An accident 9 blocks away left me without power most of the afternoon into the evening. It's been a long time since I've read by candle light. It makes one realize just how much technology has become ingrained in day-to-day life..
Before the lights went out I had been doing some wire work. I'm still exploring black steel wire in conjunction with a bit of found objects, gemstones and crystals. I like the idea of the contrast between the materials. Somehow the crudeness of the wrought iron looking wire sets off the fineness of blue opals and faceted crystals.
The worst of this whole process is having to unlearn things. Some 35 years ago I was trained as a silversmith and spent a lot of time learning how to make perfect wire wrapped loops. Things were round, polished, buffed to a fine shine and everything had to be dead even. Now I'm trying to achieve a loose, semi-crude, casual effect with the black wire. I have to stop my hands from settling into old habits of controlled even wire wraps. It's been a lot of fun exploring with materials that are inexpensive. My old adage of, "it's not the materials but what you do with them" holds true here. I'm quite pleased with the end results.
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The funny thing about yesterday is that I went from a technology overload to reading by candle light in the same day. My business partner had been over with his collection of Android tablets to sort through which ones would really work for a portable beading tablet. We had tablets spread out all over the bead room. There were all sizes: 7", 8", 10" and different versions of the Droid systems. I'm strongly leaning towards an 8" tablet as it's big enough to see things on, yet small enough to put in a purse or stand on a beading table. I like the size and configuration of it. It's pleasing in the hands. 
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Before the lights went out I had been doing some wire work. I'm still exploring black steel wire in conjunction with a bit of found objects, gemstones and crystals. I like the idea of the contrast between the materials. Somehow the crudeness of the wrought iron looking wire sets off the fineness of blue opals and faceted crystals.
The worst of this whole process is having to unlearn things. Some 35 years ago I was trained as a silversmith and spent a lot of time learning how to make perfect wire wrapped loops. Things were round, polished, buffed to a fine shine and everything had to be dead even. Now I'm trying to achieve a loose, semi-crude, casual effect with the black wire. I have to stop my hands from settling into old habits of controlled even wire wraps. It's been a lot of fun exploring with materials that are inexpensive. My old adage of, "it's not the materials but what you do with them" holds true here. I'm quite pleased with the end results..
The funny thing about yesterday is that I went from a technology overload to reading by candle light in the same day. My business partner had been over with his collection of Android tablets to sort through which ones would really work for a portable beading tablet. We had tablets spread out all over the bead room. There were all sizes: 7", 8", 10" and different versions of the Droid systems. I'm strongly leaning towards an 8" tablet as it's big enough to see things on, yet small enough to put in a purse or stand on a beading table. I like the size and configuration of it. It's pleasing in the hands. .
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Now he just needs to quit taking tablets apart to see what makes then run and concentrate on finishing up the program. Some men just never seem to grow up and can't resist opening things up to see what's inside.
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So far, I'm very pleased with what he's developed. Things like being able to touch a line of the string table and have it move up. That makes keeping your place so much easier.
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Most weeks here in the Arizona winter are nice and dull quiet .... then along comes a day when so many things happen that it leaves your head spinning. A batch of quiet hours to do nothing but read or bead was a gift that finished off the day quite nicely.
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