Life as an artist working in metals, fiber, paper, and more. It’s all about the art!

This was my second year participating in the annual Florence ArtsFest, put on by the Florence Regional Arts Alliance in Florence, SC.  Last year was a pretty good show, with two floors of artists, probably 30+ in all; an excellent opening reception very well attended; good if not great traffic with people who were actually buying, and not just bottom fishing.

This year was a total bomb.  No signs outside, no signs on the street, next to nothing in the local media, nothing on the internet…  A number of people I know in Florence had no idea the event was even going on.

Less than half the artists from last year - 16 this year - all on one floor with plenty of room left over, so it looked rather lost.  Less than half the people at the opening, and unlike last year they weren’t buying.  I saw customers who bought my high end pieces last year leaving with nothing - just partied and left. 

We opened Thursday night this year - last year it was Friday night.  We had open hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday this year.  Last year it was just Friday night and Saturday.  They had a total of 10 buyers for the entire show all day Friday… 10!!!  If we had 10 people come through on Sunday I would be amazed. 

Florence is a good sized city, with over 133,000 people.  This fall I did a one day show in Great Falls, SC (see earlier blog post), which has less than 5,000 people.  I sold more in one day in Great Falls than I did in four days in Florence.  Now that is just sad!

No one did well, and there were some folks who sold nothing in all four days.  In all a quite dismal experience.  The upside is that I did have a number of people who are interested in my classes that I teach, so hopefully that will turn out well.

Since I often get asked to show pictures of the shows I do, here are photos of the various booths that were there.  Sorry I have misplaced my program and can’t identify all the artists….

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I’m a tool freak, something my dear husband has realized.  So for Christmas one of the presents he got me was a Pepe Disc Cutter so I could cut my own discs instead of laboriously trying to saw them out.  I am finally getting some time to “play” with it, and absolutely love it!

Here is a picture of it:

Pepe disc cutter

It comes with a very nice little wooden stand which holds all the pieces quite well.  I haven’t figured out what the little cut out in the front is for…..

top view with metal ready to be cut

Here I have a piece of brass inserted (what to do with scrap - cut discs!).  You unscrew the middle screw a bit, insert your metal, line it up, then tighten the screw which does a great job of holding the metal securely.

angled view with metal inserted

Here you can see the cutter inserted into its slot, ready to be hammered.  I use a brass hammer.

cut disc

And here is the finished disc, with the cutter sitting on top of it.  Took me a few times to realize that what you are supposed to do is hammer it, then lift the base.  The cutter and the disc stay on the table.  I had been trying to remove the cutter from the top first…. sigh…. never said I was the brightest light on the block!

cutter hammerd through the metal

Sorry - this is out of order.  Anyway, here it is when it has been hammered through - you can see it is now sitting on my work bench (Kobalt - from Lowes - love it!).  So NOW is when you lift it up, and wind up with the picture above.

brass"coin" earrings

Here is a pair of earrings made using brass discs cut with the Pepe.  I then drilled a hole in each, used a matting stamp and chasing hammer to give an all-over texture, then used a liner and chasing hammer to decorate the edges.  Nice if I do say so myself!

another pair from discs

This is another pair of brass earrings cut with the Pepe.  They are larger discs than the pair above, and I used decorative stamps all over the surface, then domed them in a dapping block with dapping punches.

I highly recommend this disc cutter.  It was not terribly expensive, it is quite easy and fast to use, and the discs are cut very, very cleanly with lovely edges.  I couldn’t be happier with my wonderful present!

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Three Cats and a Dog Design Studios hosted chain expert John Fetvedt, of North Carolina, for a chain making workshop the first Tuesday in January.  John is an expert on a range of chains and chain maille, and is also a super teacher!  He teaches regularly at William Holland School, the Bead and Button Show, and numerous other places. Bringing John in was my big Christmas present for partner - my daughter Mary Elizabeth - who is a chain maille enthusiast - to put it mildly!

We had to move the workshop to my house, as the pipes at my studio/gallery burst.  The joys of cold weather!  There were only three of us for the workshop, but that worked out really well as it gave John plenty of time to help the two of us who were new to chain maille, and plenty of time for him to help Mary Elizabeth speed along.  The workshop ran from 10 - 4, and John was wonderfully organized with pre-made packets for a huge range of projects that let you learn that style of chain.  Each packet contained color coded jump rings the correct size for the project, and came with an instruction sheet, also color coded.  It was very clear and easy to read.  Following it accurately was another story entirely for myself and the other “newbie”.  I completed 5 samples, the other participant completed three, I believe…….. and Mary Elizabeth completed 10 including one so difficult John did not have a pre-made packet for it!

