Of Solder and Safety

• September 11th, 2005 • 2 Comments • supplies •

So I tried my hand at making some manner of jewelry this week. Materials include: solder, butane torch, jewelry fixtures, copper tape and computer boards. I can’t say I’m interested in posting a photo of my first few attempts as they succeeded in accomplishing very little! I’ve never worked with solder before; it’s an interesting substance. My only fear is burning the bejeezus out of my hand when some of that molten metal lands on it. Seriously, it’s only a matter of time. I’ve managed to burn or slice myself on every other dangerous appliance in the studio, so a solder burn can’t be far behind. You may insert the sound of me weeping in cringing anticipation here.

Aside from messing with solder, I am refurbishing the old screens recovered from Michael’s Mother’s studio. NOT a neat and tidy task: the rotting screen material was encrusted with decade-old masking tape and held in place with ancient nails. BLECH! My palms are sore from wrenching all of those old nails out with a screwdriver. Someone kindly hammered them flush with the wood. Despite all of my whining, I think they will turn out ok. The new fabric arrived last week so all I have to do is sand, fill and refinish the frames. Huzzah!

Speaking of safety! My father has a very important question he always asked me when I was working with a dangerous power tool. “How does the table saw know the difference between your hand and what you’re cutting?” He would ask. After careful pondering, I would reply, “It doesn’t.” He always nodded, “Exactly.” It’s still true today; I made the mistake of letting a metal right-angle pusher bar get too close to the table saw when trying to knock a scrap of wood out of the way. Immediately the bar was sucked into the saw, bent and promptly shot across the room, while another component was ripped off of the saw. I’m not sure the safety goggles would’ve helped had I been standing directly in front of the saw. Fortunately I always stand to the side and I ducked, whipped the saw’s power off avoiding any injury. Lesson boys and girls, it’s better to have chunks of wood fly about then to have a metal bar get sucked in. Now the right-angle and the damn saw are broken. At least I still have my health. And my eyes.

The Old Lady Factor

• September 5th, 2005 • 0 Comments • meandering, studio 4A, supplies •

Ohboyohboy! My parents decided that they no longer needed their old Xerox machine, and you know what that means! Yes! Printmaking with toner and acetone! Huzzah! I’ve avoided copy-machine prints for a while now simply because I can’t afford the many trips to the store. Now there is convenience inside my house, at my fingertips even.

Only problem is I’m completely overwhelmed with ideas. Where to start?!

I know where: CLEANING THE STUDIO. In addition to being overwhelmed with ideas, I’m overwhelmed with a complete mess. Frankly, the entire garage needs to be rearranged. The weather has cooled off a bit, but not enough for such an all-day project. Looking back in the almanac, the average daily temperature for this month last summer was 89 degrees, whereas this year is 95 degrees. Either I’m in for a mild winter or an ironically cold one, preventing me from wanting to even leave my bed, much less the apartment for the studio.

Problem number one cluttering up the studio is, well, art. I am in desperate need of a show. Desperate.. Admittedly I have been out of college for an entire year and have had plenty of time to find a nice local art association to join. My problem? “The Old Lady Factor.” What might that be, you ask. See, I’ve noticed that several of the local (by local, I mean metroplex) art organizations suffer from an influx of older women and men producing hotel art. There’s nothing wrong with hotel art, it’s just, kinda dry and not what I do. While browsing the websites, 95% of the art showcased is of puppies ‘n’ kittens, peaceful country meadows and fruit in bowls. I can clearly recall entering a piece into a local art organization: I saw at least 5 people walk in with gold-leafed art from the 80s. You know what I mean. Needless to say, I did not even make it into the show.

By no means do I make the claim that my art is so fantastically different that I am having a hard time finding an organization in which I can find peers. But I do think that when looking for an art organization, one looks for similar interests. For instance, another local organization told me on its web-page that it doesn’t allow: anything not entirely two-dimensional, photography, digital works or nudes. Er, really. That limits me a bit.

This leaves two possibilities: shut up and join, or follow suit of my high-school self and start my own organization!