Writing Step-by-Step Tutorials

I had, what I thought, was a great jewelry project. ( I've talked about it in the previous blog.) When Art Jewelry Magazine put out a call for jewelry made from material purchased at the hardware store, I decided I should pursue it further and submit an image of the finished piece. Unfortunately, my piece didn't make the final cut for their online gallery. When I didn't make it into the gallery I figured that was the end of it.  However, as I said, I thought it was a great project, so when I sent in the image, I also sent in a project proposal.

Within a week I received a letter from AJM stating they reviewed the project proposal and would like to publish it! Well, you could've knocked me over with a feather! I just wasn't expecting that! I was thrilled, of course, and couldn't wait to get started!

I had made several of these pendants and thought I knew from memory all the steps I'd gone through to complete it. I had also kept notes when I made it so I had my little note card, meant just for me, to help jog my memory if I needed it.  A piece of cake, right? ... HA!  I had no idea how difficult it was to explain a process, without the benefit of demonstrating it. Sure, I was going to have pictures, but they wanted those later, after the manuscript was done.

Ever try to describe something technical to someone whom you assume knows nothing about what you are talking about? This is what I needed to do. Luckily, I had someone in my midst who was the perfect reader, my husband. He didn't know a dapping block from a disc cutter! Just the guy I was looking for!

I  then began to laboriously describe my fabrication process. I needed to write instructions on how to anneal and dap a copper ring, cut a disc, measure gallery wire, solder a bail, polish metal and take an inch of wire and turn it into a heart not to mention how to put it all together! I realized, if my husband couldn't understand it, I knew it had to be clearer.

Oh, did I mention my "reader", besides being a real trooper for helping me, is also an English Professor with many years of editing? How very, very convenient! Boy, oh, boy, edit he did!  He would sit behind me as he made me read out my most recent scribblings.

Reading aloud really helped to make it clear just how unclear my writing was! He also helped me see just how often I use the very vague words "it" and "this".  He told me when he was teaching and correcting papers he became so tired of the over use of "it" he began putting (sh) before "it" to let the student know just what "it" was really worth.  I have to admit I received more than my share of (sh).

Along with submitting the manuscript I had to submit a couple of sample process photos.  The editor needed to make sure they were acceptable before I went through the work of making the piece and photographing it all. I had to make just a few adjustments before they were fine for the article.  Next post I will continue from this point,  Photographing Project Fabrication.

Learning From My Mistakes!

After making the pendant in the previous post I thought it was worth a repeat. It's always good to make something several times. I'm glad I did, too. I discovered a better sequence for my soldering. I used to solder the center silver disc last while holding the pendant by the bail. I knew this could be a problem if I wasn't fast enough with my soldering. Guess what...I wasn't,  and the piece fell apart and I was left holding nothing but the bail in my tweezers and the disc still wasn't soldered in place and my gallery wire broke off!
Since I was forced to basically begin again I could rethink my sequence- which I needed to do! so- Where to put the solder? Initially, I put paste solder along the disc and pushed it in place and soldered it, but since the disc wasn't soldered I had to rethink it. The second time I put the paste solder in the copper piece and then pressed the disc in place. This time, rather than have the paste squish out on top, it went inside the ring, where it needed to be.  This was now my first solder (after soldering in my little heart in the center of the disc). My second solder was the gallery wire and then the bail. MUCH better!!

This is why I try not to get too bent out of shape when things screw up. I might actually learn something from my mistakes!!

Help, I'm a Sponge!

Okay, I have to admit it, at least to myself, I'm a sponge. I mean this only in the degree that my work is influenced by my environment, casual reading, conversations, dreams: you name it, it all creeps into my work. I can't help it.
Here's a for instance. Many of the things I was looking at around Halloween also included images and celebrations of Dia de los Muertos. I also had been looking at the work of Lorena Angulo. I love her work!! We are in some of the same groups on facebook, so I kind of keep tabs on what she is doing. (Lorena, I promise I am not stalking you!!)

I wish I had a side view with the
 decorative silver gallery wire but alas I don't
 and the piece is now winging it's way south to Texas!

I had decided earlier I needed to try out some new, less expensive materials. I bought some copper pipe fittings thinking I might be inspired to do something with them. As I was working I noticed my aesthetic had shifted a bit and realized I was unconsciously thinking about Lorena and her work, which is beautifully entrenched in Mexican culture. Even though the piece I was working on didn't have the same elements of birds and flowers that Lorena's does, I still felt her work helped to inform mine. I like to think of it as inspired by her. I think the pendant turned out pretty cool and I wish I had a side view to show you just how influenced I was!!  None the less, I will continue to explore the design.  

 And thanks Lorena!

Worthy Cause

I have discovered through MetalsmithsUnite! 2.0, which is a jeweler's group I belong to on facebook, that there is a program called Made By Survivors. This program's aim is to help women and children who are victims of sex trafficking, learn a trade. This is also a place where they may begin to heal and no longer just survive but thrive. Here is a link to a wonderful post made by Dianna at the request of MetalsmithsUnite! http://metalsmithsunite.blogspot.com/2011/07/working-with-made-by-survivors.html   I hope you take the time to read.

The director, Dianna Badalament is now conducting her Third Jewelry Tool Drive. She has published a list of the needed tools which you can access here http://www.madebysurvivors.com/content/third-tool-drive. I plan to do my part to help by donating some tools from her list, it's the LEAST I can do.

Meditation Mandala

This is one of my recent mandalas. I've been hunkered down at my bench a lot lately and I needed to give myself a break. This is inspired by my morning meditation and my on-going interest in Buddhism and mantras.

MEMENTO VITAE : Remembering a Life

Avideo I made of my Memento Vitae

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94Dh5BVMjQk

The "Memento Vitae" is my answer to our human need to keep who or what we love close to us. Each "Memento Vitae" has a decorative screw head that can be removed to add dry flower petals, ashes of the beloved or beach sand from a honeymoon.

A drop of glue on the threads seals a moment forever. 

Each of these is entirely hand-made by me from various combinations of 22k gold, silver, keum-boo, or brass. Particular gems such as birth stones may be requested or gems of your own can be incorporated. Like our own memories, each vessel is unique.               www.vwdjewelry.com

Art piece: Title yet to be discovered

Like most people, I have objects and images that recur in my life. One of mine is the arch. In particular, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. I have spent many times driving by this landmark on the way to Barnes Hospital. You may be able to guess that these weren't happy trips. It was when life, as I knew it, changed dramatically. A time of magic, death. and rebirth.

Now, I have a totem, of sorts, rambling about in my head. It is my own, my personal gateway, made of bones and blood, women and men and time. It is a part of me. It is atavistic. This new series represents the enchantment and intensification of life. My life.

The accompanying photos are the developing stages of this still untitled series. First, you see the interior of one side of the arch. A goddess/medusa who is then slightly obscured by a reflective yet transparent sheet of mica. This will then be over laid with a grove of trees pierced in a sheet of silver, letting the viewer see the goddess within- that is if they look hard enough.  

As the piece progresses I hope to share my creative process with you through my design and fabrication decisions. I am completely open to questions and comments. This is a journey and you are welcome to join me if you like. 

 

 "Art is our imaginative proposal of what life can be"