Tag Archive: intentions


So much for my plans with “My Precious”

Filed Under: Uncategorized by Marnie — 4 Comments
August 7, 2013
Hmmm, the stone doesn't fit!

Hmmm, the stone doesn’t fit!

I love it when a plan comes together! I work for hours and hours on a vision that I have in my mind. I spend the time to sketch it out. I dream about what it will look like when it’s all done. I obsess over it like Gollum does for “my precious”  from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Finally, I painstakingly put my plan into action. I calculate for ring size and stone size. I execute my design. I refine the delicate filigree, I fuss, it breaks (hey it happens), I fix it and I refine some more (after all the devil is in the details) and then I re-refine again. Only after hours and hours and yes, even more hours, the piece goes into the kiln with a prayer to the kiln gods that it doesn’t collapse in the firing, because syringe filigree can be fragile. I anxiously wait for the kiln and the cool down. I peak into the kiln…. “my precious” is in one piece and looks intact. I breathe a sigh of relief…When I finally take it out of the kiln…………… my heart stops……………. The shrinkage has happened in all the wrong places…..JUST MY LUCK! It’s just like buying a new pair of jeans hoping they will shrink in the waist only to have them shrink in the length. It really wasn’t supposed to be quite this big around and the plan was for the stone to fit at the top of the piece…. <Sigh> How did this happen…. Metal clay shrinks proportoinally! Well, it always has before.

No it wasn't supposed to take up half my hand!

No it wasn’t supposed to take up half my hand!

Does it look horrible? No, but it sure doesn’t look anything like the plan I had in my mind! Am I disappointed? YES! (Understatement) But, there is always plan “B” I’m not exactly sure what that involves, but I’m sure it will be much more complicated than I want it to be…and I really hope that it will also be much more rewarding (ok …. I’m really trying to find the silver lining here…) when I finally have a finished (better than it would have been IF plan “A” had worked out the first time) showpiece ring! I’ll keep you posted on my progress….. It may be a while…don’t hold your breath ;D

The outside of the unpolished ring.

The outside of the unpolished ring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © Mary M. Ehlers, Good Muse Designs 2013. All rights reserved.

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Just My 2 cents worth for the New Year!

Filed Under: Uncategorized by Marnie — 1 Comment
January 2, 2012

The New Year is here and I wanted to share a few of my intentions with you for upping my creativity and reducing artists block.

1.  Just get into the studio and start working…. Don’t wait for inspiration, jump right in and pretty soon art will appear.  If you don’t feel especially creative do the busy work like brushing gesso on canvases if you paint, flipping through your old sketch books, or taking your camera out and clicking a few shots of whatever….  So 2012 is my year to make more jewelry in my studio and clean it less.  My students are awesome…they won’t mind.

2. Take on only new obligations that make you happy. JUST SAY NO to things that drain you of every good thing and give back little to no reward.  (If you have a day job the reward in that is a paycheck or health insurance so that isn’t what I’m talking about here…)  I vow to choose my obligations wisely!

3. Take out the trash… I’m not talking about the stuff piling up in the can, although getting rid of that helps too… I’m referring to the mental garbage that is weighing you down so that there isn’t a place for creativity.  This might be the little voice in your head that tells you all the reasons why you can’t do something, or the committee you agreed to head up or whatever…This year no matter how hard it is I am going to take 3 giant steps out of my comfort zone, put my fingers in my ears and tell the voice inside my head “na,na, na, na…I can’t hear you!”

4. Do something FUN as often as possible.  This is really important if you work from home!  Schedule an outing once a week or at the very least plan on doing something at home that is out of the ordinary and enjoyable.  I spend my Friday’s with friends that make me laugh. We make art or in my case I doodle while we chat.  (Ok if you must know I hang out at Kaitlin’s Creative Cottage.  http://thundermoonstudios.wordpress.com/kaitlins-creative-cottage-classes/)

5. And finally, this year I am going to put some healthy food in my body and add bit more movement ….no I am not giving up anything like chocolate or coffee… I am just going to add a few more vegetables into the mix and take my old dog Kobe out for a few adventures…. I have been told that this will make me much more creative…. time will tell 😉

The earrings pictured above are from the E-Z, Artsy Earring class I am doing through Groupon and they are made from pennies….just my 2 cents worth!

Copyright © Mary Ehlers, all rights reserved.

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