The Assignment....

The North Coast Metal Arts Guild has assigned a project. Make a hollow form reliquary using two different metals/materials and one 'new-to-you' technique. Which means yes indeed, we're returning to *actual* metal work. Yay. really. Yay all over the place. Okay, so I'm not exactly feeling the "yay" yet, but it'll come...

Maybe my lack of Super Enthusiasm is due to my lack of decision as to what exactly I'm putting *in* the reliquary. I had thought to honor my recently deceased friend/ex-boyfriend/honorary family member in this project, but I haven't collected anything from him that would work for this... If his house weren't 700 miles away, down in L.A. county (where I grew up) I could maybe pop on over and steal some hair from his brush or something, but, alas this is not an option.

There's also the problem of one vital component that I do not have the equipment to make myself... so I'll have to *find* something, which, you know, that's kinda hard to do.... Unless my vacuum cleaner is powerful enough to vacu-form Plexiglas. I kinda doubt it.

Basically, I want a smaller, perfectly round, deeper version of this one I made a few years ago:

On a less soul sucking-feeling subject, I sent off the drawings for Plant Matters, the May issue of my coloring books. Ahhh yeeaaah. Here, have a taste:


The scary part is that I think this is one of the *less* weird ones. I named it Floating Isle of the Mutant Joshua Tree. Yeah, I know it doesn't look much like a true Joshua Tree, but you *did* see the 'Mutant' part, yes? Hopefully I'll get some metal work done soon and put up the results. Wait till you see what I do with pennies.... (if you haven't already...)

Not So Much With the Metal Once Again...

So I'm back home after two weeks in San Dimas (CA). I'm mostly over my freak out over the failed bug piece I from my first post, and I'm feeling like maybe I'm ready to try another one of a different sort. Actually, it's going to utilize the main part of a piece I made a couple years ago.
Here are the pieces:
I believe all the skin is deer. I got it at the Indian Trading Post while I was in San Dimas. That's another real insect. A weevil of some sort. I found I did not like the way it was originally incorporated into a necklace, so I took it apart and set little 'Clyde' here aside for another day. Perhaps this is that day?
So the plan is to sew the skins together and make a sort of choker out of it all. I've never worked with leather before, one of my Southern California friends, Gillian (hard 'Guh' like grass) got me started on all this. Here is the idea of what I'm planning:

Both Gillilan and I agree about liking the raw edges of the leather. It's the flaws where all the character comes from.
I like the idea of a two cord attachment, feels more sturdy for such a large piece. I haven't decided how I want to attach Clyde. Either rivets or by sewing.
I love these bugs, they are so very neat. And the deer suede is sooo soft. Let's hope I pull this one off, and not destroy some integral part right at the end, eh?