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.

Getting Ready For December Nights

Here's a photo I took this evening of the wizard with green gloves. He's featured in one of my earlier entries. Now he's been glazed and he sits beside his large treasure box on the shelf in the pottery studio across the main patio from me. His creator says he has a very serious expression on his face although she didn't say why. I hope he's not distressed by any of the happenings around Spanish Village. I wonder if he has something in his box that will help us out. Maybe he's just feeling the weight of the responsibility for December Nights which is the two-day event starting tomorrow here in Balboa Park.

Lots of preparation is occuring around the Village and throughout the Park in preparation for the event. The large pottery kiln is going, lights fill the trees, ornaments and wreaths hang everywhere. Booths and tents are being erected. The whole main plaza of the Park is filled with blue and purple lights. There's a huge Christmas tree on the stage at the Organ Pavillion and it's covered with red lights. I don't remember seeing the sleigh and reindeer, but I'm sure they're there.

My favorite bakery booth is in place. I suppose I have to say my all time favorite food is Christmas butter cookies. I'm definitely planning to eat some tomorrow night. Or before. Actually, we have to be here early to get a place to park. I'm going to try to come over around 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. We can't park in our usual parking lot, so we need to get here early to get a place that's reasonably close. I've brought everything I'm going to need over here this evening so that I don't have to carry a lot tomorrow.

There will be streams of people walking through the Village. As a result, I plan to sit out at my worktable outside. The event goes on until 10:00 p.m. both nights. I've already brought extra sweaters and boots over to help keep me warm. Actually, I plan to leave some warm clothing in my studio so that I can still sit outside on winter days and remain warm. Now that the sun is further to the south, my table is in the shade all day. I've been very cold the last few days. The thing is, it's just as cold inside as it is outside. But with boots instead of sandals, sweaters instead of tee-shirts, I should be fine.

Today I was at school, attempting to create another photo etching. Unfortunately, the transparency was too dark and the plate will be too difficult to wipe. So I agreed with my professor that I will make it a little lighter and then try again next week. Also, I have another photo that he likes, but it has a scratch on it. So I'll print it over as well. Hopefully, I can create two editions next week. In the meantime, when my plans today didn't work out, I printed a small edition of another plate that I had with me at school. So my day was not entirely wasted.

Photo Manipulation

Here's a photo I took late this afternoon. I took it at about 4:00 p.m. You can see that the sun is shining on the tree above the studio, but it's beginning to get dark, or I should say that it's close to sunset which is not readily apparent from this photo.

I tried to get the wireless network running again, and I thought I had succeeded, but when I got back to my studio, it was still not working. I realized that the repeater had been unplugged in the gallery near me, and I thought plugging it back in would solve the problem. I also had to reconfigure the connection in the Spanish Village Board office, because that was disconnected. But there's still a problem between the two parts. Or maybe I haven't reconnected it properly. I'll ask Phillip to help me when I see him on Friday.

I spent the day working on a composite photo that I'm going to use to create a photo etching. I want to do a piece in memory of my late husband. I had previously scanned some photos of him into my computer, and I'd like to combine on of them with photos of some of the places we traveled to. I envisioned the idea after seeing some of the photographs Phillip has been creating in which he has combined part of the Paris Musee d'Orsay with a valley on the Napali Coast of Kauai. It's most effective. He also created one that is a combination of a statue from the Fountain of Four Winds in Rome, I think, and the coastline of Maui. Phillip, correct me if I'm wrong. But anyway, I like the statue and it gave me the idea of doing one with a photo of my husband against the landscape. I also thought I might use an old map as the background layer.

Nowadays there is so much that can be done using a combination of regular or digital photographs and a program like PhotoShop. When I left the business world, I thought I might get away from the computer, but I find myself being drawn back to it. It's certainly a useful skill to have: knowing how to use the various kinds of programs. I feel myself being drawn back into it. The disadvantage is that it's very easy to spend whole days working on something like manipulating a photograph. There is an infinite range of possibilities. Phillip mentioned that his photo collages take him ten or more hours to create.

One of the discussions we've had here at Spanish Village has to do with using the computer in our studios. We've also had discussions about creating our works of art here in our studios as opposed to at home. Certainly using a computer to manipulate photos is a legitimate creative process that can be done here in the Village.

Short Days Signal Holiday Season

Here's a photo I took several evenings ago, looking up what we refer to as the "alley" although it's really a narrow walkway between the buildings. There are studios on the right hand side and on the left is the Mineral and Gem Society building. I use to be one of the sub-lessees of the second studio on the right. That was where I was when I first came to Spanish Village in 2001. The tower at the end is part of one of the smallest studios. It use to be occupied by a paper arts artist who was my high school art teacher. We found out by mistake one day when we were talking. It had been so many years since we had seen each other and we had both married, so our names were different. But we enjoyed many pleasant conversations together while she was still here.

Today I spent working at my table outside. There weren't as many people in the Park as there were yesterday or Friday. We always blame the Chargers, our football team, if the Village is slow on a Sunday afternoon. And certain this was a day to watch them. They're in first place right now.

