metalsmithing

this brass piece is my first ever metalsmithing project. see all the mistakes?
the next copper piece is my second one, same assignment. i love this one. i hope to make a pin out of it.

the next assignment was twins; cut out two pieces at the same time (taped together). the deers are my first attempt. i just love them. the birds are my second. i'm pleased with them, but i got the hole in the wrong spot, though. the butt is too heavy, so they hang funny. lame-o! both of them are sterling silver.

paintings

here is the painting i'm working on in advanced painting. i'm pleased with the blue figure, except for her hair. i'm really not happy with the with the other figure's face. it's kinda creepy, ya know?

the next two pictures are done. i'm pleased with this brown haired woman's eyes. i'm really interested in peoples eyes, the most. there's just something special about them.

metalsmithing

here is my first ever ring! soooooo cool!!!! so, okay, there are *tons* of things wrong with this piece, but oh. my. god. i made it! i love how simple it is. the thing that went the most wrong with this piece was when i *melted* it. it's made of two bands; an inside one and an outside one. jack (my teacher) soldered the inner ring to show me how to do, 'cause i'd never soldered before. and i've always been terrified of it. eeek! open flame! so jack showed me how to do it, and told me i had to do the outside one. i can do this. i can do this! so there i was, freaked out, with my acetylene torch and my fluxed ring. heating it up. heating it up. putting the solder on. heating it up. heating it..... oh, crap! it's red! it's *slumping*! turn off torch. dump ring in water. crap, crap, crap. show jack, who says, that's not that bad. advanced student says, "sandpaper it out." yay! salvagadgeable. is that a word? dunno. anyway. so i sanded it till the cows came home. which, of course, *thinned* the metal. hmmmmm... put the two rings together. stretched the inside band. compressed the outside band. soldered them together, and because i was the first one to get done, jack soldered one side of it for me, with the whole class looking on. so i had to do the other side. i can do this. i can do this. so i prepared my solder and then becca comes and says jake had a funny episode where he couldn't see out of one of his eyes. so i left, to get a ride home so becca could take jake to the er. on the way home jake refused to go to the er. i'm getting pissed off 'cause i had to leave my work in the middle of it.... jake's okay. just the wierd, random blindness virus, right? anyway, i went back up over the weekend (before the horrible esperanza concert; see next post) and soldered that puppy. i wasn't as scared of it the second time. i accomplished it! yay, me! so i don't especially *like* to solder, but i can do it. hopefully next time without melting my silver.

arrrr

i absolutely adore these buttons. don't know why. i'm not all that deep into piratey stuff. i'm not even the hugest fan of skulls, but for some bizarre reason these just do it for me. maybe it's the juxtaposition of the cuteness of a button and the hardcoreness of the skull and crossbones.

i got my ipod all set up!!!!! it's name is sweet pea. it's already almost full up and i haven't loaded my cd collection, yet. hmmm. who knew 8G could fill up that fast?

i dropped my history of world art and feel soooooo much better. i'm not overwhelmed anymore! yay! i'll be kind to myself, instead of hitting myself over the head saying, "i'm not good enough, smart enough, *whatever* enough."

went to a concert saturday night for my art appreciation class. esperanza spaulding. going into it, i had no idea what the music was going to be like. it turned out to be jazz. oh, my god, i *hate* jazz with the passion of a thousand suns. i find it to be cacophonous and basically meaningless. and she skatted. i *hate* skat. it gets on my nerves the way high pitched squealing noises get on most peoples' nerves. i am sooo hopelessly european, with my love of the melody line. melody, oh, how do i love thee! i'm not saying that jazz is bad music, i'm just saying i don't like it. not my cup of tea. i found esperanza to be annoying; the concert started *30* minutes late--diva, anyone? the three other members of her group came out first, started playing, and then she sailed out. and she sang her intro. diva, anyone? anyone? her voice was strident and i couldn't understand half of what she was saying. urgh. all that aside, she is obviously a talented artist. i just happen to hate her work. sorry, esperanza. so i walked out. i just couldn't take another minute of her nails-on-the-chalkboard music. music? i use that term loosely, here.

