Back at the bench

Ok, so I was a less than a diligent blogger in 2014 ... I guess I could declare my New Years Resolution to be to write more regularly but I am a bit sceptical about both Resolutions and my ability to stick to my good intentions ...

Let's just start and see where it leads us!

I recently had the pleasure of spending some teaching time with South Australian artist, JoJo Spook. JoJo loves making marks on metal and this inspired me to have a go at making some texture hammers.

I have a bunch of hammers gleaned from op shops, as well as a few cheapies that I was happy to sacrifice if the whole thing went pear-shaped!

This was my first victim. I cleaned up the surface, evened it out and gave it a polish. Then I took to it with a Deremel wheel and files, creating an abstract pattern across its face.

This is the pattern it created on a piece of metal.

This is what it looked like with a patina added and a bit of a polish. I like it!

Next I turned my attention to the narrow end of the hammer ...

Again I used the cut off wheel in my Dremel to make some random marks.

I like this result too! I had to go ahead and make a piece of jewellery with my 'new' tool ...

It's pretty simple but I think the organic nature of the marks makes it quite interesting. Next time I will have a go at making a more regular pattern on the hammer face - right now it is 41 degrees Celsius and I won't be using any tools that create a spark today!

Getting underway ...

It seems that the Christmas lull has been a bit protracted this year. Or maybe I am just lazy ...? Anyway, there is a show coming up in February that I am very happy to have been accepted into so I thought I should get started on some work. The theme of the exhibition is "Wear a Piece of Adelaide" and it runs throughout the Fringe Festival (South Australia is the Festival state after all!). The premise is that you can create jewellery that is literally made of a piece of the city or something representative of the city/surrounds. I am planning some pieces made from wine bottle glass, specifically wine bottles from South Australia, most probably from the Barossa Valley because that is where I live!

Working with glass can be pretty exciting and as always when you work with recycled materials, you have to be prepared for outcomes you might not have envisaged. 

This is part one of a multi-part process ...

These pieces will most likely become earrings. Eventually. There are plenty of steps to follow!

Oh and glass can be. teeny bit dangerous ... Band-Aids are a necessary part of this whole process I have found!

Despite the little nicks (wow fingers bleed a lot even from teensy cuts!), I am super happy to be feeling productive once again. Now if I could just summon up the courage to clean up the studio ....