Kinderspel

Who would have guessed that daughter-love would be yet another reason for not being able to work properly? My little pride keeps on asking me what I am doing, how to do it and wants to get her hands dirty... I guess that is a good thing? "Jong geleerd is oud gedaan, toch?"

Mila at the bench Dec 2013 from sara on Vimeo.

Gold... nothing less

Today, after a little bit of frustration behind the bench, and because I would like to honour some of my New Year's resolutions (actually they have been on the list for the last 6 years now), I went to buy paint to paint my entrance. 2013 actually wasn't too bad, I painted Mila's room "appel-blauw-zeegroen" and white (very very cool, with some orange accents, her room is the prettiest) and the toilet gold. We were looking for something that wouldn't look bad with the burgundy kitchen doors, bright green SMEG fridge an bronze kitchen wall. My neighbour suggested to go with Gold... again. I wasn't actually planning on going there, but once in the shop, the gold just called me. When I asked the shop employee for 40m2 of the paint, and he said I would need 9!! pots, I know it wasn't going to be cheap. The guy also seemed puzzled by the fact I wasn't going to use the paint for an accent, but to paint a whole room ;-)... haha, little does he know about my bad taste (and the fact I live in a loft and all is open). Can't wait to get started (after my exams)... will keep you posted!

Our golden toilet, with complementary HUG-pole

I miss the studio

The most important and stressful parties are behind, as last night my dad and Co got onto the train, back to London. The dinner on Saturday was great and I am happy I concentrated on that for a few days, but now I need to make the most of this second week to finish all my pieces. And as I was trying to polish with my flex shaft motor, with rather poor lighting, I kept on wishing I was at the studio, or better equipped to do this work. Later I will have to solder, which I also dread with the little creme-brulee torch. Plus I don't have an ultrasound to clean between polishing stages, so I am trying to do it with an old toothbrush and some Dreft. I did get a ring measuring tool, a steel mandrel to tap my rings round and micro files for Christmas!! Anyone wants to rent his studio to me for the coming days? Too bad fairies don't exist and I can't make a wish :-(

Never too much bling?

As I am distracted from the bench and also a little lazy, in order to sooth my guild-feelings, I am doing some research ;-) Well I surf around the web for beautiful jewellery... And I also began to write a post about yesterday and how one of my uncles seems to approve about my new career... but the post was boring, so I deleted it. How come one can be so obsessed with jewellery as I am? How come one would consider spending a month's pay (or more, much more) on a ring, or earrings? How come there is always room for one more ;-) on my fingers, in my closet. Rappers have it all right (for once!).. there is never enough bling in one's life!! And it seems that they don't only think that one the West Coast of the USA, but also on the West Coast of Africa!!!!!!!!! Hey, What did you expect? ;-)

Merry Christmas!

Not such an original title for a post these days of course. Merry Christmas to all of you, from my very own family-Xmas-party (yes, I know, we are early, because we like to have our presents early). I received the new CD from Stromae (not that you care, but the artist is worth getting to know). We started eating at 12h30 and now it is 18h15 and we still have desert (my main dish) to go. That says much about how we stuff our faces at each occasion, but only with delicious -home made- food. The amount of jewellery presents is low this year, with my mum receiving her ring (remember from Geneva?) and my sister received a ring and bracelet with diamonds from her husband (yes, she trained him well)!! We will have to make sure that by next year this time I have some beautiful pieces to put under the Christmas tree... Enjoy the evening, laugh, live, eat and pray (or something like that) for little Jesus is in the birth-canal as we speak (well 2013 years ago). Love you all! and eh... well I want world-peace.

Porcelaine krib form my great-grand-mother

Red Velvet

Cupcakes! First time ever, especially for the Xmas party tomorrow at the studio. It's the last day before the holidays and we were supposed to hand in all our pieces, but because I think none of us actually managed to finish them, we now can fiddle with them during the holidays. Anyways, the party... well an excuse to stuff our faces and drink. Mei-Ling came over and we baked these. Tried to make them as red as possible but would have had to buy a liter of food coloring; Plus not owning a real food processor, we had to use of horse-power and invent a new machine ;-) Tomorrow morning, bright and early (well, bright, that might be a challenge for me), I'll still have to take care of the icing. And Mei-Ling might do the decorations if I manage to kick our off her mattress, 'cause she is a good sleeper!

