So many things

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. 

just a few things

I have been swamped lately but I thought I would quickly post images of my sophomore metalsmithing class. They just turned in their spoons. I was impressed with them considering none of them had forged before. Some of them even made their own vessels in ceramic.  

I was blown away at their sketchbooks! 

They are making nesting bowls for their next project. I of course had to make a handout in Rhino. 

For my professional practices class I invited Tara Locklear to lecture on her work and business model. She had so many great things to say!  


I am also trying to quickly develop a few things for future projects/semesters. These project include stone setting, Rhino and wax printing. So far the tests are revealing a lot of information.  

I have been banging out some spoons for my basic metalsmithing class. RISD's metalsmtihing room has an incredible history and it shows.  So many great tools.  I started off class showing all of the students how to re-finish their hammers and stakes then we went straight into forging.