Once upon a very long time ago, I got a degree in fine arts in silver and goldsmithing, with pottery and sculpture minors. For lots of years I did custom designed jewelry pieces for people, making an effort to bring good design to ordinary folk in an affordable price range. I did a lot of wedding rings. I had a shop in Rochester NY for several years which eventually encorporated a women's art gallery. Since then I've moved a lot, which makes it hard to keep a functional studio operating. I've gotten older and blinder. Being very farsighted and wearing bifocals are not the best for doing tiny detailed work.
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A few years ago I discovered FIMO! This was a very good thing. I love the speed (compared with metals) and immediacy of the medium. I also love the unlimited color palette. And I love that I can work a bit larger and then reduce things down to a very fine level of precision. There's hardly any equipment required. Materials are inexpensive. The economy is not based on the price of those materials. (Remember the year gold hit $800/oz? That was the year that closed my shop.) But perhaps best of all is that I find myself being more playful in this medium, taking myself less seriously, and having a lot more fun. |
Swaps are fun. Every participant designs one thing and makes enough for the whole group, usually around 15 to 20, and one for herself. We all mail them to one person including a return mailing label and postage. The swapmaster then puts one of each in each package and mails them all back.
This is a bead from the Multi-ethnic Bead Swap. She is Irish, like a good percentage of me.
Here's another one: This is a converse allstar high top canvas sneaker that I made for the Tiny Accessories Swap on Polymer Clay Central's Swap Zone.
