Pretty Pretty Bang Bang

I recently submitted two pieces to a show and received this email today:

Hello Tammy,  Thank you for your entry in Form, Fabricate, and Forge. I am pleased to inform you that your entry 80 Untitled has been excepted. 

Notice anything weird? Look again. Apparently this email, from a graduate student, informs me that my piece has been “excepted” into the show. Obviously she’s not an English major. Hell, I wonder if she even speaks English. Sad, so sad.

Last night’s crit goes down in my history as one of the longest and most frustrating. We began at 6:30 p.m. and I finally left at 11 p.m. even though it wasn’t officially over. The Intermediate group went first and set the tone for the evening. Not a single piece was done. Over a 4 1/2 month period, nobody had finished any of their projects. By the time we reached the last Intermediate student (a girl who showed up for class half the time), my patience was gone. I, nicely but firmly, voiced my frustration with all the unfinished work. I reminded everyone that deadlines are important and changes in designs can be done on the second or third piece. Seriously, these students change their ideas constantly and don’t commit to a project. I was also frustrated with Kevin for not stating this, but didn’t mention it during the crit. Luckily, almost all of the Advanced students had finished work which made critiquing the designs much more productive.

It’s raining here again and temps have dropped which does very little for my mood. I did manage to drag myself out of the house and to the gym, but have little desire to do much else. After skipping last week (and eating too many chips last night) I decided I should weigh in at Weight Watchers. Unbelievably I lost 1.4 pounds, which makes up for the 1.4 pounds I gained three weeks ago. When I told Sarah, who’s supposed to be my WW buddy and support, she exclaimed, “F%&k you!” I had to laugh. She’s frustrated because she’s back to the weight she started at two months ago. It’s still hard to feel sorry for her because she looks great, but I do understand her frustration. Been there, done that.

We have a busy weekend ahead. My sister and her family are visiting, we’re having a retirement party for my mom, and I have a bathroom to clean! Hope you have a great rest of the week and a relaxing weekend.

Well, my final project is done and all I have left is the critique (crit) which is today. First, we’ll start by cleaning the school studio (which is a pit) then continue with the crit at Kevin’s house tonight. Because the crit will take so long (two classes of students), Kevin is trying to make it more enjoyable with a cookout. Which reminds me, I have a cake to bake!

The final project was to incorporate powder coating into the piece. Because powder coating is extremely durable, we were to create something that would celebrate the durability of the coating as well as adding color. I chose to create two sets of rings/pendants that were cast. I started by carving the piece from wax. Once it was cast and cleaned up, I powder coated the pieces. I sanded off areas to create the final look. All pieces are slightly different, including the design carved into them. The idea was to take the core design and break it up over the other pieces. I decided to use red for my color since I liked the contrast. Here’s the group:

Here are just the rings. Yes, they are wearable and are actually comfortable. They fit me (of course).

Here are the necklaces. The round one is 1 1/4″ in diameter and the rectangle is 1 1/2″ high.

And I’m sure you’re dying to know what became of the monkeys. They were made into a charm bracelet for a customer for Mother’s Day. It’s so cute!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. I chose not to become a mother, a choice I’m very happy with, but I appreciate all the sacrifices and hard work other women go through to raise children.

I spent the day with my mom and had a very nice time. First, we went to brunch, then a little shopping at TJ Maxx and Marshall’s, then a neighborhood home tour. The weather was crisp and windy, but sunny and clear so it was nice to walk around the ‘hood and enjoy the sunshine.

I have a lot of admiration and respect for my mom. Sure, she has driven me crazy in the past (and still does occasionally), but I think she’s a great mom. So to my mom I say thanks. Thanks for raising me to be an independent, opinionated person. Thanks for instilling great values in me. Thanks for all the sacrifices you made for me over the years. Most of all, thanks for being my mom and loving me unconditionally. 

I guess it’s a sign I’m getting old. I’m actually excited about the new windows being installed in the basement. Seriously, it’s like Christmas for me. Yesterday, Pavel (trainer and contractor) installed two of the six windows in our basement and they are gorgeous. I didn’t realize just how bad the old ones were until I had new ones in their place. Gone are the old wood frames, cracked glass and painted screens. Now I have new vinyl windows that slide open and actually lock without using duct tape. Plus, I don’t feel any kind of air coming through the cracks. Maybe the energy savings will help these windows pay for themselves. In the meantime, I’ll just enjoy being able to look outside while I work.

