Freeze and Thaw

Wintertime.

Flat light covers everything

making it harder to open my eyes,

and I can't tell if it's the brisk temperature

or the heaviness of our northern air.  

This light slides around my collar,

slinks in-between my layers of wool and down,

 breathes down my neck.

A cold and damp breath.

The cold snaps me in the face.

look harder.

let your eyes adjust.

Powdery snow begs for attention,

dancing into swirling whites,

into fresh fir green,

baked chocolate brown,

inky winter black.

The mute of all-white,

in an instant,

 goes glassy and alive.

The dance is all around me.

Freeze and thaw is here.  

.....

Freeze, a Sterling Silver and Rose Quartz Bangle.

For thawing your heart this season, 

for a little powdery-pink love, 

and a little dance around your wrist.

In the shop.

....

And Thaw,  a Sterling Silver and Prehnite Square Ring.

A garden of icy twigs....

 Remnants of life before winter.

For the light breath of warmer temperatures,

a reprieve from sub-zero.

a hope of springtime green.

In the shop.

.....

and a little *winter* tune for the soul.

This is a lovely band,

and a great studio soundtrack lately...

Sand Casting and Springtime

In Class there is this wonderful stuff we have been playing with,

It's called Delft Clay.

And I love it.

Really, it's a fancy type of sand-casting....dutch-imported sand with some sort of oil or something in it that makes it squishy and not dry out over time. I never really expected to get into the casting this semester as much as I have, and have been enjoying the exposure to all sorts of different ways to cast. This one, I think, is my favorite.

Sand-Casting is pretty simple, archaic stuff. It's as old as metalsmithing itself, and if you have a torch and this kit from Rio, you can do it in any tiny studio....you don't need fancy burnout kilns, it's instant gratification, and it's a great way to burn up all that scrap you'd rather not send in....(it really hurts to take a 15% cut when you send all your metal away to "cash-in", and I know that's normal and maybe even a good deal, but it hurts just the same. I like to keep my hard-earned money, thanks.)

I scrounged up this adorable little antique button and this seashell to make a casting from, and they really turned out lovely. The detail you can get with the delft clay is simply awesome, and like I said, It's instant gratification.....didn't turn out the first time? just quench it and do it again, re-using all your mess-ups for a good cast. Fast, fun, and pretty simple.

Here's what I created with the cute little rose button....

three little rose-buds for the spring thaw ahead.....

Flush Settings.

New Territory for me.

one in fiery red Garnet

One in a teal Montana Sapphire

One in a little larger Golden Citrine.

(Love these pictures. Flower Bud knuckle-busters.)

just listed in the shop today.

Happy Thaw everyone.