Kalaya Steede

I'm getting all up there with my new Olloclip. It just clips on to my iPhone 5S.  I think that is an adapter for the skinnier version of the phone.  I wanted something easier to carry around other then the massive camera to take real close ups. Here's what I've done so far. I'm still learning about the clip but for the most part pretty satisfied.  It's good for those close ups in the studio.  Here's me drawing down wire.  This is when I feel like a true metalsmith.  HAHAHAHA!!! The clip is also good for your morning walks to get those beautiful close ups of nature.   You see...not everything is beautiful from far away.  Sometimes you have to lean in to see the beauty in the macro world. Have a great Friday! Namaste Kalaya

Sugar skulls just got a makeover.  I cannot seem to get away with making these.  My favorite color is the white sugar enamel. I use the torch because it gives me more control over the sugar stage of the enamel.  Sometimes I use a mantra while firing and it goes something like this (after pulling the torch away).  Stop...stop...stop...STOP!!! A lot of people seem to think they are just for Halloween but I wear my sugar skulls year round.  It is like a momento mori. me·men·to mo·ri məˈmenˌtō ˈmôrē/Submit noun noun: memento mori; plural noun: memento mori an object serving as a warning or reminder of death, such as a skull. I am constantly thinking about my own mortality.  I guess this is why I make skulls.   What about you?   Are you afraid of skulls? Just today my mom requested a necklace to accompany her earrings.  I am totally on it mom! Oh just so you can compare.  These are how the earlier style ...

Mandalas have been on my mind a lot lately.   Struggling to find my truth.   I find making these in the studio calms me. Vitreous enamel, steel, and silver. Silver and copper ring Even though I knew that hard solder melts at 1450 degrees I still had to try enameling the copper.  In theory the solder should not have run.  If I only took it out of the kiln a minute sooner this may not have happened. A total melt down but I love that color!  :) Vitreous enamel, copper, and 22k gold leaf My intention for the above mandala was a ring.  The challenge was difficult but I managed to make it. Vitreous enamel, copper, 22K gold leaf, and silver I feel myself pivoting once again and feeling the need to create amulets and talismans but in sculpture form. Each person's life is like a mandala - vast, limitless circle. We stand in the center of our own circle, and everything we see, hear and think forms the mandala of our life...everything t...

Every now and then a little elf steps into the studio while I am working and starts asking these annoying questions.    What are you doing? Why are you wasting your time working on that? PRODUCTION WORK?!!! WTH?!!! He (yep the little bugger is a "he"), I shall name him Doubt, infects my mind from time to time.   This all happened last Friday while making some of my New Orleans'  Token pendants. So I reached down deep inside me to think about the "why".  I thought about it because I was running towards something else and resisting the moment. As I sat there at my bench working on this particular token pendant here is what came to me. New Orleans Token Pendant These particular tokens were minted in 1947 and 1970.  They differ only on what is said on the back (1947 - "One Base Fare" and 1970 - "One Cash Fare") .  The ones I use for my pendants are minted in 1947.   I do not clean them up.  Instead I examine them, hold them...

Oh it's that time of year again.  Where I get all excited because dia de Los Muertos is around the corner.  It's that time when the spirits of the dead come for a visit and I make sugar skulls to remember. I usually do my traditional white sugar skulls but this year decided to add some color to my life.  After all, dia de los muertos is about celebrating life, remembering the dead, and nothing expresses life more then color! Getting ready to be fired.  It's like making cookies.  I just want to eat those skulls! The colors were all inspired by those skull beads you see EVERYWHERE! Howlite Skull beads If you look closely at the picture below you can see the enamel in sugar form. Calaveras or Sugar Skulls These are available now in my store .  I've been updating the site on a weekly basis.  So come on in and see what's new.  Have a great Friday and remember to have fun and breathe! Namaste Kalaya