Reti-cul-ation

It's sound disgusting. "Reet" in Dutch means Ass, and "Cul(s)" in French means... well Ass. The word comes from Latin and we all know that Romans back then were absolute pigs, so maybe that is why? It means to form or to be formed into a net. Well... My reticulation involved silver, gas, compressed air and a lot of patience. I was kind of afraid to melt the whole piece so I went for a very controlled, light moonscape. Or at least that is what I did after I had tried it twice already and melted my third version yesterday afternoon. So last minute indeed, I have now one more ring, a Re(e)t-I-Cul(s)-Ate(d) one.... Yeah!

Tube

One word, a zillion of hours, soldering, and soldering. To obtain One tube. I decided to make it rather thin (bad decision) and to use it for a ring (another bad decision). But the worst decision was to use Delft Clay to fill it with before bending the tube for the ring, rather then white sand. Because I didn't have the sand. So what happened? Well... the clay caught on fire while I was trying to heat the piece to make the metal soft again. And the fire made the seem crack. So I spend time I didn't have to empty the tube from the clay again and to try to solder the seem once more (for the 20th time in fact). And because dirt kept on poring out each time I tried to solder and infected the seem.. It wouldn't. Anyways "de aanhouder wint" and I came up with an acceptable (and far from perfect) result. I also decided to change the initial concept of gluing the deer inside the cabouchon setting with a little raster which I might also still enhance... stay tuned!

Next Up is ... Xmas!

Have you ever tried to google "Christmas Jewellery" or enter it in Pinterest? I know that the end of the year everyone lowers their standards and allows some kind of tackiness to invade their lives, but what I found is over the top. Or rather, what I didn't find was one picture to match this little post; not one "Xmas jewellery" that was bearable (or wearable for that matter). A hole in the market? I mean, you have all been to Christmas markets before. Did you see the CRAP they sell, and the prices they dare to ask for them. Ugly, tacky items made in dodgy places, probably not even safe for your kids (the items, not the countries where they are produced!). And they must sell, for them to rent these expensive huts to sell them at for a few weeks. I feel really upset when I see this and feel sorry for the excellent craftsmen (and women) out there who produce elegant pieces at a reasonable price and eat pasta all year. :-( Maybe we should do something about it?! Anyways, I have not been able to post something yesterday because we were busy decorating our tacky Christmas tree (well first we went to the field and got the tree, right out of the soil) . Each year it is the same dilemma. Daughter M didn't want to have one this year and felt sorry for digging it out. But this year, we have high visitors (dad and Linda coming over from Cyprus) and if we don't have a tree, I will be spanked! So here it is, at the limits of bad taste, I try not to look at it too often:

I should have made my bed!

Cold Turkey

Today is the very first time I am not going to class!! And it is all I can think about. I miss being in the studio, and I miss my fellow students. I feel guilty even of not working. Stupid unemployment office :-( Plus the next meeting they gave me there is... another Friday! But not much I can do, they are my employer now and in charge of my agenda. So, in order to wash away my frustration, I went to my dear friend/ jeweller here in Geneva and looked at all her million-dollar pieces. I bought a less expensive piece for my mum, can't say much about it as she might actually read this blog (and yes, this is the test mum!). It might not be a million dollar it's still very nice, I hope that she will like it. I couldn't buy anything for myself, because 1. I am unemployed 2. I only like things for myself that are 3.000 euro or more. Besides it is hard to even find jewellery here that is reasonably priced. I would love to be a little bug some time (maybe not a fly though) and assist a major sale, because I always wonder who can buy pieces worth a million? I see the posh Russian and Qatari strolling around but still can't imagine them walking around with a little package worth that kind of money. Then again, Tina Turner probably doesn't buy silver with zirconia and she lives around here too. Anyways, waiting for a flight back tonight to the more normal world where not everyone owns a Chanel bag, Louboutin shoes and a Van Cleef necklace... Looking forward to a "Belgium has got talent" (really the show only proofs that people with talent don't watch TV and don't participate to these shows) with daughter M. tonight. See ya!