I worked on some plates for etching and also finished my 200+ pearl necklace. Or I should say that I've finished putting on the 200+ pearls. I'm not sure what else I'm going to do with it. I've cut the chain so that it's now 36 inches long. I want to wear it for awhile though because some of the pearls are drilled in a way that they could fall off. I want to make sure any that are going to fall off will do so before I sell it to someone. Because of the value of the pearls, it will probably be my most expensive piece.

I had several people come to visit after closing this evening. Even though we close at 4:00 p.m., there are usually at least two or three people working in their studios or around the Village. On Friday and Saturday nights we will be hosting December Nights, a Park-wide event which traditionally brings thousand of people to the Park. It's always very crowded and very festive. It's a little hard for the artists, though, because it lasts until 10:00 p.m. We keep the studios open that late. The key, I've found, is to make sure I'm prepared with warm clothes, something to eat, and lots of Christmas lights. Most people who come to the Park are not shopping for artwork. But they like to come through the studios anyway, and we try to make them feel welcome.

This week will be spent getting ready. And I need to get back to the task of working on Spanish Village business again. I made some progress, but there's a great deal more for me to do. I'm hoping that when we have elections next year, I can have an assistant to help me if I'm re-elected. There's so much more to do nowadays.

Taking Extra Care Of Details

Here's a photo I took this morning. It turned out fairly well, except for the blur at the bottom which, I'm guessing, is part of my finger. But anyway, you can finally see the studio across from me. It's Studio 19, and it belongs to Andy, the glassblower. You can see part of the glassblowing platform, too, with the awning over it. I got here so early this morning that she hadn't arrived yet. But I put out all my stands of jewelry and a variety of other items as well. Even though I have my own studio, I still have to do a lot of carrying back and forth to get everything I need outside. And I almost always forget one or two things and have to go back. But it's better than leaving them at home. That's one of the really nice features of having my own studio. I leave almost everything here. I don't try to take stuff back and forth.

There were lots of people in the Park again today, mostly just looking. I spent the time working on some pearl bracelets and then went back to working on my 200+ pearl necklace. It's still not finished. But I'm going to wear it when I go out this evening for dinner. Hopefully I can get it finished tomorrow. Even in it's unfinished state I've gotten lots of compliments for it. The pearls are so beautiful, extremely lusuturous. Of course that the nice thing about making jewelry. I can wear it myself. And actually, I try to, so that I know whether it functions properly. One of the pearls fell off yesterday. When I put it on, I was skeptical, the hole was drilled so close to the edge. It's lucky I discovered the problem and could replace it. I would feel terrible if it came off after someone purchased it.

I suppose that's one of my biggest worries, that someone will buy something that's somehow defective. I like to make sure everything is working properly and is well made. It makes me nervous sometimes when someone inspects my work. I feel they might find it wanting. So, I suppose, that's why I'm so conscious of wearing all the jewelry. I've had a few pieces that have developed problems. Some of my hand-made clasps have been properly bent and the piece has come off. Also, several times the manufactured clasp that I've purchased has given up or not closed properly. I don't like that to happen. When someone buys one of my pieces, I want them to wear it and enjoy it, not wind up being frustrated.

Learning and Teaching

Here's a photo I took several days ago, down where they teach the children's clay classes. I think it's pretty down there under that tree. And you can see the golden rain tree with the orange lantern pods on it. I do know now that the name is correct. I looked it up on the internet and found a variety of web pages about the tree and it's accompanying pest the red shouldered bug. We've been noticing those bugs all over the glass platform railing. And it seems they feed off the golden rain tree. According to what I read they are not destructive in any way. But they are all over the place. I have lived in San Diego since 1950, and I had never seen them until I got my studio. I've insert a photo of them that I got off one of the websites.

These bugs are about half an inch long. They start out all red as youngsters and then their body turns charcoal gray. This bug is an adolescent with small wings. Eventually its wings will cover its whole back and you won't see the red underbelly, just the shoulders. They've gone through their breeding cycle now, so there don't seem to be very many of them around, not like there were about a month ago. I don't know if they die out in the winter. I'll have to pay attention as the days get colder.

Anyway, there might not be as many bugs, but there were certainly lots of people in the Park today, more than we've seen in a great while. Everyone who wanted to avoid the malls and entertain their children came over to the Village and the Park as well. It looked like the "old days" of several years ago when there were streams of people walking through the Village all day long on the weekends. I hope we'll start to see more people enjoying themselves. I think it's very important that we talk to people, and that children have a chance to watch the artists at work. The schools no longer have art programs and so we remain a way to help people enjoy art.

I spent the day working on a pearl necklace that I started two days ago. It will have several hundred pearls on it when I finish. It's taken me a long time, but I want to keep going and not put it aside without finishing it. That was my sole task today. Except that my student and I went to the bead supplier after we closed up at 4:00 so that she could get some beads, wire, and tools to begin making necklaces. That was pleasant. I enjoyed teaching her. It makes me think about possibly teaching some classes eventually. I haven't wanted to, but maybe I should try it.

I have been so busy making pearl necklaces, that I forgot about making bracelets as well until I had a customer today come and look for one. So after I finish my current necklace, I'll work on some bracelets. I haven't made any bracelets for awhile, and I think my display of bracelets needs to be freshened. I like to do that with all my displays, add new pieces. I think that gives new energy that helps attract people. And frequently I will sell pieces I've just made. It's the energy.