Saying Goodbye

I met my parents for lunch and took some time afterwards to look at the jewelry in an upscaled department store. I need to remind myself to do that periodically. I was pleased to see that they were carrying more or less the same kinds of items I've been seeing in the magazines. One thing that I found interesting was that I was drawn to some of the pieces with larger stones in them. I've been continuing to make delicate necklaces with small stones, but now I find the larger more appealing. And certainly that's the direction fashion is headed.

I personally don't expect to be a slave to fashion either in the way I dress or in the jewelry I make. However, I think it's important for any artist to keep their "eye" current, to know what kinds of things look right, what colors are appealing, what proportions are best, that kind of thing. Nowadays an artist automatically stays current just by coming in contact with the various media available to all of us: magazines, television, the internet, shopping centers. It's important to go out and look around.

After my stop at the shopping center, I decided to go get some heavier copper wire to use in making jewelry. Earlier in the morning, I had a conversation with my jewelry teacher who commented about the growing popularity of copper for jewelry. It's wonderful if copper becomes popular because it's easy to work with and relatively inexpensive, at least compared to silver or gold. So, anyway, I went to the new location of an old hardware store, one where I have bought one and five pounds spools of brass and copper wire, only to find that they no longer carry spools of wire. In fact, it looks as though they carry hardware fixtures and that's about it. I'm not sure they can really call themselves a hardware store any longer. That's too bad. An old institution is gone.

So I called around and ultimately found the best place to buy copper wire is on the internet at the same place that sells the gold-filled wire, http://www.monsterslayer.com. What a name. In my travels here and there, I decided to stop in at Industrial Locators. They're at http://www.industrialliquidators.com/. I've been there before to buy electronic parts mostly to use in jewelry. I thought I might stop in there to see whether I might see something which has new meaning for me. And I did find several things, one of which was some kind of valve or gauge or something. The equipment was made by Limitorque Corp which has a website at http://www.limitorque.com. I spent some time looking for the piece I had purchased second hand and didn't see it. So I have no idea what it is, but I started taking it apart and have four pieces of it that will make nice pendants for necklaces.

A friend gave me a whole stack of Chinese coins that he bought at the swapmeet. He says he paid very little for them. I'm not sure whether they're actually currency or copies of who knows what. I'd like to use them for pendants as well, but I think I'll try to do some research on them first. They may be some kind of counterfeit coins. They appear to be silver or have a silver coating on them, becaues they turn shiny and light when I rub my thumb along them. But I don't think they're silver, certainly not sterling or probably even coin silver.

I started a brass bracelet. I use to work in brass all the time, but I'd like to make something new and see how I feel about it now, especially when it gets tarnished. I've been wearing a silver bracelet that has brass beads on it, and I don't mind the tarnished look of the brass beads. I'll see how I feel about the wire when I finish it.