Just cruisin'

I was up before the sun and in Geneva before the fog even cleared out. That's also when the cold hit me! My stupid phone application mislead me and indicated a whopping 9°C instead of the -9°C that awaited me at the airport. So I had to suffer all day. Two good things: I was wearing my UGGs and I have enough layers of fat to resist this kind of weather. A hat and gloves however wouldn't have been a luxury. And because my meeting is only tomorrow morning, I had a day to kill. After eating half a chicken (each!) with my ex-colleagues, I strolled. In and out shops to stay as warm as possible. That's when you get lucky: I stumbled upon a small but cute exhibition of antique jewellery, from a few centuries before Christ; Greek and Roman pieces mainly... gorgeous! The exhibition runs until end of April 2014 (for those who are going to drop some money in Geneva ;-) ). And the same gallery owners are coming to.... Tour & Taxis Belgium with another collection of items by the end of January 2014... The world is such a small place. Coincidences like this make me happy!

www.phoenixancientart.com

Party Crashing

Tomorrow I am in Geneva, and Friday too. And because I won't be able to go to studio on Friday, and because daughter M stayed at her father's yesterday and at her friend's today, I went to the evening classes yesterday and today. Working at making a tube. From scratch. From pure then alloyed silver, from plate. Soldering and soldering, because the tube would crack when I would pull it tighter. Anyways, so tonight I was there again until 9h30pm, with my partner in crime Mei-Ling. The studio is located in one of the most beautiful buildings in town, and tonight in the main hall there was a party with super-fancy people (all from the radio, I might have recognised their voice if I would have been able to hear it, but don't know their faces ;-) ), very posh walking dinner. So we decided to party-crash, in working clothes and tease the tuxedos a little.. great fun! Had a little fish soup, smoked salmon, a platter with charcuteries, a platter with cheese and salads and a nice glass of water. Btw, the tube is still not entirely finished!! grrrr

OMG I am spoiled!

Remember I received a fantastic cake on Saturday? Well, that same day Mr. V and I walked past a fancy jewellery store. Of course I have a look and love about everything in the window display. If my car wasn't parked like in the middle of the road, I would have gone in for 30 min or so to sniff out all the new stuff. I told Mr. V that this store was a nice one, and we walked away. Today he asked me if we could exchange our Xmas presents early. I also already bought his and noticed he really wanted to give me mine. So I agreed, curious of what was about to come, guilty of not waiting until Xmas, like little children. I gave him his first, and received a little box shortly after. Little boxes are my favourite, but I guess you already knew that! One can never have enough jewellery, it hardly takes up any space and can be passed on for generations ;-) I recognised the store (and you now also guessed, right?). I had to think about Mr. V from the hood, with his money saved up in his pocked, pushing the door of this posh shop on Sablon in Brussels to look for something within budget. My man might not know much about jewellery, but he does have taste. And whatever the price might have been, the value of the earrings I received is to be multiplied by a zillion. After all the shit we have been through, we are finally back into a sane and beautiful life, and these earrings are now carrying exactly that signification. Oh yes, because every piece I own has it's own story ;-)

Good company

Monday, monday... no one wanted to get up this morning, the sandman came by with a generous hand. Maybe for a good reason, because it seems that some people didn't get the extra dose of sand and fell sick tonight... what was supposed to be a hectic day from dawn till night, was a rather lazy but good day at home. Teachers were ill, so I switched back into my PJ's. And had great company, first Liesel, then Mei-Ling from school to pep-talk me into working hard for the next exams. Add to that, the fact Mr. V finished work at noon and spend most of the afternoon around the house too. We etched, we designed, we bleached (our clothes) and ate soup, smoothies, cake, pizza,... I want more Mondays like this! And tomorrow...? Hopefully teachers back into the studio and able to complete as much as possible from the attached todo list :

oh yeah, and I re-painted Bambi too!

Slight addiction

I ain't proud of it but I love several pieces from Djula. The reason that I am not that proud of it is that it is kind of mainstream, too expensive for it's quality, produced they seem to say in France, but I suspect that it is not entirely true.... but I have to admit that the designer is on top of trends, and creates sweet, wearable designs with a modern touch. I am also guilty for having bought a ring and earrings from her already, via the great shop Ponti in Geneva... If I were a rich girl and money wouldn't matter, I would order this one for Xmas ;-)

Borderline

That's what some things are: borderline jewellery. I am not supposed to write about these, but today -mainly because I am not allowed to eat it yet- I will make an exception. I received a beautiful Pierre Marcolini cake today from my boyfriend -King V-, for my Sinterklaas. I think that it is a work of art, a true piece of jewellery; in fact it even is topped with gold leave. If only jewellery could smell the same way this cake does... mhhh. I have re-started my diet for the 300th time this year, THIS morning (what a coincidence!). I actually went swimming 50 laps on my own at 8am and felt soooo proud of it afterwards. And because of that feeling which I didn't want to spoil right away, and also because of  the fact that such a beautiful cake needs it's time of glory before being shred apart, I have decided to sacrifice it only after the photo-shoot and after when in company of my mum and sister. Can't wait!

