The End of the Beginning

Here's the California Tower in Balboa Park. Everyday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., we hear the bells ring on the quarter hour. In fact, just this minute, I can hear them as I sit in my office at home. It's a quiet evening and when the wind is right, I can hear the tower bells. But, really, that's a fiction. There isn't anyone in the tower ringing the bells. It's a recording piped in over a loud speaker. The bells play the familiar Westminster chimes. I've forgotten what the words are, but they represent a four line poem, a grace before a meal. Each quarter hour another line is added until on the hour all four lines are played and then followed by one bell for each hour. I just heard five chimes, to represent 5:00 p.m. There is one more set scheduled for this year.

These bells will not chime at midnight. I suppose people who live in the neighborhood have complaimed about them making too much noise. That's too bad. When I was a child, we had a clock at home that played the same lines. If I woke up in the night, I could tell what time it was by listening. Nowadays, all I have to do is glance at my digital clock or open my cellphone. People complain and so adjustments are made. I think if you move to this part of town, you should expect to live with the chimes and the train whistles which people have also complained about. I like hearing the trains, but I haven't heard them now for quite awhile. The clock bells, the train whistle, the ships horns, the fog horn, they all represent life in the city. It's part of the fun of living near downtown.

Here I am at home on New Years Eve again, this year because I'm sick. I've got the "bug" that's going around. It seems to be a sort of cold although now I wonder if I have the stomach flu as well. My special friend has that. Lots of people have been sick. It's that time of year. But I've survived pretty well, and now I'm ready to go on to a new year and business growth.

My plans for this coming year are to find additional markets for my work, to stretch myself as an artist in printmaking, jewelry design, and move into enameling. The jewelry will mostly entail getting my website up and running. And that will involve writing some text to support what I do, my methods, and my artistic and technical beliefs. It will also involve starting to photograph my jewelry and other work. I now have pieces of jewelry that I wish I had photographed before I sold them. I also would like to work on the display in my studio and on my worktable outside my studio. And I need to work on some packaging and business cards. I had created a second design for my card and those are all gone. Almost all of the first design is gone as well. I'm down to just a few cards.

I hsve learned some things about copper and gotten some new tools that will help me work with it more easily than I have in the past. And I suppose that's another goal that I have: to expand my skill with copper, to use it in new ways, learn new skills for using it. Weaving strips of it into baskets has helped me feel more comfortable with it. Knowing that I can cut it with scissors makes it easier to shape than it would be if I were using a jewelers saw. I've learned to etch it and I'll go on with that process. I'll etch it and cut it and enamel it and shape it and weave it and create all kinds of things. I've already cut a piece into the shape of a fish which I can etch and then print on paper as well as use for a piece that stands on its own.

So I suppose that at least a portion of my new year will be spent exploring use of copper. I guess that makes me a coppersmith. A coppersmith. Eventually, I'd like to develop my skillls to the point where I can do the same things in silver, become a silversmith, using cold joins and other techniques to create works of art. And I suppose another goal for this year or in the future is to really learn to solder so that I can do even more. However, for now, I like the idea of restricting myself to cold joins. That forces me to think more creatively, I feel.

This year, I feel I'm now at the end of the first stage of my journey, one on which I have undertaken to begin a fledgling business that someday may become a means of support or it may become another CocaCola. I've come to the end of the beginning of the business. Now it's on to the middle part. In writing the novel, they say you need to make sure you can hold your audience during the middle part of the novel. That's the point at which things can begin to drag or come to such a slow down that it's hard to get up and running again. Hopefully that won't happen to me or to you Dear Reader.

When I sat here in front of my computer this time last year, I had no idea where I was going with my blog. Now I have two of them. I've tried to write in them everyday, but I have, of course, missed some days, mostly because I was sick or out of town or sick and tired of wrestling with the wireless network which is down now as I write. I'd like to say I wrote everyday, but I know I'm not a machine, so I think I've done rather well, keeping it up. There were lots of times when I was so sleepy that I didn't know if I could write, and times when I didn't know if I had anything to say. However, that's one of the things that amazes me about the human mind. If you give it a chance to speak, it will tell you something everytime you ask. And I suppose that's the ultimate goal: record what the mind has to tell you. If you don't, you run the risk of not remembering.

Enjoying My Surroundings

Here's part of the facade of one of the buildings in Balboa Park. They're really lovely, modeled on ones in Spain I believe. If you want to see what they look like, watch the movie Citizen Kane. It's full of photos of Balboa Park, in the beginning where it they are supposedly showing his house, but they're actually shots of the Museum of Man and other buildings.

Today was a day off for me, but I went to work to do some Spanish Village paperwork. As it turned out, I didn't ever get started on the paperwork. But I did some straightening and organizing in my studio, something I always need to keep ahead of. And then I went to lunch with my cousins at the Prado, a very good restaurant in Balboa Park. On the way back, I took a whole lot of photos. Eventually, I'd like to make some of them into photoetchings. What I need to do is spend time once a week or so and take photos all around the Park and maybe in other parts of San Diego as well.

My cousin gave me a silver pendant set with a large piece of labrodite. I wanted to make a necklace to wear it on. I was in a hurry and I made up something quickly which I think has turned out to be one of my better pieces. I intended to use some small labrodite beads that I had and incoporate them with a piece of silver chain that I had. I used some of my industrial findings that are plated with fine silver. I took apart a necklace I had made but never liked, and started to add the beads. However, most of them had such tiny holes that they wouldn't go through the silver wire I had. And they are quite small, so the proportion wasn't what I would have chosen if I had planned it. So rather than struggle with the beads, I searched around on my work table and found several blue glass beads and several blue chalcedony ones. I combined those, using uneven spacing, and they look wonderful. I should do everything so haphazardly. It certainly worked this time.

