Of Enamels.

Yesterday afternoon the Paragon was fired up for the first time

after a good solid sweep of the carriage house for web after web hanging from the rafters-

the workspace now feels more like mine than I could have imagined.

I've felt impatient about getting up and running simply because enameling feels like the missing piece in all of my metal work: color

pictures (even more vivid than with engraving, though that certainly will never stop being a part of my art!)

the change to make mistakes and see them turn to blessings:

our instructor up north talked a lot about the gift of doing things 'wrong' with enamels

and we saw first hand the beauty that a strange firing can make with our student show-and-tell.

The most pressing part of the process for me involves the portrait of Jones at the top of this post:

making this piece felt cathartic and tender - his spirit is evident in it.

I touch it daily.

Making pendants for those who have loved and lost, or simply for those who love feels like a calling for me. I hope to offer some custom spots in the Metal Shop for this vein of work

in the coming weeks: I will be sure to give good notice here.

With the furnace firing away I made some components for things to come this Friday

And began some new portraits: since the birth of the sweet Babe of mine the phrase that resonates most is that having a child is like having another heart outside of your body.

This necklace design might be a long road, but it feels so dear to me:

Mustard Elk Leather

water formed leather

watercolor enamel anatomical heart 

brass...

ah, yes.

The possibilities are as endless as a blank canvas

and as enticing!

My only hope is that sleep is not as evasive as it was early this morning:

waking at 5:45 for a feeding, my brain kept me up until nearly 8 with flights of fancy and 

enameling ideas....

heaven help me!!

xoxo,

Allisunny