Well, as many of you know, I’ve suffered for the past few months from a case of bad hair days. I do think that may have come to an end. After my talk with Duane on Tuesday, I called my former stylist Brook and begged for her forgiveness. She laughed, told me she doesn’t hold grudges and booked me an appointment for yesterday. Yes, I had to go a bit shorter than planned, but it looks so much better! She trimmed off the overly-razored ends, reshaped the neckline and sides and took out the weird lump I had on top. While I’m not a fan of the way she styled it, I think I love the cut. This morning, at the gym, one of the guys told me it looked much better (he should know since he’s a stylist) and I think that’s a good sign considering it wasn’t styled in any way. I haven’t yet done it myself, but I’m already anticipating it being better. Steve told me my face looked thinner so at least I’ve got that going for me!

I made a mistake. I knew I shouldn’t have done it at the time, but I did it anyway. I let a friend start cutting my hair and I’m really unhappy. I told him I was a difficult customer and I was really picky about my hair. I have made my cutting desires crystal clear. I’ve taken in pictures, talked about how I style it, discussed lifestyle, products, etc. but I’m still unsatisfied. Today I called him to take him to lunch so we could talk about it. What I really want to do is find someone else to do my hair and remain friends with Duane. He wasn’t available for lunch but was willing to listen to me. I told him our friendship meant a lot to me, that I knew I was a hard customer, that I didn’t want to hurt him but that I was unhappy. He seemed to understand and told me he would either fix the problem or I could move on. I made the silent decision to move on. We ended the call on a good note and I began thinking of alternatives.

Then he called a few hours later. Now he’s offering to meet me tomorrow on his day off and fix my hair. I feel like I should offer him the chance to fix it, but I’m scared to lose more hair in the process. I really don’t mind it being a little shorter in the summer, but I don’t want to lose so much I can’t do anything with it. Of course, I can’t do anything with it right now! Valerie thinks I should move on and my gut says I should, but I feel bad not honoring Duane’s offer to fix it.

Advice anyone? Have you ever been in a similar situation? Does your hair mean as much to you as mine does to me ( I doubt it!)?

If you’ve been reading my blog on a regular basis, you know I’m fighting this season’s fashions. I’ve been a regular at Banana Republic, Ann Taylor Loft, Gap and Old Navy over the past few weeks, but still can’t seem to find anything exciting to add to my wardrobe. It doesn’t help that I’ve become disenchanted with crop pants so I really don’t know what to buy. I’ve tried on skirts, dresses, crop pants (yes, I caved), shorts and just about every style of top imaginable. Then it hit me. If I can’t find exactly what I want, I’ll create it.

Case in point is last Thursday when I stopped in to one of Springfield’s premier boutiques. It’s a place I enjoy visiting, but rarely have the money to purchase unless they’re having a sale. It helps to be good friends with one of their sales staff so I get some great inside info on sales. I stopped in to say hello to my friend Prudy and have a look around. I was searching for something to wear to my mom’s upcoming retirement party, but was about to give up and just dig something old out of the closet. I wanted a cool new top to put with some skinny ankle pants. I had a vision, I just didn’t have the reality. Prudy pointed out a really cute sleeveless dress in black and white and told me it had been a special order, but was mis-sized and didn’t fit the woman. I liked the dress, but it was a dress and I wasn’t looking for something, well, that dressy. Then Prudy told me that she thought it would be a lot cuter as a tunic. Voila! We pinned it up and created a tunic top out of it. Now all I needed was the skinny ankle pants. Prudy took me to the back room where they had a rack of clothes for 90% off (yep, I said 90% off) and I found a pair of cotton sateen pants which we shortened and took in at the leg. Now I have a completely unique outfit to wear!

I rummaged through my closet and decided to do the same kind of alterations with some of my existing clothes. A pair of slightly too short jeans are now long crop pants, some wide leg khakis are now wide leg flood pants and several shirts that were too big are being taken in at the waist. I figure $50 or so of alterations is far cheaper than buying something new. It’s the ultimate in clothing recycling!

