Rust and Rocks / Fun with Focals

Here is the first necklace using one of my handmade sagger fired ceramic Artbeads. I made it after reading about Heather Powers (humblebeads) Fun with Focals Challenge.

One of the Challenges is to make a piece with a horizontal focal. I Jumped right on the challenge... After all I have a brand new style of Art Beads to work with, and was just looking to channel all those options into one project at a time!

My Square Art Bead has so many rusty and brown colors, greys and tan... It really has different looks depending on the side of the focal you are looking at. I added some stone beads and the body of the necklace is made with my current favorite material waxed linen.

I also added a few Medium sized donut beads from the sagger fire last weekend to my etsy shop.
I really like how they turned out, and I really like the medium size! If you missed the photos from my outdoor sagger pottery firing last weekend... there are pictures here-http://artisanclay.blogspot.com/2009/10/so-where-was-i-anyway.html

Hessonite Ice by Carol Dean Sharpe

Just look at this beauty by the wonderful Carol Dean Sharpe!

Hessonite Ice

I just love Carol's way with words, here is her description of the piece--

A while back, the talented Kristie Roeder of http://artisanclay.etsy.com/ asked me to create some special pieces using her beads. She wanted to use these as examples of what can be done with her work for her booth at Philadelphia Bead Fest this fall. Kristie had a good show and has returned these "samples" to me so that I can now offer them to you.

When I first opened Kristie's box of goodies and saw this cabochon with its deep reddish brown glass, I despaired of ever finding beads to match. And so I didn't try to match it, instead worked with crystal and tan delicas to create the bezel.

I created the focal pendant by taking the beautiful wheel-thrown, glass-fused clay medallion by weaving a crystal, white, and tan open-back bezel for it in peyote. Part of the bezel is an outer row of beaded ruffles that really soften the look of the piece beautify. I completed the wonderful pendant with a simple white/crystal tube that serves as a (almost hidden) bail. The pendant is 2.25" across.

I was thrilled with the pendant but I wanted to present Kristie with a completed piece of jewelry. I was thinking quartz crystal and smoke crystal, but when I got into my stash of semi precious stones, I found some long forgotten hessonite garnet roundels. They match the brown glass perfectly!

The necklace portion consists of alternating hessonite garnet roundels and faceted quartz crystal round beads, sparkly yet earthy at the same time. The closure is a 1" long sterling silver S-hook. All findings, including the crimp beads and crimp covers, are sterling silver.

Here's artisanclay's description of how she creates her glass-fused pieces: "The Piece itself has been fused with Stained Glass during the Kiln-firing process. I have combined many kinds of glass (clear, opaque, milky, and different colors) The Glasses become liquid and bleed into each other in the kiln swirling ands blending at the edges. Finally as I cool the kiln the glass fractures and crackles but with a smooth glass top. The crackling refracts light and glistens in the sun."

Again Here is a link to this wonderful necklace available in Carol's Sandfibers Etsy shop--http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33098420

Thanks to Carol for letting me share her work with you!

Drum roll Please!

And the Winners Are----- For the second giveaway (pictured first here, LOL) the winner is....
My friend Dave! How did you manage that? It was #25 so I counted 2 for everyone that Let me know something that they would like to see me make or make more of and there it landed, Dave. WOW!! Do you want me to make your pendant into a quick necklace for your lovely wife?

And for the first giveaway.... Marcie! Bella Joya!

When she said---"My favorite item? The copper colored donuts. INCREDIBLE!" she was entered for a second chance and the lucky number was #2! Yay! Marcie... I think your were really rooting for the second giveaway prize, do you think you can settle for this one? ;-)

Thanks everybody!!! I wish I could give you all a prize for being so awesome and giving me such great ideas!

So... Where Was I, anyway?

I had a big outdoor firing yesterday that I thought wouldn't go that long... It did, BUT... I have at least a hundred WONDERFUL new beads from it! Originally the firing was supposed to be last weekend, but the weather didn't cooperate and it was rescheduled for yesterday. Silly old me thought I could do it all, but come 12:30, my work was still inside multiple kilns and there was just no way I was going to make it! The beads above were from the "horse-hair" Kiln

Here the beads are cooling on the rack. In this firing, the pieces are heated to 1500 degrees and pulled from the kiln HOT! Then while burning HOT, things are touched to the clay and burn instantly. The supplies on hand for this firing were: Horse Hair, Feathers, Leaves, Wild Barley, Sugar, Orange Rind, ect. These were my favorite beads of the day!

Here is a shot of The Potter's Exchange member's work from the Horse Hair kiln. It might be good to view this photo larger so that you can see the different markings a little better. Unfortunately there was SO much firing going on that I was running between all of it and didn't get the best shots of every one's work-- (which was wonderful!)

Here are Deb, Roy, Monica and Guy setting up the burner for one of the Raku Kilns

Here is Monica after she removed her work from the Raku kiln. The Burning hot pottery is placed inside metal containers full of sawdust, newspapers, ect and the sawdust immediately ignites and the pottery is trapped inside the container with the smoke. This causes chemical reactions to take place on the glaze surface and makes all those wonderful flashings and variety of color that comes with Raku pottery.

