Pink Crow Stirrings

Summer Studio Two, Day Two

I've had two, 8-hour days in the studio, so now it's time for an update and a long-overdue "Today's Desk".

Here's where it all started yesterday morning,
with the template attached to a stack of riveted sterling.

Next all of the areas for piercing were drilled.

And by the end of yesterday this is where I was.

More sawing and a ton of filing today and the front plate for the piece is just about done.

 

And here is that long overdue "today's desk" photo. 
Still some unpacking going on to the left, 
but very much a productive desk on the right.

 

And finally:
I had to take advantage of some Florida sunshine pouring in my window this evening.

Thanks for checking in. Be back soon with more updates.

-c

 

Summer Studio: Up & Running

Finally...finally. I'm working.

After some unforseen delays and setbacks and a few necessary distractions I am finally in the studio working. I've stayed productive during the time that I couldn't be working on new pieces, mostly with design work, but it feels so good to be at my desk again. This will be my first week of 100% dedicated studio time. It should be week five, but I'm not going to beat myself up about it...you have to allow yourself some peace when things are beyond your control.

Oh it feels so good to be here again.

Here's a little peek at one of the pieces I've been and will be working on:

Thanks for checking in.

-c

 

Vintage French Stock Certificate - Single Drop

Phew...this past week was a crazy one and I overlooked posting final shots of the last piece in the set, so I'm here with a super-quick post today to do that. Here is  a second (and final) "Single Drop" piece from the Vintage French Stock Certificate series:

 

 Got to run for now...much to do in so little time.

-c

Listing Preview

Just finished a few pieces that will be listed in my Etsy shop within a few days. Here's a quick visual preview of each:

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great rest of the weekend!

-c

Studio Update: 5 Stock Certificates

Just a quick update so you can see what I've been up to in the studio.

These are a couple that have been in production for several weeks and are almost ready for assembly. In reality they're actually a bit further along than pictured here, but this is the latest shot I have of them:

   

I'm still working on the details of this one, I'm thinking of having highly polished sterling silver rings rolling around inside this piece as opposed to my "regular" star disks...but I'm not sure exactly what the end product will be just yet. Here's where I am so far:

 

This one has the same shape as the one above, but in the background are three vintage international postage stamps seen through three vintage scientific lenses:
 

   

And last but not least I just started work on this piece this past week...and did I ever work! Lots of sawing and even more filing...filing for DAYS and that's not an exaggeration! Here is where I am so far:

 

 This is an idea of what this piece will look like once it's done...not exactly, but just to give you a frame of reference:

 

OK, so time to get back in there for a full day of work. Have a great weekend!

-c

 

Cecilio's Flying Circus

Cecilio Garnica was a traveling man, a gypsy some would say, a Salab to be precise. At a young age when his path and that of a traveling circus crossed somewhere in Spain he made a life changing discovery: he had a special talent (and love) for the trapeze. He decided to join this circus and to see the world with a fresh new perspective. He quickly became a star.

He found his new life very comfortable as it didn't differ much from his life as a gypsy with the added bonus of doing what he loved and having traveling partners consisting of a cast of characters so diverse and talented that each night as he returned to his carriage to sleep he always looked forward to the adventures the next day would bring.

After several years of traveling throughout Europe Cecilio felt there was something missing from his life and he decided it was time to set off on his own. He packed up his few belongings and boarded a ship to Mexico where he started his own circus, "Cecilio Garnica's Flying Circus". Several years passed and Cecilio, now a young adult, gained great fame and notoriety for his astonishing trapeze feats. People came from far and wide when they heard that Cecilio and his small yet famous circus were coming to town. 

One fine evening when Cecilio was performing his routine he noticed a beautiful girl watching with the look of amazement in her almond-shaped eyes. He thought to himself that she must be the lovliest girl in all the world (and he would know, for he must have seen millions from his perch, up in the highest heights of the tent). That evening as he made his way down the ladder he saw her lingering near the entrance of the tent. He approached and saw a twinkle in her eyes and a slight smile on her lips. At first he was quite flattered, but then he noticed the focus of her gaze was directed over his shoulder and turning around he realized she was staring at the trapeze. 

 

 

He took her hand and led her toward the ladder. He checked the knots securing the net beneath the heights of the swinging bar and as he did so he went over in his mind how to explain to her the basics of the fine art of the trapeze, but as he turned it became clear that she needed no introduction. He found her swinging in elegant arcs over his head. Now it was his turn to wear the look of amazement. It was as if she had grown wings and as he stared it was apparent that she too was a star.

 

It was only after she descended the ladder that he learned her name, Antonia...beautiful Antonia, and they each saw their future in the the other's eyes. Soon they would be married and after a few years of touring the country they added a third star to their circus.

 

Together they swung in elegant arcs and for the rest of their lives they astounded audiences wherever they flew.
 

 

 

"Cecilio's Flying Circus", now on Etsy.

 

 

 -c

Listing Preview

Here's a quick preview of a couple of pieces that I plan to list in my shop next week:

Pendant Name: "In Case of Emergency: Break Glass"
Price: $650
Materials: Sterling Silver, Fragment of Antique US Stock Certificate, US $1 Note, Antique Glass, Resin, Sterling Seamless Snake Chain

 

 - - o - -
 

Necklace Name: "The Circus: Cecilio's Flying Circus"
Price: $1375
Materials: Sterling Silver, Fragment of Antique US Stock Certificate, Fragment of Antique French Transfer Foil, Fragment of Antique Display Case Glass, Italian Candy Foil, Antique Glass, Sterling Seamless Snake Chain with handmade Clasp.

