fumble forward

my last batch of some disappearing pipe colors.  out of that beautiful yellow rusty squash color, and the yellow and green almost out of too.  funny how precious these pipes are to me.  i covet them under my little rickety porch. i have 19 utensil holders, here is the direct link to them. also have 9 votive holders, here is the link to those.

i have a few more odds and ends to finish and then i think i might try a few pendants.  nothing special mind you...believe me i have looked at enough jewelry lately to know i will make much simpler pieces than most anything out there.  a few months ago i went to a little art event and for lack of having any necklaces and getting tired of looking at the beautiful old angle grinder blade i found at the scrap yard, i wrapped an old yellow electrical wire around it and had an instant necklace.  i felt like i was wearing a diamond.  i know it looked rough and my neck got all scratchy because i only tied the wire in back....but i felt glamorous.  who knows, i'm sure i have a zillion steps to learn and truth be told my brain shuts down after 5 min. of looking at online videos instructing me how to deal with jump rings and small but intimidating list of other paraphernalia one needs to make a 'proper hanging jewelry piece'. 

chains are another thing that disturb me.  i dont wanna use em.  and nylon cord.  the usual suspects.  done to death.  doesnt feel exciting to me.  who knows.  maybe i will succumb just to get it hanging.  maybe i will just sell stand alone pendants.  maybe i wont be able to do any of it.  not sure i want to solder.  not sure how to deal with rusty stuff because i dont want to lose the patina by painting over it with a rust converter.  the list of what i know i dont like/want is way longer than what i do.  i suppose its good to know what you dont want but at some point you have to just trudge thru mental muck and triumph.  it is more intimidating to attempt something that everyone else seems to do and do quite well. 

having said that i did cut some pipe for earrings....and it HAS been done before.  and what i have seen is interesting.  a few hurdles to jump on that...and i doubt i will add anything to them in the beginning.  why i am so STOPPED by the tools and wire is beyond me. guess i learn by seeing first hand and so far online videos are too far removed for me.  a few folks have offered to help me but so far that hasnt panned out either.  fumble along i shall. 

new here new now

'faux modern' is what i call them...although i think living in huntsville is getting to me because i'm also thinking about the old prison uniforms, werent those all black and white striped?  pretend i didnt say that. i dont want to ruin them.  the white pipe is actually flecked with blue and gold...other subtle colors.  the black pipe has a light yellow green stamping on it (letters) which i find fun.  the 'totem pole' one is my tallest one yet.  i have decided to maybe make at least one totem pole for each 'batch'.  who knows.  i have to just do what they pipes dictate and leave my brain out of it.

next batch:  butternut squash. and bleached sun

i think to date some of my fav colors.  i almost didnt pick this pipe at the scrap yard, it was so rusty looking i had no idea that after it was clean that beautiful yellow/oranges would pop out.  and the white flecked pipe...has blue and gold...its delicious.  back to work, i still have two more batches to finish coating and putting bottoms on.

these are all available in my etsy shop, you can click the left sidebar: votive holders and utensil holders to see all available. more coming in the next few days!

rebar madness at the scrap yard

today i went to the recycle place to get more pipe and rebar.  i'm running DANGEROUSLY low on rebar.  they had none that i could see...came away with one pipe and a few tidbits.

i decided to go to the other scrap yard that is out along the highway.  its bigger, not as big as the ones i've seen in vermont but big enough to kind of intimidate me.  tod always went with me to the scrap yards and sometimes i get anxious and feel like i'm just in people's way.  i pushed myself to go.  all in the name of flowers.....

i have to say, after i recovered from being told unequivocally NO that i could not buy ONE piece of rebar, that i could go look for jack and find out if i could look around, i went looking for jack. why no rebar? seems they are doing a big construction project and feel they will need all the rebar they can get.  wow...what am i gonna do without rebar?  everything feels scarce lately...still can't find anymore aluminum for the bottoms of my vases/candle holders.  i have some rolls of it but i will run out at the rate i'm going.  anyhow.  jack.  skinny ponytailed jack with his bespeckled young son in the little weigh station hut.  jack with the tattoos all over his long arms.  jack with a little jump to his step.  a little prickly in the beginning, but maybe thats just me.  i asked could i drive my car down there to the heep so i didnt  have to walk back with stuff and he said he wouldnt.  tires are expensive.  he isn't responsible for flat tires.  pointed where to park and zipped away.

i found a black pipe.  which is great cuz i'm out of them for my 'slice' containers.  but no more...and there was lots more to look at but nothing much i could take.  i ended up being a rooster and picking little pieces from the dirt.  all on my way back to the weigh station hut i kept finding minutiae that was embedded in the dirt.  best stuff is always half buried.  anyhow.  when jack saw what i got he seemed extremely happy.  suddenly he just opened up and he said the best people are the artists.  never heard that EVER from a scrap yard dude.  normally i feel like we are like flies on their shit and they'd rather us just buzz off.  jack was beside himself about little things.  i showed him what i got in my bag and he zipped of, just up and ran away and came back with a bulbous thing he said i could have.  my heart melted.  then he went on and on about the best times to come here and made me feel mighty welcome to do just that.  it made my day.  i was really dreading going there, just feeling anxious and my normal panicky self and not sure i could deal with it all.  i got a little rush from having that interaction and can't wait to go back.

