Category Archives: Pendants

Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Philosophy, Wire Work

Perfectionism: Good or Bad?

June 23, 2010 Karen 4 Comments

Perfectionism is a relatively common topic in gifted education literature. Miriam Adderholdt’s book, Perfectionism: What's Bad About Being Too Good, was a must-read on many graduate course lists. Although perfectionism can have both good and bad sides, we often view it through a negative lens. I’ve thought about it lately since I’ve been working hard on learning to make sterling silver bezels and am never totally happy with how they turn out. Am I becoming a perfectionist? The following quotes from Adler and Maslow made me feel better: “Adler (1956) said, "the striving for perfection is innate in the sense that it is a part of life, a striving, an urge, a something without which life would be unthinkable." And Maslow (1970) described perfectionism as the "full use and exploitation of talents, capabilities, potentialities, etc." Maslow believed that striving for perfection through self-actualization is the absence of neurosis rather than an indication of its presence. Winner (1996) noted that gifted children are well known to be perfectionists, "But being a perfectionist could well be a good thing if it means having high standards, for high standards ultimately lead to high achievement" (Winner, 1996, p. 215).

Even the idea of perfectionism does not fit within my organic design style. I truly enjoy just seeing how something turns out rather than doing a great deal of picturing how I want the design to look. If a color or shape changes as a result of too much torching, I usually just go with it and benefit from happenstance. How does this fit with perfectionism? Hamachek (1978) suggested that perfectionism exists “along a spectrum ranging from normal to neurotic.” He would label a normal perfectionist as someone who gets pleasure from painstaking effort and neurotic perfectionists as "unable to feel satisfaction because in their own eyes they never seem to do things good enough to warrant that feeling."

Even when the design work follows happenstance, I finish each piece to the highest level of perfection my technique allows and then I’m usually happy with the design. I believe it is possible, however, to become so absorbed by the idea of perfecting a piece that we lose sight of the art. I remember a friend who made a seed bead bracelet and then continued to add another bead here and there for several months. She never felt the bracelet was finished (perfect). I thought it was beautiful in its beginning.

Working on the bezels each day. I thought my first few were nice, but then I looked at someone else’s work and realized I have more technique to perfect. I believe the trick is to keep striving for the best I can do, gain joy in the process, and continue to grow. Positive perfectionism . . . I hope so!

Bracelets, Necklaces, Pendants, Philosophy, Techniques, Wire Work

Jewelry Vacation

June 17, 2010 Karen

Since I wrote about summer camp in the last entry, why not vacations today? Summer also reminds me of past vacations when the children lived at home and the break from school was “our time”. I can’t help but wonder if some families are doing as we occasionally did by taking their vacation at home. When we did a home vacation, no one worked and I didn’t cook. (Was that the best part?) Since we moved reasonably often, home vacations gave us the opportunity to really explore the area in which we were living. One week while living in the Dallas area, we visited the Children’s Museum, Museum of Natural History and the Aquarium among other things. These were short relaxing jaunts and we had the time to enjoy each one without hurrying off to the next big adventure as was often the case on an out of town trip.

Yesterday, I thought about a jewelry vacation. It sounds like this could mean relaxing and taking a break from designing jewelry, but that wasn’t the case. I took a couple of pieces of jewelry on their little vacation. That term could be a misnomer since it was more like a road trip, but the pieces did go somewhere! As I’ve mentioned before, I like to wear my new designs to see if they will hang correctly, feel good and also to see if they get noticed. The bracelet shown here is made of copper that was torched and then polished. I added dangles on the jump rings linking each circle. Although I spent what seemed like an enormous amount of time filing and sanding this piece, it still developed a problem on its vacation. (This is not unlike some children – excluding mine, of course.) I noted a couple of spots that were still a bit rough when I used my wrist. It was good to locate these and fix them before marketing the piece.

The necklace in the photo also got a vacation yesterday. It is made of brass with copper and silver wire and copper chain. This one did well and only required a slight turning of the jump ring to be fit for human wearing.

I think these vacation-road trips work well even if the trip just takes the design piece around the house as I work. The trips can reveal any design or technique flaws and give me a chance to make things right.

Hmm . . is that what vacations do . . . reveal your need for relaxation and give you a chance to make things right with the family? I guess I’d better think about that and practice the latter a little even before our vacation. My husband might really appreciate that and It certainly couldn’t hurt!

Creativity, Diversions, Metal Work, Pendants, Philosophy, Wire Work

Summer Camp

June 14, 2010 Karen

It’s hard to think about summer without remembering going to summer camps both as a child and later as an instructor. My favorite camp experience was the annual gathering of Creative Scholars in Louisiana. Each year, students who rated high scores on the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking were invited to join together for a two week learning experience. Initially we met in Natchitoches and later in Lake Charles, Louisiana. I was fortunate to be among the small group of instructors working with these students who were sixth graders or older. We wrote and shared our own creative thinking curriculum.

