Glass Casting

Last week I tried casting glass for the first time. Victoria, (see previous post) a second year grad in the metals program, has experience with this and offered to teach me how to cast. It was really fun. I can't wait to do it again! My pieces came out super ugly (I am not even posting pictures of the final products). I used a dark brown color glass that just wasn't very attractive, but now I know how to do it and we are already planning our next glass casting event! Here are some images of the experiment.

First, we made molds of what we wanted to cast.

A close up view of Victoria's molds. She was casting all these really interesting, realistic moons.
Then we filled the molds with investment (plaster). After the investment hardened we removed the clay. This is what the glass was cast into. This mold was Becky's (our professor).
We then filled the mold with glass frit. This is my ugly color.
Then we locked them away in the kiln and impatiently awaited our precious objects!
Taa Daa!!! Ok, so the final products weren't that beautiful (at least mine weren't). So, we are going to give it another try soon. When I have something I am happy with, then I will share!

Colleagues: Victoria Altepeter

This is the last post (for now) about the other grad students in the Metals program at ASU. I saved Victoria Altepeter for last because like me, she is a jeweler. I just can't get enough of her work!! Victoria enjoys using traditional metalworking techniques to create wearable pieces inspired by our vast universe. She is intrigued by the similarities we as individuals have with our universe as a whole. Repetition plays a part in her designs - within a piece, or as a series of similar forms - and a patina (coloration on the metal) is always evident. Her designs are amazing, her craftsmanship impeccable, and her concepts personal. I love her work and am very glad to have the chance to work with her and learn from her.

Anniversary

Today is my anniversary. Yes, that's right, 4 years ago today I said "I do". When I look back over the last 4 years, I cannot believe how much my life has changed. The day I got married I was starting my sophomore year at ASU as a political science major headed for law school to be an immigration lawyer. Now, 4 years later, here I am, a graduate student in art with a Bachelors of Fine Arts. So much has changed in so little time. Sometimes I ask Scott (my husband) if he had known what he was getting into, would he still have married me? He is a smart guy and always answers correctly, but it is amazing to me how supportive he is of me, my goals, and all that I do. He had no idea I was going to choose to be an artist, no idea how much money we would spend on art supplies, no idea what he really was getting into. And yet, he supports my every move and decision 100%. What a great guy. I know how lucky I am...Happy Anniversary Scott!! The last 4 years have been so much fun and I am glad I found the right guy so early in life!

Treasury

This past week I was featured in two member curated Treasuries on Etsy. Thanks to Windfall and Cynmb for including me in their lists. Etsy has been a great place for me to sell my work and also to network with other artists. Check out all the talent Etsy has to offer here!

Colleagues: Jonathan Brown

Jonathan Brown is another graduate student in metals at Arizona State University. His work is beautiful small scale sculpture. Through his work Jonathan attempts to create other, smaller, more isolated worlds. These nano worlds are a place of imagination and escape. These are some of his pieces.

(The piece above is my absolute favorite...it is so beautiful. It is called, "Gothic Garden")

"Vase with Figure"
"Spyglass?"
"Spyglass?" (Detail)

"Turbulent Cone""Turbulent Cone" (Detail)

Colleagues: Lauren McAdams

There are 3 people with whom I will be working with very closely while I am in graduate school. The other three graduate students currently in the metals/jewelry program at ASU are Victoria Altepeter, Jonathan Brown , and Lauren McAdams. They are my colleagues, friends, and people that I look up to. I would like to use the next three posts to show you their work and tell you a little bit about them.

Lauren McAdams work revolves around her fascination with personal relationships and the complexity of simple conversational interactions. She is constantly considering how an object can start a feeling that will force viewers to interact with each other. These are some of her pieces.

(above piece is entitled, "He Said, She Said")

(I'll Let Her Decide)

(Irritation)

(Square Peg in a Round Hole)

(Punch Struck)

Back to School...

Well, today is the first day of school. I am now, officially, a graduate student. I am taking four classes. Two of them are Metals classes and are basically independent study. I work on my own and have occasional critiques, and then I am evaluated on my progress at the end of the semester. I have one other studio class, which is Intaglio. Intaglio is a form of printmaking which involves etching into copper to make plates, which are then used to produce prints of the etched image. I am still deciding on the last class. I am trying to choose between "Art of the 20th Century", or "Modern Mexican Photography". Both are art history classes. I am going to go to the first day of each and see which one I like. My first class is in about an hour. Wish me luck!