button earrings

love, love, love these. i started making button earrings awhile back. looked at some buttons and thought, "hey, those would make awesome earrings." so i figured out how to wire them up, added some japanese drops, and called them good. then i bought a book about using buttons in jewelry ('cause i *love* buttons) and there was my idea! almost exactly like how i did it. is that not bizarre-o? still feel smart for figuring it out on my own, though.

nene

here is my precious nene, peeking at becca, who's taking the picture. that's me sitting there with no hair. i cut it all off for the summer.

classes are going strong. i've got so much work! and it's not the studio classes (painting, ceramics, and metalsmithing) that are the problem. it's my stupid art history. the professor seems to think her class is the only class we're taking. argh! i'm already behind.... i can do this! i can, i can, i can.

just a bit overwhelmed

here is a small sampling of my necklaces. i really like all of these. the bird's nest has a story behind it; i've been making them and stringing them on bluish-green beaded strands. like amazonite. but then this one woman asked me to make one on a cord, because she liked the pendant, but not the beads. did she come back? hell, no! i should probably just string the thing on amazonite or such.

anyway.

classes are underway and i'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. so much work! i miss sitting in my chair with no pressure.

god, please give me strength to do this task set before me. i want to succeed! i just can't do this by myself.

lame

becca says these trees look disturbingly sentient, like the trees from lord of the rings. not that ents are disturbing.

anyway.

yesterday was kinda lame. in painting, all i could think about was how it's been like, four years since i painted and how i don't know how to paint anymore. the day started lame with mom driving off after dropping me off on campus. i opened the trunk to get all my stuff for painting, started to take in the first load. and she drove off.

with the trunk gate wide open.

um. mom? mama!

lame.

and then my tummy was so hungry it hurt. i ate breakfast! i swear. on tuesday and thursday i have painting from 11:30 to 2 and metalsmithing from 2 to 4:30. somehow i forgot i have to eat lunch. so i asked my painting instructor (mike) if i could eat in class, which kes (my painting professor when i was in school before) totally did not have a problem with. mike has a problem with it. oh, man. lame.

in metalsmithing jack talked about files, sandpaper and polishing. i finished my first piece! and man is it lame. i'll have to get a picture of it up here. maybe i'll turn it into a pin and hang it on the wall so i can have proof of getting better. because i *will* get better. in polishing i got the white diamond compound all over my fingernails. lame. jack said this will just be how our fingers look from now on. lame-o.

but today will be better. i hope. i woke up at four and decided to stay up. worked on drawing for the next assignment in metalsmithing. after i'm done posting, i'll read the rest of my homework for art history. and at 9:30, becca and i will go get our tent, tables, and other stuff from farmer's market since we can't set up today. we thought about trying to, but then becca remembered abigail has a well-child checkup this morning. and i can't be sure i'll be out of ceramics in time to relieved becca to go pick up deborah at 3:30. so no more wednesday markets. lame!

sunny

here's the little crochet hat i designed. i've made about six of them. this is the one i've got on the table right now. it's so bright and cheerful.

new technology!

i got my loan check last week and got down to some serious shopping for the upcoming semester. will be visiting prospector's for cold weather gear; hello carharts! and long johns. and heavy socks. i get sooooooo freaking cold with my thyroid out of whack that i'm worried about tromping all over campus once winter hits. i mean, i get cold enough just sitting at home.

anyway. i also bought a digital camera; a canon powershot A480. loooooove it.

and an ipod.

which i can't use. because my freaking laptop refuses to link to the internet so i can download itunes. because i have a pc. not an apple. *why* does apple have the coolest gear that won't play nice with the rest of the world?!?

it's a sexy little ipod, too. a purple nano. i swear to god i'm *not* taking the thing back to the store to get a lame little silver pc compatible mp3 player.

next semester i'm getting photoshop. can't hardly wait!

soon

classes start on thursday--i'm so excited and so nervous! i haven't been able to get to sleep the past three nights, i'm so unsettled. i probably won't sleep at all tomorrow night. why isn't my sleep medication knocking me out like it's supposed to do? rrrrr