 

- - o - -

I'm out of the studio for the rest of the week through the weekend, but once I return I will have these pieces listed and hope to post an animation of "Cecilio's..." in action. Have a great weekend!

-c

Studio Time Mgmt: Bubbles

I've never been a task list person though I've tried (oh have I tried). If I make a list of a few things I need to do I find myself instead doing other things that I find equally important, but are not on my list. When I do this I then add the finished tasks to my list and immediately cross them off, which makes my task list less of a "things to do" list and more of a "things I've done" list.

With more time in the studio I've long been trying to establish some framework of how to spend my studio hours productively, which naturally began by my creating elaborate task lists for each piece I was working on, and for all of the other little "things to do" in the studio (cleaning, ordering, etc.). This manifested itself in hundreds of tasks on dozens of lists...it was a bit overwhelming. This not only didn't work, it had me avoiding the studio which was an endless source of frustration for so many reasons...I won't even begin to go into that.

My initial move away from the task list was still a list of sorts, but it was framed out within the hours I had available to spend in the studio, so it didn't look so much like an endless and impossible-to-get-done list:

 

This was much better, but the problem was that it was still technically a task list...see that "Update Blog" entry? I probably didn't do that.

This time management issue is one I've been wrestling with for as long as I can remember. A couple of months ago I was once again struggling with how to best plan my time for the studio when I suddenly remembered how my third grade teacher Ms. Verduzco dealt with my chronic inability to stay on task. This recollection gave me just that "eureka" moment I needed to help me develop a system of time management for my studio that has worked for me for almost 2 months now...a record for me. 

Ms. V gave me a timer for my desk and each week she would give me a 3x5 card with the week divided into columns. While we were doing desk work I would set the timer for 10 minutes at a time and if I was still on task when the timer bell rang I got to draw/color a square on the card. Then I would reset the timer and get back to work. I would get some trivial prize at the end of the week if I had completed a certain number of squares, but really the highlight for me was that little 30 second break I got to draw a square and color it any color I wanted.

Remembering this system helped me to realize that the key in the studio is just to stay on task and stop focusing so much on planning the "what" of the task. It doesn't really matter WHAT that task is, because if I am in the studio I am working, and I am going to get done what needs to get done. So now at the beginning of every week I sit with a weekly planner and mark out my available studio hours. Once I know what days/hours I'll be in the studio I draw a bubble at the bottom of the column for each hour I have to spend in the studio for each day, then I divide each bubble in half.

 

When I'm working in the studio I set my timer for 30 minutes, and when the timer goes off I reset it and fill in 1/2 a bubble (there's just something so satisfying about filling in those bubbles). I can even work ahead...if I'm still in the studio and all of today's bubbles are filled I can go on to start filling tomorrow's bubbles in...elation!

 

The great thing is at the end of the week I can look at all of the bubbles I've colored and it feels so satisfying to have a record of the hours I've put in.

 

So, to all of you non-task-listers out there I encourage you to give this system a try, just remember you are only allowed to fill in a bubble if you are on task when the timer goes off. And for all of you task list adherents, maybe you can try it too on a day that you want to be productive, but it doesn't matter so much what exactly you do when...who knows, it might feel a bit liberating.

-c 

Studio Update: Showing Up

I've been showing up lately, lots actually. More on that later.

Knowing inspiration has hit isn't difficult when it swoops in and slams you over the head like a ton of bricks. Those big "WOW!" moments are easy to recognize and translate so seamlessly and directly into fresh, new ideas that they're almost like gifts laid out before you, arriving anonymously and often taken for granted. The work that follows this type of inspiration may not always come as easily as the idea did, but when the idea is so clear and solid it somehow provides a stable foundation on which to begin work, and gives you the stability and drive to work through even the toughest obstacles that may come up.

The tricky part is that inspiration doesn't always drop into your lap like that. My mind is always open and waiting for my next big collision with inspiration, but lately I have been focusing on tuning myself into the smallest details of daily life to see what inspiration I can find in what I might not normally notice, or may normally take for granted.

 
 The minute corkscrews that happen when metal is perfectly drilled.

Wanting to take the Stock Certificate series a step further I decided that I needed to open up what had been the boundaries of the pieces...the contour of the frame. All of my work on the pieces to this point has been contained within the frame, and while I feel that there is still plenty of space for further exploration inside there, I wanted to begin to break out of that static shape.

I started with an exploration of the details of the stock certificates themselves and saw a parallel between the fact that I was looking for something to ornament the outer boundaries of my pieces, and the fact that many of my favorite details on the certificates are just to the outside of boundaries and borders:

 

From there I began looking at minute details of similar things and found myself attracted to the stylized foliage detail on our currency:

 

I loved how the leaves just outside of Washington's portrait looked naturally yet neatly tucked into place.

 

So from there I decided to explore the shape and form of overlapping bunches of leaves. I made some preliminary sketches...

 

...and then got down to the business of figuring out the how and the where to make it work. 

 

So this is where I am right now:

 

And this is who I visit from time to time to remind me that inspiration or no inspiration, it will all be okay if I just show up:  

And so I'm just going to keep showing up.

-c

Upcoming Pieces

Here's a super quick look at what's coming up next in the studio. This series is based on the ornamental details on a few vintage American stock certificates I found. Here are the shapes I will be building the pieces around:

 

 

 

Cheers to you all...I'm signing off for a few days to celebrate the holidays properly, and I hope you are doing the same. I'll be back with more updates as soon as the holidays are over and I sober up...properly ;)

-c