Steve and I have been looking at 1960s ranches lately. No, we’re not in a hurry to move, but we like to keep our options open. Last Saturday, we looked at the home of Mary Guccione’s mother, Sis, who died recently. On first look, it seemed perfect. It had a room for my studio, original tile bathrooms, a wet bar in the basement, original kitchen counters (in turquoise!), nice neighborhood, etc. Last night we visited again to give it a more critical eye and have come to the conclusion it’s just not right. Have you ever walked into a house and knew it was the right one? That’s what happened to me 10 years ago when we walked into our current home. I took one step inside and knew it was right. This one, while having a lot of the features I love, just doesn’t feel right.

Valerie called to say a house we’d looked at a couple of months ago is being gutted. It’s so sad. The gorgeous slate floors, perfect tile bathrooms and shade brick wall on the back porch have all been destroyed. I’m sure they’ve also taken out the uber-cool intercom system too. Kevin, Valerie’s husband, stopped and talked to the owner to ask him about his “renovations” and found out the guy is just “updating” it to sell it again. It makes me so angry that this guy is destroying all that great style to create a generic box. He’s installing 12″ white tile where the slate was and creating boring bathrooms. Had this been a Victorian mansion I’m sure the Historic Society would have had the guy’s head on a plate for not preserving history. But this is history!

Architecture of the 1950s and 1960s is some of the most interesting of all time. Built-ins, colored tile and details made each home individual and interesting. Now, we’re stuck with miles of McMansions full of the same shit. I don’t want an all beige home so it coordinates with any decor. I want something interesting that makes me smile and makes my home different from everyone else’s.

I realize a home owner has every right to do whatever he/she wants to their home. After all they paid for it. However, if you’re planning to buy a home to flip it, don’t assume you know what the future owner wants. Another piece of mid-century architecture has now been destroyed. Stop the madness!

Sometimes I step back from metalsmithing and think, “man, this job is fun.” Casting, for me, sums up perfectly what I do and why I love it. It combines heat, melted metal, some stress and a lot of luck to create something beautiful and unique. Tuesday, I got set up to cast some monkeys for a customer and thought I’d show you the process. Most of the time I carve pieces out of wax and cast them (I’ll show those soon) but this time I’m casting a found object. You may recognize these as the plastic drink monkeys A & W used to put on their root beer jugs.

It all starts with the sprueing. Wax sprues are used to create a tunnel for the metal to flow. You always sprue at the thickest point of your piece. In this case, the monkey’s rear. Nothing like saying you have to sprue some monkeys in the butt!

Next, plaster is made and poured over the mold into the flask. I forgot to take pictures of this! Anyway, the flask is put into a kiln and heated for 5-8 hours. This is called the burnout. During this time, the plastic monkeys and wax sprues melt while the plaster hardens around them leaving the image molded. Now, the fun begins. First, we set up the centrifugal casting machine. This will use force to thrust the melted metal into the flask.

Next, is my favorite part of casting: melting metal. Molten metal is a beautiful thing. It’s mesmerizing to watch solid silver turn liquid and I never tire of it.

Next, the flask is put aside for a few minutes until the button, which is extra silver, isn’t red/orange any more. Please excuse this photo as I was trying to cast and take pics at the same time! The orange spot on top of the flask is the button.

Next, the flask is plunged into water where the plaster dissolves leaving you with your casting. If all goes well, you should have an exact replica of what was sprued in the beginning. Because I cast in silver, the piece is dark grey due to oxidation. Now I have to cut the monkeys off the sprues and the clean up begins!

Aren’t they cute?!

Actually, it’s more like “take my five.” This week I reached my first weight loss goal of losing five pounds. I also had my body fat measured and am now down 8.5% which puts me in the healthy range. What all this working out is doing for me is making me feel better about myself which makes me feel more confident. Sure, I’m still five pounds away from my final Weight Watchers goal, but right now I’m stronger and healthier than I have been in quite some time.

Heck, I might even buy a swimsuit this year and actually wear the darned thing!