Metal Texture Friday

The last few weeks have yielded some excellent thrift store finds.

My most recent find....this morning's purchase of a $1.00 baking dish holder.

The dish and lid were not present, but that didn't matter.

I was interested in the pattern of the cutouts.

I had some ideas that I was itching to try out, so I put my jeweler's saw to use when I got home.

With a section removed, I had to cut off the top and bottom rims so that I could work with a flat piece of metal.

Part of the serving dish was sandwiched between two pieces of annealed copper, and the 3 layers were fed through my rolling mill.

I like the resulting imprint, but it was a bit more subtle that I was hoping for.

 

I decided to try another tactic.

I placed another part of the serving dish on top of annealed copper and slammed it with my all purpose hammer.

This technique resulted in a more dimensional imprint.

Even the back side of the hammered copper has a great look.

 

And for another effect....

I sandwiched pieces of cut cardstock between two pieces of annealed brass.

A run through the rolling mill left a beautiful texture.

 

Now the challenge is figuring out how to use these great pieces of textured metal.

Last Night's Soldering

In the few hours before the big snowstorm moved into the region last night, I worked on some soldering projects in the great, new jewelry studio at Main Line Art Center.

Strips of brass that I had cut from a thrift store platter were paired up with strips of copper.

The metal guillotine made the cutting of these strips an easy task.

I don't have a photo, but after soldering, these pieces were blackened and  kind of dreadful looking as is often the case post soldering.

But...that's what the pickle pot is for.

Unless your pickle pot is not doing it's job....probably because of too much suspended copper in the solution.

I had checked my pieces after being in the pickle for around 20 minutes and saw that they looked no different.

Drat.

I wasn't going to get some of my projects clean enough for a second stage of soldering.

 

When I got home, I made my own pickling mix with vinegar and salt...a good pickle for when you're in a pickle.

A 10 minute soak later, the pieces came out relatively clean (top photo).

 

A little more cleaning with a sanding block, and the great, Egyptian patterning on the brass pieces can be seen.

More cleaning is needed to eliminate the pinkish haze.

 

I was also working on more rings, but couldn't solder bezels in place.

The concave contour that I had made with the etched silver nickel made it difficult to properly clean it without a good pickle soak.

Next time.

And....maybe next time I'll do a better job with my soldering.

This is what happened with one of my other ring attempts.

I paused a moment too long in one spot and.....arrrrghhh!

 

Melting your metal is rarely a good thing.

The Inspiration Behind the Pin

I’m often asked where I find inspiration for different things that I create. Usually, I don’t really feel like answering because the whole evolution of an idea to an actual, finished product is often a very intimate and personal journey.

But….there is always a rationale behind what I’m doing, and sometimes, I don’t mind sharing.

I’m frequently percolating a whole cluster of ideas that are in their own little orbits (yeah…it gets a little noisy and crowded in my brain), seemingly unconnected when all of the sudden…BAM…some of those ideas collide and I realize, “Yes…of course they belong together.”

This project began with three orbits.  

Over a year ago, I found this great album of black & white photographs at a flea market. I am slightly obsessed with old photos and felt like I hit the jackpot.

 Some photos have already been put to use in completed projects, some are in projects that are in a seemingly perpetual state of “hmmmm…I have to figure out just the right way to complete this.”

The rest sit, waiting for the right idea to surface.

 

Last month, I found this great metal dish at a local thrift store.

The pattern of cut-outs makes this an unusual find for me, and I immediately started planning how I would make my own cut-outs for different projects.

The lovely woman who was at the register said, “Oh, how pretty. You can get this replated and it will look like new!”

I said that I thought that was a great idea, but what I was thinking was, “Great idea….not for me, though.”

When I made my initial cut, I couldn’t help but imagine the section as bars, as in a prison.

  That made me think, “I have to think about this.”

A few weeks ago, I listened to an NPR radio program about rape on college campuses. Hearing that 20% of female college students are sexually assaulted left me feeling pretty heartbroken. A statistic like that exists only because those who have the power and influence to demand change choose not to.

The behavior of some students, even at respected colleges and universities, is alarming.

You can go here (Huffington Post article) to understand how alarming...it's very disturbing.

I am very impressed by the courage that some other students have displayed in their commitment to speak up and use their voices in a loud, determined way, demanding more from their administrators in spite of becoming targets of vicious verbal attacks.

