Well…

The first thing I always take with me is good intentions. After all, I’m on vacation, I should have lots of time to work on a pet project…

Riiiiight…

In years past I have carted my tool box, a couple of bead boxes, some currently favourite cabochons and a full complement of wire to campsites all over Southern Ontario. Most days were spent hiking, swimming, touring, making feeble attempts at building fires with wet wood, and otherwise doing nothing remotely resembling wirework. In fact, by the time the kids were snuggled in their sleeping bags, I was too tired – and it was too dark – to even think about putting pliers to wire.

So the whole kit stayed in the van, along with my good intentions.

In 2007, we rented a cottage in Prince Edward County, which meant we were basically stationary for the week. While I did manage to work on a project, it still remains unfinished.

This year, as we prepared for our trip to the East Coast, I pondered whether or not to bring my tools. I had a basketweaving project I’d been working on for several weeks. It was small, compact, and would only require me to take one spool of 28 ga wire, and my most basic tools – flat nose pliers, round nose pliers and nippers. In fact, everything could fit into two small project boxes I’d be able to carry around in my purse! Perfect!

I did pull the boxes out… to get at other things in my purse, like my camera and my passport.

I even opened the box and looked the project over… once. Then I decided that I wasn’t really in the mood for it, and carefully packed it away again.

Next year, I think I’ll just take my sketchbook, and maybe some watercolours. You never know, I might just be able to get some painting in…

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There are several other SATeam members participating in this month’s blog carnival:

Galadryl Designs
Bead Sophisticate
Beadsire
J3 Jewelry

You can find a full list on the Starving Artists blog.

Breathe Scent Box (2011)
Copper, fine silver, sterling silver
Constructed, coiled, woven, cold-joined
H: 2.0 cm x W: 2.6 cm x D: 2.96 cm

Alright… I’m back… sort of…

I got hit with a perfect storm of personal and professional chaos in May, and my weekly postings to YOJ were the casualty. *sigh*

This piece, created for the upcoming HSTA Faculty Exhibition, is the only wire my hands have touched in the last month. It’s one of those pieces that has had to lend itself to being picked up and put down frequently while I deal with other pressures.

This year’s theme is “Breathe”. Years ago, during a conversation with a friend about being overworked and looking forward to a time when we’d be able to come up for air, I deadpanned “Breathing is overrated,” and then quipped about how that would make a really good epitaph for my headstone. The comment laid us both completely flat with laughter.

She reminded me of the conversation a couple of weeks ago when we were talking about all the “stuff” going on in our lives. This time she made the observation that it just seems to be part of my nature to throw myself into lots of projects at the same time. It’s true. I thrive on deadlines. However I’ve noticed a change in the last year or so in how I’m reacting: I seem to have developed insomnia. I regularly wake up after only a few hours of sleep, unable to shut off my brain, which spins with thoughts of all the things I need to get done.

I’ve come to realize that I do, in fact, need to breathe and relax.

This insight was reinforced as I was transcribing an interview I did with Dee Fontans, who teaches in the Jewellery Metals Program at Alberta College of Art & Design. We talked about the need to find balance between work and play, about re-energizing and feeding the muse. It’s something she struggles with as much as anyone else. ¹

So, I’ve recently started making a more conscientious effort to slow down, go for bike rides, and take notice of Spring. And breathe.

With the lilac and lavender in my front yard coming into bloom, giving off a wonderful perfume, my thoughts focused on how to carry that scent with me. I continue to be obsessed with containers, so I decided I would make a little box for holding a sachet of herbs or perfumed salts. Lavender, in particular, is supposed to be good for helping with relaxation and sleep.

One thing I wanted to experiment with was patterning. Years ago when I visited the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico, I was really impressed with the patterns the inhabitants carved and painted onto their pottery. Likewise, I was struck by the patterning on the First Nations baskets I saw in BC. I was able to incorporate a triangular pattern on the rim of the bottom half through a structural change in the coiling of the basket. Because I knew it was going to spin while being worn, I also added decorative elements on the base and top. So there’s lots going on.

Of course, now that this piece is done, I have ideas for a half dozen other pieces, but those will have to wait.

I still have to catch my breath.

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The Haliburton School of The Arts Faculty Exhibition 2011 will take place from July 2 to August 5, 2011 at the Rails End Gallery & Arts Centre, 23 York St., Haliburton, Ontario. Faculty will participate in a weekly meet & greet at the gallery on Tuesdays from 4:30-6:00 p.m.
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After finishing the locket in Week 11 I said I wasn’t going to work on one of these again for a while, but the idea for this piece refused to stay quietly in the recesses of my mind.

