Intentional Stones

As it should be

We're jaunting a bit to avoid the days while we have no kitchen and no water.

It feels like old times. This is how I want it to be. Free from people expecting out presence every single day. With the spouse working from home, there's no reason we can't arrange for it, either.

Not every day, we love our house, our neighborhood, our city. But the swirling of water around our toes, the different types of rocks at the bottom of the creek, and the games of 'who can make the biggest splash?!' really need to be a more common presence in our life.

What's your perfect summer day like?

-Simbelmynë

It's so small!

Removing the bathroom was probably my biggest goal. Looking at the empty space (see the photo of the floor and realize that each tile is 12 inches wide) you can see that small bathroom stalls are bigger than the room defined by the missing wall. Yes, Main Floor Bathroom, we will miss you. But really? When we made the offer on this house, we didn't realize you weren't a closet.

Today, at long last, we met the piece of stone for our countertop. It's a little darker than the first stone that caught my heart and would have busted my budget. It's also photographed here, or a disembodied section of it, at least.

It's a relief, we can finalize our backsplash, grout and other color choices!

-Simbelmynë

Images, Weight, Symmetry, Motion

They pack an incredible amount of information into the chapters of a design textbook.  Only one chapter and I'm reading about perspective, frequency of images, frame and orientation, emphasis, scale, relationships, location and symmertry.  I feel like I need a book in order to read this book.  It's no wonder I've been working on this one for a month. 

Luckily, the author has used images of jewelry and from Mulan, nice of them to take into account my obsession and my regular life stuff. 

Ok, Words are hitting a wall again here.  I think I'll just blurt things I think of when looking at the concepts.

• Unity and variety- A piece, jewelry or painting, is one thing.  All the elements and images must coordinate and work together.  But there must be differences to create interest. 
• Continuity-even elements that are dramatically different can contain similarities that create w sense of connection in the piece.
• Similarity-As mentioned earlier, this is the simplest way to create continuity.
• Visual Systems-using a pattern to connect elements in an image.  Would this work with jewelry?  Frequently it's a collection of pieces.  When it's not it's usually small.  Working in minature would give me the opportunity to create an individual piece with a system.  Naturally, several parts of a necklace or bracelet form a pattern. 
• Closure-the tendency of the viewer to complete patterns and lines that are implied.
• Weight and Gravity-It's very easy for the central element of a jewelry piece to have the greatest impact on the design.  Balancing the weight along the entire length of the piece gives the design interest all along it. 
• Balance- can be created with symmetry or balanced asymetry and color and brightness or darkness.
• Scale can create motion, emphasis, perspective.

Allright, there's too much here for one blog entry.  I'm going to chew on these ideas for tonight and get to making jewelry. 

It's no wonder I had so much trouble with this stuff in college!  For me, understanding of these concepts has come through experiencing art and creating it over the years.  How can one expect a young artist to grasp everything in one week, lesson, chapter?  I imagine I'll be coming back to Chapter 2 many many times before I'm done studying this book.

(Referring to Launching the Imagination: A comprehensive Guide to Basic Design. by Mary Stewart. McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2002)

-Simbelmynë

 

Ramblings and absences

This blog has suffered a period of neglect. Ordinary life seems less interesting to write about. And I've just been ordinarily busy.

I'm going to try to pick up the pace. Blog daily. But there's a catch. Part of the difficulty is finding words to express how I'm thinking about the art and my creative life.

Some posts may not have words. Not in a wordless-Wednesday kind of way, but in a "the words aren't coming" way.

The other posts will have perhaps too many words.

Bear with me. I work in plastic art because the ideas don't translate into words. And I do love to talk. My days are just full of stuff. Much of it is not really worth talking about. You can get the idea better through a picture.

I babble on twitter all the time. You can see my rambling, uncensored thinking there.

I'll write here when thoughts and ideas are sounding interesting. And when a picture really says it better, I'll share that way.

-Simbelmynë

The kerfluffel

Well, last week ended in a big fuss with the discovery of some asbestos tiles in the floor. With that thought we called the main contractor, who reassured us that the stuff in the walls is some sort if plaster over lathe, not asbestos. So the only thing to worry about were some floor tiles. These turn out to not be a source of contamination unless they're damaged.

Fortunately, they are tough and only one is exposed this week while my sister is visiting. Turns out these tiles are pretty standard in a house 75-100 years old, they usually can be removed intact, and clearing out for a day should be enough. When they do the floor, not right now.

We hung plastic anyway, since the exposed plaster is very dusty. Everything is thoroughly covered. We can exist.

The contractors are returning on The 23rd to remove the wall!

I'll miss having a bathroom on the first floor. I won't miss my dishwasher in the middle of the floor. (yes, the bathroom is _that_ small)

My Uncle's funeral went well. I got to spend some good quality time with my Aunt and some cousins I rarely see. My family is so small. The contrast with my family-in-law is pretty extreme.

~Simbelmynë

Kitchen surprises (nightmares?)

There's my poor gutted kitchen. The appliances are staying in place while the cabinets are refinished and we have guests in and out.

At least that was the plan until this morning. Adam walked in and has a thought. "I wonder if that grey stuff is asbestos?"

Ummm....

A bunch of Internet searching left us just as concerned and uninformed. Could it be some kind of wood that's grey from being exposed to plaster? But Adam had been curious about the wood floor the workers found under a couple layers of linoleum, so a hardwood expert swung by to give us an estimate on the possibility if refinishing that and took one look at the mystery material. "Did you know that there's asbestos in your walls?"

