The Bear Ends

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A sneak peek at the first casting of my bear. You can just see his ears peeking out up top. The ring will pass through the holes you see in his back.

Of Bathtubs and Earthquakes

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You’ll be happy to know that the bathtub’s a really nice place to ride out an earthquake. You’re already lying down, completely braced, and there’s nothing to fall on your head. Mind, I did feel a bit seasick between the rolling motion and the waves sloshing back and forth…

We’ve had so many earthquakes in the last couple months that the dogs have given up caring. Ditto didn’t even get up.

If you’re interested, you can find the details here. The USGS is calling it a 5.7, about 72 miles/116 km from here.

A Leaf or a Pod?

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I keep debating if this is a leaf or some kind of pod. In my mind, it resembles these really cool pods that hang from a certain type of tree in Southern California. But whenever I think of the word pod, I immediately go all George Jetson and expect a space capsule, so I’m leaning towards calling it a leaf.

One of my friends suggested it looked like a green bean, but that seems lacking in glamour, somehow…

Flock of… Bears?

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Several of my new designs made the magical transformation from wax to silver this past week. I always love casting - having started in the world of clay and big flames, I’m not afraid of molten metal.

Back when I sculpted in clay, I used to heat my pieces up to around 1500°F in a kiln. Then I’d put on a fire suit, grab a huge pair of tongs, pull that red-hot piece out of the kiln, and drop it into a trash can full of shredded newpaper which would instantly go up in flames. The result would be a spectacular glazed finish known as raku.

Casting has all of the heat of raku, but the pieces are much smaller, and nothing goes up in flames. On the bright side, I get to play with a nice big torch, molten metal, and a centrifuge, which slingshots the red hot silver into my mold.



These are my two casting trees for the week. In the top one, you can see the two halves of my new bear design in the background, hiding behind a flock of birds. The second casting tree has the second master for my elephant along with several amphoras.

I’m really having to tinker with this elephant to get both halves to join up correctly, so I’ve ended up making a second master, from which I’ll make a new mold. This is the most complicated piece I’ve designed and cast so far. It’s taking some time to get it perfect, but it’s going to be worth it!

Green Snow

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My bottle pendant along with “snow” from hollowing out the piece. I use a ball bur to grind out the excess wax, which leaves my workbench covered in green snow.

Bird Necklace

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For those of you who asked for this little guy with a brushed finish, he’s now available in brushed sterling silver in my shop. These beautiful birds have been going pretty quickly, so I only have a few left. No need to panic if you’re between paychecks, though - I’ll be casting some more in the next few weeks.

Etsy Front Page

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My Lute Necklace was on Etsy’s front page! And what a gorgeous front page it is, too. I’m really flattered to be in such fantastic company.

Elephant in the Rough

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Here’s the first casting of my elephant, roughly polished. It’s really exciting to see a new design come to life. Next I need to finish cleaning up this little guy, and then I’ll make a mold and do some finished castings. Can’t wait!