I'm dragging my feet on the pod earrings, really all that's left is cleaning them up and hooking on the earring findings. This is dumb, now that I read that I'm going to just finish those today. Yes.

One of the waxes for rings isn't exactly what I want it to be, so it's on hold until post-Crawl. Star earrings are on hold as well - because I need to get a bead reamer. Silly not well-drilled holes...

The second wax, which went together incredibly fast is now holding two bezels and is ready to get the solder cleaned up. It seems likely that I'd do more of this style ring - but carve and assemble each one individually so they're not identical. It's a nice simple but substantial design - I'll get photos of it when it's finished. I plan on making one for myself, too. This one is too large and falls of every finger that isn't an index finger.

I took this Wednesday off from work, so I could work on my own stuff. Tomorrow I head back to repairs and will do final polishes on these new pieces. I finished/cleaned up some stuff that I had half-finished. That was an awesome idea. I will have more than two new metal pieces to show this time around thanks to finding those.

For anyone in the area who reads this, the Crawl is this Friday through Sunday in Lowertown Saint Paul. I'm showing in Lowertown Commons right near my mom and her paintings/prints/cards. For more information on the event - like hours, parking, and all participating buildings - you can go to http://www.artcrawl.org It's a fun way to spend part of a weekend, checking out local artists and in some cases getting to see their studio spaces!

Productivity!

I did a mock set-up of my table for the Art Crawl. I don't know why I never thought to do this before; it's a great way to figure out what else I need. I now have a to do list for tomorrow/next weekend!

* Pod earrings (3 pair)
* Rutilated star earrings (at least one pair)
* Hollow out ring wax
* Cast above wax, and another to be carved
* Clean up existing inventory

Totally doable. Also going to find some earring displays tomorrow - or make my own. It'll look better than having them sit flat on a table.

I made up a little pouch for my mom's earrings she got for Christmas. It gave me the idea to sew up pouches like it (after this Crawl) to replace the blah cotton-filled boxes I presently have. Mom - granted she's biased - thought it was a very nice and fancy pouch. I'm excited about all these ideas I have that will soon happen.

So the Art Crawl is a mere two weeks away. Yikes. The poster competition didn't have any effect as I was informed my images were blurry. I'm going to reshoot over the Summer and try again for the Fall. I was mad about this for a while, but whatever.

I've been looking over my inventory and I am in serious need of some ring making action. That looks to be the goal for next week. I have a wax carved up for a sculptural ring - which may or may not get stones in it. As of now it's too heavy, so this weekend I will hollow out the wax. Silver is up around $40/ounce, so that's making things fun. I have some plans for earrings as well. I discovered the pod earring shells I had made WAY back, while trying to find something completely different. That was an exciting find. I also bought some really fun faceted star-shape briolette rutilated quartz - earrings will happen.

I need to put a moratorium on necklace making. I have a few bead/chain necklaces finished and I really like the look of them. Lighter-looking than the all-bead pieces I've done, granted with the addition of silver chain it puts them in a different (higher) price point. I'm finding it's a great way to use some of my larger and more expensive beads in order to showcase them. These large rectangular dyed sardonyx are a good example - they're WAY too big and heavy to use a bunch of them.
And a closer look:
Tomorrow afternoon is fun time, so perhaps in the morning I'll crack down and get some pieces going and/or finished. Sunday is already designated work-time. The weather doesn't look like it's going to be much of a distraction, it just started snowing. Awesome. At least I won't miss out on a nice sunny warm day!

Firing up the engines again

I've been so up and down with creative energy, but in an effort to get it back in gear I entered the poster competition for the Art Crawl. This has caused a mix of excitement and "oh crap, what have I done?" Dumb, I know, but the latter should help get me jumpstarted on making things again. In the event that it gets any of the awards - poster, or one of the postcard images - it means my work will be out on the printed media for the Crawl. Even if I don't get any of the awards it's good to be drawing and coming up with things again. Thanks to Natalie for giving me a kick in the butt to update this blog, too.

I still will do the series of containers, though I'm not going to set my goals so high that I feel like a failure. I feel that's been my problem since leaving college - I come up with overly elaborate plans that won't ever happen in the timeframe I want.

I plan on doing some quick and easy (relatively) station necklace variations with gemstone beads and sterling. Possibly will involve a little stone setting on some. Right now these are just in the drawing phase.

