Where Is My Chair?

I'm getting frustrated, not being able to work in my studio. Yesterday, I considered going to Spanish Village and sitting at my outside work table. There was an Earth Day celebration in the Park, and I thought there might be lots of people around, some of whom might like some jewelry. But then I looked at my studio from this angle. Not only is my studio not presentable, I can't even get out my chair to use at the table. Well, that is to say, I could get the chair out, but the whole idea seemed too much trouble. So I contented myself working at home.

This morning I went over to the studio to look at the paint samples the City painter left with me. The ceiling was painted with Snow Lodge, a Dun-Edwards paint. For the walls I've picked Sea Glass also by Dun-Edwards. It's a medium olive green. I think it will give just the right affect. I've heard that Dun-Edwards makes very good paint. Professional painters like it.

Anyway, the supervisor told me he would try to get some painters out there this week. I was actually hoping to be open for Fourth Thursday which is a new event that begins this month in Spanish Village. Some of the studios will be open in the evening. Even though my studio isn't ready, I might go over for the event and work in one of the other studios. I'm not sure.

My jewelry teacher had mentioned that copper seems to be very popular with art jewelry makers. Since I've started metalsmithing, I admit I like it myself. It very easy to work with, soft and alive if you treat it properly. Unfortunately there use to be, and still is, a great deal of awful copper jewelry, bad designs and poor workmanship. So I think it has a certain stigma to overcome, but apparently it's use is being updated. I hope so. At one of the stores where I buy beads and other supplies, they tell me they've been selling a lot of copper findings, chain, and wire.

I made a bracelet yesterday using copper wire and brass beads. When I went swimming this morning, the copper turned bright carrot orange. The brass beads turned darker and duller. I also made a brass bracelet with turquoise which turned dull as well. I like the brass, but I feel that I haven't found the right bead combination to go with it.

I found some magnet wire at a local electronics supplier. It is copper wire coated with some material to prevent electrical sparks. I made some into a bracelet to see how it turns after swimming and showering. I also used some as a center medallion in a necklace of aventurine beads with copper wire wraps. The "normal" copper color with the pale blue beads is a really lovely combination.

I've taken out some of the copper bracelets and rings I made awhile back in metalsmithing class. I'm not sure whether I'll want to sell them or to keep them for myself, but I can certainly make more one day soon. Soon. I hope it will be soon. And when I put on my own copper bracelets and rings, I remembered that I always felt better when I wore copper. It is said to absorb into your body through your skin and help with aches and pains. I do think that it helps me. It's just that I wear it for awhile and then I forget that it helps and I get tired of it and take it off.

In the bead store, one of the salespersons admired the tourmaine and garnet necklace I had on and asked me if I had made it for myself. And I said yes that I almost always do make things for myself first. I find that if I try to judge the market, I don't do very well. But if I make things for myself, things I love, and wear them to test them, they will then sell when I put them out on display. On a certain level, we all like the same things.