We're close to opening

Who knew I had so much stuff!  Actually, I think Toni Maddox, PWF Team Member knew when she said, "I think you're somewhat of a weird hoarder!"  I cracked up!  It didn't take her long to figure me out.  I've been given the opportunity to go through and purge a bunch of old jewelry I made when I was just starting out and didn't know what the heck I was doing! Ugh! 


Anyway, we're working as fast as we can.  It's a little frustrating because it feels like we take two steps forward and one step back.  Inside pictures to come soon though.  But in the meantime, I thought you might enjoy this photo taken by friend and neighbor, Brad Ericksen of Grand Central Stained Glass and Graphics. I don't know how he did it, but it sure looks like a painting to me! 

Hey, did I mention we got our phone number yesterday ... (727) 439-6409.  Hit me up!  

A new treasury

My humble little Aqua Arabesque bead appeared in this beautiful Treasury yesterday ...

Please visit my website: Painting with Fire Artwear, or my etsy site: Painting with Fire.  You'll find lots of new bead colors in better-than-ever prices!

Forging Away Workshop Openings ...

Hi guys, I wanted to tell you a little more about this workshop, which I think is like getting many workshops for the price of one!  You'll learn ...

• the Painting with Fire technique of enameling ... there's nothing cooler than that because it's so fast, affordable, easy and safe. We'll enamel most of the pieces we'll be using in our bracelet, but you can bring special beads of your own with holes that can accommodate 14-gauge wire.
  
• how to forge round copper beads into square or rectangular shapes during the enameling process.
• how to apply millefiori, lump enamel, and cat whiskers to a copper disc while the piece is on the mandrel.  Take a look at this post for how we'll do that.
• how to make this cool link, which you can use as your focal instead of the millefiori disc, if you'd like.
• to use some of these materials to make a bracelet, and
• how to make an S-clasp!

The dedication page of my book showing the bracelet with the link option!

The millefiori focal as an option.

Examples of forged beads

 I'll be offering this workshop at:

Bead Fest Philadelphia, Saturday, August 20 from 8:30 to 4 p.m., Workshop #2633

Art and Soul, Portland, Tuesday, September 27 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Hope to see you there!

Steampunk Flower Earrings

Hey!  I actually made some jewelry!  A pair of earrings.  Yes, that's right!  Here are my Steampunk Flower Earrings.  

They are made from two copper gears that are domed, enameled, and assembled with a little enamel flower.  They measure 5/8" ... and you'll find them at www.barbaralewis.etsy.com with another lonely soul ... the Jasmine bracelet.  But my goal is to make more jewelry ... I really need to ... for my sanity!  I look forward to sharing other studio creations with you!  :-)  

But before I go, www.paintingwithfireartwear.com is running a sale on Nut, White and Mandarin Orange, transparent enamels ---- 15% off.  Barbara

"Torch-Fired Enamel Jewelry" - book website

When we last visited Barbara, she was experiencing a calamity of epic proportions.  After four days of solid work on her website using iWeb ... things turned ugly.  Over 20 hours of trying to ftp her website to Go Daddy were rewarded with nada ... zip ... zero. 

Even though haggard, near tears and ready for a breakdown, Barbara, who had not gotten out of her pajamas all day, could not garner the sympathy of her family.  Their exasperation was palpable. She begged their forgiveness, but persevered in her goal.  Another day at the computer ... at the WIX website builder ... and the skies parted. Tada!  Eureka!  Here is what she made ...

Thanks for visiting and for your encouragement ... Barbara's family thanks you, too!

P.S.  In all fairness to her family, they are the ones who cooked, cleaned, and did all her laundry for the week. :-)

Hey, what's so special about the Painting with Fire Technique?

I know you hear me talk about torch-firing all the time, but it occurs to me that you might not know some of the differences between the "traditional" method of torch firing and the Painting with Fire method.  It makes me smile when I use the word "traditional" to describe torch firing, because I don't think anyone would consider torch firing a traditional enameling technique!

In the traditional method, you must clean the metal because the enamel will be applied to cold metal.  You must apply a fixative like Klyr-Fire to keep the enamel on the piece. You must sift the enamel onto the piece and try to get an even coating.  Because you're sifting, you must wear a dust mask. You'll place your piece on a firing trivet and go at it, but that's only for the first coat.  Then you must place your piece in a pickle to remove firescale from the unenameled side, spray Klyr-fire, sift, and repeat the firing process. 

Now that you've got ONE coat on the piece, you'll probably want to add one or two more coats, at least. Finally, you need to grind off the marks that the trivet has left.  I forgot to add that you're wielding a 2 lb. torch in your hand.

If you turn the process upside down you get the Painting with Fire method.  We don't clean the metal, we don't apply a fixative, we don't sift the enamel ... and our torch is safely anchored to the table so we have both hands free!

You place your piece on a mandrel.  We dangle it in the flame.  This heating removes all oils, dirt and grime ... hence, no cleaning or pickling. We immerse the hot metal into enamel.  The minute the enamel hits the hot metal it begins to fuse to the piece. Hence, no counter-enameling to cover the back and no need for pickling because we get front and back with one dip.  So, no Klyr-fire or sifting are needed. 

We bring the piece back to the flame and reheat, dip, reheat, dip and you're done.  Now wasn't that easy!  

New copper shapes at PWF!

Hi all, I hope everyone had a great mother's day.  I spent some time photographing these new copper shapes that are for sale at my website: www.paintingwithfireartwear.com.  Come for a visit ... and stay a while!