Before I left my studio, I had started to cut some circles out of copper. Each one is hand done, so they'll be irregular in size and shape to some degree. I was going to punch two holes in each one and incorporate them into a chain, but I may just hang them from chain instead. I think they'd be pretty with silver chain and maybe some gold-filled wire, too. I'm not sure yet. They're so pretty and delicate. I could use them for all kinds of things, but they're time consuming to make, so I'm not sure how many I'll wind up making. I'll have to see. Of course, they could be made out of brass and aluminum as well. I have thin enough pieces that I can cut them with scissors. That's the only way I can make them at all cost effective. I'm not good at using the jewelers saw.

Now after the holidays, lots of my jewelry is gone. It's very nice, but now I need to put aside some of the fun stuff for awhile and make some new pieces. The pearls seem to be very popular. I'll probably make some more pearl necklaces and bracelets. That's the trick, a balancing act. Make some jewelry, working on new etching plates, experiment with shapes and sizes, do a little enameling, clean up my studio, start all over again. There's never enough time for everything. I suppose I could just stick to one medium, but I like so many. Maybe eventually I'll be able to narrow it down. Maybe not.

Jacaranda Christmas Tree

Here's a jacaranda tree in the main patio of Spanish Village doing its Christmas duty, sporting some ornaments. You can see the seed pods on it as well. They will stay for quite awhile, maybe only being blown off by the wind or maybe the season will cause them to drop. The leaves will fall off too at some point, but they still look green for the most part.

I spent the morning in my studio preparing a gift for an aquaintance and some family members. Then I spent the middle of the day at Christmas dinner with my family. It was a beautiful warm day, so warm in fact that I wound up wearing something different than I intended. My green Christmas jacket turned out to be too warm.

Late this afternoon I came back to my studio and worked until quite late. My biggest "discovery" right now is that I can cut most of the copper that I have with my scissors. My special friend told me I could use a paper cutter, and I'm sure I can. That would work for straight edges, like bracelets. But for any irregular shapes, the scissors will work.

That opens up a whole new avenue of possibility. I can cut the copper and use it for etching or etch it first and then cut it. Of course, I could use a jewelers saw, but those are kind of tricky and take time, at least for me, because I'm not that skilled using one. I've been wanting to etch a fish for my father, so this evening, I took my scissors and cut a fish out of a sheet of copper. I'll prepare him and then etch him. It will be much nicer than a rectangular plate with fish etched on it. It occured to me that I could even print it first on paper before I give it to him. And then I got to thinking about odd shaped plates for printing. That's something else I've wanted to try: printing a plate that's not just a rectangle or a square. I'm on my way.

All this thought of etching made me realize that I have plates that I need to etch. However, when I went through my stack of plates which are all together now in one spot, I realized that I only had one plate ready to etch. Well, really, that's all I can etch at one time. But it also helps me to see that I need to work on the eight other plates as well, finish them so I can move on.

So I etched the plate that was ready. It turned out fine, even though it was this evening and getting cold. I left it in for two hours. It could have stayed in longer, but it was getting late, so I took it out and cleaned it up. I can cut it with the paper cutter tomorrow.

Christmas Eve

Here's a photo of some of my baskets and other enameling projects set up on my outside worktable.

Today was a relatively slow day at Spanish Village. I suppose most people were home getting ready for the holiday. We did have some last minute shoppers, some who actually looked pretty frantic, a few men.

I spent time working on a necklace and the copper basket I'm currently working on. I didn't feel very motivated to make either jewelry or baskets. I was feeling kind of worn out from all the recent activity. I have actually sold quite a bit of my jewelry. I will be forced to get very busy soon and make more. This week, however, I'm going to be working on more Spanish Village paperwork. My term as Recording Secretary comes to an end soon, and I have agreed to run for another term. However, there is another candidate and so there is someone besides me to do the job. I might consider stepping aside. I'll have to think about it.

One of the glassblowing students wants to learn etching so that she can make copper pieces for family and friends. So she took two pieces of copper home with her yesterday and brought one back with some writing and drawing on it. We etched, cleaned it up and made it into a very nice keychain medallion. She was very happy with it and so was I. Maybe I will begin a career as a teacher, to teach a few people on the side. But that's a consideration for another year. Tonight I'm off to bed to wait for Santa Claus.

Using Copper For Baskets and Printing

Here's a copper basket I was working on today. It's still not finished, but I've gotten a good start on it.

It was a busy day at Spanish Village, for me at least. Some relatives came by and a number of the glassblowing students were in the studio next door. The furance broke again, so they were working on fixing it. It was going back up in temperature as we left this afternoon. They'll be able to blow glass on Tuesday. The Village is closed Christmas Day.

While my relatives were visiting me, we got into a conversation about the equipment they use to print newspapers and mail order catalogs. Apparently they create a copper plate that goes on a cylinder. Actually, they create four plates, one for each color. And they can print a million copies. I was amazed to hear that. Our printmaking professor always talks about the fact that a zinc plate will last for about 100 prints, maybe 150. I assumed the copper would last for about the same number of copies. But according to my cousin's husband, copper makes a very good, clear lasting print. That's so interesting. Later Philip said he worked at a newspaper in Alabama where they used that kind of a press for printing.

Yesterday and then later last night I was able to do a little enameling with my teacher in the Enamel Guild. I would like to make enough pieces to become a member of the Guild and also to jury into Spanish Village with my enamels. People seem to be responding well to the baskets and plates I've done. I had some of them out on my worktable this afternoon. During the month of December, we can sell any thing we make, in any medium. We don't have to be juried in with it. During the rest of the year, we're not allowed to display or sell any media for which we're not juried in.

