http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:Catsarah&section=today deviantART RSS for by:Catsarah en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:43:43 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/25645431/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/25645431/ Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:24:43 PDT
Normally when a lost wax casting is made, the wax is placed in something called investment. Investment is like a plaster of paris substance that surrounds the wax forming a mould. The mould is then placed in a kiln and the wax is burned out (the lost wax part). Once the wax has burned out of the mould, molten metal can be injected into it, forming the silver piece.

Time, as I've mentioned, was running out. So we did a little cheatery and I invested the wax last night and then burned it out all in the same night. Normally the investment is left to cure at least over night, if not for a week between classes so the investment dries out thoroughly. I didn't have time for that. My casting failed last week, plus I had other bits that needed casting. At one point a loud pop was heard and then smoke started coming out of the kiln. Amy, the instructor, went over and opened the kiln and a look of dismay came over her face and she looked at me and said "You'd better look at this yourself."

The investment is poured into metal cylinders about 2.5" in diameter. One of my cylinder's was laying on its side, and I could clearly see that a good third of the investment had blown out around the edges. Because we'd put it in wet and when the kiln was already hot (rather than wet as the kiln was coming up to temperature), the moisture turned to steam and blew escaped in hasty fashion. Picture if you will a cylindrical apple...now more like a cylindrical apple core...with my wax in the middle where the pips would be. Amy left it in the kiln because we couldn't see how bad the damage was and it was still smoking, meaning the wax was still burning out.

I went about doing the other things that needed doing to get this piece done. And then it came time to cast. Sam went first. He was casting gold, and his casting turned out fine. I had invested one piece last week and so we went ahead and cast that while the other moulds continued to burn out in the kiln. I had to try three times, something one normally doesn't get the opportunity to do, you more or less get one shot and if it doesn't work you're pooched. The metal kept sticking in the end of the crucible. The apparatus for casting is a centrifuge swing arm and uses centripetal force to inject molten metal, from a specially designed crucible, into the hot mould which is held in line on the outside of the swing arm by a bracket. I had to make the hole in the mould bigger and finally the metal went in on the third try. The piece cast, but not well. So, partial success. It can be salvaged with some jiggery, and I'll use it for some piece that needs a beaten or old look as the metal is quite pitted.

Then we pulled out the blown up mould. I got Amy to turn the thing over and pull the cylinder off carefully and we discovered that there were no breaches in the hull into the core of the mould where the wax had been. So we went ahead and cast it. Part of the mouth of the mould was blown off too making the possibility of the metal spraying out quite likely. I really should have taken a picture of it as it was remarkable how much of it wasn't there. As she pulled the mould out of the swing arm apparatus, the entire bottom of the mould crumbled away. And the casting worked!! Amy kept saying "unbelievable!!" with an expression of incredulity and disbelief on her face. Even as an instructor with a ton of experience she seems to have bad luck with casting. White gold castings invariably fail for her for some unknown reason. She was pretty much beside her self that my devastated mould worked when some of her carefully crafted and seeming perfect investments have failed. And then I cast my third and final mould and it also worked. It had crumbled somewhat, but nowhere near as badly as the other mould.

The bugger of it was, I ran out of time and couldn't finish the piece. Hopefully, my friend Deborah will let me use some of the equipment in her studio to get this thing done. We've still no idea if the program is being cancelled and if not where it will end up.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/24581058/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/24581058/ Mon, 04 May 2009 09:49:59 PDT
I needed a chunk of rose quartz to go with a couple other chunks of stone for the purpose of meditation. And suddenly I was on a Rose Quartz kick! I must have over 30 oval cabs of varying sizes of rose quartz now. I also picked up a string of square rose quartz beads and 4mm amethyst beads. The rose quartz cabs weren't stunningly deep colour or anything. In fact I tended to pick up the clearer pieces with clouds or streaks of rose in them.

So now, I need to make something with them. Let's see if I can come up with something good...

Also, I entered a little contest for the Open House at RHO. They asked people to identify the backdrop for their wire wrap jewellery. My guess was correct! $25 gift cert for the next time I'm there!

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/24479496/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/24479496/ Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:20:32 PDT So yeah, that one's getting melted down I think. And then I tried to redo it last night, and the thing miscast and I ended up with what looks like a pair of butt cheeks One of the other gals in the class said "Well, you got the t&a all covered, what next?".

Grrr.