Mary Elizabeth had a blast!  My husband had given us funny looks, thinking this was an incredibly odd Christmas present - then he got home just as we finished, and saw her radiant face - and finally “got” the worth of the present!

If you are interested in chains, or chain maille, John’s website is wonderfully helpful:  http://www.bijoux-de-terre.com/ He has great pictures, tips, etc.  John sells chain making supplies, and other supplies and tools for jewelry makers of all sorts.  I highly recommend him if you are interested in learning some very nice chains to add to your repertoire.

Here are some photos of us working:

John Fetvedt demonstrating for Mary Elizabeth

Mary Elizabeth working on a sample

Student using one of John's sample packages

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I finished the custom order repousse’ brooch today, and am quite pleased with how it turned out!  In my last post I talked about how I formed it using repousse’ and chasing.  After forming, I sawed the brooch out of the background metal, then carefully filed the edges to the shape and smoothness I wanted.  Next I used a texturing stamp and chasing hammer and textured the surface of the brooch.  Once that was the way I wanted, I soldered the pin findings on the back (MUCH easier said than done - given the non-flat surfaces on the back!), then soldered on the bezel to hold the green onyx, then set the stone and gave the whole piece a final polish.  I used a brass wheel in my flex shaft for the finish, but used a pumice wheel to finish the edges of the bezel around the stone after I hand burnished it.

I’m really pleased with how this turned out!  I love the way repousse’ and chasing allow me to form the metal, and plan to do a lot more pieces using these techniques.

Front of the brooch in correct orientation

I apologize for the pictures - the color of the stone did not turn out very well.  It is a lovely green onyx, and that doesn’t show at all!

Side view of the brooch - the color is better in this one.

another side view.... you can see the depth

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I am working on my second repousse’ custom order, this one for a brooch that will be a swirl with a green onyx cabochon in the center of the swirl.  I have received lots of questions about repousse’, as many people are not very familiar with it, so will do a few posts to explain how I approach this process.

I use a medium pitch from Northwest Pitchworks:  http://www.northwestpitchworks.com/ This pitch has no petroleum, coal tar or ashpaltum in it, and is less toxic and more “user friendly” than many pitches.  You still need to have good ventilation, and use safety glasses and take all normal safety precautions.

I have my pitch in an 8″ pitch bowl, with the base of the bowl filled with plaster of paris to about 2″ under the bowl rim, and the pitch on top of that.  I also have a purchased base for the pitch bowl, that allows the bowl to rotate freely so you can move it to whatever angle you want, to best manipulate your tools.

I start a piece by creating a drawing of what I want to do if I am creating something specific, as in this commission.  I cut a piece of metal enough bigger than my desired area to allow for the creation of “tabs” at the corners, to fold into the pitch.  Then I clean the metal.  I coat the back of the drawing with a layer of rubber cement, and coat one side of my clean metal with a layer of rubber cement.  Once the rubber cement is dry (a few minutes) I firmly press the paper onto the metal, and rub it to adhere it.  After it is adhered, I take an x-acto knife and trace my lines through the paper onto the metal.  It is best to do this onto the back side of your piece, but there are times when the design is better if I do this on the front.  The x-acto DOES cut through into the metal, so you will have to deal with these cuts!  Once I’m finished cutting I remove all the paper, and the design is visible via the cuts.

Now I fold down the corners of the metal away from the side I want to start working on - usually the back.  Then I heat the pitch bowl.  This can be done with a torch and a fairly soft, bushy flame, or with an industrial heat gun.  I prefer a heat gun.  You heat it by moving the heat over the pitch constantly, so that all the area in the middle, and towards the outside, heats fairly evenly.  You do NOT want to heat any area so much that it begins to bubble or smoke!  It is VERY important to use good ventilation here, and to use safety glasses!

Once the pitch has heated and softened I place the metal onto the middle of the pitch bowl, with the tabs down into the pitch.  I keep a flat tub of clean water nearby, and an old hammer, and old needle nose and other pliers for moving the metal on the pitch.  Use the hammer to gently press the metal firmly into the pitch, making sure that the tabs go fully into the pitch.  You may want to dip the flat end of the hammer into the water, and use it to pull pitch onto the edges of the metal, to help hold the metal.  I dip in water each time before putting the hammer in the pitch - it helps keep the pitch from adhering to the hammer surface.

Next take dampened paper towels, and use them to dab the metal and pitch to cool it to the firmness you need to work on your design.  The firmer the pitch is, the less give it has.  The softer it is, the more give. Different parts of the design may need different degrees of firmness.