I’ve been thinking a lot about secrets.  What private little treasures do we wear close to our hearts?  A note from a lover, or a totem object?  Does it contain a memory or a reminder?  The wearer gets to choose.

I love the shape of amphorae – very sensuous and feminine!  The construction was another learning experience – not the least reason being that I actually made the clasp properly this time.  Naturally, I now have ideas for two other projects I want to make, but those definitely have to wait until after the studio tour.

More photos:

I’ve tried to figure it out because I see this phrase all over the place.  So far, the only thing I’ve managed to determine is that it’s a blanket term for an assumed, but ill-defined, set of construction methods a skilled metalworker must know how to use.

A couple of months ago I opened up an Artfire Shop.  Like “street teams” on Etsy, Artfire encourages craftspeople to band together and form “guilds” according to their specialties.  I applied to join a Metalsmiths Guild, and was rejected.  The reason given:  ”All members must have metalsmithed pieces listed live in their Pro Studio, and those metalsmithed pieces must make the majority of the items listed in their Studio, because our focus here is Metalsmithing.  Your studio is basically filled with beautiful wire wrapped pieces at this time.”

When I went to look at the Guild Master’s shop, I discovered that about half of her available work was made of wire, much of it cold-worked.  The difference?  She was hammering it, as well as wrapping it.

There were several pieces of wirework on the Guild’s gallery page, and when I pointed this out to her, I got an indignant reply:  “…there is not a single wire wrapped piece displayed in the [Guild] photo gallery. Not one piece. (except for one of my copper Hearts which has a few soldered components, as well as a wire ”stitching” detail around the heart, but that is not what we”d call ”wire wrapping” per say)”

She went on:  “So, I”m really not sure where you saw this when you say “I note that several of your members have wireworked pieces included in the guild gallery.” – you were not looking at the [Guild] gallery. I can guarantee you that.”

I didn’t say wire wrapped, I said wireworked, and there were definitely several pieces in the Guild’s gallery.  Once again, I was being slapped with dismissive terminology.

She sounded positively offended at the insinuation that any cold-joined wire jewellery might be included.  “For the [Guild], we ask that our members focus on pieces geared towards ”traditional” metalsmithing techniques… ”

In the first essay of this series, I established that there are three major forms of metalworking:  sheet, cast and wire.  As the exchange with my ArtFire correspondent shows, there are divergent opinions about what construction methods are needed in order to actually call oneself a metalsmith.  So, let’s start with a definition:

Met-al-smith, noun

∙ an artist or craftsman who works with metal, esp. in making sculptures, jewelry, etc. ¹
∙ a person skilled in metalworking ²

Let’s also clarify what “traditional” means:

Traditional, adjective

1. based on customs usually handed down from a previous generation <a traditional Passover meal at his grandparents’ house>
2.  tending to favor established ideas, conditions, or institutions <a family that is very traditional when it comes to institutions like marriage>³

Wire jewellery – and in particular cold-joined wire jewellery – has a very long history, as evidenced by pieces in the collection of the British Museum, here, here, here, here, here and here and in the Victoria & Albert Museum here, here, here and here.  In fact, this brooch dating from the Middle Bronze Age is among the oldest known pieces of classical cold-working.

Doing a search online for “wire wrapping” brings up all kinds of references to electrical equipment. I was surprised to find only one definition of “wire wrap jewellery”:

Wire wrap jewellery is a type of design and method of hand jewellery fabrication. ⁴ (emphasis mine)

Hand fabricated jewellery is built from constructed and assembled pieces, which have been soldered or cold-joined. It can use sheet, wire, found objects, you name it.  Hand fabricated wire jewellery can incorporate a wide variety of different cold-joining methods such as weaving, coiling, seizing, stitching and lashing.

The single element which determines whether a piece of cold-joined wire jewellery is called “wire wrapping” is the presence of binding.

Tim McCreight lists wire “wrapping” second after “tabs” in Chapter 5 “Joining” of The Complete Metalsmith.  He writes:  “It’s hard to get much simpler than binding elements together with wire.  Countless examples can be found in farm tools, kitchen utensils and ethnic jewelry from around the world.”  ⁵ (emphasis mine)

In fact, he refers to “wire wrapping” as “The Original Cold Connection”. ⁶

In other words, it’s a traditional metalsmithing technique.

<Previous Please Don’t Call Me a “Wirewrapper”

By chance I’m following the YOJ theme again this week, which is “Complementary Colours”.  Ruby can be found in combination with several other metamorphic stones, namely fuschite and thulite, but my favourite is ruby in zoisite.  I picked up this cab, with its rich wine red and splash of sparkly green, at the Toronto Gem Show last year.