We instructed students in three basic creative thinking strategies, Synectics, Lateral Thinking, and Creative Problem Solving. Students also took electives that included inventioning, book writing, song composing and many others. The students always challenged us as only high creatives can do, but we loved it. I conducted my masters degree research with the first group of students and used a good deal of my learning there to set up my doctoral experiment. Therefore, it’s hard not to think of Creative Scholars in June each year.

While throwing out items from my files, I came across a list by the man who first dreamed of developing the Creative Scholars program, Dr. E. Paul Torrance. Although Dr. Torrance is now deceased, his words still ring true to individuals all around the world who value creative thinking.

How To Grow Up Creatively Gifted

Don’t be afraid to “fall in love with” something and pursue it with intensity. (You will do best what you like to do most.)
Know, understand, take pride in, practice, develop, use, exploit and enjoy your greatest strengths.
Learn to free yourself from the expectations of others and to walk away from the games they try to impose upon you.
Free yourself to “play your own game” in such a way as to make good use of your gifts.
Find a great teacher or mentor who will help you.
Don’t waste a lot of expensive, unproductive energy trying to be well-rounded (Don’t try to do everything; do what you can do well and what you love.)
Learn the skills of interdependence. (Learn to depend upon one another, giving freely of your greatest strengths and most intense loves.)

The above manifest by Dr. Torrance makes more sense to me with each passing year. He certainly made it OK to be creative.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that other side of summer camp – BUGS. If you didn’t get bitten by something or have a rash or get sunburned, it just wasn’t summer camp. There were always lots of varmints around ranging from snakes that the guys used to scare the girls, to turtles. Those varmints are much tamer in today’s jewelry studio as shown by the one I made this morning.

Ah, the good old days of summer camp. Alas, I think I’d rather stay in by the air conditioner for now. I’m not sure I could still handle the exuberance of those sixth graders.

Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Wire Work

What’s in a Name?

June 9, 2010 Karen 8 Comments

There used to be a television show called “Name That Tune”. People always thought I would be good at it since I was a piano teacher. Yet, I was a total flop when it came to that show’s tunes. I couldn’t name them. Now if you ask, I could hum a few lines, but that was it. Even now, I cannot remember the name of the song I’m searching for in the music store.

Some others appear to be more interested in names than I am. For example, my friends at Wildtype Ranch http://wildtyperanch.com/) who sell pasture raised Angus beef, carefully name their cows. For example, a few years ago, we purchased a cow from them named Lola. Instead of saying that they are moving cow number “xxx” out of the front pasture, they just say they’re going out to get Sally or another gal.

Today, I read about a Texas business (http://www.buttersbrownies.com/) where the owner names her brownies. While one brownie is “Jane” it’s counterpart without nuts is “Sane Jane.” She has even named a brownie after her ballet teacher.

All this naming business made me wonder if I should be naming my individual jewelry pieces. After all, if you look at products on the etsy marketplace (www.etsy.com) most of them have clever names. I have a few designs named such as the wave bracelet and the pot luck bracelet, but each of these has variations and the single pieces have not been named. Is it time for names? Could you offer some ideas?

The first two pieces that need clever names are pendants. I haven’t yet made a hole in each, but you can get the idea. Pendant #1

Pendant #2 (this butterfly has a crooked middle!)

Necklace #1 Necklace #2

All four of these pieces are up for names. If you think of something clever, please chime in and “Name that Jewel!”

Metal Work, Pendants, Techniques, Wire Work

The Heat Goes On

June 2, 2010 Karen

This blog entry could easily be about the current Texas weather which is unseasonably hot for early June. It could be about my temper that continues to fire when provoked. The entry might even talk about a sports team that’s currently in their best scoring zone, but it’s not about any of those things. The pictures are a hint.

I’ve been out in the HOT garage using the HOT torch to put the heat on some silver and copper. Learning to make sterling silver bezels for stone cabochons has proven to be a good challenge. While neither example here is perfect, I’m rather pleased with what some good old fashioned sweat can produce. I’m mostly pleased with what I am learning. My friend showed me how to make these several months ago, but it wasn’t until this past weekend that I actually was able to try a bezel. My generous husband, with advise from my son-in-law, got me a new torch for our anniversary. Currently, I much prefer tools over diamonds and I think my guy finds tools easier to pick out.

I won’t comment on the number of bezels that I ruined as the heat goes on, but thus far, I haven’t broken the bank on too much washed silver. Luckily, scrap silver can be returned to the supplier for credit.

