2/21/14

solder blobs, patroness thank-yous

 So remember Patroness? She dropped off my radar claiming other unexpected financial priorities, saying I could keep all her haul for myself. I've been using her stuff for a while.  
I decided to make a some stuff for her from some very special pieces that I didn't feel right using up. Like above, this raku cab and huge labradorite. 
I'm just going to give them to her as gifts, not charging for the work, as thanks for all the goodies she's given me.
Here, some super ancient glass in this ring.
You can't see but there's iridescence in these. They're exceptional. 
 Here's some more. I use the the wire to make a cage to protect these very precious bits. As you can see above and below, I used solder in lieu of torch drawing ball pins.
These final two inspired me to make the next two for the shop:
 Here a bunch of silvery green baroque glass pearls. So cool that I actually used a ton of them here which is really weird for me. I usually would parse out different types of things- you know? I'm all about one rusty thing, one refined thing, one old thing, one gemstone thing, one girly thing one masculine thing. So this is weird.
Also as you can see solder is much wonkier than drawing ball pins and doesn't look at all the same. Doesn't pass, if you will. Next time I'll be tidier with the bunching the wire to then get tidier solder blobs around them. I did have to do a lot of dremel sanding after as well. Maybe I'll decide not to care.
 Here I used something very precious from Patroness- rough authentic rubies. Again, just a row of them like above I used a row of baroque glass pearls.
 I riveted this rough tin bezel on to the tin ring base. I just adore this thing.
 Here I used broken rhinestone chain and wired it on to this flat memory-wire-like bidness. The ends, as you can see, I secured with, what else? Solder blobs! Yay solder blobs.
From the comments it seems a ton of people are fans of Caroline Myss. I clicked around her site a bunch. For some reason the thing that caught my eye was "What to do When You Don't Know What to Do Next" because I feel like maybe I'm at an odd sort of plateau that I need to figure out.... 
 Though I am a bit put off by mentions of Astrology and prayer. I'm sure she does it all in a different special way but....
Do you know in a study comparing sick people who had groups pray for them vs. those who didn't, the results were that the ones who had people pray for them ended up slightly sicker or less recovered? (This is reported by my mom who, being a doctor, reads about a lot of studies in various journals of medicine.) In other words, it didn't really help.
Nothing to do with this lovely Ms. Myss, but there's this thing where you're told that its your fault for your intention if you're sick or odd.... if you only wanted it more or tried or had the right attitude.
(New photos of this bracelet.)
And that can be bad for ... well, me who was told all kinds of crap that made me feel like shit before I was medicated and which I later realized I had no control over despite fuckers who said shit like "I could have gotten depressed at that moment but I chose not to!" as if anyone could choose to be in soul-searing pain.

I'm babbling. This is old hat. A well-paved avenue of thought. Lets look at this instead:

4gifs:

Dogs imitate crawling baby. [video]

And also this is very important:
So no one has any advice for me for my pencil torch that does this? Really?

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did you over fill your torch? There maybe fluid seeping out that causing the flames. It looks very much like my torch and mine glows red at those points but doesn't flame out. Love those cages there really cool.

Numinosity said...

Oh man your cages full of precious beads, Those long long ones are just so exciting! sumptuous new goodies.

Relics Revisited said...

Lovely new delights! Thanks for sharing. I think your pencil torch is broken. I have one that I use daily and it has never shot a flame anywhere!

stregata said...

Re: your pencil torch - definitely not the way it should be. Is this a new torch? Then take it back to where you bought it. If not new: I assume you have checked the nozzle to see if it is clogged? Otherwise: get a new torch. you don't want to be setting everything on fire - well, you do set everything on fire, especially us, but you don't literally want to do that.

Lucie Tales said...

The rings and the cages are WOW…. awesome!! When you ball up the wires ends, did you protect the pearls or the rubies from the heat with something?

La Fileuse said...

Wow ! These earrings you did for the patroness are ultra eye-catching ! The dark background is a nice idea, especially for them. They have such an unexpected industrial vibe... I'll drool over them for ages... o/

Penelope said...

Well the thing about plateaus is they're flat. So to get off them you're gunna need to start climbing, and for that to feel like it's working you need a higher goal to get closer to. Essentially if you're not getting the same reward out of stuff it's maybe because it's the same stuff. You need new stuff. So you gotta figure out what you're looking for, then you'll be able to go for it.

I'm not sold on that Caroline person, there's way too much Oprahism. I get all my wisdom from the Tarot and my own hard thinking, and the occasional tea-fueled bullshitting session with my friend who lives in the mountains. The only two self-help things I ever got anything out of is Barbara Sher's Wishcraft and the Dalai Lama's Path to Happiness.

Lela said...

I keep reading that title as "slobber blobs."

Sam said...

I've been lurking your blog for what seems like forever now. I always think to myself, "Why can't I BE her?!", but then you say things like "as if anyone could choose to be in soul-searing pain." and I realize more and more that I probably already am. I have a thousand questions and I wish I could ask them all. My Etsy is empty and I'm wondering why I can't get up the nerve to post my beautiful stuff like you do. I wish I could be reassured that everything will be ok.

P.S. I'm really sorry about your mum's cat. It made me cry reading that bit.

Unknown said...

