Sunday, April 29, 2012

First Firing in 2012

Here is where the magic happens,
Into the fire!




Bead rack in the can.

Spring is in the air and our thought have turned to thought of FIRE! We were able to do our first firing since last fall today. Hopefully the weather will stay nice and we can get back into a regular production schedule.

Beads, Beads, Beads



With firing, the waiting is the hardest part. Even with Raku. So I made a few things while waiting with the hopes that the beads and pendants will turn out they way I expected.

  
Coiled wire earings with newly fired Red Raku beads.


Brass, turquoise and glass bead necklace with newly fired  Raku pendant
Closeup of newly fired pendant.






Sunday, April 22, 2012

Spring finally makes it to the Hill!

Spring has finally made an appearance to our part of the world. We've made it a week without snow. Wildflowers are appearing and our resident Red Tailed Hawks are on the hunt.



Raku Bronze Rabbit

Friday, April 20, 2012

Wrapped, Stacked & Layered Challenge


Almost 80 sites are participating in the Wrapped, Stacked & Layered Challenge Blog Hop organized by Make Bracelets' Tracey Statler. The challenge is just to create an interesting assemblage of wrapped, stacked and or layered bracelets. Here is my stack (you might be able to tell that I am obsessed with coiling wire right now)! #3 and #5 were not made by me.

1. Coiled brass and copper wire with Raku beads
2. Coiled Brass wire
3. Indian brass bangle
4. Silver PMC, Raku and carved horn beads
5. Indian turquoise bangle
6. Coiled copper wire with Raku beads






Thanks for hopping by and be sure to hop to the other participating sites;








Monday, March 12, 2012

I want to share this with you...

Some of my beads were selected to be used in Erin Siegel's upcoming book!
I was flattered before, but now that she has sent out the list of bead makers whose beads are included I am blown away. It is like a Who's Who for ceramic bead makers and me. Here is the entire email she sent to the Beads of Clay list;

"On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 10:23 AM, Erin Siegel wrote:
As many of you are aware, I co-authored a jewelry-making book called,
Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry: 50 Designs Using Leather, Ribbon and Cords
due out this May. It's now available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

Here's the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Bohemian-Inspired-Jewelry-Designs-Leather-Ribbon/d\
p/1596684984

<http://www.amazon.com/Bohemian-Inspired-Jewelry-Designs-Leather-Ribbon/\
dp/1596684984
>

Last year, I posted a call out to the BOC group for art beads to use in
the jewelry projects for the book. Many of you generously responded to
the request! I'm now pleased to announce beads made by the following
ceramic bead artists will appear in this upcoming publication:

Becky Guzman (Diakonos Designs)
Diane Hawkey
Earthenwood Studio
Elaine Ray
Elements Pottery
Gaea
Golem Studio
Jon Sutcliffe
Lisa Peters Art
Mary Harding Jewelry
Marsha Neal Studio
Micic Art
NKP Designs
Round Rabbit Extra
Sedillo Hill Studio
Seoul Identity
Southern Fired Designs
Spirited Earth
Vanessa Gilkes
Yolanda's Clay

Congrats to all! Thank you so very much for donating your art beads for
this book project. Business contact information for each of these
artists appears in the Resources and Where to Shop sections at the back
of the book. Also, a special thank you to the Beads Of Clay group
appears in the Acknowledgements section in the front of the book.

Please feel free to spread the word and share this news with your
family, friends and customers! If you have any questions or comments
please email me at: erinsjewelry10@yahoo.com

Erin Siegel
www.erinsiegel.com <http://www.erinsiegel.com>"

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Silver PMC Bead


I took a Silver PMC bead class yesterday at New Mexico Clay. PMC is so different from earth clay. It is nice to learn something new but frustrating that earth clay techniques don't translate completely. Made a bracelet today with one of the beads. Red horn beads, green raku beads, copper chain and findings and a raku charm with a round PMC silver bead that was formed over a cork core.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

New Year's Blog


Sorry for the long silence. Last year got away from me from Spring on. Became really busy at work (my day job) and seemed to use up every brain cell by the end of the work day. Add in the drought and fire danger that was ever present from the Spring through the Fall. The View from the Hill was not so good. The Los Alamos fire was visible on clear days and the pall of smoke hung over the state from wild fires all over the Southwest.
It was not a good time to be a Raku Artist in New Mexico. The risk was too real and too great to fire.

Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel! New Mexico gets some moisture in the form of snow. However, our kiln is buried under 3 feet of snow. The snow is melting and no more is forecast in the near future. We might actually be able to get back to work soon.

Meanwhile, I have been learning wire working for jewelry. I have been concentrating on learning bracelet making (OK, obsessed really). Here are a few example, with and without my beads;

Red Raku beads with coiled copper wire.

Patina green Raku beads with coiled copper wire.

Glass beads, copper charm and coiled copper wire.
Brass beads, gears and coiled wire.
Glass beads on coiled wire.