Also, TAW has been derailed by personal turmoil. It may be spring but my heart and spirit are back in mid Jan

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/23584148/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/23584148/ Sat, 07 Mar 2009 23:57:37 PST
In essence it's a twelve step program to help unblock creativity or to discover creative renewal. But I've also noticed that the language and the concepts are very close to cognitive behavioural therapy. Even some of the language is like that of CBT. Traditional therapy, other than a stint with a baby Psychiatrist (an intern) I've not found therapy to be overall helpful. There has been a few things I've found helpful, one of which is just talking and finding where I have the problems. But I think, one of the exercises in the book, engenders a self dialogue and I might be able to get my questions and answers from myself.

It's a twelve step program, but it's also a twelve week program. Twelve weeks, at 10 hours a week, is a lot of time. I very rarely do anything that consistently. But I have done sketching that consistently at times, so I'm going to give this a shot. I've always made excuses, and that's what artists do, they make excuses for why they aren't being creative. "Oh when I'm making more money", "Oh when my relationship is in a better place.", "Oh when I'm feeling less crabby, less pissy, less ill, less stressed ." I've heard myself make all these excuses and more. Apparently this program works for whatever creative process one is trying to get through (sculptor's, writers, painters etc). I don't think it's going to make me a better artist, but I think it's going to help me move through the excuses and give myself permission to create and be creative. I've all these books, I've all these materials, yet I consistently do less art than I have supplies for. Really. The scope of equipment and materials I have is pretty astonishing all put together. And I've little in actual artwork to show for it. Another excuse I've used on myself is "I really want to have a group of peers to go through this process with." Well, I have a group of artistic peers now through the folks I got together for Sketch'n'Kvetch and whether they join me in this guided course or not, doesn't matter. It only matters that I do it. I'll tell them about it, a few already know, and leave it up to them. I prefer company (hence the excuse to not do this for want of a group to do this with), but I can do it on my own too.

So I'm going to do this. I went out yesterday and bought myself a spiffy new journal in which to do the one exercise called "Morning Pages". First thing in the morning, as soon as the immediate needs are cared for (bathroom and tea for me most mornings), I'll be writing three pages of free flowing stream of consciousness writing. It's not meant to be fancy, or pretty, or anything I'm ever going to show anyone. It's just whatever comes to mind. Julia says in the book that even if I end up writing "I have no idea what to write." and fill up three pages of that, then that's what I have to do.

I've got a contract here that I'll be signing. It's a contract with myself and my inner artist to keep at this. And it's also a contract with myself to treat myself well, pamper myself, eat well, sleep regularly. I've not been doing much of that lately at all.

I'm hoping this unblocks more than just my creativity. I have hope.

Should be interesting at the very least.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/23522792/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/23522792/ Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:41:21 PST
I chose to do this one in cuttle bone. Cuttle bone is the bone from the inside of a cuttlefish, which is a squidlike critter. The cuttlebone is a porous internal shell that helps control buoyancy, making it functionally similar to swim bladders in fish.

When I was a kid, my mum and I went to England and while on the shores of the Isle of Wight I remember seeing cuttle bones on the beach. Being a cute kid back then and customs having a bit more of a lax attitude for organic material, I was able to bring home several cuttlebones from that trip. I'm sure they eventually got fed to a budgie, but it was pretty cool to be where they washed ashore.

So, I started out with a whole cuttlebone.
 

The cuttle bone is cut in half and the soft side sanded flat so the two halves fit together face to face.


I happened to forget my sketch book and the drawing I was using as a guide so I had to use the last partial pendant I did as a guide. I was getting pretty good at carving this thing by this point, but I still didn't want to screw up, so I just took measurements again.


And then using the stencil as a guide, I started carving into the bone.


The carving is starting to take shape here.


Once the carving was complete I carved the sprue hole through which the molten silver would be poured. Sterling silver shot was weighed and put into a crucible.
 

An oxy-acetylene torch was used to melt the silver. I used a steel wire to bind the two halves of the mould together. The metal was melted and poured into the mould. Once the metal cools a bit and solidifies, the wire is cut away and the piece is quenched in water.


The process destroys the mould so these pieces are nominally one of a kind. There are methods to reproduce a piece, but the school doesn't have the equipment to do this and I kind of like the idea currently of people having one of a kind pieces.

The piece is then placed in an acid bath called 'ickle'. It is a powder called sparex mixed into water and then heated in a crock pot. I think the technical term for this pickle is aquaregia. The lab I work for makes this as a reagent, a mix of hydrochloric and nitric acid. The stuff we use in class is dilute, but it gets the casting skin, carbon and fire scale off the pieces quite nicely.