In between the visit from my relatives and conversations with glassblowing students and Philip, I was working on the copper basket. Late in the afternoon, a man came up to my table and started looking at the baskets and asking me about my sheet of copper and the spool of copper wire. As it turns out, he is one of the exhibitors in the show currently in Gallery 21. It's a woodturners' show, and his hobby is woodturning, but he works at a salvage yard in Chula Vista, on of the towns south of San Diego.

I took him in my studio and showed him some of the surplus hardware I had collected and the assemblage that I'm working on now. He asked me abot one of the bracelets I had made by rolling a piece of copper and a zinc etching plate through a rolling mill. He told me that I could clean and polish copper with catsup. I'll have to bring home one of my bracelets and try it. So, next week I'll make a trip down to his business to take a look. I'm always looking for "new," neat stuff. It was worth my day just to get that information. I might take Jon with me down there. It sounds like the kind of place he'd like to go.

Happy Winter Solstice - Longer Days Ahead

This is a photo from my cellphone. That was two cellphones ago, the grandmother of my current model. I did manipulate the photo in PhotoShop. Now it looks like an impressionistic painting. I took this photo in the fall of 2001. I don't remember exactly when in the fall it was taken, but it seems to me it was fairly late, but probably not as late as December.

Today was the last day of printmaking class for the fall semester. And appropriately it's the first day of winter. However, I didn't make it to class. I woke up feeling as though I might be getting sick, and I thought it would be better to stay home in bed, so I did.

However, I did go out briefly to get a newspaper. My special friend told me about an article in the local paper about fractals. He noticed them because the examples in the paper look rather like etchings, like some of my etchings. I've been interested in them for years, and perhaps they're one of the things that has influenced my work over the years. Now it seems you can buy software to create them yourself. You don't have to be a mathematican or computer programmer. If you're interested, go to www.fractalus.com. You can also check out some very nice examples at www.parkenet.org/jp/galleries.html.

It makes me want to look into creating some myself. When I worked in the compter industry, I had a goal of creating a fractal screensaver, one that would continue to change and evolve. I never got far enough into programming in those days to accomplish that task. Now, if you choose the higher end version of the software, the program will automatically automate it for you.

I recently discovered there's a feature in PhotoShop that allows you to create patterns from a photo, by selecting a portion of it. I've played with it a little, but not very extensively. Jon uses it to manipulate the photos he takes of his glass. He gets some wonderful kalideoscope prints that are intriguing and very creative. Are you ready for a little competition, Jon? Just kidding. No artist ever really copies another and remains true to themselves.

A Cold Time Of Year

Here are two photos, front and back, of the assemblage I'm working on. It measures about 4 inches high and looks fairly convincing, I think. I've been working on it off and on for awhile now. I keep it on my worktable along with some loose pieces of hardware and I keep trying the different pieces together until I find ones that fit. Jon tells me that the round circuit board is part of a hard drive. He wasn't sure about most of the rest of the parts. There's one part that Philip identified as a relay. I think that's what he said, but I'm not sure.

It was a slow day in Spanish Village today, and I spent a great deal of time working on paperwork for the Village. I'm writing a letter to outline a series of events that occured recently. It's the kind of thing that I need to work on and then put down for awhile, then go back and read it again from a relatively fresh prospective. That makes it time consuming to write, unlike writing here in my blogs where I just write what comes out of the end of my fingers, more or less. I almost never do any editing here. In fact, sometimes I don't even re-read what I've written. I know that's probably not good, but that's what I've been doing.

I admit that right now my mind is turning a different direction, toward celebrations of the holidays. And my mind has also been on the weather. It's very cold for us. And in fact, I was looking at the temperatures in New York and they were only an average of 5 degrees cooler than here. My studio is very cold. I've been cold all day, even though I've had on more than my regular layers of clothes. Now I'm going to turn off the computer and go to bed where it's warm.

The Tallest Tree

Here's a little working Christmas tree. It really is a pine tree, a star pine. This one is about six or seven feet tall. I think they grow to about 60 feet or more as adults. I've been familiar with them since I was a little girl growing up here in Southern California. There aren't as many of them as there are eucalyptus trees, but they are around in some of the older neighborhoods and in the Park.

Today was a quiet one in Spanish Village. I spent almost the whole day on paperwork and on my Small Image submission. On Mondays when there's nobody blowing glass, I can sit and dream up all kinds of ideas. I thought about all the things I've made that would fit in a 10 inch cube: necklaces, copper bracelets, sculptures, baskets, etchings. I'll have to decide what piece or pieces I want to submit for jurying.

When I'm working by myself, I sometimes like to listen to NPR or some music. I now have a telephone with an MP3 player in it. I can download songs and play them through its speaker. Inside the phone is a memory card that holds one gigabyte of information, approximately 700 or more songs. The card is half the size of my pinky fingernail and holds 50,000 times as much information as the first desktop computer I had when I worked for the Navy. That was about 16 years ago, when DOS ruled the computer world and a dot matrix printer was a fancy new item.

Currently the wi-fi network is down at Spanish Village. Philip says that he thinks the repeater isn't working. And the president wasn't able to get onto the DSL network either when he tried earlier today. So even though we're much more advanced than we were 16 years ago, we're still struggling with various computer problems. Really, I suppose we always will.

I'm so happy to have a telephone on which I can store all my most favorite music and listen to it whenever I choose. And when the battery gets low, I can plug it into an outlet in my studio or in my car and charge it up in no time. Now, if it had a radio, too, I'd really be happy. I still have to carry the other phone for the radio and the version of solitaire that I prefer. It proves that small is powerful. You don't have to be the tallest tree on the block.

