so typical

Wow, I really suck at keeping a blog! The "wow" is meant to fool you into thinking this is shocking news, when in fact even Nostradamus had an entry about my failure.

So as an update, I think I'm starting to be enticed back into the embrace of urban planning instead of agricultural policy. I'm not sure. I haven't gotten to a point where I'm comfortable committing to either one yet. I just know I want a change but I don't know what it is. Maybe I should go with the one that will bring me closer to my daydream of saving rural African villages from warlords?

Luckily the design and animation freelance has been steady so my indecision isn't putting me in the poorhouse. Also, I've been working more with silver and I think I'll be able to post something soon that is not only finished but I'm proud of as well. I should have used the word "wow" there, because that actually IS shocking.

In other news...

Last week I came to the conclusion that I wanted to get a Masters degree in Agricultural policy. What the hell?! It took me completely by surprise. Well, almost...I've seen it sneaking around my peripheral vision for awhile now. Anyway, it's the first time the idea of something felt just as 'right' for me as it did when I decided to go to art school. I've been waiting for almost two years to find some sort of forward momentum and I'm incredibly excited about it.

The idea is still young and I'm sorting out the details. It's like a newborn baby where it's all crazy looking and scary but you love it because it's obviously a part of you and has this amazing potential. Haha or maybe that's just my reaction to newborns? I may not even need a degree for what I want to do, I just know what I want to achieve, so I'll have to start there and work backwards.

I don't want to be a farmer, not professionally. And I don't want to sit in a government office writing policy and selling my soul to large agro-industrials and their monoculture planting systems. I am very interested in working within my state, improving its allocation of resources and helping both the struggling small and mid-sized farmers and the under-serviced inner city. I have all these great ideas in my head and so many things I want to do that it's deliciously daunting. I can't even remember the last time I've actually been passionate about my work.

There's so much more involved, but I'd end up writing an essay if I got into it. Anyway, I'm happy and we'll see where this goes.

Silver 1

After almost three years, I've finally put my hesitation aside and started working in silver. If I weren't in a creative profession with deadlines that demanded results, I'd probably never finish anything. As an artist, I've always been far more interested in the idea and process of something than the finished product. After satisfying whatever curiosity that attracted me in the first place, I'm effectively done with it and my mind is already off wandering far before completion. My workspace is a graveyard of stillborn ideas, all somewhat precious but ultimately stunted.

Knowing I'd probably be wasting a ton of money on unfinished pieces, I held off on this even though I've had the resources at hand for years. Anyway, I've realized I'm never going to finish anything if I don't find out how this works and what it can do. Besides, learning new skills and creative goofing around is one of my MOST FAVORITE THINGS EVER. If nothing comes of it, so what? At least I'm having fun!

(Mostly. This still scares me a little. I'm like a freaking miser with this stuff.)

Here are the results of my first experiments. The results are pure silver, not sterling, via PMC:



This first piece focused on using organic matter as a template I could then burn away, leaving my piece. It's almost feather light and captures all the detail of the original leaf. I did only a light surface buffing with a wire brush to keep a somewhat dull finish. A metal stylus added emphasis to the veins. Haven't a clue what I'll do with this yet. Necklace? Hair thingy?



When the pieces came out of the kiln, they were a dull and dusty white, like the piece on the right. Depending how hard you burnish the metal, you can get a variety of finishes. I made one leaf highly reflective (not shown) but I wasn't a fan of the look. I've been reserving that for only details now.



This was an experiment using dead matter as a base and I still got the same level of detail. The shape isn't all that great, but it's a leaf from my friend Niv's garden, so I love it anyway. A permanent reminder there's such a thing as sunny and verdant Novembers I guess.



This is something I made with the leftovers of a piece I'm not going to post yet. The original was a bezel pendant, but I have yet to create the feature which goes in the setting, so it would be pointless. This extra bit I turned into a texture experiment, later playing with mixed amounts of surface burnishing. It's pretty 'meh', but I learned from it. Haha man, I made so many dumb mistakes on this one. I'll probably use it as as the tester when I start experimenting with patinas.

Anyway, I just started a class on this so I'll probably have more to post soon. I already began this fish thing that might be interesting. We'll see. Also I'm excited to learn the patina process. I have all the chemicals ready to go, I just don't know how to use them yet. But just owning something called "Liver of Sulfur" makes me swoon. YAY!

Dormant

Haha between general disinterest and my personal brand of introverted reticence, creating a blog is probably one of my more pointless decisions. Yet here it is, miracle of miracles. I like the idea that one day I'll make or think something that's worth the effort to post here. Until then, sleep sweetly little bloggy.