Weekly Review: True Blood

It looks like vampires are back! I recall the days when Anne Rice novels were all the rage...now, a show has premiered on HBO that has caught the attention of some of our members, with fond reviews.

The show is about a community of vampires in a time when synthetic blood has become available, so they no longer need real blood. At least, that's what can be derived from the show's description. This sexy, scary new drama was created by Alan Ball, creator of 'Six Feet Under', and is inspired by a series of novels written by Charlaine Harris.

Etsy Metal Finds

Lightning anyone?? I'm sad the season of summer thunder storms is passing, but I can keep it with me all year long with these awesome finds!

Lightning Strikes by Designsbyabby

Naked Raku Vessel by ClayDesignStudio

Catherine Chandler

Catherine Chandler comes to us with a wide range of experiences and techniques, learned from overseas as well as in the U.S. You can find more of her work on her Website, Blog, Etsy Shop, and Flickr.

1. Where do you live, and where are you from?

I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. I spent my high school years in the Columbia River Gorge (Hood River, OR) and my college years in Sydney and Adelaide, Australia. After returning to Hood River for a short while, I landed back here in Portland and am loving it!

2. How did you get started working with metal?

I originally wanted to major in photography, with grand ideas of becoming some sort of photo journalist. After reading a great autobiography of a female photojournalist, that idea changed quite a bit. When I took my first Introduction to Jewelry class, I absolutely fell in love with working with metal. The ability to take a flat sheet of metal and transform it into something beautiful is amazing. The rest, as they say, is history!



3. What are a few of your favorite pieces at the moment?

I have been incorporating a lot more stones into my work as of late, since I'm trying to whittle down my collection of them. I love The Fancy Ring, which features a great smoky quartz, as well as my Eucalyptus Dreams, which features an amazing Australian Variscite. And my Leaf Chain is fabulous--I have one of my own that I wear all the time.

4. What inspires you (artists, objects, interests)?

I am often inspired by nature...I love exploring unique plants. Australia is full of fun and bizarre plants, which really exploded my interest in them. When I returned home to the states from down under, I started noticing our own unique flora a lot more. I am also really intrigued by narration now...stories of intrigue and history. I love a challenge and am always up for turning a concept into an object, no matter how difficult it can be. Currently, I'm working on (mostly in my head at the moment) a project on forgiveness which will materialize in the form of wall lockets.



5. Do you have any other artistic interests?

Although I love photography, metalsmithing got the better of me and the passion I once had for film just isn't there any more. I would love to be a multi-faceted artist who dabbles in everything, but my heart is in metal. I think, if I had the space, I could definitely get into bigger sculptures.

Etsymetal News 9.26.08

WOW! Lots of news this week...

sudlow's Heart of California Necklace was featured on Rare Birds Finds!

esdesigns's Aspen Leaf Necklace was a fall inspired pick on purplepinkandorange.com

alphabettispaghetti, gemmafactrix, indiaylaluna and TreAnelli were featured in the Storque article Simple Jewelry!

On Wednesday, 9.24 ashleyjewelry's website was linked on the ring-licious blog the carrotbox!

Colleen Baran had two rings nominated in this year's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum People's Award! Please vote for her...twice at The Love Inside #5 and 'I Miss You'

jessedanger's Anax Imperator Machina is featured in Art Jewelry Magazine and is animated on their website! Check it out...very cool!

Don't forget that Laura Crawford will be at the Corvallis Fall Festival in Oregon on 9.27 & 28!

...and several etsymetal members graced the front page of Etsy!

CONGRATS TO ALL!

Danielle's Bud Vase - Part 1

This summer my husband and I traveled to Ireland where we took a 2 week silversmithing workshop with Brian Clarke. It was an amazing experience!
We learned two metalsmithing techniques:

1) Sinking - stretching the metal to make a domical form by pounding the metal with a ball-faced hammer into a depression, such as a carved piece of wood
2) Crimp raising - compressing the metal to make vessel forms by crimping the metal with radial folds which are then pounded smooth over a steel stake with a nylon or wooden hammer.

The following is the step-by-step process behind my workshop final project, a bud vase, which uses both these techniques...

I began by cutting out 2 sterling discs, annealing them and then began crimp raising one disc for the bottom half of the vase.

After several coures of raising, the shape is close to my template size.

Then I planished the hemisphere on a mushroom stake.

I wonder how many hammer blows it took to make it look like this? I wasn't counting! :) This portion of the bud vase took a full day (plus a few hours)...

Stay tuned...I will continue this step-by-step next Wednesday!

Weekly Review: Jewelry Concepts and Technology by Oppi Untracht

Jewelry Concepts and Technology by Oppi Untracht is one of the "bibles" of metalsmithing. Imagine...over 800 pages filled with metalsmithing techniques and history, from basic soldering to fusing metals, to surface techniques and stone setting. Untracht also includes some history on adornment, which is well researched and photographed.

Etsy Metal Finds

Like to fish? Check these out...

Recyclure by TeddMcDonah

Silver Doctor Salmon Fly Etching by Chartwellprint