I’m also trying to learn to sweat solder. The connotation for this strikes me as funny if I consider how “sweaty” I’m getting in the HOT garage. Tomorrow I’m moving this little operation down into the basement mechanical room where it is much cooler. That room is made completely of concrete and brick so I shouldn’t be torching anything too detrimental. As my husband says, the first rule of using the torch is NOT to set the house on fire. I’m doing the best I can.

Necklaces, Pendants, Wire Work

Playing With Shapes

May 6, 2010 Karen

I’ve played with shaping most of my adult life. I’ve tried this diet and that fad, but my shape is stuck. As a healthier outlet to this dilemma, my current “shape” work is being done with wire. No, I haven’t decided to wire my mouth shut! I’m working with 16 to 18 gauge wire in an attempt to find a new pendant armature to put beads on. I’ve tried this before, but always attempted to work with very heavy gauge wire that I purchased inexpensively from the recycle place. This mostly just turned out to give me aching hands. Using the lighter gauge wire, however, appears to be more successful. When I find a good shape I can then replicate it with heavier wire. Initially, I planned to use the shape shown here with the side to the right in the picture as the bottom. I planned to hang it from the loop that is on the other side. Yet, upon completion it seemed more fitting as shown.

I planned the second armature the same way, but it too seems better turned as shown in the picture below.

Next, I would like to create a much smaller version of this pendant to see how it works with less openness. I can see it with more delicate beads.

At any rate, this type shaping is much better for my ego that the shaping “supposedly” created through dieting. Of course, if I just immediately filled my hands with wire and tools each time I got hungry, perhaps my body might shape up too. (somehow I doubt it!)

Bracelets, Earrings, Metal Work, Pendants, Wire Work

Puppy Shot

May 5, 2010 Karen 2 Comments

The day started just like any other day. I had carved out some time to design and shape some copper sheet metal and then patina the pieces with liver of sulphur. I never know just exactly what color the patina will produce due to varying factors including water temperature, amount of product, whether or not a piece has been torched, etc. On this particular day, everything was working well. I liked the color produced and was pleased at its richness when I took it out of the tumbler. If you aren’t used to this process, I use a rock tumbler to remove the excess grime created by the liver of sulphur and to polish the pieces. The tumbler is partially filled with steel shot, a drop of liquid detergent and water. The shine it produces is largely a product of the length of time a piece tumbles. Following the tumbling, I pour the tumbler contents into a metal kitchen strainer in order to rinse the pieces without losing any of the shot. I then place the strainer on the top shelf of my laundry room work cabinet. That’s what set the stage for trouble.

As I continued my clean up process, our exuberant 3 1/2 month old puppy raced into the laundry room for his food. He spied the strainer, leapt up and grabbed it and then we were both showered with flying shot. I tried hard not to yell at the little guy, but when I got the broom to sweep up the shot, he kept grabbing it and trying to run away with it. (I’m thinking of rewriting the nursery rhyme to read “the DOG ran away with the BROOM) Picture a little black and white puppy scurrying down the hall with the broom head in his mouth dragging the handle. That was the end of my patience. Slipping on the rolling shot, I managed to grab the puppy by the collar and drag him out to his pen. Then I set out to sweep the shot. Sound easy? When I tried to sweep part of the shot, it would quickly roll to the other side of the room. Eventually, I put up little shoe barriers to catch it as it rolled. That shot was everywhere . . . under the washer, under the dryer, under the freezer, behind the sink, in the shoes, in the boots, buried in the rugs and even in my apron pockets. Two days later, I’m still finding shot - - - puppy shot!

Just so you won’t worry, let me say that I did not shoot the puppy. That’s just the new name for what I put in the tumbler. By the way, this is the same puppy who while waiting inside the running car while the trash was emptied from the car into the container on the street managed to lock one of us out of our own car. He’s such a good little fellow!

Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Techniques, Wire Work

Two Peas in a Pod

April 27, 2010 Karen

This is a phrase most of us have heard to describe things that are very similar. When I searched the origin of the simile, I realized that most of the time we don’t hear the complete phrase, “as alike as two peas in a pod,” meaning two identical items or people. Following is information about the origin of the phrase which dates back to the 16th century.

(Source: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/as-alike-as-two-peas-in-a-pod.html)

. . . This simile, of course, derives from the fact that two peas from the same pod are virtually indistinguishable. The phrase, which is sometimes given as 'like as two peas', is quite old and versions of it date from the the 16th century. . . [the]use of 'pease' as the singular form was the norm in Tudor England. The word 'pea' came into use as the singular in the 17th century, with 'peas' as the plural. This avoided 'peases', which would have been somewhat of a mouthful. . . .

