Kalaya Steede

I've been idle for too long but I have lots to share with you! Oh where to begin?   Let me first say that Oaxaca is a place full of beautiful people.  The city was VERY safe and the place we stayed in was absolutely wonderful.  And the very best thing about it all...the plane ride was only 3.5 hours from New Orleans!  Gotta love that. I don't want to bore you with all the details so I think I will stick to the art side of things.  Oaxaca is known for their textiles but I didn't take any pictures of any textiles.  :(  Lo siento. There was this place that we stumbled upon called La Mano Magica  #26 Macedonio Alcala 203, Centro .  This place had a variety of high end pieces for the taking and a price.  Off to the side we noticed a show going on and I immediately knew the work.  It was the work of ceramicist Alfonso Castillo.  One of the the great folk artist of Mexico.   Eeeee!!! How ...

Here are my pictures on the process of making a tiara. I made this last Friday at The Bead Shop and the process was so meditative.  I absolutely enjoyed it!  Merci Sarah.   Starting with a simple tiara a frame was made (the big pointy loops on top).  The frame will be used to hold another set of beads. Next was adding the gold to a smaller gauge wire and mimic the frame. Voila!  The beads following the frame of the tiara.  The wire with beads was then secured on to the frame with small gauge wire. Now for the black and gold.  I had to decide on the pattern and how many beads I will need to go under the frame.  So here is my way of testing things out.  Of course I needed more beads then I thought. Using 26 gauge wire I added beads under the frame and secured it to the tiara and the frame. A close up. To finish it off I added a fleur de lis.  Now it's game time! Awww. ...

I've been meaning to talk to you about. I failed to mention this in one of my previous posts about what I like to call, "technical difficulties." The whole purpose of this blog is to share my experiences with all of you on my journey in metalsmith. There are no secrets and I encourage any questions you might have.   So don't be shy. :-p As you can see both parts are patinated prior to connecting. This is how I've been taught.  I connected the two using rivets.  While I was hammering the back side to secure the pieces the patina came off where I was hammering.  Sorry, no pictures of the back.  Remember...the backside has a secret message.   Okay...so the patina came off.  Which means I had to remove the patina, clean, and patina again.  I must of done this at least 2x.  Moral of the story... I'm thinking I should rivet BEFORE applying the patina. I'll tell you how that goes later.  It just goes to show you that there is al...