Report from the Trenches: Week Two

My second week of work on my "Battle of the Beadsmith" piece is over; and I'm going to to do my best to give you a report without giving away any top-secret information. I can't release any photos, or give you any specifics of the design until the battle has actually begun and my photos are turned loose to joust in their first round. But, until then, here are a few random thoughts and musings from the second week:

Okay, first off, I didn't get nearly as much done as I wanted to this week. I'd hoped to be done with all the components, and I'm not. I'm close, but not quite there. I have one more large one and at least two more small ones to make; maybe more, by the time the design is finalized; but for now, that's the count.

To keep things light, Steven Weiss, of the Beadsmith, has been busy making digital badges for the contestants; here's one that he made for me. I love the bright colors! One of these days, I have to use this color palette for a piece of beadwork; it just screams summer to me.

Back to the Battle: by the end of this week, I'd like to have all the components made, and a good start on putting them together. That's going to be the tricky bit; I've got several ideas on how to do that, but nothing firm yet. I suspect figuring that out will take up a few more rungs on the design disaster ladder. So maybe I ought to revise that goal: By next week, I'd like to have finished the components and figured out how I'm going to join them together. The amount of said joining doesn't have to be a lot - it just has to be known.

See you next week with a report on how I've done!

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Wandering

I've always loved the concept of taking a walkabout; just pick up, head out, and find myself along the way. No itinerary, no plans, no rules. One foot in front of the other for as long as it takes; let the journey tell me what I need to know.

I like to wander.

Yesterday, we wandered up the coast; we took roads at random and saw what was on them. When we came to this pier, we got out of the car and walked it. I think it's the longest pier I've ever seen; I can't remember seeing a longer one. This picture was taken part-way down; I didn't think to take a photo at the beginning and I didn't like the photo I took on the way back. So, here we are, somewhere in the middle.

That's sort of a metaphor for life, anyway; none of us remember the beginning, we start remembering things somewhere along the way, and that's what is real to us. Just like this picture, we can't quite see the end, and we can't remember the beginning.

I took this photo near the end of the pier; not at the very end, however, because, just like the beginning, I forgot.

There were some people fishing at the end of the pier; they were catching kelp. Not on purpose, of course, but that's all that was biting.

Some days are like that. You cast for fish, but you hook kelp.

This day was clear, the sun was shining, and there was a stiff breeze that kept us cool as we walked. This spot was a great find; someday we will come back with our beach mats and bathing suits.

Or not.

Report from the Trenches: Week One

My first week of work on my "Battle of the Beadsmith" piece is over; and I'm going to to do my best to give you a report without giving away any top-secret information. I can't release any photos, or give you any specifics of the design until the battle has actually begun and my photos are turned loose to joust in their first round. But, until then, here are a few random thoughts and musings from the first week:

I've pulled out some stones that I bought on a trip to Sedona about a year and a half ago. These stones have a special meaning to me; that trip was taken at a time of coming to terms with loss, and the beautiful vistas and time spent hiking in the hills of Sedona helped me find new hope for the future at that point in my life. These stones sum up that trip to Sedona for me; I've been saving them for just the right project. This is it.

The first design disaster is already behind me; that's a good thing. Now there will be one less to worry about. I like the new direction I'm taking much better. I want this piece to be meaningful; I want to let go of the side of me that screams, "Bling! Spectacular! Big! Bigger!" because the theme of this contest is creating for the love of beads and beading. I want to make something that comes from my heart, not my head; something that says love, not ego. I want to make a piece that reminds me of my on-line friends every time I wear it.

The on-line beading community has been very important in my life; I've made friends whom I treasure. This contest is a celebration of those friendships, a celebration of the work we do, and I want to be mindful of that over the next few weeks. Can I create a piece that goes from loss, through healing, to joy? I don't know. But regardless of what it says to anyone else, that's what it will mean to me.

This week, I've focused on making the smallest elements of the design; the baby steps that will become the foundation of whatever I end up creating. It's not an exciting process; it can be rather tedious, as I'm not fond of repeating myself, and repeat myself I must. It's a necessary part of the process, however; both in life, and in beading. Bit by bit, I'm building the foundation for this piece, just as I have built the foundation for this new stage of my life.

Peace and joy be with you.

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Wine Festival: One winery at a time

Castoro Cellars

This weekend is our town's annual big wine festival; for one weekend a year, our town doubles in size. Every hotel room is booked, and every restaurant is packed for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Wine lovers descend like friendly locusts; we tend to avoid going downtown for the duration.

However, one of the advantages of living here is that we don't have to try to do everything in one weekend; we can build our own wine festival all year long, one winery at a time.

So, instead of joining 20,000 of our soon-to-be closest friends in the park for the grand tasting event this afternoon, we headed west and went to Castoro Cellars Vineyard to see what they were up to for Wine Festival Weekend. Many of the wineries have special festival events; we try to hit a few of them every year.

We discovered that Castoro had set up barrels for tasting in the courtyard; getting a sample direct from the barrel is a fun way to feel like a wine insider.Yeah, the wine is cloudy, and no, it's not exactly finished aging yet; but you can get a good idea of where it's going, and you know what to look forward to.

The Belmores

And, if you know about wine, you can comment knowledgeably with the vintner while you are tasting; I kept my mouth shut when I wasn't actually engaged in sipping.

While we enjoyed our wine samples, we were treated to music from the Belmores, a local band. Their music ranged from old standards to their own compositions; we sat in the shade of the old oak trees, sipping wine and enjoying the music.

Welcome to the Paso Robles Wine Festival, our way.

Books, books, books: Metal Madness

Books can be so tempting; they take me to another world, a world where I can learn anything, be anything, do anything. Pure fantasy? No, not really - not when the authors of these books give such wonderful directions and encouragement.

First up is Gordon K. Uyehara's Metal Clay Fusion. I've dabbled in Metal Clay, and I've watched Gordon soar with it for many years. I've always wanted to look over his shoulder and learn from him; now I can. This book truly is a master class in metal clay; there is enough here to keep me busy for years.

Gordon has an incredible sense of design, his attention to detail is amazing, and his craftsmanship is inspiring. What he does with metal clay is art - and, in this book, he generously shares his secrets.

The techniques and projects presented are not for beginners; but even the rankest beginner will want this book. After all, no one stays a beginner forever, and you'll want this book within reach the moment you're ready for it.

Color, Texture & Casting for Jewelers by Carles Codina contains more information than I will probably ever need; it's a metal working course in and of itself. But, even if I never do try all of the techniques presented here, I have to admit that learning about them is fascinating. I came away from this book with a much greater sense of how metal has been worked through the centuries.

The aesthetic in this book is modern, but the processes are often based on ancient techniques. Keum Boo, Granulation, Mokume Gane, stamping, and various methods of casting are all covered in enough detail for the reader to jump right in and begin working with them.

I'm planning to keep this one on my shelf just in case. You never know, right?

And last, but definitely not least, Mary Hettmansperger's Heat, Color, Set & Fire, Surface Effects for Metal Jewelry, is a book that everyone who works with metal will find useful.

Color and texture add interest to even simple projects; this is a book that can be used by beginning and intermediate metal workers to take their work to the next level. Even advanced metal workers may find a few new tricks here.

Mary uses unusual materials - like grout! - to achieve some of her most interesting results; the designs presented range from tribal to very modern.