The last couple of weeks have been intense. Recently, we had mid-terms (along with a visiting midterm critic). This past week Adam Whitney came to lecture for the professional practices class. Along with Gabriel Craig and Amy Weiks, Adam is a co-owner of Smithshop in Detroit. He also stuck around and did demos for the metalsmithing class. Adam is such a great example of a metalsmith that is actually participating in the field in a non academic way. Smithshop does so many things. It is so great to see their success. We had a blast! The seniors also had a great trip to Boris Bally's studio where he showed them his bench tests from when he studied to be a goldsmithing in Europe. I was blown away!
Tanya Crane came to town for halloween. Liz dressed up as Rosie the riveter, Tanya dressed up as Frida Kahlo and I of course wore my hotdog costume. We went out for dinner and then did karaoke. It was a blast. I needed a little down time.
On another note, Liz has been doing a lot of small drilling and I thought I would get her a small drill press. We had a few Dumore drill presses at New Paltz. I kind of thought I would never want/use one myself but I have also needed to drill holes for settings etc. I kind of got burned on eBay. It has been a while since that has happened. The listing said is was "missing a small part" but is other than that brand new! Well the entire inside of drill was missing. The motor, the cord, the switch etc. Basically it was a hollow shell. When I called Dumore to get replacement parts they said it was going to cost $600!!!!! Wha wha whaaaaaaa. I did get lucky and found a new/old one on eBay for $300. Now I have spare parts.
The links for my bracelet came back today. I am excited to get this show on the road. I need to get this work out the door for the holiday. I have not had the time to dedicate to the work that I would like and as a result it has been slow moving. I have also started working on a few more bracelets for a show. Again, super slow. Lots of tests.