Painting with Fire- Torching a Patina on Copper

Microtorch

Fire can transform a piece of copper into a rainbow of color.  Loving to work with fire, I have numerous torches.  For my birthday I bought a Blazer butane microtorch to use in soldering.  It is a great little torch because you can add oxygen to the flame to get the right amount of heat.  Also nice that it starts with pushing a button rather than a lighter.  Any torch will work  however.

Variations in color

Some people make a piece of jewelry then heat it with the torch to get the look they want.  I chose to patina an entire sheet because I want to make earrings out of it and I want them to look similar.  Heat patina is tricky because you don't really know the results until you remove the heat.  The metal changes first from gold, to orange, then reddish, green, blues and finally black.  You can see all the different possibilities here in this photo.

I put the piece of metal on a tripod and heated it from underneath moving the torch around so as not to overheat the metal.  When a color I liked magically appeared on the surface I removed the heat.  If you hold the torch without moving it you get something that looks like this.  The back of the metal is black because  it got really hot, but I think this will make a nice earring.  I just let the sheet of copper cool naturally so I could watch the colors emerge and decide it I wanted to hit it again with heat.

Getting the patina to stay can be an issue because the lacquers will muddy the colors and dull the finish.  Here is a forum where people suggest different products but I am just going to let nature take its course and see what happens.  I'll post some jewelry I make out of this sheet and let you know about finishes as I experiment further.  I have read that you can also patina in an oven but that wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

If you got questions, leave me a comment and I'll do my best.

Jewelry Tutorials: I Never Could Follow Directions

This lovely turquoise pendant by Deborah Gray-Wurz was featured in Step by Step Wire Jewelry December-January issue this year. She was inspired by a Native American piece. I had some lovely lampwork beads a friend made I wanted to show case so I decided to give the tutorial a try.

Here's my problem or perhaps my gift, I am not really good at copying.  In fact, I got a poor grade in penmanship because I wanted to make the letters "my way" not like the ones on the board.   Give me a recipe for a great meal and I will alter it to fit the spices and food I have on hand. I made the best fudge ever this year at Christmas and it will never be repeated which is the downside of winging it.

I teach jewelry classes and students have asked me if I have specific directions for the projects.  The answer would be "No."  In fact, I could never write a jewelry tutorial for others because I don't measure wire except with body parts.  You know about as long as your thumb, length of your hand, that magical yard which is from your nose to the end of your arm.

So with the best of intentions, I decided to follow the tutorial precisely the first time.  I carefully measured each wire, flattened and filed and did my best.  But guess what?  I didn't like it when I got finished.The matching silver beads were too plain so I changed them out.   It also didn't have the kinda swirly flair I like in a piece.  So I started messing with it. I continued to wire weave and twist the ends of the piece so it looked less like a horse shoe and more like a sea creature.

Another jewelry artist once said to me that she didn't worry about people copying her designs because everyone's personality comes out in their work.  I think she may be right about that.  Even when I am following a tutorial, I still find the need to mess with it.  The upside is no two pieces are ever exactly alike.  The downside is I will never be able to make that award winning fudge again.

Vintage Hats Debut at the Alpine Holiday Festival

The Alpine Holiday Festival happens each November in rural Benton County, Oregon.The festival is a fund raiser for the Alpine Community Center. 

This year, we added a vintage hat display to the event. Jeanne, one of the coordinators,  took a millinery class and her interest in hats lead to this display.  You can't believe the number of people who were fascinated by the hats.  Many of them commented that they had an old hat of their mom's or dad's hidden away.     Being a wirewrap artist, I love that each of them is handmade and none of them were exactly alike.  I remember my mom having a pink hat  made to match here dress for my sister's wedding back in the 60's.  She also had her shoes died pink.  Oh those were the days when people dressed in style.

About half the hats were from my collection. Looking inside them at the festival, I noticed each of them had a label with the name of the designer.   Most of them were made in Portland, OR which makes sense since that was my home town.  My favorite is the maroonish one on the bottom shelf which was made in Portland by Myrtle.   There are ribbons that go around your ears and underneath your hair in the back.  I think this Fascinator could totally be worn by one of the witches in Harry Potter. You are lucky I cropped the closeup or you might have thought I had flown in from Hogwarts. 

The hat below was made by Jeanne in her millinery class.  It is completely hand stitched and the feathers are applied without any glue.  There is a real art to making hats and it isn't something that everyone can do.  I can't wait until she starts making them and we can sell them in our booth.

Looks like next year we will have even more vintage hats on display.  So if you are in the Willamette Valley and want to get a jump on the holidays take a trek to rural America.  You'll find great homemade food, quality arts and crafts, good music, a funky fashion show, and a great community of just plain folks.


Photography courtesy of Watchthebirdie

Celebrating the Harvest - Celtic Winter

Here in Oregon the seasons are very similar to those of the Celtic year.  We had our first frost last week and it was very cold last night.   The days are considerably shorter and the chickens have slowed down in egg production.  Parts of the country have had there first snow storm.  Despite what the Gregorian calendar tells us it feels like winter is upon us.  In fact, November 1 is the first day of Celtic winter.

I like to mark the changing of the seasons with little rituals.  For instance, I remove the screen door on Samhain and replace it on Beltane. Flannel sheets are put on the bed Winter Solstice and come off Spring Equinox.  Today, I will put the barbecue under shelter for the winter months and fill the porch with firewood.

Samhain is about celebrating the last of the harvest and we will spend the next few days here at  Borgo Pass picking the cabernet wine grapes.  The winter squash has been put into cold storage and the apples are soon  to be picked.  According to the weather forecast, we have two nice days before the rains set in.

