Thursday, October 28, 2010
My Favorite Piece of My Art....so far
Way back in the mid 1990's I started trying to come up with some way to showcase my jewelry work. It seemed so wrong, somehow, to spend all those hours designing a piece, creating the focal parts, scouring shows/stores/antique shops/internet for the perfect matching components and finally realizing a design on to then put it away in drawer or jewelry box. I really liked the work Ford & Forlano were doing incorporating brooches into wall pieces but didn't believe my skills were sophisticated enough for that. I also got inspired by all the differing shapes/sizes of glass jars. After pondering this for many months, voila, the "jewelry jar" was born.
Several of the prototypes are still only partially finished from running into technical difficulties I haven't solved yet. Some were not suitable for public consumption. Currently I only have two in stock. One is small, and I hope to get a photo of it tomorrow.
These photos (taken by my very supportive husband, David) show my favorite and best work, in my opinion, to date. This work started life in the clearance isle at Hobby Lobby. I really liked the off beat shape and pedestal. I covered it using the faux turquoise, ivory & coral master class offered by Tory Hughes in an issue of Ornament magazine. The large buffalo conchos are over the counter finds. The small ones are the dress type rivets usually found on better quality women's western wear and I found those at the Houston Livestock show & rodeo. The necklace and earrings also contain real coral & turquoise and are part of the outside design of the sculpture. The piece still looks okay without them, just a little plainer. The inside is lined with a deep burgundy velvet and is suitable for putting other jewelry items in as a jewelry box. And the lid has enough eye pins to hold another six pairs of earrings because I truly dislike having earrings jumbled and tangled up in the bottom of a jewelry box.
I hope you enjoy this piece and I look forward to any comments you have the time to share.
Now, back to the studio.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Found my way back
Okay, I am not the worlds most computer literate person but to loose one's blog is a bit much. I literally couldn't find my way back (navigation wise) until today I thought to google myself. Why google my name? I just uploaded photos to flicker and used "dlakotaqh" as one of the tags and wanted to see if it worked. How surprised I was to find myself listed first on Tory Hughes site from a comment last March and then to find my blogspot again. Oh yeah, oh yeah!!
Must be a sign for the beginning of my new year. I wonder if I can find my other blog "dlakotaqh's spiritual spot" as well. Can't hurt to try.
But, let's catch up. I am working to get a website up...Dakotah's Polymer Place to showcase artwork, ideas and to sell items. I'm going through intuit and they say I'll even be able to take credit cards for a reasonable rate. I have been in a juried show with moderate success. I attended and sold, with much less success, at the Houston Covenant House Fall Coffee. I will be sharing a table with Bob Wiley (work shown in Polymer Cafe, 400 Polymer by Lark books) at a bead show in three weeks. I have a flicker photo stream. All on their today is some bracelets, 4 rings and 2 necklaces but David is working hard to help me get all my inventory photographed and on to that site. I communicated w/Cinthia Tinapple about ongoing projects and she was most supportive and helpful. I just have to get my things done before I contact her again. I don't want to be a bother. I will be attending a class by Lindly Haunani hosted by the North Texas Polymer Clay Guild in two weeks. And lastly, the third Saturday of this month I will be teaching a demo at our guild (see http://www.houstonpolyclay.org/ for more info. I'll be turning in the photos and material list to Betsy by the end of this week) on my paper punch technique. But since I just now learned how to upload photos, if not put them where I want them to go, above is a tile bracelet using my technique and my technique for faux raku. Enjoy and I'll figure out how to make a more cohesive post before I come back.
So...oh yeah..got fired from my nursing job because a co-worker stated she was afraid of me r/t my spiritual beliefs. And I haven't been able to find a job since then that I qualify for and don't have to drive 1.5 hours to (one way) each day. This is why I am pushing so hard on the polymer right now. I know when I find another nursing job I won't have near as much time. If I can get all this in place before then I should be able to keep up. At least I hope so.
Must be a sign for the beginning of my new year. I wonder if I can find my other blog "dlakotaqh's spiritual spot" as well. Can't hurt to try.
But, let's catch up. I am working to get a website up...Dakotah's Polymer Place to showcase artwork, ideas and to sell items. I'm going through intuit and they say I'll even be able to take credit cards for a reasonable rate. I have been in a juried show with moderate success. I attended and sold, with much less success, at the Houston Covenant House Fall Coffee. I will be sharing a table with Bob Wiley (work shown in Polymer Cafe, 400 Polymer by Lark books) at a bead show in three weeks. I have a flicker photo stream. All on their today is some bracelets, 4 rings and 2 necklaces but David is working hard to help me get all my inventory photographed and on to that site. I communicated w/Cinthia Tinapple about ongoing projects and she was most supportive and helpful. I just have to get my things done before I contact her again. I don't want to be a bother. I will be attending a class by Lindly Haunani hosted by the North Texas Polymer Clay Guild in two weeks. And lastly, the third Saturday of this month I will be teaching a demo at our guild (see http://www.houstonpolyclay.org/ for more info. I'll be turning in the photos and material list to Betsy by the end of this week) on my paper punch technique. But since I just now learned how to upload photos, if not put them where I want them to go, above is a tile bracelet using my technique and my technique for faux raku. Enjoy and I'll figure out how to make a more cohesive post before I come back.