For over a year, I’ve been making a version of peas in a pod which should probably be referred to as pearls in a pod. I’ve made these in various sizes from “baby peas” to the regular size shown here.

Several weeks ago, another designer who doesn’t do metal work requested that I make her a simpler and more realistic version of a plain pea pod. As I played with her order, I began creating various sizes of the newer pod using different metals including copper and brass both torched and not torched. Then I played with filling these pods with mixed metals or pearls. I also made baby pods in this newer shape and created earrings. Finally with too many pods on the work bench, I needed to do something with them. Having hung them on pearl strands, leather and neck wires, I kept thinking I should be more original. Yesterday, thinking again about the phrase and the number two, I tried mixing the pods. I used one larger copper pod filled only with wire tendrils and one brass pod filled with pearls and silver. We might call this the ANTI peas in a pod since the pods are not at all alike. I will continue to play with this idea of “anti” and see what develops. I believe there are many other possibilities if I continue to work with this idea.

I wonder if there are there other phrases that might spawn ideas. Would the ANTI of them provide further inspiration? It’s food for thought? . . . yet I don’t even like peas!

Necklaces, Pendants, Wire Work

Housework

April 12, 2010 Karen

I paused this weekend at the grocery store to watch a cute little girl in the cleaning supplies isle with her mom. She looked to be about 5 years old and sported a black pony tail that swished when she moved. She happily picked up a feather duster and pretended to dust her surroundings. That’s when I wanted to tell her. “Housework Makes You Ugly!” Since I simply moved on, it could be another twenty or thirty years before she figures this out for herself.

Taking the statement to heart, I returned from the store and vowed not to get any uglier during the weekend. Since I wasn’t doing any housework, I had plenty of extra time to work on some designs. The pictures herein show some of the pieces I completed. The first couple of pictures show the same style armature which was also pictured in another blog. I added some dangles for balance on the one to the right.

The blue piece also has a bracelet and matching earrings (not pictured).

The fourth piece, composed of copper, pearls and amethyst is a prototype of pieces to come. I’m still playing with how to get the swinging swirls to hang just right. Watch for these again.

I enjoyed the designing this weekend; however, today, is Monday and the housework is calling my name. When I made my case about it to my spouse and used actresses that are my age but have few wrinkles as evidence, he scoffed. He suggested that it wasn’t the fact that they aren’t doing housework, but rather the fact that they employed Botox. Since my medical insurance won’t pay for Botox and I need to keep doing the housework, I’ll just have to make beautiful jewelry in my leisure moments and hope people look at it and not my face.

Bracelets, Creativity, Necklaces, Pendants, Philosophy, Wire Work

Organic-Good or Bad?

April 7, 2010 Karen 4 Comments

More than once in the past weeks, my pieces have been described as “organic”. It reminds me of when I wrote an article for a gifted education periodical and the editor described it as “pithy”. I had to go look that one up and still wasn’t sure whether or not the term was complimentary.

When my work is described as organic, I usually just smile and agree with the comment, but perhaps it’s appropriate to examine this nomenclature more carefully. Synonyms for the term include the following: natural, whole, unrefined, untreated, crude and macrobiotic. Most of those do apply to the bracelet pictured on the right, but I’m not sure what to think about the term “crude”. I think I’ll just move on from that one.

The dictionary further elaborates that organic describes something that occurs or develops gradually and naturally, without being forced or contrived. This certainly describes the work on these pieces. I begin twisting the wire in hopes that something unique and palatable will arise. Sometimes it does; yet, more often it does not. I think the important part of the process is knowing what to keep and what to let go with the latter being the most difficult part. Since I know from years of teaching creativity thinking that sometimes great ideas fall upon the design floor, I’m often reluctant to let something go. Lately, however, I find this easier since I now have a “whatsit box”. I’ll bet those of you who design also have one of these. It’s that place where you throw things that didn’t seem to work. When you peer into it days later you say “What IS it?”

Organic also means “being made of parts that exist together in a seemingly natural relationship that makes for organized efficiency”. It is this definition that fits with my belief that the designs that are unique, but flow naturally together may, indeed, be the best. While I attempt to be fluent and flexible creating more than one idea before selecting the best, it is usually the one that is unique yet emerged the most naturally that gets the nod. Forcing the design to work usually brings unpleasant results.

Both pieces pictured herein are made of sunstone and carnelian from Magpie Gemstones. The schiller on the sunstone, which can’t be seen in these photos, is quite nice and really grabs attention. Are they organic? Is that a good thing? As long as I can leave out “crude” I’ll accept the comments.

Dreamcatcher Designs