Preparing For Climate Changes, Including Political Ones

Here's a photo I took yesterday afternoon. Although the golden rain tree still looks as though it has lots of leaves on it, you can definitely see that there are gaps among the leaves. If you look really closely, you can see that the leaves are beginning to turn yellow. It's a little hard to see. I'm guessing that there will be a definite change in the next few days. We have some cold nights coming up. That will most likely make a difference.

We expected it to rain, so I thought I was going to spend the day inside. However, when I got to work, it was only party cloudy and it continued that way all day. I sat outside and worked on two necklaces. People like pearls, so I worked on a pearl one. I've got lots of pretty pearls of all different sizes and shapes. I also have a variety of colors although the bulk of the ones I bought recently are white or peach or pink. I did get some in colors like gold and amber to use with the industrial hardware that I have.

But anyway, it didn't rain, so I sat outside. However, my table faces north and in the fall and winter when the sun is further to the south, I sit in the shade all day long. Today I was very cold, even though I had on layers of clothes including sweaters and my boots. However, I noticed my neck was cold. I have two turtlenecks to wear. I'll have to make sure those are always clean. Also, I will get out some of my scarves to wear. I can leave them in my studio along with my other warm clothes. I do that so I won't wear them home and then forget to bring them back. And the other thing I did was to buy another hat. I have a hat already but it has a wide brim, and I thought it might make me unapproachable. But this new hat is velvet and only has a small brim. I think it should help keep me warm. I've heard that you can lose as much as 65% of your body heat through your head.

We have elections coming up in January at Spanish Village. Right now there's a great deal of campaigning going on. I'm not a campaigner myself. I don't care much for politics, but I am the Recording Secretary and I'd like to continue that job. I believe I can have an important voice at the the Village. In the past, I haven't had anyone run against me. However, I do have an opponent this time. I know who I think will be the best president, and I've been doing a lot of campaigning for that person. Now I think I have to do some for myself. And, of course, if I don't win re-election, I will have more time for my artwork. That's certainly not all bad.

One thing I did do today was go down to the Enamel Guild, Studio 5, and look at the various pieces they have there. Based on their prices, I figured out how much to price my enamel basket. I also put a price on the brass and copper basket that I made. I really hope it doesn't sell, because I'm thinking of entering it in the Small Image Show and/or enameling it when I have class next month. In the meantime, I'll work on making a few more baskets. I have some more ideas. And I want to create some more three dimensional shapes of various other kinds to work on enameling.

Assembling Information

Here's a photo of that zinc plate I worked on in class on Thursday. I had downloaded it to my computer and then couldn't find it to upload here. Now here it is. In this photo, it still has the asphaltum ground on it. But you can see also that there are a great deal of etched lines and open spaces as well. I'll try printing it again when I go back to class on Tuesday, try it with a stiffer ink and maybe changing the setting on the press to create more pressure. Also, I'll try a relief print.

Today I spent the day inside my studio, but I did have some customers. On weekends, I always try to sit outside, but today it sprinkled a little around noontime and I was afraid to bring my display outside. Besides the fabric cloth I put on my table, my displays are velvet covered, and if they were outside when it began to rain, they would get spots on them. I wanted to avoid that.

I spent the day doing some more organizing. I started to work on a necklace after organizing my worktable enough to find the tools and findings that I needed. But after awhile, I was attracted to the assemblage that I've been working on and I switched gears. That's what happens at times. I work on one thing until my eye is caught by something else and I am distracted. I suppose that's one advantage of working outside on weekends. I don't have so much extra visual stimulation and distraction.

A woman came in my studio this afternoon. She spent a long time looking at the jewelry and then as she was leaving, she said, "oh, you paint too?" I explained that what she was looking at was an etching. She had already said she loved my jewelry. Then she spotted the enameled copper basket, and she asked me how much it was. I didn't know what to say. I told her I had just started making them, and I would have to look at the pieces in the enamel guild and see what they charge for their pieces that are similar.

I admit that's what I hate about being an artist. I never know what price to put on things. I have to ask someone else's advice. I charge for my jewelry based on the cost of the materials plus my time, so it's pretty cut and dried. When it comes to my etchings, I charge by the size of the piece, except in several cases. I have one that's mor because it's actually four plates printed together and the plates have been altered. There's only one copy of that print. And there's another print for which I no longer have the plate. Unfortunately that's my "best seller."

But when it comes to an individual piece like the basket, I don't have any clue. I suppose I could try to remember how much time I spent on it and figure it that way. But some artists would argue that's not a valid way to figure the cost. I could say it took me eight hours plus 40 years. I should have asked my ename teacher when he came by today, but I didn't think to. I did show him my copper and brass basket. He said there is enamel that's specifically made for brass. That answers that question. But he says he doesn't have any.

Getting Organized, Thinking Differently

Here's a photo I took this afternoon of one of the golden rain trees, like the ones outside my studio. This one is beginning to turn yellow. Its leaves will turn yellow quickly, and then in a day or two they will be gone, the branches bare. The trees outside my studio haven't started to turn yet, but they will soon, I'm sure.

I spent today working on organizing my studio. It seems to be a never ending task. However, I do feel as though I made some major progress, changing some things around. I got some metal baskets to put things in, to consolidate them on the shelves. The problem I have is that if I pile a whole lot of stuff on top of other things, when I want something underneath, everything comes down. So I thought that if I could put all the stuff in the pile into a basket, at least it wouldn't all cascade down onto the floor.

