Teardrops

"Teardrops" is part of the Anna's Broken-Heart series. "Teardrops" represents the tears of all children who cry in pain and the parents who suffer with them. It represents Suvivors of the Holocaust, the loss of lives, the children who were sacrificed and the soldiers that died in vain. It represents the tears of people alone, hiding their pain and sorrow. 100% of the proceeds from this series goes to the Lucille Packard Children Hopsital and to another in Israel. See http://www.silverartstudio.com/ and http://twins.lpch.org/help.html for more information and donations. Just mention "Anna's Broken-Heart.

To make this piece teardrop shapes were cut from diachroic glass then ground. When cutting and grinding glass the edges have a matt finish. Often when firing the pieces come out with a haze. I found it helps to sand the ground edges using sanding disc from Rio Grande Jewelry , part # 337259 https://www.riogrande.com/home/MemberArea/NewSearchResult.aspx after grinding the edges. Wash and dry the glass piece to make sure it is clean. Then fire polish the piece in the kiln using the appropriate temperature settings for your kiln.

When making the piece I used low fire/slow dry clay and built the clay up around the stone. I have put a slide show here of a few of the pieces that I made. You can see on some the clay comes up higher around the stone than others. Remember that glass expands and metal clay shrinks so when you fire the pieces, ramp the kiln slowly. I fired these pieces to 1200 degrees for 30 mintues and then let the kiln cool to room temperature without opening the door. Waiting to see if the pieces turn out is the hard part. Tip: If the clay is too thin in any area around the teardrop, the clay will form hairline cracks. It takes practice to fine the right combination.

In His Hands

In His Hands

A cry is heard in a far away land
As a mother sobs, nearby the father stands

Hearts are breaking for the one just born
A tiny life that seems so forlorn

There are no answers, no reasons why
A child is born with such pain in it’s life

I felt their pain as I looked at her face
A life so small, a speck in space

Look at her eyes as she gazes at him
In the hands that hold her safe within

If Jehovah can hold the whole world in his hands
Then what is one life when it comes to Him?
© Colleen Lee 2008

Quilling with Silver Paper

Quilling with Silver Paper is another way to add embellishments to any piece. To make leaves cut strips 1/16” wide the length of the silver paper. Place the tip of a round toothpick on one end of the paper. Roll the paper around the toothpick. Gently slide the toothpick out of the rolled paper. If you want a looser effect or larger look loosen your grip on the roll and let it spring outward a little. With the toothpick, add a drop of silver paste to the open end and press it closed. To get a teardrop shape, press the rolled paper more on one side. Put the quilled piece on a firebrick and do not touch again. Remember: Too much moisture will cause the paper to disintegrate and moving the pieces once you have added the paste will cause minute fractures in the paste breaking the bond

To make roses, cut a ½” square and round the corners. Cut a spiral into the center of the square as shown. Then, using the toothpick, begin at the center and roll toward the outside edge. Once again, pull the toothpick out and apply a drop of paste to glue the open end shut. Set this on the fire brick to dry.

I have found that if I let this dry 30 minutes and then torch fire my pieces for 1 minute, I can then attach these pieces with oil paste to a fired product.
When torch firing the quilled pieces, hold the torch back from the pieces lowering it as it heats. Heating the pieces too fast cause them to spring open.

Quilled roses have a cone shaped base so I set the leaves first leaving a small area to set the cone of the rose. This gives support to the roses and will also hide any imperfections or additional paste if it is needed to attach the rose.

Colorado Art Clay Society Chapter

Today was our first meeting for the Colorado Chapter of Art Clay. It was held in Lafayette, CO. Discussions on setting up the chapter, meetings, fees, and adgenda were gone over and future meeting and locations decided. What a really fun group was there today. Each person there was dedicated to learning about metal clay, sharing and giving what they could to each other.
Sitting on the side watching I couldn't help but think how lucky I was to be a part of this group of women so excited about our new adventure and all the possibilites it has. For those of you who missed out today, Jen has an amazing amount of talent and information she brings to all the meetings so make sure you have the meeting written down on your calendar when it comes out. That will be posted here and on Jen's blogspot also.

URL address and feed change

Today I'm in the process of moving my blog to it's correct URL address. Please bookmark this site or change your feed email. Thanks for your patience. Colleen Lee

http://wwwsilverartstudiocom.blogspot.com/

There are no "Square Pegs"

I met a really nice woman yesterday who had contacted me to see if I gave oil painting classes. It has been a good 15 plus years since I've attempted painting with oils. I told her that I would love to have her come by and we would learn together, just a fun day of trial and error, encouraging each other. And it was. We both got out our old tubes of paints, took an inventory of what brushes and supplies we had and agreeded we were going to start something small and simple. By the end of 3 hours I had shades of green smeared all over a small canvas and a new friend. What a great way to meet people and have fun. A few years ago I spent 5 weeks visiting my sister in Phoenix. She was working for a company there and ask me to come visit and do some drawings. I had not done much with my art through the previous years and being in Phoenix, around artist and crafter was so interesting. At the end of the 5 weeks the company took us to CHA in Las Vegas. We each had name plates with our names and a nickname under it. I ask to be the "Square Peg That Didn't Fit In" as I was with a group of scrapbookers and I didn't know how to do anything that they were doing. BUT, I started drawing again and experimenting with various crafts, and the creative juices started flowing. I have been tossing the idea around of having women come a couple times a month, bring their craft of choice and just have fun working and visiting with others who have similar interest. having a blast while being creative. I wanted to find a way to help people who were new to an area, people who might be lonely and wanted a way to meet others in a fun environment. A place where there were no square pegs because the circle of friends they made just became larger and larger allowing every square peg to fit into an ever increasing circle of friends. So, yesterday became the first of "hopefully" many more, "Square Peg" creative play days. Just remember there really are no "Square Pegs".

Obtaining a Great Mirror Finish

I have often heard metal clay artist say that getting a mirror finish is almost impossible. This can be challenging at times. I have found that by sanding each piece before attaching them eliminates a lot of this. I hand sand every piece beginning with 600 through 2000 grit sandpaper before attaching the pieces to each other. Once I fire a piece I repeat the process. Then I use all grits of polishing papers, using as much pressure as I can with each. I only use a dremel tool to polish tiny areas on the inside of circles or in deep crevice areas that I cannot get sandpaper into. I find it similar to working with wood. Each sucessive grit of sandpaper seals and closes the grains of wood. In metal clay, each successive grit of sandpaper fills and closes the pores in clay. I recommend using a dust mask and sanding with the help of a magnifying lamp which allows you to see tiny scratches and imprefections as you move through each level. I wash my hands at least twice when using polishing clothes because silver dust and particles get imbedded in your skin if it is callused. This can cause minute scratches on a high shine. I cannot emphasis enough the importance of sanding before and after firing if you want a flawless mirror finish. With practice you will pick up tips that work best for the piece that you are working on.