Wednesday, May 21, 2008

art and soul - hampton - girls at play

that's what we were...girls at play. so my last two days in hampton were spent with stephanie lee. i was really looking forward to these classes...and it was quite simply the best. chain gang and junk drawer - torch and all. loved it...this speaks to me...it's organic and earthy...primitive and every imperfection just adds to it...yep...i could get into this! again my pictures show the bits and pieces i created...but determined folks left the class with chains down to their waists....so you can leave with a finished item...i just can't seem to...not yet anyway. these items i made day one - chain gang - i knew i wanted to use the image in the lower piece - it's an old fence along the "beach" in wisconsin. so i started there and worked on. i was able to solder with a torch, stamp metal, pour resin, burn my finger and have a blast! i really like stephanie...she's just as human as i expected...i've followed her blog and have been lucky to purchase some of her work... and honestly if she and her sweet family showed up i'd just give them the keys to the cabin and a welcome to stay as long as they'd like....they are good people...you can just tell.
the second day was junk drawer...and it was a great review of the day before - plus more...so i was able to take notes...and i absorbed tips i know i just missed the day before...many little ah ha moments...now i get it...multi days with one teacher is the way to go for me...it just is. i tried casting with the solder into clay...um...can't really tell what the things are supposed to be...even in person...but others in the class had great results...i just need to find items with better detail and then give it another go. i made a...perfect to me bezel...which i wanted to turn into a ring...when i went to attach the "ring" part... my perfect bezel warmed up and well took on a life of it's own. stephanie had warned me it might happen and she said i could fix it...but the outcome was kind of funky...i decided to leave it...she got that...i just adore that about her...no outcome is wrong. that's the ring at the top of the picture above...i was able to slip a stone into it...that moves around...i am fairly certain you could knock someone out with it if need be... so it may become a paperweight. so i have lots of bits to work with from this class...can't wait to get back to them and i'll be sure to post my hurrah. i know that stephanie's classes fill up quickly....but keep trying... there is so much instruction to soak up and spending a day with this gal is a treat. etched into me ... is art and soul ... thanks for all you have given me...i hope the journey that began at asilomar will continue for a long while... as i like this girl at play

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Keli! I am so glad that you are having such a great time at Hampton. I am so jealous that you got to spend two whole days with Stephanie Lee! The Lady and I took her class at Asilomar and it just wasn't enough. See you around, Jessica

Anonymous said...

Your work is beautiful, Keli. I love your metal pieces, especially the etched ones.

I agree about Stephanie; she is such a sweetie!

Can't wait until A&S in October!

Denise

Leslie said...

I think you did a fine job in Stephanie's class. Thanks to you, I know what a fine person Stephanie is, and I wore the pendant I bought from her on vendor night almost every day of my cruise. Tim even asked me about it.

You're pretty special too, and I'm so glad that we met. Looking forward to Portland!

Anonymous said...

LOVE your ring! It's perfect! I have a suggestion if you don't want to wear it for a ring...put it on a heavy chain and wear it as a necklace. It would look awesome!