Art and Soul Hampton

Enamels for student use during the workshop

We're leaving for Art and Soul Hampton tomorrow, so today is a flurry of activity in the studio.  Of course, David and I drove 14 hours from Florida yesterday, so we're both kind of punch drunk. Chris, who David and I have known for nearly 20 years, is an integral part of our operation.  He's the organizational mind!  David and Chris both work part time in the studio helping to fill orders and this is where the trouble began.

In response to my policy to thank customers by writing a brief note on their invoice, here's how the conversation went ...

David:  I just sign the note "painting with fire."
Me:  No, sign your name. It's okay.
David: I think I should sign another name each time I send an order, that way they'll think we're really big.
Chris: Mrs. Lewis, we might want to consider outsourcing our shipping!

Then the names started to flow! So I just had to take a photo of them at work.
Chris:  Mrs. Lewis, you didn't tell me I had to get dressed up for photos?!
Me:  (I was laughing so hard at this point I couldn't respond).

Chris (aka Bernie, Chuck, Sampson, Pookie)

My son, David (Bubba, Floyd, Orton, Vinnie)

If you get any invoices signed by these guys, I'd be very, very suspicious!

More fun with glass crayons ...

That's what it feels like when I'm enameling!  No kidding ...  I definitely like to color outside the lines!

Blue Jay Flower, suede lace and sari silk ribbon

The flower is a bead cap I opened up.  Do you find yourself cannabalizing your jewelry findings so that they find their way into work in just the right spot?

A simple technique

Haven't we all played around with bending and folding wire?  It's the 3-D equivalent of doodling.  Sometimes things accidentally work in your favor and you end up with something that is identifiable. :-)

At the top right you see something I call a "slide."  Another wire doodle.  This handy little thing dispenses with the knot at the back of the neck.  I hate that big bulge resting on my neck.  The slide keeps the ribbons where they're supposed to be and allows you to adjust the length of the necklace.  Just add a bauble to each end of the ribbon to prevent the ends of the ribbons from completely slipping through the slide and you're finished.

One of the great things about having a bunch of ribbons in a basket is that you can get some neat random color combinations.  When I saw these gold and shocking pink ribbons together, I knew it was right!  Their color vibrations practically sent a pulse out into the room! Let me ask you something ... do you find yourself being attracted to off-beat color combinations or do you like more harmonious color pairings?  Inquiring minds want to know ...

Gettin' Ready for Bead Fest Wire!

We're days away from driving to King of Prussia for Bead Fest Wire!  I really hope I'll be meeting a bunch of you there. Even though we only talk in cyberspace, your blogs have invited me into your world ... and I'm so grateful. It would be nice to put a face to a page. :-)

I'll be giving a demo on Friday at 11 a.m. and you can find me at my booth at other times on Friday and Saturday and, of course, at the teachers Meet and Greet on Friday evening.  On Sunday, I'll be teaching 20 of you how to enamel as fastly, cheaply, and safely as is humanly possible!  So, I hope now that you know where I'll be, you can come by and we can have a gigglefest!

Over the past few days I've been making jewelry because I feel a strong need to show some of what's available with torch firing.  But what I really want is for you to give it a whirl.  The paintingwithfire.ning.com can be a great source of support as you continue a home study course in enameling. :-)  I think of it as an extended warranty. LOL  You all, of course, will take the technique in other directions and create outta sight stuff!

I think one of the most obvious attractions about enamel is color.  Metal is a wonderful material, but when you put colored glass on top of it, metal comes alive!  You need not cover every speck of metal with color though. I'm finding that fabric and enamel look great together.  It's also a great solution to costly metal alternatives.  As far as color, it's WOWx2!

I see fabric and my brain says, "I need dat!" But apparently I have a lot of needs ... but we won't go there!  The sari ribbon I use is Fair Trade and recycled.  It helps to support impoverished woman in Nepal and India, many of whom are single-mother head-of-households, which is one of the reasons I decided to carry it at my website.

Here's a new piece I just finished yesterday called, "Dogwood." The saffron ribbon keeps the piece from becoming just toooo sweet!

Dogwood

Dogwood, detail

But, I'm curious ... have you noticed that there's a trend toward using ribbons and other fibers in jewelry design? Do YOU find yourself using more ribbons and other fibers in your work?  Do you have favorites?  I'd love to hear what you're thinking ... :-)

Enameling Discs ... the Super Easy Way!

Torch-Fired Enamel Pendant and Saucers

When I was in college I had an art professor who said, "I finally "get" Color Theory after having taught it for five years!" I guess teaching does reinforce your existing knowledge of the subject, which is what I experienced when I had a couple of ladies over on Monday for a Painting with Fire Workshop. I said, "The pwf technique makes enameling teeny tiny discs super easy!  Imagine if you had to torch fire these discs the "other way" ... where you clean the metal, spray it with Klyr-fire, sift the enamel, then carry it to the trivet.  By the time I'd get it there the enamel would be knocked off of the edges!"  For you see, with the pwf method, you put the disc on a mandrel, take it for a whirl in the flame, and in about 40 seconds you're finished!

So enameling the 6mm discs you can punch with the Swanstrom disc cutter is no big deal. I made these in my St. Pete studio.  Unfortunately I realized that I didn't have a way to make a hole ... no two-hole punch or drill bits.  So I used a screw to punch a little hole in the metal and filed the backside of the disc to enlarge it.

These colors remind me of Easter ... and of some of the necklaces draping the displays in Forever 21 ... a favorite shop of my daughter's.  It looks like a trend right now is necklaces of yards of chain and soft pastels.  Are you thinking forward to Spring and to a change in your color palette?  Do you have a favorite color ... is it an old standby or a new one for you?