Now I am ready to begin shaping the metal.  I use a combination of purchased repousse’ and chasing tools, homemade tools, and dapping tools to move the metal depending on what I’m trying to accomplish.  As you work the metal it will harden.  When it does that, you will need to heat the pitch, and use some of your pliers to remove the metal from the pitch.  I heat the metal with the heat gun after removing it, and the melted pitch will drip back into the pitch bowl.  The rest I remove by heating, using paper towels with mineral oil to wipe the hot pitch off the metal, and repeating until all the pitch is removed from both sides of the metal.  Then I wash the metal with soap and water, dry it, anneal it, quench and pickle and rinse - and start the process again.

In shaping the metal I will work one side a time or two, then turn the tabs the other way and work the other side, and repeat.  You want to push the metal in both directions, to help form your shapes.  As you work, be gentle with your tabs - if you turn them too many times, or too firmly, they may snap off!

Below are some photos of my current piece in process.  I’ll post again when I get it finished, with the rest of the process.

Note the industrial heat gun…. I do this on a large ceramic tile, since there will invariably be drips of pitch….

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Thanks for the wonderful responses.  I had a request for a picture of the back, so here it is.

back

I needed the wings to rotate, so I soldered a post into the underside of the wing; drilled a hole in the heart, and ran the post through, then twisted it to hold the post and allow it to rotate.  I used my flexshaft to sand the edges smooth on the back so they won’t catch on clothing.  I had planned to make the back twist a bit more decorative, but realized I needed to use a thicker wire for strength, which didn’t leave much space for a decorative element.  I was worried about the post holding up to the opening and shutting.

My biggest worry was properly positioning the posts, so that the wings sat on the heart properly and hung properly… NOT being a precise sort of engineering person this was giving me bad dreams <grin>!  I got them very close on the first try, took a deep breath, reheated the solder, and moved the posts to where I thought they should be.  Thankfully, it worked without damaging the posts or the heart!  That made me really nervous….

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A young man came to me in early October with a drawing of a winged heart he wanted created out of silver for a Christmas gift.  I was getting ready to take my first workshop in repousse’, by Jayne Redmond, and told him I thought I could do it if he was willing to wait until after the workshop.  He was, and was very patient.

Here is the page of sketches he brought in:

sketches

We discussed what size he wanted (about 1″), and costs.  Since I was going to be learning as I went, I gave him a very low price - I was not comfortable charging him for my learning process.

I took the wonderful workshop, loved repousse’ as much as I thought I would, and came back and started on the wings.  This is where we ran into our first problem - which I had expected.  When you go from a two dimensional drawing to a three dimensional creation, there are going to be some changes.  When you add in the fact that my customer is a very precise artist, and I am a rather loose one….. grin….. I knew we would have some adjusting to do along the way!

When I got the first incarnation of the wings done, he liked them very much, but the tip of the heart showed under the wings.  He decided to have a small stone set there, which would have looked lovely.  I say would have, because I don’t engrave, and he took the heart I had made to a friend to have it engraved.  He carried the wings with him, so the engraver could see where they would lay, and where the engraving needed to be.  Unfortunately, when it came back the engraving ran down into the space below the wings where we had planned to set the stone.  So adjustment number two.

We decided to extend the wings, and he wanted the wing tips to feather if possible.  I designed the extensions, soldered a thinner bit of silver onto the underside of each wing, and then chased the design from the original wing down into the new extensions, melding the two visually.  I hand engraved some detail, and clipped the ends of the wings, then bent the “feathers” so that the two sides interlock a bit.

wings with extensions

The wings needed to be able to open up, so that you can read the engraving, so I soldered long posts onto each wing, then drilled holes in the heart for the posts to go through.

wings ready to attach to heart

You can see the extensions attached on the back here also.

Next I ran the posts through the heart, and then bent them on the back side into a decorative design that would hold them in place, but allow them to be swung open.  I soldered on a bail attachment to the heart.  We had planned to use tiny bits of magnet under the wings to hold them closed while wearing, but once he cut some small enough, they did not attract each other through the silver when I attached them to the underside of the wings.

Finished winged heart, wings open

When closed, in the wearing position, it looks like this:

Finished heart, wings closed.

I am very pleased with how it turned out, and so is my customer!  He is making a custom wooden box for the heart to go in.  I hope whoever is the recipient appreciates the time and effort he has put into this!

This is only the second piece of repousse’ I have done, and I am thrilled with it!  It is nice to have a customer who pushes my limits - I tend to be a bit too cautious, and to think I can’t do things I actually can do…. And having a customer who was so flexible and easy to work with was great!

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