Lake County Holiday Art Tour

Better Late than Never!

I've just been invited to the Art in the Gardens in north Palm Beach!
 See you in a couple of weekends!

Through New Eyes!

I am lucky enough to be attending William Holland Lapidary School for a second time this season and I have a someone with me that is not only a student but a friend as well.

Laura is giving me the opportunity to see the school through new eyes again, she reminds me everyday of what a special place this is.

Thank you for being you Laura!

We are attending a week long workshop for Enameling and Cold Connections and were a bit surprised to discover the class is focusing on kiln enameling but we are loving every minute of it. Our instructor Renee Kelley is wonderful, patient and funny! By the time we all got back to our rooms last night we had all accomplished at least two projects and were well into our third, we were all excited and exhausted...and this was just day one!

My first project.

Renee doing a demonstration.

One of the techniques we learned on our first day was Water Color Enamels, Roger was my inspiration:

My second piece, Watercolor Enamels, silly!

We then moved into adding wire to our projects, I decided to make a pair of earrings to match my first project. It took a few tries but I am happy with the end result:

My Sgriffito  bird was the final project for day one, whew, and for me it dragged into day two but all in all it was a great day:

Moving right into day two, we all completed our partial projects and began a fold formed bracelet:



I love how this is beginning and can't wait to see how it comes out!

Day 5 (Thursday), I've lost track!

As we move towards Friday I realize just how difficult this week has been.
Today is "Show and Tell" in the dining room, we put out our work for all to see, it's a wonderful sharing experience.
I also realize I won't be putting much out, just par for the course in this class I guess.

We began making prong crowns, this is Jim's, what we all aspire too...

So here's how I've been doing...

My stone is not sitting correctly, obviously I am struggling but I hope to have this one ready for this afternoon! Sigh.

As I try to remember, "This is class, we are here to learn, perfection will come in week 4!"

Ta-Da!

I finally have a piece completed!
Yesterday was a half day so after we got our "Stone-in-Stone" pieces completed we were pretty much done for the day.

 I spent the rest of the day wandering around town and enjoying dinner with my neighbors. Wine and visiting after dinner ended my day.
So now it's off to Day 5, (Day 4 at the bench!) I can't wait to see whats next!

Days 2 & 3

Unless you have taken one of Jim's classes they are kind of hard to explain with the exception of one word, fun. Okay, maybe two, educational...and fun!

So see if you can follow me:
Our first project was to create a small box, more like a box top for a future project.

 Step 1

 Step 2

Next we move onto Project 2...making a SMALL bezel:

Soldering our bezels onto domes.

Another thing you can count on in all of Jim's classes is going home with "new" tools, either one's you have made or ones "new to you", meaning tools purchased from Jim's ever growing stock!

So now we move into tool making!

Filing a piece of brass for a bezel tool, note the action shot!

So here we have the result of day 2...mostly.

Project 2 completed and two bezel tools completed!

Then we moved into Monday evening, yes, Jim is one of the few instructors that will work evening hours...for those of us that have not had enough after 8 hours at the bench!

We all choose 2 stones to combine, it took me an hour to make a decision then an hour this morning to drill a hole through the piece of agate I selected...

You would have thought I would know better but  could not resist the colors!

(This where I will get a little out of sync...try to follow me here.)

Last night, in the midst of students drilling in holes and some of us still deciding...Jim discovered that he had no fine silver 5mm tubing! What does a true Silversmith do? Just watch!

He cuts some fine silver sheet into a strip and begins hammering & forming.

He wraps it around a piece of tool steel and continues hammering.

Then solders the whole darn thing and draws it down to exactly 5mm!

The man is amazing, all in all it took him maybe 30 minutes!

This morning we all came back into class to continue our Stone-in-Stone projects.

There was enough  tubing for the whole class to make at least one pendant. The base is square wire with prongs, spinning in the tumbler as we "speak" and I've already begun a second.

Tomorrow is a half day, I can't wait to see what comes up next! 

Day 1

This week has finally begun, I've been patient, really.
(I only began counting the days in June!)

This is the first time I've done this trip alone and the drive was much easier than I anticipated.

I got into town by 7pm on Saturday evening, which gave me enough time to settle in, go shopping, have dinner and begin painting my new studio sign.
All in all, it was a really good day.

This morning I got up early-ish and went to our favorite park to walk the loop.
The first time around was at a slower pace to take photo's and appreciate the beauty...

The second time around was for my heart!

Tomorrow morning, bright and early I head to the bench, which is for my heart as well!

Night-night little bees!

so quiet

in the past 6 months this had not happened much
maybe i have not allowed it
maybe i have not saught it

other than the random sound of fire works in the distance
there is nothing but the sound of life around me

crickets frogs cows an occasional dog and trees
the sound of life
peaceful

so glad it found me

In Conjunction with...

Several Gallery and Studio owners in Mount Dora

are happy to host our first

2nd Friday, Gallery Walk.

(Sonya and I are part of the Baker Street Artists' Studios.)

 

So Two B's Studio is jumping right in with our first

Student Show!

If you live in the area, I sure hope we see you!

On the Otherside of the Wall...

...there is sawing;

There is drilling:



There is hammering:

and there is fire!

On the otherside of the wall is a great group of students learning from Wendy Foreman the art of Cold Connections.

What am I doing?

 I'm over here beading!

But don't think twice, tomorrow is MY day!

Working on Workshops UPDATE!

Finally!

I have found someone to teach a Cold Connections class!

Wendy Foreman of Wendy Foreman Jewelry will come inland from Ormond Beach to teach a basic Cold Connection class from 11am-5pm on Saturday March 31st or Sunday April 1st!

We are still working on materials so we should have a final class cost within a week but please do not hesitate to call with any questions. We are limiting the class to 8 students, so be sure to reserve a spot!

Don't forget that Friday is Open Studio Day at Two B's Studio! I will in the Studio from 10am-3pm sharing the space with whom-ever cares to join in. Studio fee is $12.00 per hour, come out and play!

You know what they say...

...about owning your own business;
"You will work twice as many hours."
"You are your own Boss and secretary and book keeper and...."
"You will love what you do."
...and they are all correct.

The first of this list, I find, is the most challenging to get used too. It took a day of threatening rain and wind to keep me home from the Market.

(It does indeed look as if it going to snow in Central Florida today!) 

I will refrain from using the term "day off" since today will include the usual; laundry, floors, shopping, errands and some kitty scritchees.

Since early January the studio has been humming along nicely. For those of you that follow me on Facebook, the shows and classes have had some activity but alas, not as much as they should, just as my blog has been suffering as well.

On the other hand my new logo:

 and website have come along quite well.

Classes are still filling up at a good pace and I am thankful for that. Jewelry production on my behalf has come to a sudden standstill while I tinker around the studio and make changes almost daily, I am very happy with the space as it develops.

Soldering Stations

This is the lighting when I am alone in the space, cozy!

Nara soldering for a resin project.

Claudia working on a beautifully etched project.

Recently I was lucky enough to have a local Photographer and Video Director Steve Williams approach me about a creating a video about my classes, after about 5 hours of shooting in The Studio he created a fabulous video. 

My "Tuesday Nights with Jim" have continued but the format has changed, we have now developed an "Advanced" project based class on Tuesdays as well as a "One Sunday a Month" program featuring advanced "Techniques." You can contact me directly on this program and I would be happy to include you in the

e-mail list.

Oh, and yes an ETSY update is in my future as well!

Enjoy your Sunday!