Updates of Pixieprincess.com

Again, not my usual medium, but I finished a piece of costuming today!  Check out my neato dance top:)


Try to ignore the bed head, eh?

Vegan Cookies!
Okay, so, it’s not particularly crafty, when you’re following a recipe, but when the internets lead you completely astray (wet to dry ratio way off) it’s definately time to get creative.
I added peanut butter to smooth out the dough. oh hedoublehockeysticks yeah!

Welp,
Didn’t take long to blow it!

I mostly worked on Choreography today, which is a “thing,” but not one that’s ready to share yet! My students at the Craft Center had expressed interest in torch enameling, so today we conducted a little experiement with gasses.  Both pieces are copper with Clear Flux on top.  Check out the results!

The Acetylene/Air definitely had more controlled results though the glass pulled away from the edge quite a bit, while the butane really oxidized the copper and completely changed the color of the enamel. I honestly didn’t the the butane would work at all, but it turned out interesting!
~m

Day 2- February 2nd- Groundhogs day- Imbolc- St. Brigid’s Day

Though it is the feast of St. Brigid, patron saint of metalsmiths, I went another direction.  The sun is out, the sky is blue, and the hint of spring is in the air!  There is little more exciting than that to me.  Therefore I decided to go on a hunt for evidence of spring and an exploration of our yard with camera in hand.  Here’s some of the shoot:

Birch seeds, the bane of my existence

The finally unfrozen bird bath- I upended the fake birds after the shot

a weathered frog
And the evidence of Spring’s coming:

Baby tarragon growing from the roots torn by evil squirrels

New pink growth on Sedums

Primrose covered in the dreaded birch seeds

There’s this website called athingaday.com that has a rather grand idea to get the creative juices flowing.  Make a thing a day for the month of February and post it to your blog (on their blog.)  I’m too late to sign up and I know though I could likely make a thing a day, I wouldn’t have the patience to photograph and blog it everyday, so I’m just going to give it a whirl on my own blog where I can (gasp!) change the dates to reflect when I did the piece. Obviously these will not be master works of art, but sketches, ideas, beginnings…

Day one- February 1st-Groundhog’s Eve
Copper Etching with Renee and Tracey

etched moon 1″ diam

snowflake 3″ Diam.
And the one I liked best:

etched landscape 2″X2″

Eventually these will ideally be enameled and set.  The moon will likely be part of a larger piece. 

It’s almost time for our annual Craft Center Staff Art Show!
Last year proved to be an excellent representation of the serious and varied talents behind the Craft Center.  I was unduly impressed!
 From February 9th to March 11th, the Adell McMillan Gallery (3rd floor of the Erb Memorial Student Union at the University of Oregon) will host our annual staff show. The opening reception is Monday, February 9th from 4:00-6:00pm, at the gallery. 
Hope to see you there!

Also, if you happen to be flying out (or in) the Craft Center Instructor show is still on display at the Eugene Airport.  Check it out!

Cheers,
~margarita

There’s one spot remaining if you are interested!

–Learn the fundamental skills and techniques of fusing colored glass to metal. Create colorful pieces with copper to use in jewelry or wall art. We will explore sifting, stenciling, wet packing, foils and cloisonné.15 hours of instruction. Fee includes limited materials.

Tuesday 3:00-6:00pm
Jan 20-Feb 17–

Sign up here:
http://craftcenter.uoregon.edu/index.php?n=2&sn=6
See you there!
~margarita

It has taken me far too long to update Pixieprincess.com with my new Hatched series, and now that I have, I realize I took really cruddy pictures of the pieces.  Sorry ’bout that.  The pieces don’t actually look too bad but if you ever wondered how much dust might be on my background velvet… well, now ya know.
I hope your holidays are treating you well and joy is reaching your heart!
~m

Hoping to get lots done for First Friday! This may be the most colorful my bench has ever been:)


 <- collaborative piece w/Tracey Bell