New cloisonne enamels

Beginning Enamels

A few images of initial work in enamels: the moth image was made with sifted layers under watercolor enamels and china paint; the round pendant is sugar-fired transparent over stenciled blus transparent and watercolor enamel; the little sugar-fired gumdrops are going to be set like stones, but I haven't gotten to that yet. I started cloisonne on Friday and have already made one complete disaster and am working on yet another, which is coming along much better.... I'll hopefully have some nice images of that soon.

Studio at Penland

Here's a pic of my metals studio spot- we've got a great view and lots of tools...

the kilns are in the larger back room and look out over the Metals garden. This is nice, because we spend a lot of time standing around the kilns!

Penland pics

Here are a few images from Penland- my metals studio is the white upper level building to the far right. It is incredible so far- lots of cool people, good food and beautiful scenery... even the weather is perfect: sunny with a few clouds, yet cool and not to humid. I had to work today cleaning- I'll get assigned my workstudy job tonight!

rainbow pics

A few images from the rainbow gathering 2009- we actually got a double rainbow! It was a little too rainy, though... my tent is still drying out!

more copper jewelry....

Copper tendril bracelet

Here's my first attempt at a bracelet for my new line of copper jewelry.... It looks cool but isn't perfectly functional- I need some input!

Funky house pics

Here are some exterior shots of my little rental adobe as well as images of the animals!

Joe and the local wildlife

Here's Joe with Cowsuit and the leghorn chick... the chicken was easier to wrangle for these photos than the cat was!

Big Girls

New photos of my baby chicks- all grown up!

Forming tools

I wanted to show off my incredible set of forming tools: a stump with a groove and a piece of scrap wood were used to create the first step of forming this bowl. The metal is 18 ga copper, 6" diameter disc. The technique is called 'raising with crimping' as found in the Seitz and Finegold book. The next step will be to hammer this crimped bowl on a stake (also homemade) until it is smooth and perfectly curved- we'll see how it goes. I will be grinding and shaping the stake this weekend. I bought the fancy plastic forming hammer- I don't remember the name of the material, but it's supposed to be super-durable and is weighted... pretty nice.

Enamel fiasco

Here's my first and second attempts at making an enamel barrette: judge for yourself. The first was supposed to be rose pink transparent and clear; the second is clear and aqua opaque- go figure!

Chick Pics

The chicks are now fully feathered and outdoor residents... I don't have new pictures yet, but will post them soon. Here's a pic of Boo hanging out with the little puffs...

New Chicks

We brought home five chicks from the feed store on Friday- they are so cute and fluffy...
Boo now sleeps on top of their cage, maybe waiting for his chance to pounce!

Madrid

Serious crime gets serious punishment in Madrid- local cop busts a sage dealer.

At home on 599

Here are some views from the lot on 599- it's a fairly nice neighborhood. There are some well-kept adobe-looking houses and a few nice manufactured homes. The view is unbelievable. The downside is the highway proximity- there's a lot of highway noise.

Adobe home

When I first saw the little adobe house, I was sold. I had been living in a neighborhood in town for about a year; I had a roommate and was less than thrilled about the situation.

I pulled up to the little house in La Cienega and immediately wondered, "Where's the main house?" In Santa Fe, small houses, called casitas, are usually built in close proximity to a larger house. This little casita, however, was wonderfully private with its own fenced yard and screened by large elms from the nearest neighbors.

I loved the location mainly because of the trees - huge elms and cottonwoods shaded the house. Large trees are a special occurrence in Santa Fe county; most of the land is covered with a pinon/juniper scrub forest. The high bedroom windows showed tree trunks and foliage, making the place seem like it was up in the treetops. In contrast, the living room looked out on a rocky hill covered in cholla cactus. As cute as it was, its age was evident in the odd placement of appliances - my water heater was a conspicuous presence in the tiny kitchen. The floors all had terrain; I don't think there was a ninety-degree angle in the whole place. Regardless, I was in love with the odd little place and its beautiful/shabby neighborhood.

Next up: Meet the neighbors.

Stories from La Cienega

Welcome to my blog - I'm using this site to document the stories, strange events and odd folk that I encounter in my neighborhood of Lower La Cienega. Currently, I've lived in La Cienega for a little over a year and it's been one of the most bizarre and beautiful years of my life.

As an old spanish land-grant, La Cienega follows a waterway south of the city of Santa Fe and is home to many descendants of the original spanish settlers.

Some traditional ways of life are still evident here. For example the acequia system draws water from holding ponds and is used to irrigate fields of corn and red chile. The acequias are managed by an old guy called the mayordomo- the ditch master. This acequia was only recently run through pipes right next to my house. However, it stills runs openly throughout many parts of La Cienega.

As I mentioned, traditional crops are still grown- my favorite is the local red chile. It is sun dried on the grower's roof and is pumpkin orange. Yum!