composing begins . . .
Thought I'd share the ongoing progress of the new Urban Primitive Core collection. I fired the elements last night. Had a bit of a scare as the kiln took over twice as long to hit the target temperature . . . worrisome. Once it got there all was fine, but I'll definitely need to check things out next time.
Early this morning, all these little lovelies got a quick tumble in the stainless steel shot . . .
after firing . . . now they're really teeny . . . love!
While I was waiting for the tumbler, I started working on updating my clasp and had another equipment scare . . . my little butane torch wouldn't light. It had plenty of fuel, but it just clicked and clicked and clicked and nothing. Finally got it going and it's been okay since . . . phew!
It's been awhile since I made these smaller 18 gauge clasps (I usually use 16gu) and it took several tries to figure out how the heck I made them. The shiny one at the top was my model. I wanted to add a bit more of a flourish at the end, which should also make it easier to find said end when taking the piece on or off. One note for you silversmithing types . . . since I don't want a bright finish, I don't use a pickle pot. After everything is soldered together, it all goes back into the steel shot for a couple of hours and gets all bright and shiny, ready for the final finishing.
BTW, this clasp is my own design . . . in all the years I've been making them, I've never seen anything else quite like it . . . that's a really good thing!
Then it was time to check the tumbler. Nothing like a pile of freshly tumbled elements to make me smile! Now on to sorting . . .
Everything's sorted, extra already made components are added to the palette . . . let the composing begin. Amazing . . . it's really just a few shapes and sizes, but it seems like limitless potential!
Feeling like I'm on kind of a roll with these journal posts . . . probably won't be every day, but I'll just keep going for as long as the momentum holds out.
with deep gratitude - kvk