I’m a minimalist where bezel setting stones is concerned.  Time and again,  I have avoided the “frilly” and cage-like settings for which wirework tends to be known in favour of something simpler that lets the stone take centre stage.

There’s something about each stone I buy that has really attracted me.  This is one that begs to be held and stroked.  It has a very calming energy that makes it an excellent touchstone for meditation.  I’ve left the back of the stone open so that it can be closer to the skin when worn.

So far in this Year of Jewelry I haven’t been following any of the themes, but this week’s theme, Made from Two Feet of Wire,  was intriguing.  The design constraint – using only two feet of wire total, regardless of embellishment – offered many possibilities.  I decided to focus on earrings.  This pair was the first result that best met the criteria.  I tried various permutations of thicker and thinner wire, some of which produced interesting designs, but used either substantially less or more wire.  It turned out to be a fruitful week!  Happily, I’m also caught up again!

Since that time I’ve been puzzling over an alternative solution, because I’m determined to make another attempt.  Towards the end of January, I was looking at wirework on Flickr and came across Mary Tucker’s trinket boxes.  I wrote to complement her on the elegant solution she had found to her hinges and closures and asked if I could borrow the  idea.  She graciously directed me to the tutorial she’d posted on her blog.  She also recently had another version of the tutorial published in Step-by-Step Wire Jewelry.

The idea with this locket was simply to practice starting with a large hole, because my plan is to make a much more involved piece based on what I learned here.  I have a wonderful stash of round snowflake obsidian cabs, so I decided to incorporate one into the lid of the locket.  The weaving took a ridiculous amount of time – something I don’t really have to spare as I prepare for the studio tour – so I have stopped short of what I actually wanted to do.

Because I was distracted, I didn’t realize until too late that I hadn’t actually made a hook on the back of the locket!  As a result, I had to macgyver a closure/bail.

I will likely come back to this at a later time and rework it.  The result I got here is not quite as refined as I would like it to be, but given my schedule and deadlines, I can’t spend any more time on it right now.  It was a very good test piece, and I’ll look forward to applying what I’ve learned to the next one.

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Locket Test (2011)
Fine silver, sterling silver, snowflake obsidian, amethyst
Formed, woven, cold-joined, flameworked
L 4.7 cm x W 2.7 cm x D 1.68 cm

The Preview Exhibition will include work from some of the thirty-two talented artists and artisans who will be opening their homes and studios to the public.  

The tour will include the following work:

• Paintings in pastel, oil, acrylic, watercolour, and encaustic
• Jewelry in many styles in silver, niobium, torch glass and wire
• Ceramic ware and objects in various techniques
• Stained  and kiln-formed glass
• Metal and stone sculptures
• Photography
• Windsor chairs and wood carving and turning

For more information about the tour, visit the Lake Scugog Studio Tour website: www.scugogstudiotour.ca or phone:  905-985-7418

The Preview Exhibition will run from April 2 – May 1, 2011, and members, artists and the public are invited to attend the Opening Reception on April 2, 2011 from 1-4 p.m. The resource centre will also be open as the hospitality site, offering coffee and restrooms, during the weekend of the tour.

Please visit scugogarts.ca, or phone 905-982-2121, for more information.

I’m still behind with posting, and I’m remembering that it was at about this point last year that I gave up on the YOJ because other parts of my life were overwhelming me.

I’ve been doing interviews for the next College Review issue of MAGazine this week, and talking to the instructors in various Canadian metals programs. One of the questions I’ve been asking everyone is how they balance their academic life with their own creative work. Across the board, all have commented about how challenging it is.

At the moment, I’m juggling work on MAGazine with trying to get ready for the Lake Scugog Spring Studio Tour. I’m trying to strike a balance between production work and some more involved one-of-a-kinds. I’ve been working on a challenging woven piece for about 1 1/2 weeks now. It’s a dry run for another piece I want to make to submit to the HSTA Faculty Show in June. It’s taking up more time than I expected, and I’m becoming very conscious how quickly my deadlines are approaching.

So, I’ve had to set it aside and go back to production work.

This bracelet is a repeat of one I made for YOJ 2004-05, only more refined and simplified. I love bracelets, and this one lends itself to being worn in multiples. I made them quite small, but they are still quite loose on my wrist. Surprisingly they fit my husband’s wrist comfortably as well.

I’m still determined to keep up with YOJ, and hopefully between now and next week I’ll be caught up again.