My First College Level Show, and My First College Level Win

Tonight was the opening of the 4th annual Intercollegiate Metals Exhibition,
This is a juried exhibition of jewelry
and metalwork from the students and faculty of
seven different universities across the nation!
i was lucky enough to get my cactus piece in, and
even more lucky by wining second prize in the jewelry category!!!
How awesome is that!!!

The show had so much awesome talent and amazing work!
everyone who can should go check it out!
its at the gallery 100 on mill and 10th st.

Wild Orchid Makes it to the Front Page!

Dove Takes Flight

TA DAAAA!!!!!

Lost and Abandoned Memory

On one of my antique store raids, i came
across this metal box, to discover that within
this metal box, was a slide viewer and slides
from the 1960's of a trip to the grand canyon.
They were Abandoned and Forgotten in life's movements.
Memories long gone, ghosts of what was.
I bought them and took them home to give them
meaning again.

So this is what i came up with.
and may i say im REALLY excited
to see what all comes out of this series :)
in normal light the piece looks nice and simple
and you cant really see anything but black
in the slide. But hold it up to light and there's
your hidden oasis, at your very finger tips.
let your imagination take you away to a calm place,
where water is streaming, and birds calling, a prefect
getaway from today's busy world. The Negative shows
a lovely stream/creek flowing down rocks of all sizes
with a sweet sky and trees.

Every Cactus Has its Thorns

WOW has it been FOREVER since
ive posted anything!
o.o!
anyway ill be doing a lot of catch up and
you'll probably be seeing a new post
every other day lol

ANYWAY
todays post is about my final piece
for my enameling class!
so with out farther or due,
here it is!!!

heres a progress shot,
before it was all attached and
patinad

and heres the final piece!!!
i literally had no sleep
all weekend working on this!
i do have to say Ted McDonah is an awesome professor.
you can check out his work on his blog
(http://metalmonger.blogspot.com/)
im really happy with the way this turned out
even though i an avid desert hater
i really enjoyed making this!
though im still not sure why i picked
to do something deserty if i hate it so,
i think its the fact its can be really pretty in the
spring, but everything you touch pokes
and pricks you, so maybe the relation between
you my see a beautiful flower but in the end
it stabs you and brings you pain.
just because its pretty doesn't mean
its something good.

so its kinda like my orchids, they look
pretty but their are nicks, bumps and bruises in the
finish, and its those bumps, bruises and nicks that make
us all unique, nothing is ever perfect.

its lifes imperfections that shows
everyone who we really are.

preview 2

still not done yet,
im gonna tone down the background to the
tucan and then finish attaching the pieces,
then set the tucan on its plate,
then attach it all together!
:D

Preview

okay so this is what i am working on at the moment!
im really excited about this, what was supposed to
be a sample now, epic piece of awesomness.
im going to be patinaing all the leaves with a dark
green, and some liver of sulfered black,
then all the flowers, frogs birds and ext.
will be prismacolored!
and then the whole thing will be blind rivited!

Enameling FTW

WOOOOO!!!!
this semester i am taking an enameling
class and boy can i say im having so much fun!
=^_^=
ive even listed them in my new shop!
this semester is going to be so awesome!

NEW etsy shop!!

okay so as you all know ive change my
mind one last time of
what i want to do in life
and metals is my new and stick to thing!

im madly in love with metals!

anyway ive decided that for my metal work i need
to have it all in a different shop thats more professional then my
other one
so i created wildorchiddesigns!
im really excited about it!

so its been awhile but heres some new and more to come!

i know this looks like a ode to chatolisim BUT its not
its a king chess piece hollow ring
:D
and boy can i say WOW this was REALLY hard to make...
-_-
but i just need to practice practice practice!!!

this piece actually looks different now,
ill have to upload a new pick of it soon!
i love it to death!

and last but now least a necklace to match
=^_^=

ive been really getting into the orchid thing.
they are beautiful flowers and i make
each one with different marks, dents,
hammer textures, and patinas.

each one represents all of us people who
are all beautiful.
but each of us have our own unique flaws
that make us who we are.

i have a bunch of orchid pins that im making
for my shop and the upcoming yuma symposium!
should be really exciting and as soon as i get photos ill upload them!!


also photo credit goes to my friend Lynette Andreasen!
you should check out her blog shes an amazing
metalsmith!
:D
http://lynetteandreasen.blogspot.com/