I'd like to come up with a few more rings, I rarely see rings that I like out in the world...so clearly that means I should make some that I like. Other people might like them, too.

I also have a plan for some little labradorite smooth briolette beads. A limited edition of necklace/earring sets is in their future. I think each will be unique within the editions, but similar. I'm still not too keen on making a bunch of identical things.

Looking ahead to Summer, the garage is getting sheetrocked and an outlet will be rewired for a KILN. YES! Well, after I actually purchase one (the hard part is done, I have the money sitting in the bank). It is happening, this year, for real.

Only took a month...

I finally have posted the rutilated quartz piece on Etsy. I've been so busy with work and just everyday things around the house that it kept getting put off. Plus I'm still a little attached to it, I'd love for it to sell and be enjoyed by someone. It drew a lot of compliments at the Art Crawl in October, so I truly hope it will find a good home soon!

Here is the final result:



I'm really satisfied with this piece. It's so great when I can honestly say that.

In other news, I'm still drawing up containers for the next series. I bought a great book on boxes and closures a few weeks ago, which will help me remember how to do a hinge among other things. Hopefully I will be successful with the copper mockups I plan to do over the Winter. I have a couple of secret commissions for Christmas presents in progress, which are going well so far. I also am *really* close to getting an enameling kiln, which has me very excited.

Fall 2010 Art Crawl

Well, it's over. Three long days of sitting and interacting with the public. I had a really good time and some great conversations with people. Many compliments on my work - which is always awesome. It's always a good time to talk with the people who come out to see all of the art, I truly appreciate the conversations.

Thanks to the conversations: I am even more interested in visiting enamel work again, know about a bead show that is coming up (those are always a good time!), and am gaining more confidence in myself as an artist. Participating in this event is definitely about more than just selling art, it's about being out there and growing through interaction.

I think my kitties are quite happy to have me home after the long days stuck home alone, every evening they've had extra energy and headbutts for me. I'm looking forward to a quiet Monday to recharge.

Thank you to everyone who came out to the Crawl!

Necklace....ASSEMBLED!

I'm pretty happy right now. I have the rutilated quartz necklace completely assembled - I may switch the clasp to a lobster claw but that doesn't count. Switching from oxy-propane to oxy-acetylene has been frustrating to say the least. I really just need to do more soldering at home, to keep the oxy-acetylene skills as strong as oxy-propane. It may also have something to do with the fact that at work I primarily work in gold, which solders like magic compared to sterling.

Next on my to-do list is the re-do of my marriage of metals disaster. Hoping this time around it turns out even better. Further down the list is rebuilding the citrine crown, though I may opt to get a gold mounting if I can find one. I think having a yellow crown would really set off the stone nicely. There's also the station necklace I'd like to work on, and get some designs going for rings and earrings.

I'll be happy if I can just have a few fresh pieces for the Art Crawl, which is rapidly approaching.

A Photo!

Here it is, an in progress shot of the latest attempt. I am ridiculously proud of that bezel. Ridiculously. I luckily have a large amount of fine silver hanging around from a failed school project, and was able to mill out my own bezel wire. I don't want to have to apply too much pressure to the rutilated quartz when doing the final setting, so fine silver is my new best friend. Another reason I am so proud of this bezel, the stone actually snaps in. It's pretty much the best bezel I have ever made, and it's a non-round stone which makes that fact even cooler.

I'm going to solder on the three bars tomorrow when I'm not so tired, and get this thing pre-polished before attaching the hanging elements and chain. I'll have to wait on the final polish until next week at work, but in theory I could have a finished product as soon as Tuesday! I am pretty excited about this.

I have a station-style necklace for my next project. That will likely be something I will make more than one of, or do variations on it so each one will be a little unique. I've started cutting out components, but then realized I was using the wrong metal - nickel instead of sterling. Oh well, it was good practice; also showed me that I need to roll down the metal a bit otherwise these things are going to be boat anchors!

So, I have this rutilated quartz I bought a year ago. I had a design worked up for it last year, but never got around to it. Now with everything still finding its place in the new studio space, I pulled out that stone and the drawing...I don't like it anymore. We're doing something completely different.

