sadiesjewels

2011-03-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

Ring a week - week 1

Yes I know I'm weeks behind but I plan on catching up! Honestly!

Here's my first ring of the week ... Only 51 to go!

These are two of a series of stacker rings I have been making recently. Not inspiring as rings by themselves but as one of a combination of rings I really like the look!

2011-02-22T20:40:00.000-08:00

Still thinking PINK!

My pink rubino tests are almost done ... just one rod of transparent rubino and one rod of rocky rubino (that has some unabsorbed or melted raw material still left in the rod) that a very kind soul sent to me to try, still left to go!

Here on the left is the latest Effetre #456 Rubino glass, available from Frantz Art Glass. You'll notice a good similarity with the older #456 that I was using and that had compatibility issues... It's a tiny bit more raspberry but nontheless a beautiful color for a fuschia heart! I did add two layers of color over the white to enhance the fuschia color - It is my very unscientific theory that due to the price of ingredients manufacturers are using less of the color enhancing components. But no cracking on this small one!

CIM Cranberry - #926-2
This had a definite tendency to yellow on me. The encased spacer beads I made with it have a very unattractive orange/yellow tinge to them. I will have to remember to keep my oxygen level high when torching this color. No cracking though, and the color would be great for a strawberry!

Reichenbach 104 - Pink Lady #RL2015
Recommended by two people as an alternative to my cracking problems, I have to agree that this is a great match for Effetre #456. Just a smidge more raspberry and a tad more "flat" than the original but you'd have to see both beads side by side to notice the difference. Cheaper than the current cost of rubino too! I love this and am over the moon to have found another #456 alternative in the Reichenbach range!

Reichenbach 104 - Gold Violet #RL2012
Much deeper and more intense than Pink Lady or the original Effetre 456 and slightly more on the amythyst end of the color range, but nice to work with and gives a very rich feel... not as perky as I was hoping to achieve but definitely has it's place in the "fuschia alternatives" I'm exploring.

Now off to complete a ring for RAW (Ring of the Week - I'm behind on this) and conquer my Clio problems!

2011-02-20T11:36:00.000-08:00

Thinking Pink!

I could have sworn I posted more recently than September ... didn't I mention my enameled heart throb work? My ring a week and my work a day?

So following my enameling mania in January (yes that was the Heart Throb posting - must be on my website - sadiecuming.com) I got stuck on hearts and continued the theme with 1950's style lampworked cutesy hearts.

Fuschia pink is the Holy Grail in the glass world and I thought my fuschia pink hearts were the bee's knees! Well that was until I lost two days of manic pink glass heart making to cracking ... all but one bead destined to be a pendant and one small heart with a prospective future as one earring cracked in the classic thermal shock line down the middle!

I was using an old variety of Effetre Gold Pink #456 and encasing it with Effetre Crystal Clear #006. After discounting thermal shock (all the black cored hearts survived) I had to conclude an incompatibility with my version of Rubino. The Pink quest was on!

Friends rallied around sending me various samples of #456 (different from my own)... and suggestions of other suitable colors to try. How wonderful! I'll be posting examples of the pinks as I produce them color by color as a record and for comparison over the next few days. I'll be aiming for some consistency.

Here is the color of my incompatible #456 purchased around 2005 or so. I'll be hoarding mine for it's fuschia properties ... despite the incompatibility issues.

2010-09-29T12:41:00.001-07:00

Okey dokey ... I'll start again (I lost my last posting somewhere so if it appears twice apologies)!

Time flies! I had a wonderful summer exploring the Ocean depths in the Gulf of Mexico, and taking a break from being a creative maniac while my very energetic Mother visited for over a month!

However, all good things must come to an end and it was all hands to the pump (torch) when school started.

From the beginning of the year I have been attempting to complete one item a day - of course there are days when I make nothing (even a week) but then I may finish 5 all at once! As long as I reach the end of the month having completed 30 new pieces I'm a happy bunny (as my Mum would say)!

So this month I'm up to 25 and am 4 items behind - that means tomorrow I have to complete and inventory 4 things. Think I can do it?

These are some of the things I've completed this month - the big hold cored beads are in preparation for a small group show I'll be taking part in at the Lafayette Gallery based on the theme of the SouthWest. More about that next week ... perhaps!

2010-04-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

I'm going to let go of having my blog be perfect - and unused! Since unused is definitely not perfect!

I've been busy working on my black and white creations for a theme we will be having at our local gallery. In place of a small group show the theme "Black and White" was chosen, and even though this will only be up for 3 weeks I've found I'm really inspired by it!

I've been madly lampworking and making scrolled creations which lends itself to the black and white theme very well, as well as beginning to apply it to my enameled creations - they're emerging with a very urban/industrial feel so far but I'm hoping to soften the look a little with some more floral theme type work ...

These enameled earrings show the urban end of things!

I'm hesitating to use opaques on silver as it seems such a waste! I do have a copper flower that I used as the design basis for a class I was teaching at a local community center so I may use that hydraulic press test to enamel initially, and I've a few cloisonee enamel ideas lined up too - Just have to finish a lampworked black and white necklace for a special display with a fellow artists hanging necks that we're collaborating with!

Here are some of my black and white lampworked scrolls ... I really like the slight touches of metallic that give this pendant a bit of depth.

2009-11-12T15:06:00.000-08:00

Well I've been feverishly working away ... but not on things that I should be working on! Instead I decided to try and improve my glass angels that I first started working on last year. Last minute of course but I believe I've been making some progress despite beginning in a new type of glass which presented me with a whole new learning curve! I've made about 20 and only 3 are strong enough to see the light so more practice is in order.

I still have some tweaking to do on them before I'm going to officially announce them to the public (I have an image in my mind that my attempts so far do not match up to), and I'm trying to decide whether to decorate them with gold - which I probably will do once the glasswork is worth the extra time spent on them.

So what should I be working on instead?

BEADS - for BABE (November 14 - 15) - I'll be on table 616. I'm low on bead stock and have a rather mottley collection of beads at the moment, but as always I'll have my fused glass cabachons and related bead and glass jewelry.

The week following BABE I will be a Arans Studio doing a fundraiser for the Castro Valley schools music program. I'm fortunate to be in an area with a really superb music program and know how much my children have benefitted from it. It should be a really exciting event with demonstrations and opportunities for hands on experiences! Come along to Aran's to see what is happening and support Music in Castro Valley Schools. For more information visit www.cvmps.org

2009-10-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

Open Studio 2009

Once again I'm participating in my local artists Open Studios hosted by the Lamorinda Arts Alliance, showing my lampwork bead jewelry, fused glass and silver work. Come and check out my new work!

As for the past 5 years I'll be at the studio of my friend the wonderful local photographer Warren Emmett Rice, and will be showing with talented Martha Kean who creates high fired functional ceramics and my creative friend JoAnn Lieberman who creates beautiful prints and collages. I love all their work and am building a collection of all their pieces!

If you're in the area please come and visit ... the studio is open 11:00 - 4:00 each day (we'll be there longer as we think it's finishing too early so count on us until 5:00 on the Saturday).

3251 Rohrer Drive, Lafayette, CA 94549

For more information about all the studios visit the LAA Open Studio blog