Thursday Thoughts: An Aha! moment

Work in Progress

This semester I'm enjoying taking a figurative sculpture class at a local community college.  Our latest project involves interaction of hands in ceramic clay. At one point our professor demoed how to make fingernails by pressing and almost flicking away clay with the edge of a flexible potter's rib to create the nail bed. I admit I cringed every time I saw a piece of clay go flying thinking about what if I did that while working with metal clay. After watching me attempt to create nails with the rib, he said, "why don't you use the needle tool?" D'oh, of course!  In general I've tried to stick to the techniques we're using in class as maybe there will be something new I can take home with me. In this case I went home wondering about what kind of "bad" clay habits I've acquired without realizing it or so far haven't questioned.

With the little bit of clarity from sculpture class, I'm more motivated to keep cleaning my work area and figure out my optimum table set up. The new start for the next batch of projects is my fuel to start experimenting as I know there are other opportunities that will pop up before the next deadline too.

Other than that, my sculpture now has a pretty good manicure if I don't say so myself!

Published Project!

I am excited to receive the newest issue of Metal Clay Artist Magazine this weekend as it has one of my projects published inside! Kind of surreal, but in a nice way. 

Bird's Nest Bezel Bracelet
Michelle Loon, 2011

Going through the editing process with Margaret Schindel was really enjoyable and I've learned a lot about how my regular class instructions could improve too.

Thank you to Jeannette LeBlanc, Margaret Schindel and rest of the MCAM team for all the work they put into each magazine!

Thursday Target: Routine

Aerialist on silks
Digital painting
Nguyen Dong, 2008

Over the past couple years I have taken silks, lyra/hoop, static trapeze, flying trapeze, and pole dancing classes.  Discovering what one's body is capable of is such an exhilarating feeling! As much as I adore aerial arts and look forward to taking classes again soon, my obsession with metal clay comes first. What does being a circus monkey have to do with jewelry making?  Both require the right mindset and having a disciplined practice routine to get off the ground.

Whether it is a physical trick or art technique, I have to keep telling myself reading is one thing and actually sitting down to create something with it is another. With a goal of establishing new habits and to get myself to be productive a little bit every day after getting home from the day job and/or school, here are my observations for the week.

Journal affirmations - Taking the time to journal each night and set intentions for the next day really makes a difference on the next day! I wake up more alert in the morning and am able to hold a positive mindset better.

Warming up - Do you have a routine when sitting down to create? Similar to stretching before attempting the splits, working on drawing assignments right before class has helped me focus during sculpture class.  I've been able to identify a couple triggers that help me shift into "work" mode, and a couple things that mean I'm overwhelmed, but I'm still trying to figure out my ideal warm up for clay as sometimes that leads to over thinking things.  Maybe I'll try using a timer.

Timers - Much as I hate to be told what to do by a clock, I admit they work!

Accountability Buddy - My "Spotter" for Artful Success is Stephanie Maben of Stephanie Maben Jewelry! She is such an enthusiastic person to work with and makes gorgeous jewelry with natural cabochons!

Mindset - I'm in a better spot mentally today than last week, but trusting myself is a giant elephant for me to tackle.  Near my desk there is a collage from an aerial recital that proves at some point I trusted myself to do a trick in the air and let go of my hands.  To bring that mentality back to my clay, no additional thinking, just doing. And take pictures. No pictures, it didn't happen!

Thursday's Target: Vision

Stock photo from http://eyeglasses.go-optic.com

I went to the eye doctor this week as it has been hard to read signs while driving. When the doctor checked my glasses, he found one lens was made to account for astigmatism while the other one wasn't. Really? Still, he said my vision is stable and with a little adjustment to the lens prescription, I should see a huge difference in clarity. Wouldn't it be nice if clarity in all aspects of life were so easy to find and correct?

This week my goals for Artful Success included writing down the answers to goal setting questions and making flowcharts for projects. Seems pretty straight forward. What really has been a challenge is understanding what is going on in my head to make this so difficult. I understand concepts and can verbally answer questions, but when it is time to write or make something, I get so stuck over thinking things, I don't even realize I'm doing that. As I've been reminded by multiple sources recently, planning is useful but at some point you need to jump in and see what neat things come out of it. Usually the outcome is much more positive than I think.  Hey, long term goal! (and this is in writing)  => Embrace a creation (creative) mindset and let go of worry.

From last week, I have continued cleaning and purging stuff to make my workspace more conductive to working on projects. It feels good to get rid of things that I've been hauling around for a couple years and abundance has come to fill that void in the form of validation! The store I regularly teach at, Brea Bead Works, had their Registration Day on Saturday and metal clay classes were really well received.  I have 2 sold out classes for the next session and a couple friends asked me about jewelry requests, sweet!

One more big thing I don't think I mentioned specifically in my last post of gratitude is that I was chosen as one of the recipients for Tonya Davidson's Artful Success Scholarship! Part of the program is to update weekly progress. To help me do that, Thursdays will be my days to blog and recap my week.