The daylight will continue to shorten until the solstice when we gather to celebrate the rebirth of the sun.  In this time of darkness we are invited to explore the depths of the inner self.   I look forward to slowing down the pace, clearing away the cobwebs, and searching my soul.

I would love to hear how you mark the turning of the year.

Wine Grape Lovers Come One and All

Pinot Noir Wine Grapes

These look good enough to eat

For the past month here at Borgo Pass Vineyards, we have been watching the grapes slowly ripen.  Humans are not the only ones who are interested in the sugar content of grapes it seems.  My husband often says there is no reason to take the brix just watch the birds.  You can see that the Cedar wax wing is keeping a good eye on that sugar content for us.  Just waiting for us to leave so he can devour that bunch of pinot noir.
     This year the yellow jackets have also been problematic which is a new one on us.  I guess with the cool spring and late summer they are desperate to fill up before they hibernate for the winter.  We have killed a number of nests we have found in the ground, but the yellow jackets just seem to keep coming.  The cool nights have finally slowed them down some which is great because it can be both literally and figuratively a pain to try to pick the grapes which are covered with starving  yellow jackets. 

Thanksgiving Dinner?

My favorite is the wild turkeys.  Someone years ago decided it would be a good idea to release turkeys for the hunters.  The turkeys are thriving and reproducing like mad with the great food supplies here in South Benton County.  (ie: vineyards, wheat fields, berries and orchards).  This flock of about 11 likes to come in and eat all the grapes they can find close to the woods.  Last year a similar flock ate about 500 pounds of grapes before we finally got serious about chasing them off. 

So Come One, Come All.  Grape Harvest is Upon Us.  

Practical Magic Blog Party

 "Girls Night Out" 

My moon circle sings this fun little song about riding brooms so I wondered how the broom became a symbol for witches.  After all this is a Practical Magic blog party and brooms are pretty darn practical.  No fancy swiffer in this old house.

.According to some quick internet searching I discovered this in an article by Ashira R.

In the Old Religion, as in organizations like the Masons, the use of ordinary working items were used as symbolism in many rituals and meetings. Probably, without a doubt, the most least understood, yet most well known, is that of the broom. From ancient times the broom was a symbol of domestic order and domestic bliss. It was a powerful symbol as the woman's preeminence at the time was still in the forefront. It was expected that when women would arrive at their meetings (now called Sabbats or rituals) they would be expected to carry the symbol of their position - the broom.
When women went to any meeting of any sort, regardless of whether it was a ceremony or not, they were expected to bring their symbol of position - the broom. Upon arrival at a meeting, they would display the "staff of office" (the broom) and turn the broom like a hobby horse and enter the sacred space riding their brooms. So yes, Pagans and Witches do ride upon brooms - just not as most would think. Even today the hobbyhorse toys are derived from these very rituals.   http://ezinearticles.com/?Do-Witches-Really-Ride-Broom-Sticks?&id=968986

 So there is Practical Magic and some of that power is in using ordinary items like the broom, a pot or cauldron, herbs, tinctures, teas, brews and "the look" which stops most children in their tracks. But enough of that, here's the great little song we sing at the moon circle. 

Away Ye Merry Lasses 

I told me mum I was goin' out 

She asked what I was all about 

I asked if I could take the broom 

I'm going to meet the girls 

Oh, the moon is wax tonight 

and don't ya like the fellas? 

I prefer the girls tonight 

I'm goin' to ride the wind 

   CHORUS 

'Cause it's the girls' night out 

Away ye merry lassies 

Get your brooms, get 'em out 

We'll ride the wind tonight 

Oh it's the girls' night out 

Away ye merry lassies 

Get your brooms, get 'em out 

We'll ride the wind tonight 

My sister is so bold and free 

She asked if she could come with me 

I saw her up above the trees 

A-goin' to ride the wind 

Oh, the moon is wax tonight 

And don't ya like the fellas? 

I prefer the girls tonight 

I'm goin' to ride the wind 

w&m by Georje Holper, ©1989

If you want to join others in this Practical Magic party on September 24th  just click on the link below.  Happy Equinox and may you life be filled with magic.   As we move into the darkness, keep those inner lights burning bright.

Rings and Things Bracelet Design Challenge

Blog partners of Rings and Things were offered a challenge to design a unique piece of jewelry using their bracelet cuff blanks.  I decided to use the brass cuffs because I am not really attracted to that material and after all this was a challenge.

This bracelet was my first attempt.  I used a lotus stamp to add some texture to it.  I wanted an Asian look, so I found a replica of an old coin, but it had a huge square in the middle and I am a wirewrap artist so I needed to figure out how to make that work.  Found a scrap of an old tea tin and used it to plug the hole.  As a cold connect I punched a hole in the middle of the blank and used and eyelet.   The pearl was strung onto thin copper wire and put through the hole of the eyelet and then wrapped.  Dropped the whole bracelet in liver of sulfur to give it a little patina and called that one good.  I wasn't really satisfied with how tame it was and so decided to try something more outlandish.  

I really like using tins and wanted to figure out how to make bracelets with the scraps.  I had tried a couple of different times and thought these cuffs might be the ticket.   Using my disc cutter, I cut out different pieces of tin in different sizes.  I punched holes in the tins and then domed them with my dappling block.  Now the challenge became attaching them to the cuff because my eyelets were either too short or too long.  I was having a serious Goldie Locks moment until  I found some brass spacers that filled the gap.  Now it was "just right".  I could use the longer eyelets and I was ready to make "flowers". I am planning on making more of these because I like the way it turned out even though my husband thought the Asian one was nicer.  I liked that it was whimsical and used up tin scraps.

Love to hear whether you prefer the tame or the wild and crazy one. So hey, leave me a comment .

You can also see what others created by visiting Rings and Things blog . Click here for the link.