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.

Fearless

Let me be brave and admit that I've never been fearless.

However, I'm good at brave. I'm brave nearly all of the time. You see, brave is going forward in the face of fear; brave is doing things even when you're terrified. Brave is living tense, squaring my shoulders, sticking out my jaw, and moving forward.

But brave isn't going to work this time. I want to sing. I want to sing as well as I possibly can, and that means being relaxed. It means letting go of my fears; it means being fearless while doing something that terrifies me.

I don't know how to do that.

I'm not just saying that; I really don't know what it feels like to be fearless. I've always lived in varying states of fear; I've always been brave to some extent or the other. It's not as grim as it sounds; it's the way I've always been, so I know how to deal with it. I'm actually reasonably comfortable with fear; I've grown very used to being brave, and being brave doesn't scare me.

Being fearless does frighten me, however.  It's not something I have any experience with, it's not something I know how to do. It's uncharted territory for me; it's a new experience. I'm afraid of trying it, but I will be brave and do my best to sing without fear.

I just wish that wasn't such a contradiction of terms.

And so it begins:

PRESS RELEASE 5/14/2012 Carteret, NJ USA 

THE BEADSMITH ANNOUNCES 1st ROUND PAIRINGS FOR “BATTLE OF THE BEADSMITH”

80 Artists, 21 Countries. A Celebration of Bead Artistry around the World

A brief ceremony at Beadsmith headquarters in Cartert, NJ took place Monday, the 14th of May, officially launching the inaugural “Battle Of The Beadsmith”. Steven Weiss, of the family Weiss, addressed the competitors in attendance with some emotional words of encouragement, (transcript seen below), before officially announcing the 40 1st round pairings.

“My fellow beaders. You have been charged with the monumental task of taking your designs to places never thought possible before. Your journey will strain the very limits of your beading abilities… (Pause)......Do not entertain failure! Do not allow uncertainty, and the fear of defeat, to extinguish the fires that burn within your creative souls….. (Pause)…. Though some of you will fall in battle, history will speak well of the 80…. The 80 who beaded steadfast and true…. The 80 that beaded on, when their needles snapped, and their threads frayed… (Pause)...The 80 that beaded until they could bead no more."

The 40 first round pairings for “The Battle Of The Beadsmith can be found by clicking on the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/274053372682035/doc/298283420259030/

Please contact Steven Weiss for more information: steven@beadsmith.com