Fall 2007 is winding down

Had the last official night of class tonight. Next Wednesday is the final. Potluck at Pat's house. So I have to cook something and take it with. Not too bad. Not as bad as cooking and then driving down to Orlando. Pat said "you're in touch with Sandi? Invite her, okay." So I will. Hope Sandi can make it, as I always enjoy her company.

Cut out four kugel-ish blanks tonight: two from copper and two bronze. I plan to do the one copper in a tin art style, should be a simple but tedious process. The other copper I plan to sift enamel onto, just bright happy colors. The two bronze ones I have already started to hammer finish. Nothing says Christmas like hammered bronze--one-horse open sleighs, cookies on a plate and a note for Santa, stockings hung up with care, hammered bronze--yep, I'm beginning to get that warm and fuzzy feeling.

I worked on one more t-fold with table insert; I'm getting happier with my outcomes as I understand the process better. I also chased a few more wedge t-folds. Putting the screws, washers and nuts through the annealing and quenching process gets 'em all funky looking.

More later. The cats are circling me like hungry vultures--I must put down more crunchies and go in search of wet food. Breck will help me.

Interesting day

Went to Don Pablo's for a very late lunch/early dinner. Got out of the Cherry Red and started negotiating the retaining wall with the Red and Shiny Joy and my purse. Someone called to me. "Ma'am, could you help me out?" I'm figuring 'no' as I had no change on me. "Could you drive me to the hospital (North Florida Regional, across the street). I've just been shot and I don't think I can walk that far." Sure enough, he's got a small puncture wound in his lower right chest (and one in his back). Well, no, I can't drive him to the hospital. That's not smart, even if I had any room on the passenger seat. What with all the tools and metal and books and other stuff, the only people I can have traveling with me are my imaginary friends. I get out my phone to call 911 and do indeed dial it and push the call button but a gentleman in an SUV tells me he's already speaking to the police. So I hang up. The man won't listen about sitting down and just sort of wobbles around until he falls. It seemed to take forever until the cops and the EMTs came but it wasn't really that long. I heard later that he was likely to survive. There were several eyewitnesses to the event. Mall security wanted to get statements from everyone who breathed and had ever set foot in the Oaks Mall parking lot. Gainesville police talked to the eyewitnesses and didn't need anything from me. I went and ate.

The Red and Shiny Joy is useful for art ideas. And I did a little, very little writing on fiction. 

The cops were done (police tape down) when I was done. One of them was watching the mall people wash blood down at the shooting site. The parking lot where the man had fallen had already been washed down. The big blood spot anyway, where the EMTs had treated him. I could still see the little blood spots. It was an eerie feeling.

I stopped by Barnes and Noble to look at clip art books. Thought that I could find some southwestern motifs. They had nothing. I'm sure CFOP does but they were likely to have been closed by the time I could get there. I will look tomorrow. I didn't make it to either of the two Books-a-millions or the Borders.

I asked Breck is she were feeling "smart." She thought that was a wonderful suggestion. So we went to Petsmart. She piddled before we went in but didn't poopoo. No, she was saving that for inside. For once, we were on an aisle that ended with a cleanup station so it wasn't a big deal. We bought cat food and an assortment of cat snacks (I'm trying to find something tiny because Miracle only likes to eat tiny snack foods). And a couple snack items for Breck. She then charmed the checkout girl who gave her a bunch of cookies.

I managed to leaf through the latest Lapidary Journal. There's an article about copper work in Mexico. And then I saw it--etched copper with silver plating in the etched areas. Totally fabu. This is my newest favoritest thing.

I have been thinking along the lines that the original front piece for the Party Hat will end up being just a practice piece. The copper has thinned to a troublesome degree and I'm not happy with the thing just because of my lack of skill in chasing so far. And the solder inlay is puny.

But if I get my artwork reworked at an easy size to work it, I can shrink it on a copier and then do photoetching resists and etch the designs on with ferric chloride. Then get it silver plated. It will be too cool. The maenads and such will stand out more and everything will be easier to "read."

I did a bit of searching for sinusoidal stakes. Of course, in my mind I can't actually say sinusoidal stake, it always turns out to be sinusoidal snake. I couldn't find one at FDJ but I expected that. I couldn't find one at Gesswein. Well, that was a bit troubling. Nothing at Contenti. That's too bad. But not surprising. Nothing at Rio Grande. Now that's a problem. And I remembered my "name" and password, too. Finally I googled sinusoidal stake, which I have almost as hard a time typing out as saying, and found it. Aha! Of course, Otto Frei. I've never purchased anything from them before but I can tell there's a sinusoidal stake in my future. And maybe a book by Heikki Seppa. I think that's the name. It's on synclastic and anticlastic forming so it's a must what with the "snake" purchase. I can't begin (well that's not exactly true, it's a stake, I know I'm putting metal against it and hitting everything with a hammer, o joy and beauty, but that's as far as it goes) to know what I'm supposed to do with the damned thing. But I'll learn. Oh yes indeedydoody I'll learn.