This fall, I decided to take a Studio School Class in Casting, since I never took casting during my degree (just a strange occurrence of events). It's been interesting, especially since my mind set has always been in fabrication. At first, I had a really hard time bending my mind around the concept of carving wax--the whole taking away aspect, as opposed to "building". It's getting better though.

Our first project is "Sculpture for The Hand", a ring project. I started with ideas of relating the ring to different aspects of the hand, like fingerprints and fingernails. But then I remembered the lace I found in my Great Aunt Dodo's chest. Lots of lace. Lots of texture. It's a good thing I kept it!

First, I decided to try pressing the lace into wax sheets using my hydraulic press and using those sheets to form rings. Sounds alright, but after doing a few pieces in wax, I decided the rings were rather plain. It might still be a great idea for further exploration. I'm also going to try roller printing the lace into metal, although I'm not sure how well the lace will fare.

After being frustrated, and having this carving idea floating in the back of my head for a couple weeks, I decided to jump in with the carving. My first carved ring is in the investment stage, and the one above is from another piece of lace. Because of the thinness of some areas, I'm going to cast it first before doing the finishing, so I don't break the wax. Hopefully they will turn out wonderful! They are much more sculptural than I originally imagined, but then again, I love going towards the sculpture aspect of things when given a concept!

Portland has had amazing fall weather this last week and it feels so good to have a little taste of sun before the impending 3 + months of rain and clouds!!!

Today, my mom came down from the Columbia Gorge for a visit. I gave her the necklace I made her (see post below), which she loves! And it looks great on her :) And I showed her the yet-to-be-finished-matching-ring to go with it that I will be wearing :) I had to change the emerald to a pink sapphire, though, because the emerald I had shattered.



Since it was such a lovely day, my mom and I decided to head down to the Portland Saturday Market (which is also open on Sundays). It was pretty fun. Saturday Market still has a hippie-ish vibe to it, but there are definitely some more modern vendors and quality jewelers there as well. I was sad to see that the coffee shop inside the Skidmore Building, which at one point had been teaming with customers, was ripped out. There is definitely some work that needs to be done down at the Saturday Market to bring a stronger crowd to it, and my thought is to integrate some more independent designers.



One shop I fell in love with is Appetite, by Erin Albin. She is an independent designer and I absolutely love her textiles. They are all hand printed and sewn. She also has a lovely etsy shop! She has lovely pillows and bags, as well as other accessories.

Another quirky shop I came across was Skull Cat Design....lots of fun bags and their website is cute too!


Among the jewelers present were Judy & Wayne Acton, members of the local Creative Metal Arts Guild. They are wonderful people and are very skilled in their craft.


I fell in love with the clothing at the Za Zen booth, and have seen their shop on Belmont St., but never stopped in. Lots of lovely, soft, flowing clothes.


Although I didn't purchase any artsy goods, I did buy a catnip toy from Spoiled Cat, for the babies, although I don't think they care much for it :( And, I got some Tim Tams from the Australian store in the Skidmore Building....they are lovely with tea and coffee. Yum!

Now to make a few pieces of jewelry before heading off to a family party :) And next weekend, I do my first two castings!!!

I finished my mom's necklace (above) early last week, but as I was feeling sick most of the week, have not been working on jewelery very much. I'm also working 6 days a week currently, which has kind of put a halt on creativity. Tonight, I'll be working on carving wax for the ring I want to cast. It's going to be BIG. hopefully I can take out as much material as possible to bring the size down :)

I've been really interested in texture, lately, and came across some antique lace in my Great Aunt's belongings. I knew that I should keep it for a reason, when I first when through the chest a year ago! I've used the pattern for the idea for the cast ring, and have also experimented with pressing the lace into wax sheets using my hydraulic press. I'll probably use some of those pressings but right now, I'm going a little different route, as the forms I was creating were not what I really wanted.

Anyway, I had a fabulous weekend which brightened my spirits. Almost immediately after work on Saturday, I met up with my eldest brother, Ben, who was in town for a high school reunion. He met Dave and myself at our house, hung out for a bit, then headed downtown to Bush Garden for sushi. YUM. We ate so much, but it was sooooo delicious!!! I absolutely love sushi.

I thought Saturday was the only time I'd get with Ben, but on Sunday, my mom called early to say she wouldn't be coming to Portland because she was catching a cold. So, I snagged the chance to call Ben and invite him to brunch. Myself, Dave, Ben, and his friend Maggie made our way down the highway and up the hills to the Oregon College of Art and Craft, and had a wonderful Brunch at Hands On Cafe, followed by gallery browsing. I so adore my eldest brother, and it's brightened my spirits getting to see him again.

Now, off to be creative.

Unfortunately, I was very sick this weekend. I had a sore throat on Friday, but managed to go to work anyway. Saturday, however, was a completely different story. I felt like someone was pushing my head in all day, and was lucky enough to have my lovely friend, Kari, come by and supply me with naturopathic sleeping pills and cough drops. Yay! I stayed in bed most of the day (consequently having to miss casting class and work) and read my book Madras on Rainy Days, by Samina Ali. I have a hopeless love affair for novels relating to all things India. I spent much of Sunday in bed, as well, sipping on TheraFlu provided by my friend January, and reading. And by yesterday, I was able to go back to work!

Speaking of work, I am now working at Equinox Jewelers, in Northwest Portland, and I love it. John and Dian are a wonderful couple and I really respect their work and integrity. Working in a upper scale retail situation is quite different than what I'm used to, but I like it a lot. Their customers are loyal and friendly, and it's definitely fun being surrounded by beautiful jewelery all day.

In my own work, I finally finished my mom's necklace last night. I put it on a small box chain that I made a toggle clasp for. I'm wearing it now but will have more pictures of the full necklace later.

And....I think Blogger is having problems, so will finish this up later.....

I was able to spend all day Thursday making jewelry, or at least working on jewelry. I spent a lot of time making parts which I need to assemble. Amber was being sweet and cuddly there for a little while. Production work is hard for me to do, just because it's so monotonous, but I know it's the bread and butter of my work and most of us need that to make a living.


After hours of making parts and production stuff, I finally got brave enough to make my mom's pendant. I kind of wish I'd waited longer because now I want to put another strip of metal on the top, and attach the chain to that, but I've already set the stones and the emerald won't hold up under the heat. But I did talk to my mom and she likes it as a hanging pendant. Now all I have to do is shorten the stem, drill a hole, and add the chain.

The necklace is for my mom's birthday, which was in August. A little late, but I had to order metal and stones and get settings--and then get the courage to set gems for the first time!!! It was successful except for a small chip in the emerald.

The piece is made of sterling silver, with 14KW round settings. The stones are Peridot (left) for my mom's birthday, Emerald (middle) for my birthday, and White Sapphire (right top) for my brother's birthday. My brother and my stones aren't in birth order, because I liked the color change better this way. I like the piece all in all, and am looking forward to finishing it up and giving it to my mom the next time she comes to visit :)

I have a bunch of stones left over so I might go ahead and work on a ring for myself!!!

Also, my casting class has been very fun and exciting, but I'll post more on that later.

Fortunately, this weekend, a couple bought one of our couches AND I sold my jeep. Yay! I loved my jeep but I love our Subaru even more. It suits our needs better. I honestly didn't know if my jeep would ever sell, but it has gone to a great new owner. Now for the paperwork....

In the kitty realm of things, Amber got spayed at the beginning of the week, and after a series of her tearing her stitches out and consequential vet visits, she is healing nicely and very playful and rambunctious...even with her collar on! I also had the kitties micro-chipped in case they escape.