(These photographs were taken from ASU's website.)

When it rains, it pours!

My dad always said that to me as a kid. The older I get, the more I realize my dad really does know everything.

On Wednesday the air conditioning in my house went out. In case you weren't sure, NO air conditioning in AZ=NO GOOD! It was 109 degrees. In case you weren't sure, that is HOT. Our house is 2 story with all 3 bedrooms upstairs. We decided the kitchen was the coolest room in the house and moved everybody downstairs. Everybody being me, my husband Scott and Coppersmith (our very hot little rabbit). We pulled our futon matress down the stairs (not fun in the sweltering heat) and put it right on the kitchen floor. And there we slept, or tried to sleep. The next day we had the repair people come out, only to tell us we needed a new air conditioner. Bad news, 3 days before my first day of graduate school. It can't be fixed until Monday, which is coincidentally the first day of class. So, we are bumming off our family for places to sleep for the next couple of days. Fun. I called my professor to tell her my wonderful news (she said sarcasm helps get you through so Im trying) and she said it could always be worse. She was right! Yesterday the clutch went out in my truck. More bad news. But, I am happy to say that no matter the obstacle, nothing will stop me from going to school, I know it is what I need to do and I am doing it! These little problems will probably be nothing compared to my 15 hour review anyway! So, wish me luck. On the bright side I've already lost 8 pounds just from sweating (eww).

We slept on separate beds so we would be less hot and we had every fan in the house pointed at us!

Poor hot little bunny!

Yes, he is laying on an icepack:( So sad!

Tagged

How exciting!! I've been tagged by Megan Auman (here) as a Rockin Girl Blogger! Megan makes beautiful steel and fine silver jewlery which can be found here and is pictured above. It seems the reason behind this is to give recognition to female bloggers. So, that means I must now tag 5 other Rockin Girl Bloggers, and they in turn tag five and so on. So, here are my five choices:

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Ashley Akers - Gorgeous Jewley

Mandy also known as Belle & Boo - Very cute illustration work

Jackie Coooper - Beautiful Photography

Shannon Rankin - Interdisciplinary artist who makes very unique vellum and gocco collages

Deborah Gwinn-Scott "Moth to Flame Studios" - Beautiful Bleach Paintings

*

These artists all have really great work that is very worthy of your time so please check them out!

Sale

It's time to go back to school! As a new starving graduate student badly in need of cash for art supplies, I am trying to boost my sales in my SHOP by having a huge sale! Most items are marked down and some up to 50% off their original price! Time to get out with the old and in with the new! So, visit my shop for some great deals on really unique jewelry!

Star Gazing

We had a great time in Tucson. On Saturday night my mom, Scott, and I drove up to Mt. Lemmon to do some star gazing. My parents house is about 3 miles from the base of the mountain, so to drive to the first lookout point only takes about 15 minutes. I brought my old SLR camera, and our digital point and shoot camera to try to play around with taking long exposure pics. The digital ones didn't come out that great, but hopefully my film camera took better shots. Anyway, here are some of the pictures we took of the stars and overlooking Tucson.

I love Tucson. I miss so many things about it. Here are some things I miss:

-My family of course!

-Eegees (If you have been, you know, if you haven't you can never understand! An eegee is something like a smoothie or a slurpee, but really its neither, its an eegee! If you ever go to Tucson, you really must try one! And, Cap'n Eegee is quite irresistable!)

-Small family owned businesses. There are still a few...

-The mountains.

-The stars.

-The desert vegetation, especially at this time of year.

-The wildlife.

-Summer monsoons, they just aren't the same in Phoenix.

-Knowing people. Everywhere I go in Tucson there is a high likelihood I will see someone I know (or that the cop who pulls me over will be a friend from high school..hahah, see post below to hear the funny story). I miss that small town feel.

I guess those are just the first few things I can think of. All in all it was a great trip and I am already looking forward to my next trip home. They say looking back is bad luck but I couldn't help it. Goodbye for now Tucson!