So far I have a few of the parts ready to go, and am really liking this new idea. Need to solder the bezel into a continuous loop, then pop that onto some silver sheet, add the structural/design elements, and clean it all up. In theory this won't take very long, but I know better. I made extra parts in case of melting mishaps or other troubles. Hopefully I'll have some in-progress pictures to share soon.

Of course I have "help" from the new furry friends. They are still nameless, but they don't seem to mind. So far they're crazy, friendly, and most importantly healthy. They're quite fun, and I think they really like it here.

Sometimes things don't go as planned

I feel like that could be my motto.

My kitties' stay has been drastically shortened. Today they go back to the shelter, and into a foster home for Feline Leukemia Virus kitties. The last two months have been full of good and bad, but emotionally I cannot keep this up without going off the deep end. They had a great couple of months, in a home full of love.

The studio is nearly set up, it will be good to start working on projects this summer. It will keep me from being down while at home. I'm looking forward to coming up with new designs and trying to find local stores to carry my work.

Six Months Later...

The two pendants I was working on last September both had catastrophes occur in the later stages, they will be reworked soon.

Lots has happened for me in the last six months though...which has also led to zero jewelry-making. Not proud of it, but I guess that will happen from time to time. The biggest thing being my move out and on my own. It's been a great transition and I was ready...parents were ready...and I love the new space. The studio is moving as well, which is not helping productivity but I hope to have it back up and functional by this Summer! I also just adopted two fantastic young cats (8 months old) who are becoming the *real* rulers of this home.

The job at the store has been steady, since the economy is slightly less scary for some people. I'm glad this turned around, because I tried a couple of side jobs that were not entirely ideal - although working at Lush was pretty close to best-second-job-ever. I hope to get productive and be able to sell my own designs in order to supplement income rather than work a second job that is less fulfilling.

So for now, until I have the studio back up and running, I will focus on having fun with my new furry companions and attempting to draw up new ideas. With their "help", I'm sure.

The marriage of metals pendant is going well. I cleaned up the gross solder and uneven tops tonight, so now they look presentable. There is still more sanding to do, but I will likely wait to do that until right before I attach the crown - which I still have to build.

The black stone is faceted onyx, but you wouldn't know that from these photos.

Here's the drawing I worked from to cut out the pieces of nickel and sterling silver. Graph paper makes everything easier, as do protractors, compasses and rulers. So glad I paid attention in geometry.

Both parts are backed with sterling, so that when worn the nickel pieces won't have contact with the skin. Though I'm thinking the wings won't be flat, instead I'll solder them at slight angles. Either way, it makes the back look better, and strengthens the whole piece.

Tomorrow: make the crown for the Rhodolite Garnet!

The Accomplishment of the Week

I built a crown. From scratch. Attempt #1 melted. Attempt #2 worked!

Now I have to make it fit down into the pendant, and solder that...without melting anything. Slightly stressful, but quite exciting if it works. I also got my chain today, so this hopefully will be finished and fancy by the end of next week.

(I was too lazy to set up decent lighting, so it is dim.)

I have yet to decide if I want to have the secondary stone in a bezel below the citrine. I'm thinking it will be skipped. Decision has to be made before the citrine is set, so we'll see in a few days.

Internet ridiculousness

So, I'm in the process of developing a Facebook Fan Page for my jewelry creations. If you are so inclined, you may become a fan:

Kathlyn Kremer on Facebook

(End self-promotion)

This weekend I finish the "batwax", it cast up perfectly, so I guess it's no longer a batwax. I always cross my fingers and toes when I let the centrifuge go. I have yet to get an incomplete casting though. I think the centrifuge is far more reliable than the vacuum from school, however the centrifuge at school was a bit terrifying. I'm sure most of my former classmates would agree.

It's the Batwax! Ok, really, I just couldn't come up with a better name for it. This is getting cast this week. I'm thinking this will be a one of a kind necklace - I'll solder chain to it at the very end. Getting it light enough has been interesting...it probably could still be lighter, but I'll deal with that when I start cleaning up the metal.

The stone is a cushion-cut checkerboard top citrine. I think it will work well. I may incorporate another stone or two, but haven't decided yet. Sometimes it's nice to make things up as you go.

Switching Gears

I am on a huge pendant kick, I don't know why. I used to be designing rings like crazy, but that has changed recently. I think I came up with five doable designs in one night, and they all use different techniques. I found that it's easier to draw up a design in a larger scale, and then shrink it to the actual size. It seems to get more of the kinks out, since I have to draw it a couple extra times.

