Did you know? Your chasing and repoussé can only look as good as the tips of your tools. My Eastern Repoussé & Chasing Tool Sets are shipped with a mirror finish, but time and pitch residue can make any tool loose its shine. Because my tools are perfectly polished to start, it’s super easy to…
It’s been yet another tough week, here on planet Earth. Frankly, I have been grateful to be living indoors with adequate water and, occasionally, heat. Last week our not-very-old-furnace tripped the carbon monoxide detector when I wasn’t in the house, but my son and husband were. Still, there was electricity to power that alarm to…
Thinking back to what made me good at filigree, I’ve probably proven my own theory that that the rise and fall of certain technologies is related to the economic constraints of a particular time and culture…except that it didn’t always. Long long ago (”in a galaxy far far away”…almost 35 years ago!) I was a…
It’s official! I don’t just teach courses, workshops, and masterclasses. I have my own school. Technically, it’s been official for a while, but after many months of work behind the scenes, I’ve assembled all the pieces, fused the foundation, soldered the connections, forged the materials, and sanded like mad to present my school’s shiny polished…
A smith’s hammer drops a rhythm like a heartbeat. Whether the light tap of a chasing hammer or the heavy ring of a forging hammer, the steady sound syncs, one blow at a time to propel the metal where we want it to move, just as, one beat at a time, our hearts propel our…
I’ve been getting the bug to play with clay ever since we finished building my husband’s pottery last year. Okay, who am I kidding? I’ve always had a thing about clay. It is magic mud with an ability to go from lump to vase with merely the need to spin it fast and touch it…
As artists, we often find ourselves caught in an eternal flip-flop between states of motivation and states of overwhelm. Having lots of ideas is a sign of healthy creativity. Keeping multiple projects in-progress prevents boredom. Unfortunately, there can be a tipping point when that creative motivation spins out into burn-out or paralysis, and our work…
