Kalaya Steede

You may need many gifts in the month of May so why not make them yourself? I like the "idea" of making gifts and if I can get people involved in the piece being made the results can be earth shattering. The piece becomes magical, infused with intention, and has a bit of everyone's essence. It becomes a talisman, something with magical powers. The project is to give a sculptural piece that has been touched by everyone that had been involved in this person's life here in NOLA. And how do we do this? By keeping it simple. I decided to do what is called riffing using an earlier piece that I did in 2013. Prayer Flag 2013 For more about riffing go here to  Stacie Florer's website  where she will tell you all about it. Easy, right? First, I need some tube rivets. I was sawing what seemed like FOREVER and only managed to have a total of 24 itty bitty tube rivets! WHAaaaat? Remember my little friend? Tube cutting jig The plan ...

You may not have used handmade tools or maybe you have.  Either way, you need to see the toys in my tool box. It has been so hard to blog last week (which I didn't) and this week.  What is going on?  I did manage to pull a post together about tools and if our work (mainly mine) is good without them.  Below are examples of some tools that hang out in the studio.  The post is a mixture of two stories.  One, on how I came to love handmade tools, and Two, if using them improved my work. Three years ago I was taking a workshop on how to make your own tools when this handmade rivet hammer was placed in my hands.  The curves and the weight of the hammer were so nice to the touch and with every blow my wire rivets looked like they were glistening like diamonds!  hahahaha!!! So without further ado here are some of the tools I use the most in the Turquoise Studio. 1.  Rivet Hammer My very first handmade tool.   Rivet Hammer ...

Walking into Jazz Fest last Thursday was like walking on the beach with a cool breeze wafting in from the ocean. As I approached the Contemporary Arts area the wind swirled around me and blew sand in my general direction and then Mother nature decided to sandblast me with her white sand!  Thus transporting me to my childhood days in Arizona.  Where the desert decided to sandblast me frequently. Okay so real quickly lest you get bored. Three ways to lighten your load BEFORE you enter the fair grounds. First stop, looking at your left (if you entered River Side)... Contemporary Crafts Tents Three Artists MUST sees for the last weekend of Jazz Fest. 1.  Michele A. Friedman Tent H Picture from Michele A. Friedman Michele had these beautiful earrings and necklaces that captured the vibrant colors of the rainbow but what was most fascinating was the versatility of her pieces.  You could add a blueberry to your necklace or ...

Yeeeeees...there have been voices in my head. And they are asking me questions. Especially after the last market where I did not sell a single new piece. I question whether I am making pieces that are appealing (maybe appalling hehehe) or maybe my prices are too high? AND maybe I should be making smaller pieces which equates to less expensive pieces? OR if I should just give it all up? *sigh* I actually made a piece using gold instead of a more interesting, rusty bottle cap.  Just to give the piece more "worth". Oooooo... I like those earrings! Intentions WOW!  I am taking myself waaay too serious. Okay, let us start over. Mantra... I must make the things my spirit wants to make. Sooooo.... let us begin. Starting with a piece of turquoise. Giving to me by a friend.  Do you see what I see? I wonder? This is a pretty big chunk of turquoise.  Sadly I did not want to make a custom bezel so decided on prong setting it. Wow!  Now I want...

Some things begin with a stone.  A Mexican beauty known as senora turquoise. My intention was for this stone to be used as a brooch/pendant. The design was drawn up and penciled mark where I was going to place the back pin and such. In other words... I had a plan. I used 20g for the base (2"H x 1-3/16"W).  The snake was forged out of 16 g round silver. The Vision I have two torches, acetylene/air and a Smith little torch.  I REALLY love that little torch of mine. I started with the acetylene torch thinking that I was going to get the heat I needed but that failed.  Threw the piece into the pickle pot and meditated on it. Problem...#1 Base is pretty big.   Solution...to #1 Move to Smith Little torch, use charcoal block, and above all be patient. Hot damn it actually worked!  Everything was soldered down, even the snake. Next, clean up all that solder gunky mess. Bezel and snake soldered down.  Hot damn! Time ...

I have come full circle. This Saturday will be my 2nd Freret Street Festival . This marks my one year anniversary of doing markets.  Woohoo!!! Here is me one year ago at the Street Festival. I revamped my booth display this week. I felt that the pieces were not popping, and the props were actually crowding the table so the eyes could not rest on any one thing. So all of the displays were removed for a more wabi-sabi look. A more simple look. I will take a picture tomorrow for you. The forecast is predicting 60% rain...likely! Wow! Do I melt in the rain? YES! hahahaha...well...not really but still! Here is a sneak preview of some of the pieces you could see if you came out for a visit. Some pendants... I was playing with scraffitto enameling.  Lots of fun but time consuming.  All of these were done in a kiln except for the middle one.  That was torch fired. Some dangle earrings... but the real fun was this... 'Wonder' brooch I wond...

Yep...it is the first day of spring. The spring equinox. Where I will show you the same length in day, as in night, And reveal to you what has transformed from my pain. My mom gave me this Amaryllis last year around Easter.  So when this baby started budding I knew that spring was near and he decided to open today! The first day of spring saying, "hey you...pay attention!". So pay attention people and enjoy the first day of spring. Have an excellent Thursday! ॐ   Namaste Kalaya