I have a few stones heading my way this week, and depending on costs I might just order some gold. These are the stones, I have pretty solid ideas for 2 of the 4 so far.

Sunset Padparadscha Sapphire


Kiwi Topaz

Rhodolite Garnet

Mozambique Garnet

Will be interesting to see how the stones look in person. I'm still trying to hunt down a big round stone for one of the designs I came up with the other night. I suppose it would be better to start making the ones for which I already have stones.

So, I checked out this International Gem and Jewelry Show that is/was at the state fairgrounds this weekend. I had no idea what to really expect going into it, other than:

1. It might be super-tacky
2. It might be a great resource for loose stones/beads
3. It might be a waste of $7 and time

I found out:

1. It was full of middle aged and older ladies
2. Mom said it felt like Vegas
3. I have ridiculously expensive taste in beads - one strand I looked at was $150 (at 50% off, yeah.)
4. There is a great local resource for cabochons and unusual stones - bought a great piece of rutilated quartz...but I'll get to that in a bit.
5. There are a kajillion beads out there. Seriously.

So, overall it was worth going. I'm currently in the process of designing a pendant around this piece of rutilated quartz. I actually think I might do a sterling/14K yellow gold combination, since the rutiles have a slight golden color.

I feel like I want to do some one of a kind pieces for a while. Doing multiples is challenging and good practice of specific skills, but it doesn't seem to flex my design muscles enough. I feel like people appreciate unique jewelry pieces, too - at least I do.

I've added another deadline besides the Fall art crawl, which is good. I need to have deadlines otherwise I feel like I'll never get anything finished. A friend and fellow artist wants to have a jewelry party with my stuff in the Fall. It should be fun and hopefully I'll have things that will interest the people. Wine and excellent food will be involved, so no matter what it'll be a good time.

Took a Break

Well, I did not mean to take an entire month off. But somehow it happened?

I have been working on some drawings and designs for some new items, and I still have the pod earrings sitting half-finished on my bench. My job has been going pretty well, business seemed to pick up once the weather started to resemble Spring.

I finally have all my finished items up on Etsy, will be interesting to see how that pans out. I also just put in an application at a local bead store. Maybe I'll get some weekend hours to help finances, plus a discount on beads. Just have to keep trying different things, I suppose. Something will stick eventually.

The Art Crawl is going well - lots of good feedback from the public! It's reassuring when people I've never met seem to respond positively to my designs - not that opinions of friends and family don't do the same. The website has been updated, thanks to my dad. He redid the site as well as shot the photos of the new work. So if you want to go check out the new stuff, head over here.

Tomorrow is the last day of the crawl, and whatever I have left is heading to Etsy!

I located display supplies yesterday! Yay! I'm going to keep it simple, a few neckforms and a box with a lid for the expensive pieces - so sticky fingers won't be as much of an issue. I wish that didn't have to be a concern, but I'd rather not risk it. I just have to find a good neutral grey fabric to cover the table, since I have some pieces that disappear on the black velvet forms.

After the Crawl, I plan on playing with some packaging ideas. One of the perks of living in a good-sized city is the number of local resources for boxes and the like. I'd really like to have a brand, and not just use the same cotton filled cardboard boxes that everyone else has.

Today I got the two pearl rings ready for their final polish. Those will be finished on Wednesday for sure. I have four or five split channel rings (in non-tiny sizes) in the filing and sanding stages. Three bird rings are in the sanding stages. Two bayonet balls are in progress - and those take a lot longer than I expected. It takes about 5 hours to file the inner band so it will fit within the other half. One of the balls is sanded, the other needs to go through the 5 hours of fitting then cutting the bayonet grooves. I think that will be my Saturday project. The pods - of which there were going to be 5 - have decreased in number to 3. They have color schemes that remind me of elemental things, so I have fire, water and earth in progress. So it looks like I will have around 15 metalwork pieces to show. I'm honestly surprised - in a good way.

My goal is to have everything ready for final polish on Tuesday night, so I can be completely finished by Wednesday night. I plan on taking portfolio quality photos of everything Wednesday and Thursday. Then overhauling the website on Friday during the day.

I'm feeling the pressure, but it feels like the senior show...and that's not a bad thing.