Commiting to Action

What is the best way to eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.

Since the beginning of the month I have been writing down, scratching out, and staring at a list of class projects to submit to the store I regularly teach at. However, it has been really hard to pin myself down and honestly ask why I procrastinate with my project proposals.  

 What if the projects are not "good enough"?

 

This past week I started Tonya Davidson's Artful Success program. While it can be daunting to employ any new system of project organization, I instead find myself completely overwhelmed with gratitude. This comes with the realization of just how much emotion I subconsciously attach my projects. One thing Tonya suggested this week that resonated with me is, "Commit without emotional attachment". Does project exploration need emotion? Not really. The important thing is a successful project outcome. Being able to show a technique and seeing a student's face light up when they can do it themselves is a definite bonus. My friend has dubbed me the "Bag Lady" as I tend to bring everything with me to class. I realize this happens mentally also. I want to let go of the "worst case scenario" and "the ghosts of fumbled things past" baggage so I can conduct my classes calmly and with confidence.

Looking back at the things I've managed to accomplish, what has really blown my mind is all the wonderful people who have been so supportive with gifts of advice and opportunities. This encouragement has been keeping me aloft, even as I avoided believing that I could do what I truly want to do. That is, one day make art full time. I hope they will know how grateful I am and that I am ready to believe in myself. I am committed to a plan of action. As far as those class projects go, they will be tackled one bite at a time.

Declaration of Art

The New Year means making plans, new goals and looking back on how far you have come from the previous year. In the past, the last part usually makes me frustrated to revisit where I have been stuck in cycles of negative thinking on what I haven’t done well enough, and that has resulted in some fairly self destructive actions. While there isn’t anything I can do to completely undo that damage, except thank the friends and family who continue to be supportive of my pursuit of art.  My Resolution for this year is to stop being self destructive and channel that energy more productively, so here is my plan.

Teaching

I have been blessed to have a place to teach at in Brea BeadWorks for all the wonderful people I have met there. Coming up with new projects every quarter gives me an excuse to try out different techniques I wouldn’t ordinarily take time to try myself. As mental/visual inspiration for projects his year, I am putting a list of my students above my desk because they are the reason I teach. Schedule 1 Project day every quarter with my friend and fellow instructor, as 2 heads are better than one for motivation and hashing things out!

4PAM – 4 Projects a month

In order to feed the creative beast of teaching projects, joining the 4 Projects A Month (4PAM) group on Flikr will help me make time for my own “pet projects.” After talking with Michael Sturlin last summer, I realize I haven’t taken the time to understand and explore an artistic body of work.  There are techniques that I have taught and want to revisit, which is my focus for January.

I have had good feedback working with the Creative ArtsGroup gallery and their art shows last year.  I hope to have distinct art jewelry pieces for them this year, instead of a collection of shiny random things.

Online life

Blogging at least once a week for 4PAM is my goal to get comfortable with writing and promoting my art by “putting myself out there with my slutty skirt on” as a friend had so cheerfully put it! ;) 

Ok, time to go clay as I do need something for this week's project!

Masking Tape "Band-aid" Tutorial

I've been experimenting with using masking tape to "splint" small or delicate metal clay pieces that have had accidents for repair. Pictures are with dry, pre-fired clay, but I have also used this method to join pieces that broke after firing.

I apologize for some of the slightly blurred photos, but I would appreciate any and all feedback on this!

Step 1: Assess Damage

This break is kind of cool looking to me, but not what I was going for. Is this fixable or is it better to start over? Are there clean breaks? yes. Got all the pieces? yes. Are there other delicate areas to be aware of during repair? yes, the other spokes. Ready to play doctor? Yes? see step 2.

Step 2: Tape offending piece (tape is sticky side up like fly paper)

For a piece with multiple breaks, join the smallest pieces with water and paste to form a larger unit that is easier to handle when dry.

Step 3: Position pieces

Use the tape to pick up and align the pieces. Like a bandage on a cut, orient the tape so it overlaps more than just the area of the join.

Step 4: "Tacking" the join with paste

The tape will let you open up the join to apply paste, and holds them in correct alignment while the paste is wet. I have put taped pieces on a griddle set to 200F degrees to dry with no ill effects. The adhesive on the tape seems to soften a little, but it leaves no residue if allowed to cool before removing the tape.


Update:  On fired pieces I use oil paste for low profile join. For joins that gape a bit, Overlay paste (dries hard & quickly, can be torch fired) and lump clay.

Step 5: Reinforce join with syringe or lump clay

 With the tape supporting the repaired side, piece can be handled safely from the other side.

Step 6: Remove tape

 Excess paste that does not stick to the tape can be removed with brush or file.

Depending on the repair (ex. filigree) have left the tape on to be fired off. Sometimes the join needs to be fired for stability before being reinforced with additional clay.

Step 7: Face lift!

 Check the front of the piece to see if repaired areas need refinement from the front.

Finished cogwheel spinners!