i'm learning to find gratitude here.  i am always feeling like there is just enough that is tolerable.  i.e. i suddenly found out i have new upstairs/side neighbors and only because they were moving in at 11:30 PM last night.  of course its four college boys.  of course they drive big ass loud trucks.  i suddenly felt like get me out of here.  i can't take another year of noise and whoopin it up.  i really can't.  let alone the fact that now, FOUR vehicles will be here and they invariably park in one of my two reserved spots.  i dont really use that second spot except for when i need to cut metal for art.  so now its a fight for when can i find a parking spot to work in.  i hate that.  i realize i am insane...i mean its insane to work on hot concrete and lugging all my crap outside.  i've almost destroyed my wood porch, i really think any day now it will collapse from all the up and down and working on it with tools.  i need a studio space ...i want it i need it and i gots to have it.  its humid and rainy and hot and this isn't working so well for me.  sigh.

thank god for jack and his happy little self.  i will hold on to that for today.  and the fact i found black pipe.  oh. new flower above, shown with last week's smaller new flower.  i love these.....will get the big one up on etsy soon.  get it while you can, never know how many more i can make.  let the rebar gods shine upon me.

Style File Chapter 5 on The Altered Page

I am happy to be here amongst other wonderful artists!  thank you Seth for including me in this.

newbies

finished up another batch of flowers recently and braved the heat/humidity to get some photos.  i had a good run with sales and my shop was looking skimpy.  i'm excited about a few things, one is...i finally found someone on etsy who has faucet heads that i like AND she knows what i like and is setting aside a little paula cluster.  when i sent her a picture of things i use on the back side of the flowers and asked if she comes across this kind of stuff the answer was a resolute YES!  its just been slim pickings for me lately at the scrap yard and she is giving me a deal i can't refuse...  i love that i can get stuff from another esty person AND its all from her local scrap yard!

so...hopefully i wont run out of materials.  its a silly fear of mine.  especially since i know i will just have to re-invent the 'next thing' eventually.  my other fear is that i will run out of my recycled aluminum that i use for the bottoms of vases/candleholders/pencil holders. i first found sheets of it at the scrap yard and remember driving everywhere asking places if they had this stuff, no one did.  i had no clue what it was or where to get more until the scrap dude gave me the guy's number who brought it in.  i went and bought a bunch of it last year and it occurred to me i should see if he is still in business and buy one more big batch should he ever go out of business or i leave huntsville.  i called monday and havent heard back....makes me nervous but i can't think about that stuff. 

nothing lasts forever.  it's a good reminder.  one day even the texas dualie will be a thing of the past.  (yeah right).

totem pole

eleven slices. Totem Pole.  i am officially out of black pipe :(  i have a little blue left...not sure i have that white anymore...BOOHOO.  what am i gonna do if I can't find more colorful pipes that fit together?  mmmmm

well this was good to make.  go out with a bang.  i loaded all my new works on etsy and all but this one have been reserved for purchase.  i think its time to make a few more flowers before coming back to pipe vases.  maybe by then the scrap yard will have some goodies for me.  i do have about 10 more vases to photo/upload on etsy.  some yellow, some lightweight fun red ones....a gorgeous big blue one that is as tall as my tibia.  its the big blue 'roller' that i got a few weeks ago at the scrap yard.  its actually lightweight for such a behemoth.  i wanna keep it awhile, i have a few like that.  my big ones i like having around the house, they make me feel incredibly wealthy.  odd...pipes.  containers.  empty but to me, full of life.

here's a few of my new pieces what are already 'sold' so to speak.  i had a blast making these, they are some of my favorites EVER!

more a comin

last week on my fan page i posted some of my new work on etsy.  didnt take long for these babies to fly off the shelf!  both are rarities...rare in that i dont normally have the small red pipe that i used to make the tea light candle holders (let alone the patience) , rare that i dont intend to make too many multi sliced vessels like the one above as its hard to find variety of pipe with interesting color that also is the same size and will thus stack properly.  it is exceedingly time consuming and somewhat challenging for me emotionally and physically.  all i can say is had i not bought that dry cut saw earlier this year you wouldnt be seeing these. period.  it cuts down on some of the cleaning grind/time, is faster and it cuts more evenly. that and my new (well at this point 6 month old) grinder, make a huge difference in me getting a better cut and edge.

i did just finish more candle and pencil holders, will be posting them soon on facebook/etsy.  so if you are feeling an itch to nab be on the look out.

i think its almost newsletter time.  so heads up on that one.  my newsletter is only available to people who sign up, i dont post that info anywhere else.  ya wanna know more you gotta sign up.  see my sidebar here or fanpage or website.  aloha