After a few minutes in the pickle, the worst of the casting skin is off and it can be buffed. A flat shiny piece would normally go through several grits of paper, then a rough grit in grease called tripoli on a buff, and then a fine grit in grease... ]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/22866779/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/22866779/ Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:13:55 PST
As some of you who read here know, I struggle with my creativity and skill quite a lot. This gal has some good things to say about how to encourage creativity.

[link]

Enjoy!

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/22823824/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/22823824/ Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:20:11 PST
If anyone has such a thing readily available, let me know!

Cats

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/22314862/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/22314862/ Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:27:22 PST
*hugs*

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/22161048/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/22161048/ Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:59:40 PST
Cats
={^-.-^}=

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/21865064/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/21865064/ Sun, 07 Dec 2008 12:46:35 PST
Silver classes are done til next year mid Jan sometime. Just have to muddle on through the holiday season.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/21658819/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/21658819/ Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:29:47 PST
I've managed to make a few silver pieces despite my mental state so all creativity has not been pooched, just most of it. Though I sort of feel like the creativity is fall back stuff...as in I've fallen back to doing stuff I've done before, not exploring new territory.

I guess it counts in that I'm at least maintaining the skills I already have. That's my story anyway...

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/20967744/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/20967744/ Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:46:50 PDT
I had my dinner yesterday and also made a pumpkin pie from scratch. We had turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potato, swiss chard, corn, regular potatoes and crescent rolls. Mmmm...I had to go for a long walk to help settle everything because of course...I ate too much.

It's also my nephew's birthday, so I should shoot him a message of some sort.

Be well!

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/20854670/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/20854670/ Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:45:05 PDT
No stress here...nope...none. >.<

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/20828945/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/20828945/ Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:58:34 PDT
It was very very good.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/20534484/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/20534484/ Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:19:04 PDT

[link]

Last Saturday night, my gaming group got together and were playing an installation of our ongoing Firefly game. I had decided to do a pretty much direct reproduction of an earlier sketch and then ink it. I was nearly finished when the green pen sprang a leak and splooged ink across the top of my drawing and I abandoned that in disgust and went for a pencil sketch and a much finer rendition. So there you go...

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/20262648/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/20262648/ Sun, 31 Aug 2008 23:58:36 PDT
]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/20215902/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/20215902/ Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:30:08 PDT
Where did the summer go?

Silver class starts September the 22nd.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/19916710/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/19916710/ Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:26:23 PDT
I'm finding inspiration to be fleeting of late. I have a whole bunch of stuff going on, related to my back, and my brain. I went from the 2nd to the 10th without drawing a thing. I forced myself to sketch last night. The dastardly migraine I had last Saturday (replete with throwing up, olfactory sensitivity and tunnel vision)didn't help any either.

My friend Sassy_fae and I had been playing with mosquito larvae (taken from my bird bath out front)and the resultant faeries inspired by watching the pupae turn to mosquitos, were definitely mosquito-ish. When I get around to it, I'll update my scraps and you can see what I mean.

The weather has been really beautiful. Cool at night and off and on raining with dramatic clouds and thunder showers. I should post some pics of the dramatic clouds that I took. I just wish my disposition and my creativity were flowing as beaming as freely as the rain and sun of late.

And to top it off, I won't be going to GenCon. I was really looking forward to it. But the artists I was going to help booth bunny for, ran into some hard deadlines and they can't go afterall. Such is life. Next year hopefully. I will be going to FanExpo though. I'll be there Saturday if anyone is going to be there, and wants to meet up. Let me know!

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/19627041/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/19627041/ Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:57:37 PDT
It's showing.

I'm having one of those "why bother" moments.

Bleah.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/19260617/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/19260617/ Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:41:11 PDT
And it may just be me...but wtf is up with grown women shaving their nethers so they look like prepubescent girls? I mean seriously.

It's just creepy.

I see it a lot in the art nudes here on DA, and it really bothers me.

When women reach womanhood, their bodies change, their hips broaden, they get breasts, they get fuzz in certain areas of their body. It's what separates the women from the girls.

I think I worry more about the men that find that attractive. Eeeesh...

If someone would like to explain this phenomenon and the attraction...I'm all ears.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/18903137/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/18903137/ Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:58:43 PDT
I really enjoy taking dog pics. I should assemble a folio of other's dogs I've photographed.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/18827893/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/18827893/ Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:27:48 PDT
Luckily the town I live in has de-zoned land for cemetery use; no dead, means no undead. The zombies in other towns though are blocking the streets and causing havoc. However, that didn't preclude any undead from rising around here.