Now I need to make a place to store my copper and my etching plates. I've tried stacking all the plates together, but I still come across more of them as I search through my things. And now I have a great deal of copper in different weights that I've bought recently. I can always use it for etchings, jewelry or sculpture, but I can't just leave it in piles on the floor of my studio. I think I can fit it in one of the boxes under my display table. Or I might put it in my filing cabinet. I did have my plates stored that way at one point. I thought I could store them in there with my etchings. Once my class is finished next week, I'll take them out of my portfolio that I keep carrying back and forth to school and put them in the cabinet. That will work well.

My other major problem is a whole series of unfinished jewelry projects. I guess I just need to get busy and either put the strands of beads back in my stock pile or finish the projects. Otherwise, I'm going to go on having big caches of beads all over the place. There are probably some strands of beads that I might use for other projects.

And then my immediate task for this weekend is to gather together my jewelry making supplies so I can work at my outside worktable and hope it doesn't rain while I'm out there. Although I think I have more than enough beads, I did buy a half strand yesterday when I was getting copper. I wanted to make it into a choker this afternoon, but I couldn't come up with all the tools and findings I would have needed. It seemed like too much effort. So on one level, I'd say I'm less organized than I think I am. But tomorrow it will all come together. I'll turn my mind that direction.

Today I was working on an assemblage that I started last week. I have various metal hardware and some little circuit boards that I can piece together into an interesting whole. So I tried a variety of different pieces together until I came up with five different pieces that seem to make sense. I glued several of them together and left them for tomorrow. They all fit snuggly together, but I want them to stay if the piece is picked up and examined. I also spent time on a small copper sculpture. I want to make three-dimensional copper pieces that I can enamel, and I think I need to start thinking in terms of ways to create three-dimensional pieces, things besides just baskets, and baskets themselves that are more imaginative.

Thin Copper, Thick Lines

Here's a photo I took on Tuesday at school. These are the few remaining leaves on the vine. They're much smaller than the others and hang dowfrom the eaves of the building. You can see what a typical, clear fal day it was. Actually, it does look as though there's a little wisp of clouds behind that tree in the distance.

I was at school today, working on several items I started in the last two class periods. One was a photo etching of a cat, a photo taken by my special friend. We were experimenting with it, because the professor wasn't sure how to remove the photo-sensitive covering from the zinc plate. However, we did figure it out today. We left the plate soaking in developer for half an hour and then it did take the covering off. The plate that I prepared didn't work very well, because it was too pale, but I'll try mixing the ink differently on Tuesday and see if I can get a better print. And I have a second plate that I can work with as well, the same cat photo.

I also was experimenting with sugar lift, an etching technique. You use a mixture of caro syrup, gum arabic, and asphaltum to paint on a plate. When it dries, you cover the rest of the plate with liquid asphaltum and let it dry again. Next you submerge it in warm water. The theory is that the warm water will melt the syryp and gum arabic, removing it from the plate. Then you can aquatint the exposed part of the plate if there are large areas, but the ideal is to paint very thin lines that will act as line etching. But that plate didn't work very well either. I didn't degrease it enough and the asphaltum came up in big chunks. I'll try that again next week, too, if I have time. Anyway, my lines were too thick and globby. But now I understand better what to do.

My third "experiment" was with a zinc plate that I wanted to bite very deepy, creating deep recesses in the plate. The plan is to roll it through a rolling mill with a piece of copper and create bas relief. I left the plate in the nitric acid for a total of three hours, two on Tuesday and one today. It is now covered with quite deep lines. However, the lines are no longer smooth and crisp. They have a sort of dotted look to them. The reason for this is because as the acid bites into the plate, it creates bubbles as the metal is eaten away. You can prevent some of this from happening by taking a feather and running it over the plate, dispersing the bubbes. But I'm not committed enough to spend three hours fanning my plate with a feather. My plan is to try a deep bite with a copper plate which doesn't form bubbles.

After I cleaned the asphaltum off the zinc plate, I printed it. The funny thing was that the lines are so deep that the ink wasn't transferred to the paper properly. If I'm going to print an edition of the plate, I'm going to have to use a stiffer ink, set the press tighter or print a relief print. The etching is normally a print of the lines bitten into the plate by the acid. The lines are dark. A relief print, on the other hand, is a print of the surface of the plate. The lines are white and the background is dark. I might try that. But my main objective is still to use it to emboss copper.

Yesterday, I went to get copper at the supplier, so I could make more baskets. However, the copper I got was too thick. On my way back from the gym this morning, I remembered that I bought copper from them that was on a roll. So I called them to ask if I had in fact done that. They told me that they did have the thin copper on rolls. So this afternoon, I took a large piece from my studio and went back. Now I have just what I want. I also spent a little time at the jewelry supplier where I got some copper wire and chain to use as well. And I have some ideas for enameling pieces of copper and then putting it together afterwards. That could be interesting.

Too Many Ideas, Not Enough Thin Copper

Here's another basket I made this past weekend. I never enameled it though because it's too tall to fit in the kiln. I can either modify it or just leave it as it is without any enamel.

I spent today working on another basket and also on a brass fish that I started at least a year or two ago. I think I was going to give it as a gift, but I wasn't happy with it at the time, so I put it aside. Now when I look at it, I think it's got a lot of life to it. I added some found objects to it, making it look even more interesting. I haven't finished it yet, but I will. In the meantime, with the idea of making a few more baskets, I tried to go to the supplier and get more thin sheet copper, but what I wound up with is much heavier. I'll have to look elsewhere or maybe go back and see if I can buy a sheet of the thin one, not just count on them having thin scraps. Normally the scraps are fine, but sometimes they're either too small, or in this case, too thick.