I ran out for staplegun supplies, thick plastic sheeting and respirators so nobody has to breathe the stuff.

I think we'll be staying out of the kitchen entirely until it's all encapsulated.

Old houses are full of joy! (please excuse my sarcasm)

-Simbelmynë

Another remodel, oh joy

I've been a bit tied up.

Our kitchen has long been a big time eyesore. I'm not a fan of wallpaper and mustard appliances. Nevermind the tiny fridge and the mobile dishwasher taking up a big piece of the tiny floor and getting in the way. The fronts of drawers are falling off, and the hidden table (which we can't spread out because if the dishwasher) is horribly scuffed.

Tomorrow, they start to fix this problem. The picture is my poor dining room, which will serve as our kitchen for the immediate future.

On a slightly coincidental note, my Uncle, my father's brother, passed away last weekend. We almost had to reschedule the kitchen. We're working with the same contractors for the bathroom project, and that started just before my dad died. It's a tiny bit odd.

Anyway, I plan to blog things happening in the kitchen in the next week. It won't be quite as exciting as the labyrinth. But we're removing the tiny powder room and creating a half wall and passthrough, completely opening up the kitchen.

I'm a happy camper.

-Simbelmynë

Networking networking networking.

The networking thing is kind of fun!  It seems this year I need to work even harder on creating this kind of connection.  Several of the art fairs in Pittsburgh seem to work through crafting and artists guilds.  This is a great idea, promoting one another.  But it's a little tough as I haven't worked with any of these groups yet.  We live, we work, we learn...

If you're looking for small events to attend- The Heritage market at the Pumphouse in the Waterfront complex in Homestead is happening again on June 26th.  We'll be there, outside and hopefully this will be a recurring event through the summer.  I'm excited to have a regular spot in Pittsburgh to meet people and show my art. 

Classes are a great opportunity to meet new people.  My new friend AR also has a shop on Artfire- Satorious Designs!  The other people in my class are also to be seen at art events all over Pittsburgh. 

-Simbelmynë

A Gemlover to Lead the Way

 

John of Rasmussen Gems and Jewelry is a well educated maker of the gemstones.  And he's making his own jewelry from them too!  He usually works on custom pieces, (I love this piece for his daughter from a stone she found!) 

His artfire shop is full of one of a kind pieces, creative wire wrap pendants and beautifully set rings.

He keeps the blog of his beautiful jewelry on Ganoksin.org, one of my favorite places on the web.

It's easy to see the hard work and dedication John has to the gemstones.  I hope you enjoy getting to know him as much as I am!

-Simbelmynë

Sawn

The tool I use second most has to be my jewelers saw, and it's certainly the first I use in most projects.  Generally speaking, I don't mill my own metal.  So I start with a sheet, tube or wire I've purchased.  So cutting is the first step. 

Flush cutters and shears work quickly, but they tend to leave compressed and sharp edges, these require lots of cleanup work.  A saw leaves a nicer edge.  It's flat and just needs a little bit of filing and sanding to create a finished look. 

I do all my sawing at my bench, against a bench pin- a piece of wood clamped onto the tabletop.  This gives me a solid surface to hold the piece still.  I keep a bit of melted candle next to my benchpin to wax the saw.  A little wax keeps the teeth from catching on the metal and reduces the friction to keep the saw blade from heating up.  Sawblades tend to snap- the smaller the quicker they break. 

Jewelers saws can hold blades of many different sizes.  The blades are tiny compared to a household coping saw, some are like fine wire.  The teeth are so small you have to run them over your finger to figure out which direction they're facing. 

You need to pay careful attention to the direction.  You want the teeth pointing "down" so that they catch on the downstroke as you cut the metal.  You place the blade into the saw on one side, tighten the screw and then brace the top of the saw against a solid surface, push gently to bring the arms a little closer together and place the other end of the blade in the other arm and tighten.  When you release the pressure, the saw will be taught. 

Sitting straight in front of the piece, you hold the saw perpendicular to the piece you're cutting.  This gives you the best chance at control and cutting exactly as you want.  You just move straight up and down and let the saw do all the work.  You really don't need to exert much pressure as you guide the blade.  I've heard that companies make saws with very stiff frames that can help make your cutting even more precise.

I like to rubber cement a pattern to the metal and follow the lines as I saw.  Sharpie or scribed lines work well too. 

One of the nice parts of this type of saw, you can drill holes and insert the blade before reattaching the saw blade to the frame.  The depth of the sawframe allows one to work a few inches deep into a sheet of metal. 

Saw Blades Guide: 16 gauge sheet metal (#2 saw blade), 18 gauge sheet metal (#1 saw blade), 20 gauge sheet metal (#1/0 saw blade), 24 gauge sheet metal (#4/0 saw blade), 26 gauge sheet metal (#6/0 saw blade), 28 gauge sheet metal (#8/0 saw blade), (reference from wikihow)

Of these, #2 is the largest, the numbers go down to 0 and then start at 1/0 and count up again for smaller and smaller sizes. 

I have a few favorites (the three above are 1/0, 4/0 and 7/0) I use fairly thin sheet most of the time  and I'll use a smaller blade than recommended to get into tiny corners to reduce filing.  The saw can create infinite shapes large and small.

After things are soldered down, it's easy to use the saw to trim excess sheet or bits that are too long to precisely the shape and length I want.

 

The saw makes jumprings that fit every time, wonderful pierced and lacy designs, and beautful bits to embellish anything. 

-Simbelmynë