a primal calling- (now that I am back to making jewelry again, I know this to be true... I must create)
- The best way to get approval is not to need it
- Power is never given, but taken
- Beware of turning hobbies into jobs (since I've tried it, I can relate to this point...my goals this time around are much simpler, to simply fund my habit.. materials and class costs)
The book like all of Hugh's work is exceptional - brilliant, hilarious, and insightful. The "Ignore Everyone" Limited edition print you see below is available for purchase on his website.
Keys to creativity by Hugh MacLeod
Friday, July 10, 2009
return of the succulents
My signature piece is back...by request..succulents - an obsession of mine, those pretty green cacti -like plants that retain water and come in so many flower like forms.
Succulents happen to be great for casting, as are many natural organic forms - however succulents are so beautiful, they come out looking like beautiful silver flowers.
I picked a few succulents from the Botanical Garden in Golden Gate park
and used them to create casts. The process is one where you attach a wax sprue to the flower, which will act as a canal for the molten silver to pass through as it fills the mold. The flower and sprue are then placed into a steel tube canister called a "flask".
The next step is to mix and create investment, a plaster-like material that is poured around the piece into the flask. Then the flask is placed into a kiln for 12 hours and all the organic material plus the wax is burned out.
There are a couple of different casting techniques that I am familiar with, one that uses centrifugal arm that is wound up and that shoots molten silver into the hollow form. The other uses vacuum power to suck the molten silver down through the piece to ensure a complete cast. Both techniques involve melting silver in a crucible to the point that it is liquid.
My original succulents were made with the centrifugal technique. I then had a professional caster make several replicas, which I could then use to create other pieces such as bracelets and necklaces. I used to sell these pieces in a few shops in San Francisco, my succulent ring is actually a part of my daily wear, so recently have gotten a few requests from friends and acquaintances for that same piece.
It's always interesting to get requests and a huge compliment, one of the things I find I need to work on is pricing out the true value of each piece. While many things can be found for cheaper in silver, because I hand make my pieces, I need to accurately and fairly estimate my time. While I love to make people happy and make them what they want, my time is limited and part of my love of jewelry is the creation of something new, so to make something already done involves an exchange of my time where I could be doing something else, and learning.
Either way, its great, flattering and fun - here's the latest succelent I made for Abbey, a slightly bigger version of my ring.
Succulents happen to be great for casting, as are many natural organic forms - however succulents are so beautiful, they come out looking like beautiful silver flowers.
I picked a few succulents from the Botanical Garden in Golden Gate park
and used them to create casts. The process is one where you attach a wax sprue to the flower, which will act as a canal for the molten silver to pass through as it fills the mold. The flower and sprue are then placed into a steel tube canister called a "flask". The next step is to mix and create investment, a plaster-like material that is poured around the piece into the flask. Then the flask is placed into a kiln for 12 hours and all the organic material plus the wax is burned out.
There are a couple of different casting techniques that I am familiar with, one that uses centrifugal arm that is wound up and that shoots molten silver into the hollow form. The other uses vacuum power to suck the molten silver down through the piece to ensure a complete cast. Both techniques involve melting silver in a crucible to the point that it is liquid.
My original succulents were made with the centrifugal technique. I then had a professional caster make several replicas, which I could then use to create other pieces such as bracelets and necklaces. I used to sell these pieces in a few shops in San Francisco, my succulent ring is actually a part of my daily wear, so recently have gotten a few requests from friends and acquaintances for that same piece.
It's always interesting to get requests and a huge compliment, one of the things I find I need to work on is pricing out the true value of each piece. While many things can be found for cheaper in silver, because I hand make my pieces, I need to accurately and fairly estimate my time. While I love to make people happy and make them what they want, my time is limited and part of my love of jewelry is the creation of something new, so to make something already done involves an exchange of my time where I could be doing something else, and learning.
Either way, its great, flattering and fun - here's the latest succelent I made for Abbey, a slightly bigger version of my ring.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
collaboration
Obviously inspiration comes in many forms, but at its base it is a re-interpretation of nature, objects, feelings into a different medium such as painting or in my case metal-smithing. One of the things I find exciting about my art, is the ability to transform something that currently exists in one form into something new. One of the ways I like to do this is through collaboration. Not that I've done much, but I definitely find much inspiration in other artists' work and love to share in the creative process with others.
A few years ago, I was able to collaborate with my friend Sirron Norris on a ring that I made for my brother. It involved etching his design onto a piece of metal and then forming it into a ring. It turned out amazing and its a shame that it got lost. But that experience has always stuck with me as a really fun and unique way to find inspiration from others and give their artwork an extension by transforming it into a different and utilitarian form.
Stay tuned, I have some ideas in mind for some collaborative efforts and eventually perhaps working with other artists more regularly in this way..if you know of anyone who's work could transcend other mediums - let me know.
A few years ago, I was able to collaborate with my friend Sirron Norris on a ring that I made for my brother. It involved etching his design onto a piece of metal and then forming it into a ring. It turned out amazing and its a shame that it got lost. But that experience has always stuck with me as a really fun and unique way to find inspiration from others and give their artwork an extension by transforming it into a different and utilitarian form.
Stay tuned, I have some ideas in mind for some collaborative efforts and eventually perhaps working with other artists more regularly in this way..if you know of anyone who's work could transcend other mediums - let me know.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
My emotional attachment to a spider
I just finished my commissioned piece, the money clip and its funny even though I would never have any use for it - I am having trouble letting go. When I started making jewelry 5 years ago, I remember going through this same process...the investment of myself that goes into each piece is hard to let go of. My creations feel like part of me so letting go of them is a bit painful. I feel emotionally connected to them, which made me think of the Buddhist tenet - to be free of attachment means true freedom. Once you stop clinging and let things be, you'll be free, even of birth and death.