One of the things all the artists at Spanish Village begin to talk about this time of year is the Small Image Show that is held in Gallery 21, our rotating gallery. Normally, we rent the gallery out in two week periods to other San Diego artists, giving them a chance to showcase their work at the Village. But in January we take submissions for the Small Image Show which we put on ourselves. It's a juried show that runs for the month of February. The judge is always someone who isn't associated with the Village, someone impartial. It's considered quite prestigious to get into the Small Image Show. Lots of entries are rejected.

Anyway, this time of year, when someone produces a small piece of art, the chorus will go up, "enter it in the Small Image Show." I've entered three or four times and been accepted, although generally some of my pieces are accepted and some are rejected. Last year I had two pieces of jewelry accepted. They were made of electrical components. I also had an enamel piece accepted one year. Several people have already suggested that I enter my enameled basket in the show. However, I have an idea for an assemblage. The problem will be to find all the parts and get it ready before the submission deadline which is in mid-January.

I wouldn't mind entering an etching, but what I'd really like to enter is another piece of jewelry made with industrial findings of one sort or another. I have the necklace I made last weekend with brass washers and hemitite beads, but I'd like to make something more imaginative. I also have ideas for two different books as well. That's my problem: I have so many ideas and not enough time for them all.

Changes In Methods

Here's what's left of the vine at school. Almost every leaf has fallen off except a few in protected spots. Now what's left is a bunch of stems that have turned red and these little grape-like "fruit." I guess the vine could be some sort of ornamental grapevine or something related. I know that grapevines lose their leaves in the fall. I've seen the bare vines when we've gone up to Napa Valley in Northern California. And I've seen photos of them with their leaves turning in the fall.

Although fall tends to be one of my less favorite seasons, the red, orange, and yellow leaves I see around town are lovely. I was at the bookstore this morning, and I noticed trees with bright red leaves growing next to some palm trees. In fact I tried to take a photo of them, but it didn't turn out.

I spent time at the bookstore looking for books on book arts and also jewelry making. Despite the fact that I have plenty of books, too many really, I still can't totally resist them. I had a 40% off coupon, and I admit it lured me to the store. I chose a book on Tiffany jewelry that I've been looking at for months. I had decided it was too expensive, but at 40% off it was much more reasonable. I also found several magazines with metalsmithing tips in them. But I also resisted a number of other books that I might have purchased in the past. Anyway, I'm a firm believer in my mind's ability to store images and ideas that I introduce it to.

I went to printmaking this afternoon. I had several zinc plates that I wanted to etch for a long time. One was not finished. In fact, I'm still not finished with it. The other one was sufficiently complete for me to use it to experiment. I left it in the nitric acid for two hours, and I don't think it bit as deeply as I would have liked. I want to put it back in again on Thursday and see what will happen if I leave it in several more hours. I realized that I have two plates in my drawer at school that I tried to do the same thing with. This was when I took the class several years ago. I'll just keep trying. And it occurs to me that I could try to etch a piece of copper very deeply as well. That would probably take overnight. The thing about zinc is that it doesn't etch as cleanly as the copper does. The copper makes such a nice clean line. Of course, I've never tried to etch it really deeply. I will. That will be a goal for this week or next.

Enameling On Brass

Here are two photos of baskets I've made out of copper and, in the case of the lower one, copper and brass. The copper one above is one I've been working on now for a month, since I started to do a little enameling again. The former president of the Enamel Guild here at Spanish Village gives classes during the day and evening on the second Saturday of the month, the day that he sits in the gallery.

When he told me last month that I could come work with him, I started this basket because I didn't want to enamel one of the typical copper bowls that are available through the enamel catalogs. He had created a basket, and so I copied him. However, I only finished it in the last several days and had it ready for enameling when we worked together this weekend. I like trying new methods when we work together, like turning the kiln up to a higher than normal temperature. That creates enough heat to change the look and/or color of the enamels that I'm using. There was a member of the Guild who did some beautiful pieces using that method. I like the idea of working with the material, allowing it to do what it will in the kiln.

I had so much fun making the previous basket that I decided to work on another one today while I was in my studio. It's at the left. I used pieces of copper and brass that I have already etched. You can't tell from the photo, but the large band at the bottom of the basket is copper and the center band is brass. The enamel won't stick to the brass, so the effect that will be created when I enamel it will be interesting I hope. I talked to my other teacher, a cloisonne teacher, on the phone about the brass. She said there must be a way to get the enamel to stick to the brass because all the Chinese cloisonne is done on brass. I don't know the answer. I'll just have to try it and see what happens.

I enjoy working with enamels because I think there's a great deal of room for creativity in the medium. Not much has been done with it recently to experiment and give it a new look. Or if there has been, it's certainly not something I'm aware of. Most of the work I've seen is fairly traditional. I want to make some pieces that are really extreme, that really push the envelop so to speak.

I certainly don't think of enamel as my medium, but certainly I have more fun in the enameling and cloisonne classes than with any other art form at this point. And it's a medium that certainly brings out my creativity. Remembering that fact, I want to push myself with the medium as far as I possibly can, not follow any of the usual procedures that enamelist normally adhere to. I want to break all the rules. And I gave up all my flat pieces of copper and said I will never do a flat piece of enamel again. I will always "build" something out of copper that I can use to enamel.

After spending most of the day on the brass and copper basket, I took some time to put some asphaltum on some copper and one zinc plate. My cloisonne teacher talked to me about using deeply etched zinc to emboss on copper or silver. I'm very anxious to try doing that. I've always wanted to do a deeply etched plate, so my plan is to take a zinc plate I have into class tomorrow and try etching it for a long time.

