More of My Bronze Clay Adventures

What do you think of My Medusa? She was taken from a mold that I made of a face on a doorpost of a church in Hungary. She looked like a Medusa to me...so she became. (Is that Sacreligious?) Today was my first success in heat patina, after three tries. I discovered that I needed to heat it from the top, not the bottom, and heat the heck out of it. Once I finally got some color, I did it again and got even more!

Divas 3 & 4 are ready!

Would you like to see my new Divas?

My First Bronze Firing!

Fired my first bronze pieces yesterday. I think, rather successfully! (What do you think?) Fired at the long schedule, cause I wasn't sure if one piece was too thick for the regular firing schedule...so, it was an all day affair. Couldn't make any glass beads, boo hoo! The colors in the bronze didn't come out, I think, as nice as my first ones did. I fired in coconut carbon--same as before. (The first ones, Deb fired for me.) What do you think of my Diva 3, and My Medusa--although she needs a minor repair. How about my evil eye! Don't know what I'm going to mount it on yet, but it's drilled for something.

Oh yeah, on the colors--not quite like the last ones, but, my photography needs work--they look fired in real life--but not in the pictures. And...I see that I have to clean up some charcoal chips!

til next time,

Susan

Recently, I participated in a group exhibition at TLD Designs in Westmont, IL. The theme was: "A Woman's Wardrobe: an Expose." The guidelines for the exhibit were that they had to be enclosed in a white container. On the inside was "anything goes". Here is my little part of the exhibition. Thanks to all of my friends and family who attended.

Artist's Statement for an Expose:

"What's Old Is New"

I have worn and loved my grandmother's jewelry since I was twelve years old. The newest piece (of Grandma's jewelry) is probably 40 years old, yet they are all surprisingly contemporary in feel.

I like the way that two or more people can look at the same thing--and see something entirely different. I hope that you enjoy my interpretation.

Recipe from Montreal!

I suppose this recipe is fair game to publish, as it came from a wonderful pasta dish that I ate at a restaurant in Montreal. The name of the restaurant escapes me. The dish was simple--simple enough to write out a recipe, just from tasting and seeing. Easy to prepare, no exotic ingredients, delicious and beautiful to look at--and healthy!

Here goes:

Pasta salad with Pesto

(you're on your own for amounts and portion sizes!)

Toss pasta with pesto and mound warm pasta on a plate. Dice a mango and divide into four sections and place around the pasta. Halve two cherry tomatoes and place in the sections between the mangos. Slice up some sun-dried tomato--not in oil-- and sprinkle over top of pasta. Slice 1/2 an avacado and arrange decoratively over the top. Garnish with 4 kalamata olives and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

My First Blog!

I hope that you enjoy my blog! Bear with me--as I am new to this. In the near future, I hope to publish some photos from my travels--some of which inspire my jewelry--recipes and other bits of wisdom I may pick up. I plan to document my adventures with bronze--and maybe copper clay--as my second try with it came out a lot more encouraging than my first. I plan to attempt my own first firing of bronze clay soon. Special thanks to Deb Wojnarowski who got me started on this adventure!