So...oh yeah..got fired from my nursing job because a co-worker stated she was afraid of me r/t my spiritual beliefs. And I haven't been able to find a job since then that I qualify for and don't have to drive 1.5 hours to (one way) each day. This is why I am pushing so hard on the polymer right now. I know when I find another nursing job I won't have near as much time. If I can get all this in place before then I should be able to keep up. At least I hope so.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Another day closer
Progress has been made! No, no photos yet but we get ever closer. David thinks he has figured out how to take the flash off the point and shoot. I have painted the box and bought a nice piece of fabric for a backdrop. We have a full schedule for tomorrow so maybe by Saturday we'll be able to take photos.
One caveat though...I am taking the laptop in tomorrow. It has 3 ports. One is unable to recognize anything in it and the other two are on the same side right beside each other. Since I use Cricket and since the attachment is so big, this means I cannot do anything except Internet when I am on the Internet. Not good. I am hoping the fix it place knows a quick fix. If not, I may be computerless for a few days and that will slow things down. But, if it is a relatively quick fix, I should have photos up by this time next week.
I also actually put my hands on clay today. I was able to cure 2 pendant/earring sets and 2 additional pairs of earrings. I have a set of necklace components, a pendant and 2 matching earring sets ready to fire and am almost done w/another bracelet. What I am doing this week is finishing up old pieces/ideas that are half done so that I can get on to the new ideas fermenting and rolling around my noggin. I also cured the first part (an accent band) on a vase.
So, the polymer goes on. Once I have photo capability I'll get on to polymer clay guild of etsy and 1000 markets as well as ebay store. I am planning to use all three venues as I have at least 3 separate types of goods with 3 different price points. So I'll use one for each market. More about that come Monday. I have a little bit more research to do before I choose which venue for which price point.
Clay on!!
One caveat though...I am taking the laptop in tomorrow. It has 3 ports. One is unable to recognize anything in it and the other two are on the same side right beside each other. Since I use Cricket and since the attachment is so big, this means I cannot do anything except Internet when I am on the Internet. Not good. I am hoping the fix it place knows a quick fix. If not, I may be computerless for a few days and that will slow things down. But, if it is a relatively quick fix, I should have photos up by this time next week.
I also actually put my hands on clay today. I was able to cure 2 pendant/earring sets and 2 additional pairs of earrings. I have a set of necklace components, a pendant and 2 matching earring sets ready to fire and am almost done w/another bracelet. What I am doing this week is finishing up old pieces/ideas that are half done so that I can get on to the new ideas fermenting and rolling around my noggin. I also cured the first part (an accent band) on a vase.
So, the polymer goes on. Once I have photo capability I'll get on to polymer clay guild of etsy and 1000 markets as well as ebay store. I am planning to use all three venues as I have at least 3 separate types of goods with 3 different price points. So I'll use one for each market. More about that come Monday. I have a little bit more research to do before I choose which venue for which price point.
Clay on!!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Still Getting the Hang of it All
So, today is the first day I am responsible to blog and nothing polymer to add yet. My husband is assisting me by putting together a photo box to take photos of polymer work already done to post but it isn't quite there yet. I have painted the box white on the interior and will get a couple of pieces of neutral fabric this week. His problem is not knowing how to shut off the flash on his point and click camera. The flash leaves a great shiny spot in a less than desirable spot on the jewelry he is currently attempting to get a photo of,
My huge task today is to get off my procrastinating behind and get the studio clean enough to function in. My current space availability, due to the clutter, is less than 2 foot square. Not much room to lay out supplies and projects. By tonight though, look out! I will get this done, I Will Get This Done. I WILL GET THIS DONE AND I WILL DO IT TODAY!!!!!!!!!
It is my hope that by next Monday I will be posting photos. Until then, I have a lot of work to do so I will sign off for now and go get after it.
Oh yes, my scheduled polymer post days are Monday and Thursday. See you in a fee.
My huge task today is to get off my procrastinating behind and get the studio clean enough to function in. My current space availability, due to the clutter, is less than 2 foot square. Not much room to lay out supplies and projects. By tonight though, look out! I will get this done, I Will Get This Done. I WILL GET THIS DONE AND I WILL DO IT TODAY!!!!!!!!!
It is my hope that by next Monday I will be posting photos. Until then, I have a lot of work to do so I will sign off for now and go get after it.
Oh yes, my scheduled polymer post days are Monday and Thursday. See you in a fee.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
So, I am new to this and have very little to start with. My page may be sparse to begin but as I learn more and add more, perhaps we will all have a good time. I am inspired by "Polymer Clay Daily" and the "Daily Art Muse" blogs although I have no aspirations to ever rival those fantastic sites. Just to attempt to continually push myself and, in time, maybe to inspire others just a tiny bit as well.
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