Sunday, April 22, 2012
1200 degrees on my kitchen counter
A few weeks ago I finally got up the nerve to try the new kiln, and it's amazing! For a relatively small piece of equipment - about the size of a large microwave - it really knows how to heat up. I did three firings of silver clay pendants and beads at 1200 degrees, and the outside of the kiln was barely warm. It was exciting to finally craft metal pieces from the beginning (a disc of clay about the size of a quarter) to end (a shiny new pendant) in my own kitchen. I also have a tumbler, which is a drum-shaped container attached to a motor. After the pieces were fired, I placed them in the tumbler with metal shot and some detergent mixed with water. About 45 minutes of tumbling action polishes the silver to a high shine.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Bead Hunting in NM - and my own kiln!
This was an extra-special holiday season. My husband and I spent almost two weeks in New Mexico and we were in Santa Fe for Christmas. We've loved that area for years, but this was the first time we had visited during the winter. It was quite cold and very beautiful, with snow everywhere.
And two days before we left, my kiln arrived! We were so busy that we didn't unpack it until we returned. Now it's sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting to be tried out. (My husband wonders if we could use it as a crock pot.) It's honestly a little intimidating, but I'll try it first with some pieces of clay that I saved when some of my thinner pendants were too delicate and broke too easily.
Albuquerque and Santa Fe have an amazing number of bead shops and I didn't even attempt to get to all of them. For quantity, Kamayeb in ABQ has the most beads I've ever seen. A lot of them were ho-hum rounds and not unusual, but there were also some more interesting shapes if you kept looking, and the more special stones are in glass cases. They do a lot of wholesale business, which may account for the relative lack of variety. Glorianna's on Marcy Street in Santa Fe, on the other hand, was big on quality with a very wide selection as well. The strings are hung behind a counter and the staff brings you the ones you want to look at - which was initially off-putting but I ended up spending a lot of time there so I guess I got over it. It helps them keep everything in order, which I understand. I may have bought more if I could have gotten closer to the selection, though - there probably were some "finds" that I couldn't see from across the counter. The owner has been in the business for a very long time and seems quite knowledgeable. Affordable prices are NOT the shop's strong suit, but then again, it is Santa Fe.
And two days before we left, my kiln arrived! We were so busy that we didn't unpack it until we returned. Now it's sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting to be tried out. (My husband wonders if we could use it as a crock pot.) It's honestly a little intimidating, but I'll try it first with some pieces of clay that I saved when some of my thinner pendants were too delicate and broke too easily.
Albuquerque and Santa Fe have an amazing number of bead shops and I didn't even attempt to get to all of them. For quantity, Kamayeb in ABQ has the most beads I've ever seen. A lot of them were ho-hum rounds and not unusual, but there were also some more interesting shapes if you kept looking, and the more special stones are in glass cases. They do a lot of wholesale business, which may account for the relative lack of variety. Glorianna's on Marcy Street in Santa Fe, on the other hand, was big on quality with a very wide selection as well. The strings are hung behind a counter and the staff brings you the ones you want to look at - which was initially off-putting but I ended up spending a lot of time there so I guess I got over it. It helps them keep everything in order, which I understand. I may have bought more if I could have gotten closer to the selection, though - there probably were some "finds" that I couldn't see from across the counter. The owner has been in the business for a very long time and seems quite knowledgeable. Affordable prices are NOT the shop's strong suit, but then again, it is Santa Fe.
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