In the past, I got to a point where I was okay letting go and I am trying to find that place again. And there is a happiness in sharing my creations with friends and family (especially the nice ones that pay me - ha ha) so I guess in the end I will be okay in letting the spider go.
In the past, I got to a point where I was okay letting go and I am trying to find that place again. And there is a happiness in sharing my creations with friends and family (especially the nice ones that pay me - ha ha) so I guess in the end I will be okay in letting the spider go.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
multi-tasking or A.D.D. ..and a spider comes to life
Coming up on my last class for the season and made the realization that I have a lot going on. I currently have about 5 ongoing pieces to finish still.
Here's a short list:
-Cuff bracelet inspired by Andy Goldworthy - still need to add a few more pieces and file the ends so they are not to spikey, its pretty cool
-A ring with dicroic glass made from a stamp I got from my mom's scrapbooking collection of supplies
-Same design, but most likely will make a pendant
-Still have hoop copper earrings that I enameled and am not quite happy with...might have to file off the color and see where that leaves me
-Some funky circular textured earrings I made from my copper / silver gate inspired disaster...not quite happy with the way they are laying
-Also did a mold of my cuff bracelet in order to make a couple of copies..since my mom keeps asking for one...and I may be able to sell another.
-And lastly a piece commissioned by my friend Chris, my very first since I've been making jewelry again :) Its a money clip.
I'm psyched because it is actually turning out to be very cool. It is inspired by the Nasca lines in Peru, which I am totally fascinated by although I've never been there. They are amazing drawings made in the the Peruvian desert that hold much mystery and intrigue. No one quite knows their meaning or how they got there - they can only be seen from the sky, each design is quite large and they range from images of birds to monkeys to a figure that looks like an astronaut. The design I picked is this spider. I took a copy of the design and copied onto acetate paper. Using an iron, I then placed my clean metal piece with the toner side down onto it on a hot iron and proceeded to push down on the design with a piece of leather.
This basically transfers the ink onto the metal. This picture is not of my piece but shows how its done
Here's what my spider looked like right before it was to go into the acid bath, with the design transferred onto the metal and the back covered with a special tape so to protect it from the acid.
The next step is to put the piece into an acid bath which will eat away at any metal that does not have any ink on it. And here it is in the acid bath. Everything in Adam's studio is a bit jimmy-rigged and this is no different, we used fishing wire to hang the piece design down in the acid and then set it on a machine that vibrates it to activate the acid (i think)
After etching it, I sawed its shape out and even cut out the lines around its body and legs. I am kind of rethinking the original concept because it is looking so cool, I think I like it standing on its own and having the clip attached to the spider's body but am not sure this is the right way to implement...need to discuss with Adam.
Here's the latest:
Maybe its the connection with Nasca or the fact that it is so bad-ass - either way, I'm really happy with the way it is turning out. Even though in Peru, these are quite the touristy symbols (like cable cars are to SF) ..I think they are so cool and think I see another monkey, bird or spider in my future.
Here's a short list:
-Cuff bracelet inspired by Andy Goldworthy - still need to add a few more pieces and file the ends so they are not to spikey, its pretty cool
-A ring with dicroic glass made from a stamp I got from my mom's scrapbooking collection of supplies
-Same design, but most likely will make a pendant
-Still have hoop copper earrings that I enameled and am not quite happy with...might have to file off the color and see where that leaves me
-Some funky circular textured earrings I made from my copper / silver gate inspired disaster...not quite happy with the way they are laying
-Also did a mold of my cuff bracelet in order to make a couple of copies..since my mom keeps asking for one...and I may be able to sell another.
-And lastly a piece commissioned by my friend Chris, my very first since I've been making jewelry again :) Its a money clip.
I'm psyched because it is actually turning out to be very cool. It is inspired by the Nasca lines in Peru, which I am totally fascinated by although I've never been there. They are amazing drawings made in the the Peruvian desert that hold much mystery and intrigue. No one quite knows their meaning or how they got there - they can only be seen from the sky, each design is quite large and they range from images of birds to monkeys to a figure that looks like an astronaut. The design I picked is this spider. I took a copy of the design and copied onto acetate paper. Using an iron, I then placed my clean metal piece with the toner side down onto it on a hot iron and proceeded to push down on the design with a piece of leather.
This basically transfers the ink onto the metal. This picture is not of my piece but shows how its done
Here's what my spider looked like right before it was to go into the acid bath, with the design transferred onto the metal and the back covered with a special tape so to protect it from the acid.
The next step is to put the piece into an acid bath which will eat away at any metal that does not have any ink on it. And here it is in the acid bath. Everything in Adam's studio is a bit jimmy-rigged and this is no different, we used fishing wire to hang the piece design down in the acid and then set it on a machine that vibrates it to activate the acid (i think)
After etching it, I sawed its shape out and even cut out the lines around its body and legs. I am kind of rethinking the original concept because it is looking so cool, I think I like it standing on its own and having the clip attached to the spider's body but am not sure this is the right way to implement...need to discuss with Adam.
Here's the latest:
Maybe its the connection with Nasca or the fact that it is so bad-ass - either way, I'm really happy with the way it is turning out. Even though in Peru, these are quite the touristy symbols (like cable cars are to SF) ..I think they are so cool and think I see another monkey, bird or spider in my future.
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