If The Day Were Longer I Could Do More

Here's a photo I took this morning in front of the Atheneum in La Jolla. When I was growing up, it was the La Jolla Public Library, but now it's a music and art museum with a portion set aside for exhibits. I went to it this morning because a client recommended an exhibit there called Uncommon Metal.

I was glad I took some time to do so. The show was interesting, consisting of jewelry and some metal furniture made from street signs and some two dimensional and three dimensional work that included lights that blinked on and off. I enjoyed seeing the jewelry made partly from money, not immediately obvious, and a very long necklace a little reminiscent of some of mine. It definitely further encourages me to pursue some of my "art" jewelry. I have lots of ideas.

After going to the exhibit, I went to an industrial liquidator where I found some wonderful nuts made of stainless steel and plated with silver. They are like some I have already but these new ones are much larger, more in keeping with the proportions that I'm working with now. Later in the day, I went to the bead supplier to find some beads to go with my new pieces. I selected some dyed pearls in golds, bronzes, and titanium to put with the silver, brass, and stainless steel that I have already as well as the new pieces.

Today was my day off. I went to printmaking. I've been helping the professor by working with some photo sensitive zinc plates. They work on the same principle as the photo sensitive polymer plates I've been using for about three or four weeks now. But they have the added advantage of being made of zinc and can therefore be worked further, after they have the photo etched on them. The problem is that we don't have the directions, and we're not sure what to do. We called the supplier, and we thought we had the answer, but after trying today, it seems we don't. But I will try to do some research and go on with it again next week.

The other thing I'm trying in printmaking, something I've never tried before, is sugar lift. You paint with a combination of asphaltum and caro syrup which then washes off in warm water, leaving the painted lines free to be bitten by the acid. I started that process, but I have to wait for it to dry before I can proceed. So that's a project for next week as well. This week wasn't as productive as I'd like, but I'm okay with that. If I could just get one more photo etching done to complete my series, I'd be satisfied for now. And I'm sure I can. I have three more classes in which to accomplish that task.

Is Anything Happening

Here's a little succulent garden sitting up on the bannister to the balcony above Studio 18. Part of it is blooming, on the other side. These plants are so happy. Just give them a swallow or two of water and a sunny spot, and they'll grow happily for years, blooming and prospering. We should all be so contented, or at least on some level.

I suppose I don't want to be too content with my current lot in life. If I were, I wouldn't be striving to build a business and create my artwork. So even though spending my life basking in the sun sounds wonderful, I suppose it isn't really.

I spent the day working on jewelry. Before I arrived at Spanish Village this morning, I went to an industrial surplus supplier where I got some nuts, brass washers, and various other items that I can't identify. But I like the way they look, and I spent the day incorporating them into jewelry. Using brass washers could solve the problem I have of finding enough gold-filled rings and chain to intersperse with my stones and pearls. I took some tiny brass nuts and combined them with some button pearls. I love the look.

Tomorrow I'll go back to printmaking class. We only have four more sessions that we can use for printing. Then we have the final session when we clean up the room and get it ready for next semester which starts again in late January.

Everyone is thinking about Christmas presents. I've had customers looking for jewelry today and even my mother called me and asked me to bring some pieces to show her when I see her tomorrow. She wants to buy one. In addition, she's commissioned me to make a particular piece for her in green. Suddenly I feel very busy supplying jewelry. That's nice. Sometimes I feel as though I'm just working away and nothing is happening besides me working.

Trial and Error

Here's another little plant doing duty as a Christmas tree, decorated with lights. It's a succulent about 20 inches high, maybe less. It seems that these days any plant here in the Village is a candidate for lights. And the succulents for the most part have strong stems with which to support the lights.

I went to printmaking class today. I've been doing a series of photo etchings on polymer plates. However, the professor has some zinc plates that have a photo sensitive film on them. He wasn't sure how to use them, but we did some experimenting. I'll have to figure out what to do next. He has misplaced the directions. But I told him I will try to look for some information on the internet. I'm trying to become more and more dependent on it, using it instead of buying books. I love books, but they're expensive sometimes and after awhile they take up too much room. Certainly I have no more room for them on my worktable. In fact, I was just looking at them today and thinking I should put them elsewhere. I don't refer to most of them very often or at all.

Well, it's been a long, rather frustrating day so I'm off to make it an early night. I would like to have printed an edition of etchings today, but I've printed a total of 12, so I'm in pretty good shape for the semester.

Creating Beauty

Here's a photo that I've manipulated in PhotoShop in preparation for printmaking class tomorrow. I tried this photo already but it didn't work out. There were too many dark areas and the process created great big open bites that hold ink and make it very difficult to print. So I've worked on it some more and printed it again. I think it will be better. I hope so. I have others as well if this one doesn't work. I'd like to have a series of four photo etchings of Spanish Village. I have three already, so I'm close. That will give me one series of pieces. I have another started, but the third isn't progressing very well. I just have to keep working at it. And I'll try to have more plates ready by the time the class begins again in late January. In the meantime, we have several more weeks to go before the break.

I spent the day working for about four hours at the computer. I like being able to work with my photos and change them into something usable, but it's so time consuming to take that route. But I guess if I consider how long it takes me to create an etching plate by drawing the whole things, I guess it's not so much time. The problem with the computer is that it's tempting to keep trying different variations on a single photo. But with the ones for class, I'm more or less sticking to the same set of changes and filters. I did discover the poster edge filter which I like a lot. It's particularly conducive to etchings because it creates black lines. I like that look.

The rest of the time today was spent working on a necklace made from hardware parts, some kind of nuts. I have no idea what they're used for. They have little protrusions on each side. Anyway, the ones I have are made of stainless steel and are very attractive. I'm combining them with garnets, hemitite, and pearls. And I'm using gold-filled wire. Some of the pieces I make out of hardware are joined with brass wire. But I think these stainless steel pieces are worth using gold-filled wire with. They will last, not turn color as they would if they were base metal.