Again Here is a not-so wonderful shot of every one's Raku work. My beads are inside the dish on the right.

So Yesterday I posted this photo of my beads being prepared for the Sagger kiln. I used sea Weed, copper mesh, sawdust, Something called Swamp Juice, and other weird potter made concoctions. That's just my kind-of thing. Mad Scientist gone pyro-maniac!

Here is the half loaded Sagger kiln. The group made this during a workshop with North Carolina Artist Edge Barns.

And here is the result of the first Sagger Firing. Burnt reds, Oranges, browns, touches of green. There were lots of Mossy looking surface designs.

And here are my beads pulled fresh from the ashes, full of ashes. I will be polishing them up and photographing them this week! Maybe I'll even get some in my Etsy shop by next weekend, so check back every now and then or become a fan of Artisan Clay on Facebook if you want first picks!

So that's where I was! I really expected to be Live at the Open Studio Event :-( But, I hope you forgive me! Sometimes I just can't be everywhere at once, though I do like to make myself crazy by trying!

I am going to announce my the winners of both of my Give-aways late this afternoon. I am giving plenty of time to enter-- since I didn't keep to the correct timing yesterday! So, check the post for yesterday and enter BOTH giveaways! You do not have to let me know what you like and want to see more of in my shop to enter, but if you do you will be entered for 2 chances. I am really enjoying reading all your suggestions and I am making a to-do list!

Thanks again for coming by--

-Kristie-

Cause one Give-away is just not enough!

It is Second Give-away time! Here's the drill. Leave a comment on this post to be entered to win this pendant. Let me know something that you would like to see me make or make more of and you will receive a second entry!



Here is the list of all the participating blogs!! ---http://beads-of-clay.blogspot.com/2009/10/getting-ready.html

Studio Field Trip!

Hey Guys!!! I am so sorry that I missed the timing on the Open Studio Event!! I am back now and I am posting my give-aways now! I will announce my winners on Monday! Sorry for the mix up! Yesterday and today my top studio assistant and I are thrilled to attend a group outdoor pottery firing with The Potter's Exchange. All pictures here were taken on Saturday as we prepped our work for the day of Fire on Sunday. I know such protective equipment is not standard in most pottery operations, but with such valued assistants we are leaps ahead of OSHA standards. Today her position was mostly supervisory, and she helped keep track of the cat and dog and horses and chicks living at our friend Steve's farm where the firing was taking place.

Our pottery Group is run as an UnOrganization, with all the member taking turns volunteering to host and organize events. We all pitch in to pay expenses and we have amassed a good collection of group Raku Glazes. We have a Specialized Sagger Kiln which members made during a workshop Steve hosted.

I am going to try out my new firing racks that Beads-of-Clay member Barbara Lewis Had designed for her work and so graciously offered up her extras for us to buy! I can't wait to see how they work! This rack will be used for Raku firing and hopefully Horse hair firing as well on Sunday(today)

This is my first time taking part in one of our group's Sagger Kiln firings. Here is an outdoor station where a special mixture is sprayed onto our work in order to get a red flashing affect. You can see I have set out quite a few pieces for this firing, since it is not something I am easily able to replicate at my own studio.

This is the work table where Kim and Delana are preparing their work for the kiln. Their pieces have been sprayed and they are applying a Foaming concoction the inventor calls swamp juice. Everyone has contributed wire, copper scrubbing pads, steel wool, leaves, ferns, sea weed from New Jersey, Nova Scotia, and Cape Cod, sawdust, miracle grow, and an occasional banana peel. Any number of these things are bound against the pot (beads) with Super Strong aluminum Foil and packed into the Sagger Kiln!

Yep! We potter's will do anything it takes to get that perfect effect! :-)
Here is one of my Saggers as I was putting it together. (my assistant was on a Pumpkin Cake break while I applied all the goodies to my beads) I have some New Jersey Sea Weed, Nova Scotian Sea weed, Special Solution, Swamp Juice, and Copper Mesh here with these pieces. I added a fist full of Sawdust on top and bundled it up like a baked potato! I think I wrapped up 7 of these bundles, all different. I can't wait to see what happens. Like I said I have never used this kind of kiln before or any of these chemicals. It could be great.... It could be terrible... We'll see when the smoke settles.
And here is my lovely studio assistant again, posing with the Sagger kiln. It is my understanding that everything will be packed in there nice and tight and then.... FIRE!!!

Again Here is the link to a list of all the Beads-of-Clay Blogs participating in the Open Studio Blog event today! ----http://beads-of-clay.blogspot.com/2009/10/getting-ready.html

Did someone say give-away?

I am giving this potter's wheel thrown Pendant away to a commenter on this blog.

So leave a comment. In your comment tell me what your favorite item is in my shop and why and you will be entered for a second chance to win!

Don't forget to check out all the giveaways on all of the participating blogs! Here is the link for all of the blogs again! ---http://beads-of-clay.blogspot.com/2009/10/getting-ready.html