a la cigarette? non.

it’s tempting to wear red underwear, to 
slump in my seat, and hitch up my skirt

to laugh as if something is  ridiculously funny, to disregard convention

look harder! for the ability to believe,

cheer loudly,  wait for the unexpected, allow surprises to bubble out 
of the spaces in my [...]]]>

Henri Thomas, Femme à la cigarette Original etching, 1934

a la cigarette? non.

it’s tempting to wear red underwear,
to 
slump in my seat,
and hitch up my skirt

to laugh as if something is  ridiculously funny,
to disregard convention

look harder! for the ability to believe,

cheer loudly,  wait for the unexpected,
allow surprises to bubble out 
of the spaces in my heart and head,
to believe, still, that 
all is possible.

Wow. Didn’t see it in ‘97, and actually just watched on videotape. You have to click down the credits past Spielberg, in perhaps his first Dreamworks production, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins and Matthew McConaughey to get to Djimon Hounsou; his mindbendingly powerful performance, along with Hopkin’s final speech as John Adams, [...]]]>

Djimon Hounsou in Amistad

Wow. Didn’t see it in ‘97, and actually just watched on videotape. You have to click down the credits past Spielberg, in perhaps his first Dreamworks production, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins and Matthew McConaughey to get to Djimon Hounsou; his mindbendingly powerful performance, along with Hopkin’s final speech as John Adams, made this movie. Evidently, the movie was a disappointment at the box office when it came out. I’m surprised, but I didn’t pay to go see it then, either.

tangle of thoughts, like unruly wire messy mind making something, sense or not sense of it. all of it. some of it. So much going on. Summer’s end. School’s start. Homesteader’s metalworking class continues. Custom orders. Life. Relationships. Ideas. Ideas. And still need to eat, which [...]]]> or hodge-podge, which is the word I thought of first. Mish-mash? Yeah. All those things.

tangle of
thoughts, like unruly wire
messy mind
making something, sense or not sense
of it. all of it. some of it.

So much going on. Summer’s end. School’s start. Homesteader’s metalworking class continues. Custom orders. Life. Relationships. Ideas. Ideas. And still need to eat, which is hard without taking the time to go grocery shopping. Oh, and duathlon in 3 weeks and two days, to which the phrase, “What was I thinking?” applies perfectly.

Copper Falls State Park was a worthwhile experience. The Bad River, was good while we were near it.

The very good Bad River

Like a young bear, perhaps, belly full of berries, napping contently.

Young bear spotted in my yard in July - not napping yet!

The soldering and bezel making techniques I’m learning in the online metalsmithing class mentioned in my last post are definitely challenging. The round bezels have worked out pretty well, with [...]]]> It can be – learning new things. Just like this prickly little mama ambling along the hiking path at Jay Cooke State Park in MN.

The soldering and bezel making techniques I’m learning in the online metalsmithing class mentioned in my last post are definitely challenging. The round bezels have worked out pretty well, with the squared corners bezels being a lot more difficult.

My first soldered metal bezels

Embedding other metal into the flat solder went well for me, too. Pictured here is my first completed piece for the class – the leaf earrings.

Feather earrings

Today, planning to try using a resin to fill some of the bezels, and then experiment with chains and beads for finishing a pendant. And I need to give some thought on how to adapt this technique for making some bracelets. Seems I always come back to the bracelets.

Speaking of bracelets, I have several beaded bracelets that are in progress – a free form peyote, a beaded flower cuff, and just starting a spiny knotted bracelet today. It works for me to have a few ongoing, then I work on what I feel inspired to do, or what I have the beads for. Sometimes a piece has to go on hold while I round up some more beads or think about what it needs next.

Went into experiment mode while working on a new technique that was introduced in an online metalsmithing class I’m taking with Stephanie Lee, author of Semiprecious Salvage. The technique, called flooding, calls for using a torch to ‘flood’ [...]]]> “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Went into experiment mode while working on a new technique that was introduced in an online metalsmithing class I’m taking with Stephanie Lee, author of Semiprecious Salvage. The technique, called flooding, calls for using a torch to ‘flood’ a piece of metal thoroughly with solder. My first attempts went poorly, as I expected, realizing practice would be called for here. My next several attempts got only worse. (see photo 1). I began to suspect that perhaps it wasn’t human error after all – most others in the class were reporting success and I am usually not this pathetic at trying new things. At this point, an experiment was needed.

The first batch - the disasters!

It wasn’t hard to figure out I needed to change the variables to see what the cause of the disasters was – me, the flux (I was using a brand called Handy) or the solder (using a brand called DGS). I trucked – no, well, actually ‘priused’ over to Hardware Hank and picked up the smallest house brand of flux and solder they had.

Back in the workshop, I first changed up the flux and used the new flux with the old solder . Perfect! Next used the new flux and the new solder. No problem. Lastly, used the OLD flux and the new solder (bad). They Handy flux just isn’t working for me here. Maybe it’s old or has moisture in it or something.

The second batch - much better!

Spent five days on the North Shore (of Lake Superior – the locals just say, ‘the North Shore’.) The big lake and beaches are reminiscent of the coast of Maine – craggy, rocky, beaches and great, wide expanse of water that meet up only [...]]]>

Lake Superior along the Grand Portage Ojibwe Reservation; almost to Canada!

Spent five days on the North Shore (of Lake Superior – the locals just say, ‘the North Shore’.) The big lake and beaches are reminiscent of the coast of Maine – craggy, rocky, beaches and great, wide expanse of water that meet up only with sky and clouds. No lobster traps, though. The air does not have that intense salty smell that the Maine air has, but the earthy aroma of the cedars and pines lining her shoreline is pungent and magical and can hold their own.

HIghest waterfall that empties into Lake Superior; in Grand Portage State Park

Hot, Hazy day at Canal Park beach off Duluth, MN