Those different topics came together, and I realized I had to make the pin that I was imagining…a photo of women from an earlier generation behind bars that are breaking down.

 A section of the plate was cut out with metal shears and all edges were filed and sanded.  A strip of copper was stamped and riveted in place.

 

 Using the section of the metal dish as a template, I cut a second piece of metal from a sheet of copper that I had etched last year and riveted a bar pin in place.

After I secured the photo, the two layers of metal were riveted together.  

 

Change will only happen when change is demanded.

Silence is not an option.

 

 

My Etching Week

This was a week of etching.

 

Preparing to make earrings or necklaces or bracelets, I etched a batch of 1" diameter brass discs.

After coming out of the etchant bath, all of the discs were cleaned with a brass brush and pumice powder followed by a vigorous cleaning with soapy water and a soaking in the pickle pot.

Those discs with a more delicate pattern were then heated with the acetylene torch to develop a heat patina. 

Cleaning with a fine grit sanding block brings out the lovely details, and the discs are now ready for whatever project fits my mood.

I also etched a strip of brass thinking that this may become a bracelet....more to come as this develops.

 

And....

deciding to use some of my etched metal stockpile,

this ring was one of the projects that came off of my workbench a couple of days ago. 

Using a template, I marked and cut an oval shape from some previously etched silver nickel.

The edges were filed and sanded before I shaped the piece with my large cupola dap.

The etched oval was soldered onto a ball peen textured shank before a sterling bezel was soldered into place.

 

After 3o minutes in the pickle pot, the almost completed ring was soaked in a vinegar/hydrogen peroxide mixture.

Using bezel setting tools, a small disc pearl was nestled into the sterling bezel, and....

 

ready to wear.

Heartfelt

The copper hearts that were on my workbench back in December....

have become necklaces.

 

Using a Sharpie, I traced the outline of each of the textured copper hearts onto other pieces of metal, saw cutting out those hearts.

Each pair was riveted together using sterling wire or brass tube rivets.

 

 

As is typical with many of my pieces, I made sure that the 'back' of each pendant has something of interest to offer.

Sterling chain and wire wrapped gemstones complete the necklaces which have already been delivered to Woodmere Art Museum.

 

And....keeping the heart theme alive....

I've been wire wrapping Swarovski crystal hearts.

 

Wire wrapping these sweet, little crystals has proven to be a bit of a challenge since they don't appreciate the pressure that I need to apply to properly wrap the wire.

I broke a few hearts before successfully refining my technique.

 

I'm used to hearts that are not quite so fragile.

 

Evolution of a Painting

This is what I saw in my garden when the weather was warm and my hostas were happy.

I liked the graceful arrangement of flowers on the stalk and thought...painting.

So, around 4 months after that thought, I finally got around to starting that painting.

I made some editorial decisions, choosing to delete one of the flowers on the stalk, add a flower on the right edge and alter the colors.

It never fails that as a painting evolves, I find that particular sections capture a magical atmosphere that leaves me happily satisfied.

Then there are the other parts that make me think, "Ewww...that does not look good" and I have no idea what to do to get myself to my happy place. 

And sometimes I just decide to say,

"Enough already...it's done."

Thrift Store Find Transformation (with a bit of careful editing)

A few month ago, I found an interesting serving dish during a thrift store hunt for metal.  I'm always searching for metal that has some kind of unique texture or pattern, and this serving dish was a standout. 

At first glance, I appreciated that there were different images separated by column-like designs.

The 'capital' of the column-like designs appeared to be a scarab, and I thought that $5.00 was a good price for something so curiously cool.

Then I started paying attention to the depicted scenes.

???

I started thinking that some kind of story was being told around the perimeter of the dish since each scene is different.

The setting appears to be somewhere in North Africa or the Middle East, with most scenes including camels and men with weapons, mostly rifles.

It has a very 'fighty' mood.

I can't help but wonder who the intended audience was for this serving dish.

I was quite confident that I wouldn't want to use any of the scenes of men hoisting rifles in the air (especially after inspiring someone to boycott the 2012 Holiday Show), but knew that I could still do something with those columns-like segments which I began to carefully cut out with my jeweler's saw.

 

A couple of those segments have already become feature pendants after all edges were filed and sanded and necessary holes were drilled.

Necklace with wire wrapped amethyst, iolite, labradorite, chalcedony and crystals.

Necklace with wire wrapped amethyst, citrine, iolite and honey jade.