October 20, 2008

Jane Wynn workshop

What a lovely weekend we had - Carmi having orgainized a 2 day workshop given by Jane Wynn. Jane is a mixed media artist with a gentle way of leading us through metal techniques that can be applied to assemblage and jewellery pieces. Needless to say I managed to NOT grasp the art of creating a bezel by bending wire into the desired shape. How come everyone else managed to create some really lovely pieces...I did, however, get carried away with the blow torch. It turns out that I love fire and the way it changes the metal. I couldn't stop firing for the full 2 days. We were using brass and copper. I was terrified of the drill press with dremel attached. I had big problems in the past - getting so spooked by the vibration when the drill bit hit the metal that I would let go and the metal would go spinning around the kitchen (where I do my work). The drill press stabilizes the drill and despite this feature, I'm still nervous of the vibration. Yuck. Maybe I saved myself some money by not buying a press. It's so heavy that I couldn't lift it anyway. But I did pick up a blow torch today and I'm waiting for my tripod to arrive (from ebay where the cost of the product is less than the shipping fee). Can't wait to start firing. Here are some examples of the variations of the impact of heat on metal:

Well these look a bit dark and small. It seems I'm now having trouble with the camera!

3 comments:

nancy said...

Hey Sharon, it was so nice to see you again, it was a fun class and a great group of "gals".
I'll drill all the holes if Carmi pours all the resin!
Nancy

Leslie Jane Moran said...

Sharon, I'm so glad you blogged about this. As we can all see, your work is wonderful. I really enjoyed connecting with you again, and we did spend a splendid day together learning so much. As it turned out, the problem was with the drill press, not your abilities. We'll have to try this again some time soon:) In the meantime, be careful with that fire woman!

Joanne Huffman said...

I clicked on the photos and enlarged them and they're absolutely wonderful (I already told you I love the masks). I, too, ordered a tripod - and, I went out to Harbor Freight and bought a butane torch. It was a wonderful workshop, wasn't it!

Joanne