Dapping Fool

Isn't it wonderful how new tools can gently help guide our evolution as artists? 

For years the only dapping set I've had was cheap, wooden, and next to useless. It would divot whenever I used it, had way too much "give" when I would hammer, and would chip and flake all over the place. I limped by with it on the few projects where I wanted domed metal discs. Oh, and those metal discs? I was cutting those out by hand and praying to the symmetry gods that everything would turn up roses. I'm all for winging-it in the studio and making do with what you have, but come on, this was complete amateur hour. 

A month or so ago I decided enough was enough--I needed a decent set of graduated metal dapping punches, a dapping block, and a disc cutter. In other words, I was putting my artistic big-girl-panties on and growing up a bit. And the difference has been night and day.

So since I've been DAPPING EVERYTHING IN SIGHT lately, the other week I had a notion to experiment with some half-hollow forms. The idea happened to coincide nicely with a new order of deliciously primitive ceramic cone beads from NadiaTerra. The result: half ceramic, half copper, scrappy little oddities. I'm reminded of excavated ancient pottery and weathered bronze age metalwork. 

I cut, textured, and dapped copper discs into domes, strung them on my own fat-bottomed copper headpins along with the ceramic cones, and connected both halves with a ribbon of blackened silver solder. A dot of solder on top, an oxidation bath, and a good seal with wax, and there you have it. 

The only downside to my new tools--I may have to invest in a good pair of noise cancelling headphones for my husband, as I'm sure all this hammering is less than acoustically pleasing... 

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki 
LoveRoot on Etsy

Raiding the Sewing Cabinet

Let's talk about thimbles. 

They're wee, they protect our precious fingertips, they are passed down from generation to generation of nimble-fingered women. Even the word puts a smile on your face. I'm not even sure if thimbles are used much anymore? Then again, I'm not a seamstress. I'm sure if they made finger protectors for metalsmiths, I'd be all over it. 

I enjoy incorporating oddball found objects in my earrings, so antique shops can be a treasure trove when it comes to sparking my muse. One of my favorite Etsy supply shops sells lots of vintage, old, crusty, imperfect artifact bits from Eastern Europe. These items range anywhere from 100 years old to a few decades old. 

During one order (read: binge) I came across these vintage brass thimbles and the first thing that came to my mind was BEAD CAP! The edges are ragged and they have a dark green verdigris patina on them, and a lot of people may look at them and think "junk, gross, why would you want to wear that?" 

But to me, they bring to mind previous generations of strong, make-do, self-reliant, hard-working women. Women who tended and cared for those they loved. Women like my grandmother who lived through the depression and still mends towels and undershirts and socks to this day.


To turn these thimbles into wearable art, I carefully punched holes in the top and hung them with natural spotted jasper stones in complementary hues of sand, terracotta, army green, and vermillion. I then gave the stones blackened silver soldered caps and hung everything from my extra long ear wires. They dangle freely beneath the thimble, making for really unique nostalgic statement pieces.

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

The Light of the World

Those of you who know me already know that I love using evocative (sometime provocative) quotes to complement my jewelry. I'm an avid bookworm and am infamous for peppering conversations with arcane underused words. My husband always gives me the eye-roll when I pull some old-timey phrase out of my hat. There are so many nuanced words out there - why stick to the same boring limited lexicon?

When I'm reading and come across a passage or phrase that haunts me, I dog-ear the page so I can come back to it and pull the quote. Sometimes they're humorous, sometimes beautiful, sometimes they hurt.

My bread and butter is 20th century fiction---pre-1980s, if I can help it---and I've been on a huge William Kennedy kick lately. His Ironweed series mixes darkness, humor, beauty, and verve in a really delicious way:

" 'Four hundred dollars there, boy,' he said. 'Feast your eyes. The sky's the limit on this trip.'

I took the money into my own hand, counted it (fifties and twenties), tapped it on my knee to even its edges as I would a pack of cards, folded it, felt its thickness and heft.

'It's nice,' I said. 'What are you going to buy with it?'

'I'm going to buy the light of the world and bring it home,' Peter said.

'Where's the light of the world?' I asked.

'I'm not sure,' Peter said, 'we'll have to go shopping.' "

When I was creating these polybells, the little radiant textured suns never really struck me until they were already formed. Earthy warm hues, abstract glyphic textures, ragged organic forms. I formed these from polymer clay, textured, cured, painted, and sealed them. They're deliciously lightweight. Once I looked on the finished bells, I knew I needed to give them a name that dealt with light. The above quote was just perfect.

Art inspires art - a wonderfully endless circle!

Happy Wednesday :) 
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

You're Alright, Kid

Sometimes in life you just need someone to tell you:

...you're alright, kid...
...you done good...
...you're a superstar...

Go ahead, laugh, but I'm serious! Think about it. As children, we're rewarded all the time when we ace a spelling test, or draw a pretty (read: hot mess) picture, or build a wonky sandcastle on the beach. 

As adults, we're lucky if we get some garbled recognition from our boss on a job well done, or if our tired spouse mumbles that the dinner you cooked was good, or if a neighbor stops to comment on how nice your flower garden looks. We just don't get the positive reinforcement that we became accustomed to as kids. 



Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing worse than an inflated ego, but when we're typically our own worst critics, it can be really refreshing to hear someone else appreciate our hard work.


Well, I'm here to tell you that you're awesome. You get a gold star...or at least a couple rusty patina-ed ones. 
 



These cute little spiky stacked earrings feature ceramic horns from Marsha Neal along with some prized African bauxite, old Neolithic quartz trade beads, and crusty metal spacers. I love the verdigris-meets-terracotta color palette, and I love the subtle faded military theme with the little star charms. 

So the next time you're feeling a little beaten up, take a second to pat your own back and realize how hard you really do work. 

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy