Studio Practice with Grieving

Four weeks ago today, my father broached the idea of hospice. After six weeks of hospitalization (in the latest round), major neurosurgery, and rehabilitation therapy with poor pain control on top of three time per week dialysis, he just wanted to stop. I suddenly shifted from searching for a skilled nursing facility to trying to get him back to his home on short notice. Amongst the scramble to find a hospice agency, to get full time care set up at home with staff and equipment, to get him transferred safely amongst the many discharge blunders, my studio time evaporated.

Hardly a week after he first persistently pursued the subject of being finished with this life, he was gone. Once the restraint on medication was lifted, the release of pain let the exhaustion overtake him and he mostly slept for those last four days, with only a couple of arousals to visit with his grandsons. After his quick passing, the overly full days were achingly empty. Understanding and supporting his decision didn't ease the grief. Dealing with the paperwork and property didn't sooth the pain. The solace of the studio beckoned, but I couldn't really get any energy to actually do anything more than wander around.

Deadlines loomed, so eventually I started small. I sat at my metal clay bench with an audiobook and methodically cut and rolled and flattened tiny leaves. Then I branched out for a few flowers. Finally I attempted something new: owls and a hummer and a fairy wren for a commission piece. Not my finest work, but a start. Last week was better. Less crying, more working. Pieces shipped out to a show. Work from a new caster tested. The article in process actually reread. And finally, I determined to actually make something start to finish...

Using the Component Approach for Metal Clay

Analyzing my working patterns is making me more aware of all the prep work I could do to make the actual creative work flow smoothly. While I've been using casting to make large numbers of multiples to shortcut assembly for some new jewelry, I also used the component approach for handmade metal clay work.

Just this week I've been working on remaking a pair of warbler earrings. First I cut out the windows with a template used many times before, then I pulled out the box of bits. Tiny leaves, of course, are perfect items to sit and make mindlessly, while listening to a good audiobook and waiting for the muse to appear. There's something so rewarding about pouring out a stack of leaves rather than having to detour and make what I need on the spot. It's also more efficient and more accurate to roll out a sheet of clay, cut out evenly sized pieces, then sit and methodically form the leaves.

Birds, too, get stockpiled. I can get into the flow when I sit and work on several at once. There's an art to making the matched pairs, facing both directions. I love having a flock of birds in various sizes and poses to choose from, but of course, all too soon they're used and I need to make more. I'm thinking I need to have a regular component day in my schedule to make certain that I have the components ready when I need them. All too often now, I find myself out of the desired piece.

I also added tiny flowers to these earrings, and I tend to set up shop and make more than I need so that there will be some of those hanging around for next time as well.

When the earrings are almost finished, I find myself flipping them over to add my hallmark on the back. Usually, I prefer to use a small oval tag that has a tiny swallow, my initial logo, and the .925 quality mark. On some of my more open designs, the tag is too large and I use smaller individual initial logos and .925 marks.

So today while the latest earrings are in the kiln, I'll be working on paperwork and making new components.

Components

I'm rethinking my process for making jewelry, trying to get my head around the idea of components. This week I've whipped up a collection of small bits that I regularly make with the goal of making molds and casting them in Argentium for further use.

sterling components after first stage firing

These dull gray components just finished their first stage firing in the kiln to remove the clay binder.

dirty kiln

You can see I don't bother cleaning my kiln very often of the black dust that spalls off the stainless steel container. Flat items are fired on a fiber shelf, while curved pieces are supported in a bowl of vermiculite during this first firing. Notice the leaves already attached to a sprue built from clay.

sterling clay loading into carbon for firing

Next the items are buried in carbon to provide an oxygen free environment for the second stage firing where all the tiny silver and copper particles sinter together to make solid sterling. On the far right you can  see a treetop brooch going in for a third round of firing to finalize a repair.

treetop brooch being repaired

Shown here on the blackened container lid, the brooch originally broke at a thin spot where I impressed the sun in the upper right corner. Despite building the leaves over the break and adding more on the back, the crack opened during the first carbon firing. Here, it has already been through a first round of repair with more clay added to fill the gap that opened. I've filed down some excess and added more in certain areas, and I'm sending it through again before I file the edge smooth and do the finishing work.