My first bronze pieces done in '99.

Necklace with opals, herkimer diamonds, silver and crystals.

Gifts from Carter Seibels! I could just eat them up! I am so pleased. I especially love the cute pouch, I think green ones would suit my goods.

I've got bronze on my mind, see my first pieces? My caster didn't make any masters of these pieces, so I had to re- carve the ones I wanted to keep, the rest are, shall we say 'limited edition'. I spent the last several days making tools for bronze clay (remember: cross contamination) and new molds to try out. I carved four: a tree, a fancy bird, an owl and a mermaid. I am very curious how these molds will look in bronze. Hopefully they look really good and I can have them for the upcoming California shows. I'm going to try to make bezels as well, to add to my pile of empty ones, ready to be filled with little sculptures. I love making them, its like 3-d painting. Speaking of paint, I picked up a Daniel Smith catalog and found watercolors made with gemstone pigments: turquoise, lapis, sugilite, bronzite and many others. I can't wait till my order gets here! I am a rock hound and watercolor tester ( I have quite a collection of tubes and cakes) what a combination! I tried making lapis powder (to make egg tempera) and I must've been a little over enthusiastic about grinding and completely bruised the color. It didn't look great. But this does, I bet I could gesso the interiors of the bezels and paint inside. I tried mounting watercolor paper and pouring resin on top, it bubbles like crazy! Too porous. Well, I feel like a mad scientist tonight, all ready to experiment, yet also ready to enjoy a cream soda float.