Earth sometimes feels heavenly but is not heaven. There is a whack of things not perfect here on earth. Like illness and chemical balances that need the brilliance of the medical professionals who know what they are doing and then minister to the need(s.) For those air heads who think that one can just wish themselves into perfection [as one might in heaven,] I say 'back off.' These folk are best ignored Marina, and it sounds like you can do that. I like the 'Hay House' crew that I mentioned, and a few others but believe me I pick and choose what I take in. The rest is packed away with large grains of salt.
Well I consider each and every piece you make as a work of art and your work is so much like architectual sculptural art that I think you might enjoy taking a class in sculpture. Larger scale. Working with metal and oxidizing and texturizing, etc. it and using blow torches [under supervision] to weld shapes together. Making public art for open spaces for us to experience. I see you in a shop wearing a fireproof helmet like Dale Chihuly! HA! Norma,x

Anonymous said...

Re. Prayer.
Marina, I totally share your scepticism, as I too come from a "passive Catholic" background and culture...

However, I've come to realise I have NO CLUE what is prayer.
Caroline Is VERY clear about what IS and what it isn't and she states that the "majority of people who DO pray don't have the slightest CLUE what they are doing".

ie. If you are saying "please, God, GIVE ME...DO for ME...CHANGE this change that...Make this (different, better, longer, shorter, etc)" when you are praying, then sorry, but you AIN'T praying!!!! wrong wrong wrong!!

Praying also is NOT repeating mantras, repeating some words over and over, bla bla bla...that's a *VACATION*.

most people don't have a clue how to pray.
Prayer is a *CONVERSATION with your SOUL* (ie GOD).

...and that said, Most people don't have the SLIGHTEST freaking clue what they WOULD say!!!

And remember! it's not about ASKING FOR WHAT YOU DON'T HAVE or wanting REALITY TO BE DIFFERENT than it is.
That has NOTHING to do with praying.

(It's INSANE to want Reality to be different that it IS, it's like asking for the MOON.)

So I'd have to question the "kind" of praying whomever it was in the study conducted were doing...if it "didn't really help" --whatever HELP means!

AND...! HEALING has nothing to do with being Prayed for!!
And...sometimes DYING is the HEALING NEEDED!!
You can't look at things from a "ground floor" perspective.
It's not win or lose.
It's Earth School.

if anyone's interested, just out of curiosity, here's some recent research on prayer:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/18/how-does-prayer-meditation-affect-brain-activity_n_1974621.html

So, people pray "God, please help me" and then proceed to IGNORE the divine GUIDANCE they are given, when what they intuitively pick up on (ie. the GRACE that's being sent in response to their prayer) doesn't SUIT their EGO or is "too HARD" or too risky or too embarassing or might humiliate me or Forgiveness is impossible, or not now, maybe someday.. ETC ETC.!!!

And don't look for reasons why things are happening the way they are.
That has nothing to do with "god".

(more than anything it has to do with how you manage (or MISmanage!) your personal power. !!!
EVERYTHING in this life and on this planet is about how we manage our personal power.)

So, pray that God give you (or whomever) the GRACE, LOVE and the WISDOM to deal with what you/they are going through.
And then deal.

(If you are wondering about the power of grace, this book was made based on thousands of letters she received when she asked for people to send her their experiences with Grace:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Invisible-Acts-Power-Caroline-Myss/dp/0743495942

every. single. decision. we make has an effect. and we are given divine guidance TIME and AGAIN in the choices we make, but most of the time we choose NOT!!! to follow the choice that flows with grace.
Cuz it doesn't suit us, for whatever reason.
And then we blame GOD, or "I prayed and nothing happened", etc.

anyway...
Oh, and Caroline has complete and utter DISDAIN for the New Age "nonsense" about it being your "fault" if you're sick or that you "have to be more positive cuz you have "too much negativity". Mierda de toro.

There is no ONE reason why anyone gets sick, so its INSANE to ask that question. And it's just cruel to believe that it's your "fault" for getting sick.
THe New Age self-help movement has done very LITTLE to help people in that regard...

peace, all.

Anonymous said...

ps. this new stuff is OMFG amazing.

that BRACELET!!
those BLUES!!!
hhhhhhhh!!!!!

and those rings are incredible.

you are wicked, Marina.
Sure. shot. alchemy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhqyZeUlE8U
(hey, there's a dog in this one)

Unknown said...

What Sparrow says, exactly. Plateaus are there to make you reach higher. Take it as an indication that you've totally mastered your current "level" and your soul is telling you that there's more for you to explore. Just my two cents of course.

My torch does that too when it's too full. When I've put too much gas in. But it lasts like.. 2 seconds.

That bracelet is to die for! ::: dies :::

Jeannine said...

I LOVE your rough tin bezels and the caged pieces you're making. As always, your work inspires!

Unknown said...

Love the caged baroque's! They are lovely. Would love those earrings for myself but alas i'm poor at the moment. By the way those earrings you gave me are wowing people around me. Someone asked "those are lovely, did you make those?" And as tempted as I was to say "why yes I did" I did not. You probably have a couple of new stalkers. You are welcome. Just kidding! They did ask though.

Maggie Zee said...

Well, I didn't read every single thing in your post or in all the comments because there were just so many words (I'm in it for the pretty pictures and the funny animals), but the question of who's an artist and is making art a passion or an obsession .... For me, making stuff is simply a need.
Biological - psychological --- spiritual?? just don't make no never mind. Just IS.

I love the cages, by the way.

scissor pirate said...

that tin bezel ring!! holy smokes how did you do that?