Also, my mother has commissioned me to make a necklace for her. She found a photo in the newspaper and she wants one like it. It's a strung bead necklace, not the style that I usually make. I always use wire bending or knotting to join beads together. But this necklace will be strung beads. It will be a good change for me, to try something new. However, like everything new, it will take some time to get going with it. I spent several hours at the bead supplier today assembling the items I will need. That didn't even include the beads which I have here in the studio. I wanted to start it today because I'm going to see her on Thursday, but I'm afraid I'm not going to make it. Maybe I can work on it in the morning before I go to printmaking.

When my mind begins to work in a different direction, I always have so many ideas for projects, and I can't work fast enough to make them all. I find it very frustrating. I suppose I could give up printmaking or jewelry and just concentrate on one medium. However, I've already more or less given up painting for now and enameling as well. But the other idea I have is to make a small assemblage for the Small Image Show that we have here at Spanish Village in February. An assemblage is a piece of sculpture made of a group of assembled objects attached together to create a whole. Picasso create a bull's head from a bicycle seat and handlebars. That's probably the perfect example of an assemblage. I admit I fell in love with the concept after seeing his piece. It's the definition of art as well: taking ordinary objects and making them look beautiful. That's what I try to do with my jewelry made of hardware.

Trying To Get Organized Again

Here's a photo I took this afternoon. It's a succulent with a string of holiday lights tossed over it. I'm not sure why they're all in a heap to one side. Last night when I walked by that group of plants they were all nicely lit up with lights. But I guess the occupants of the studio have decided to take them off now that December Nights are over. Aside from this jumble of lights, everything was clean and tidy this morning when I arrived. Last night probably a thousand people passed through our patio, some lingering to look around. But today there was hardly anybody. It was more like a week day than a weekend.

I spent the day working on a necklace made with green and red garnets. But really, I'm not sure where the day went. I spent time talking to some of the artists, but I'm not sure I can account for all my time. It seemed I'd hardly been there for long when Andy, the glassblower in the next studio, said it was 3:00 p.m. We close at 4:00, so the day was nearly gone.

I admit that I have a tendency to dread December Nights because of the long hours that it means for those of us in studios and also for the folks who set up in the main patio. But I enjoyed talking to people last night, ones who came by to look and stopped to talk. One little boy told me about eating a chocolate covered worm. His mother confirmed that they had, in fact, eaten worms, that they were kind of crunchy. Other people talked about how long the lines were to buy food and to park their cars. Jon wound up driving part way here and then going back home and walking to the Village. He said it took him 50 minutes, but he thought it would take him longer if he waited to park. But despite the long lines, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

I took three of my lamps outside from my studio to light my outside worktable. As a result, my studio looks like the jumble of Christmas lights on the succulent. I've got piles of electrical cords that I need to wind up and put away. And night before last when I came into my studio to get a bag for a bracelet, I knocked a box of beads on the floor. I need to clean those up tomorrow.

In fact, aside from doing Spanish Village business, tomorrow is going to be a clean up and get organized day. I feel embarrassed when my studio gets too messy, but various people have assured me that I shouldn't feel that way. My student said she thinks my studio is very nice and that the disheveled look adds to its charm. One of the other artists said she thinks people really enjoy seeing work in progress and studios with lots of tools and equipment sitting around. I suppose that's true. I certain enjoy her studio and it looks that way. But I do want to put away my own heaps of cords.

Looking With More Than Your Eyes

Here's a photo I took yesterday morning on my way to Spanish Village. Because of the December Nights festivities, we were asked to park in the San Diego Zoo parking lot and walk over from there. This is a view along the walkway that connects the two. Those palms grow all over San Diego County. Well, really, they grow all over the world, but I think they came to California from Mexico. We're fortunate that our mild climate allows us to import so many interesting and diverse plants from around the world. I know that some of them are a danger to the indigenous plants and we need to take that into consideration, but certain plants that grow in a controlled situation are probably safe, as long as they don't spread or bring bugs with them.

Yesterday I got to Spanish Village around 9:00 a.m. and stayed until nearly 10:30 p.m. And it will be the same today as well. It's a long day for those of us who are here five days a week, but we have lots of visitors and that helps us in the long run, because they come back again on more "normal" days. Events like this also bring out our members who aren't here all the time. It's nice to see them, talk to them, and see what they've been doing with their artwork. And they in turn have exposure to lots of visitors.

I spent the day working on jewelry. The problem I ran into when it got dark was the light. I brought two of my lamps outside from my studio, and they helped. But I still had to stop working on the little tiny wire and work on something a little easier to see. I'm very fortunate because I don't need glasses to work. I was always very nearsighted when I was younger. When I turned 40, I started to get farsighted, the way everyone does. But what happened was that one remained relatively nearsighted while the other became farsighted. So I can see well up close and at a distance. I'm sure as I get older still, I'll have a problem, but right now I take advantage of my eyesight to work on my art.

One of the artists who is set up on the patio is a plein air painter. He goes out in his motor home to various locations in the back country and paints, sometimes for days at a time. I admit it makes me yearn to paint again. And maybe at some point I will. I'm sure that my eyesight would affect what I see and what I paint. There's talk about the fact that Monet may have painted the way he did, because of his eyesight. He was most likely very nearsighted.

But whether Monet was nearsighted or not, the fact remains that everyone's eye is different. Everyone sees the world in a different way, and we each have a contribution to make in our own "voice," seeing with our unique "eye." That's what I learned from all the writing I did. And I see that it applies to any art form.