I am at a cusp with my metal work; either I continue practicing or I go for it.
I have made the decision to do the latter not the former.
I am done planning how I will accomplish this and one of the first things that had to be made was the decision to give myself more time, in my studio, doing metal work that consisted of making objects and then decorating those objects with chasing & repousse. To give myself that extra time, meant that something else had to be set aside. My first choice would have been the day job, but since that is what pays the bills in this family (I am also known as the Pig Slayer, cause I bring home the bacon) that was not an option. I also can't give up sleep so that left weaving and what a hard decision that was.
This post is titled 'A Year of Repousse' because that is the challenge that I have given myself. I spent a good bit of my travel time, on my way home from NYC, pondering if I could do it and with more pondering and talking my husband and to some of my friends, it seems the thing to do.
So what is it, this Year of Repousse?
Let me refresh your memories of those challenges that were going around about 2 years ago called 'A Year of Jewelry' where a person or a community would challenge themselves to do A YEAR OF JEWELRY, and each week they made a new piece to stretch their boundaries. The weekly piece was to either fit a theme or use a specific material, etc. Then everyone would post a picture of the piece they had made and the process that went into making it.
Great idea, but with chasing & repousse and making the object to put the design on, you can't really do a piece a week; certainly not with a regular day job. Then I thought about what would be a reasonable time period for making a piece and I figured that about a month (plus or minus) would be possible and it would certainly stretch my limits.
I now have what I call the Chinese Menu - two columns of ideas. Column A has the ideas of the designs to be worked and so far I have 14 items in this list. Column B has the ideas for objects to be made, that I can do the chasing & repousse on be it silver, brass, copper, or bronze and this list has 12 items on it.
Can you see where this is going?
I am now going to pick one item from column A and one from column B and that will be what I will work on and try to complete in a month. Sometimes, it will take me a bit more than a month or I will be away at workshop; other times, it might take me less time than a month to design the piece, make the object, and then do the chasing & repousse on the object, and then finish it. When I am done with the object I will then take good pictures, write up the description, price it, and put it up on this website for sale.
So this is the challenge that I have given myself.
If you want to join me in this challenge you can, the ride should be interesting.
I have made the decision to do the latter not the former.
I am done planning how I will accomplish this and one of the first things that had to be made was the decision to give myself more time, in my studio, doing metal work that consisted of making objects and then decorating those objects with chasing & repousse. To give myself that extra time, meant that something else had to be set aside. My first choice would have been the day job, but since that is what pays the bills in this family (I am also known as the Pig Slayer, cause I bring home the bacon) that was not an option. I also can't give up sleep so that left weaving and what a hard decision that was.
This post is titled 'A Year of Repousse' because that is the challenge that I have given myself. I spent a good bit of my travel time, on my way home from NYC, pondering if I could do it and with more pondering and talking my husband and to some of my friends, it seems the thing to do.
So what is it, this Year of Repousse?
Let me refresh your memories of those challenges that were going around about 2 years ago called 'A Year of Jewelry' where a person or a community would challenge themselves to do A YEAR OF JEWELRY, and each week they made a new piece to stretch their boundaries. The weekly piece was to either fit a theme or use a specific material, etc. Then everyone would post a picture of the piece they had made and the process that went into making it.
Great idea, but with chasing & repousse and making the object to put the design on, you can't really do a piece a week; certainly not with a regular day job. Then I thought about what would be a reasonable time period for making a piece and I figured that about a month (plus or minus) would be possible and it would certainly stretch my limits.
I now have what I call the Chinese Menu - two columns of ideas. Column A has the ideas of the designs to be worked and so far I have 14 items in this list. Column B has the ideas for objects to be made, that I can do the chasing & repousse on be it silver, brass, copper, or bronze and this list has 12 items on it.
Can you see where this is going?
I am now going to pick one item from column A and one from column B and that will be what I will work on and try to complete in a month. Sometimes, it will take me a bit more than a month or I will be away at workshop; other times, it might take me less time than a month to design the piece, make the object, and then do the chasing & repousse on the object, and then finish it. When I am done with the object I will then take good pictures, write up the description, price it, and put it up on this website for sale.
So this is the challenge that I have given myself.
If you want to join me in this challenge you can, the ride should be interesting.
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