Becoming an artist :-)

I mean, waking up in the middle of the night because you all of a sudden have an idea for the presentation of the pieces for module two... and then not being able to sleep because you want to test out that idea sooo badly... is that part of becoming a real artist? I am in shit, dear friends, because I feel the transformation. The scary part? I need to go back to serious banking work in just a few months from now, and starting to think of ways not to. But we all know that I would not be able to live from the "art" and have an expensive life to cater for... help! (and good morning)

Yes, I can!

After weeks of experimenting with the aggressive nitric acid and different kinds of varnish, I found my way of etching brass: nail polish! (thanks to my sisters in law in Brasil who have been sending me loads of nail polish over the years) and a 50% water and 50% nitric acid60% (that's how the bottle reads ;-), guess I am confusing the other bond ones here), for no more then a few minutes while gently brushing the piece with a goose feather (well I didn't have one, and there is no dead pigeon in my garden today, so I used a paint brush of my daughter's - luckily she can't read this blog or she would sue me). My face is itchy and I burned my fingers with the acid, but the result is worth it! I was nervous though, because I did spend a long time scratching the nail polish away (I guess the Brasilian stuff is meant to hold!) to create the drawing, didn't see myself start all over again today... didn't need to: IT WORKED!

Before

During

After

Bananas!!

and a little bit of Maxime. Mei-Ling decided to do things the complicated way, because she likes complicated. Unlike Maxime. But anyways, Mei-Ling even did some studying of the banana before starting with the design (or maybe she likes eating bananas?... tell me more about that Mei-Ling...). Back to the brass banana. After days of sawing, soldering, doing and un-doing, hey hey, she made a banana, half peeled on top of that AND soldered to a chain. Maxime, our very own muscle-man volunteered to model with the finished product... what do you think? Of the banana of course ;-)

Before

After

Before and after

One of the exercises to submit for the second module (just before Xmas) is a ring made out of 5 half spheres. I had a few ups and downs with this. The design was pretty straight forward, I actually had a few designs in mind. I made a last minute alteration though which might make this ring disqualified, but no time to start anew, I need to move on, so much work to do still and I won't be able to go to class next Friday. I chose to continue in the theme of my hanger and the winter-wonderland. It started out pretty ok, but I had the hardest time soldering ball 3 to balls 1+2, but Saskia got me focused yesterday afternoon and helped me out, after which I came into the studio today and was able to finish it off (needs only the polishing but I will do all the pieces together just before due date). What do you think?

Before

After

The white page

No inspiration! A weekend that flew away and gave me no time to think about anything... and now I have been thinking about a post for such a long time. Usually it just flows, it is spontanious. Today it seems to be work! So I wanted to find a great new piece of jewellery I could research on but after looking at maybe a 1.000 images I could only summarise that I had seen a lot of nice pieces, but not one of them special enough to write to you about tonight. Back to square 1 :-( 

Then I remembered something from my childhood: on a trip to the North of Cameroon when I was 17 or so, I visited a local smith, who had a clay oven in the ground and could melt metal like brass. He was therefore the richest of the village, but had hardly any food and lots of kids with flies in their eyes and huge bellies. Proudly he showed me the oven and what he made. I remember his kids running around naked with a string around their waist and attached to the string a brass tear-drop-shaped-ball kind of pendant, right above their bumb. I was told that it was to protect their ass-hole from being attacked by evil spirits. Maybe the metal used indeed scared away certain insects or what have you's that would crawl in there and make them sick? I have a picture of one of these kids, and promise to look for it and scan it soon ;-) Next I decided to google some keywords to see if I could find a sensible explanation, but nothing :-( disappointed. But because I insist to post tonight, I will leave you with a cute talisman made out of wood, used by a tribe in Angola... isn't it pretty?