Last night sassy_fae and I went out for icecream and I got a hankering for more of that Hewitt's Black Forest Cake creamy goodness. Light chocolate icecream with a dollop of cherry goo and chocolate cake throughout is divine. When I got to the top of the stairs I heard a distinct scratching and thought it was one of the cats in a litter box. I reached the bottom of the stairs, and could clearly see, there were no cats in the boxes. However, a couple of them were sitting staring at the freezer.

Cats are screwy, and are wont to stare off into space or at something strangely, but it's usually not a group endeavour so I figured a mouse was behind the freezer. As I got closer to the fridge, I realised it wasn't so.

You see, I have a hard time letting my pets go. Or rather, I'm a lazy ass and I don't bury them. They go in the "Frozen friends" section of my freezer.

Yeah, I only cracked the freezer door enough to look in and see the mayhem in there before I slammed it shut again. Zombie pets...are not pretty...freezer burned budgie...eesh. Periwinkle was the bluebird of crankiness in life, in death...spooky budgie voice squeaking "Braaains" from inside the freezer. I friggin KNOW I didn't teach her that one.

I chained the freezer shut. In addition to the Zombudgie, there's two ferrets, a guinea pig and a rat in there. I'm pretty sure the frozen pinkies for the lizard became brainsicles.

I'm really considering going out to the garage and getting the weed torch from Lee Valley tools and performing the cremation of said pets. But I think I'll wait til animal control opens up tomorrow and call them in.

I somehow think the cats and I aren't going to get any sleep tonight...

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/18755997/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/18755997/ Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:15:24 PDT
the insurance company handling my ltd claim has denied my claim. so i've been off work since nov with no income.

kill me now.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/18582145/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/18582145/ Fri, 30 May 2008 18:45:43 PDT
Enjoy!

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/18288450/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/18288450/ Mon, 12 May 2008 12:08:33 PDT
I have 3" copper pipe (the walls of the pipe are about 4mm thick). I'm selling it for 1.60 and inch.

I have a wack of 12" X 12" sheets of .75 mm copper at 7 dollars a sheet.

Drop me a note.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/18218661/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/18218661/ Wed, 07 May 2008 20:36:43 PDT

Wow!

Cool!!

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/18099718/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/18099718/ Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:32:10 PDT
I want and need to do some major spring cleaning. I feel like not a single room in my house is entirely habitable. I still have heaps of "stuff" from closing my mum's house cluttering my dining room. The kitchen and the bedroom are the only rooms that work right now.

I have so many plans, things I see as I walk around that need doing, but my get up and go...got up and went

Blah. I can't even do something as simple right now as sit down to concentrate on writing a letter to a friend of mine who, already brain injured, fell and wacked his noodle again last January and is still reeling from the blow. I'm such a bad friend.

Anyway, scraps are updated. I've missed a few days in there...partially due to turmoil some due to apathy. But the days I do sketch are still more than the days I don't...so that's something yeah?

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/17786306/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/17786306/ Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:56:10 PDT
Have to go change my profile.

At least the flowers outside are cooperating.

I should put up some of my garden photos soon.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/17625710/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/17625710/ Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:29:59 PDT
First of April.

Snow is melting.

I've joined the April Drawing community in Live Journal. It's to help artists get motivated with little exercises, get critiques or ego boosts as required by posting their art. I thought it would be fun since I'm already drawing every day. Perhaps it will give some of my drawing more substance if I have guidance.

This week hopefully I will have chosen and ordered a Foredom Flex Shaft and accessories. It's something I've been wanting to get for a long time. I have a really old one that I bought for 50 from one of my class mates when she bought out a bunch of stuff from a professional jeweler that was going out of business.

Anyone out there have one for sculpting/woodworking or jewelry? Which model do you have? I don't know what I should get, which has prevented me from getting one for awhile. Well, that and money.

Scraps were updated to the 30th.

I was supposed to get up early and go birding but I'm not sleeping well at all lately and between 11:30 or so when I went to bed and 6 I got about an hour and a half of sleep, then broken and fractured sleep until I finally got up at 11:00. My dreams are disturbing and restless too so it's not helping.

Those of you who are experiencing spring thaw, enjoy the warming weather. It's 13C out (when they called for 5C) and quite windy.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/17475357/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/17475357/ Sun, 23 Mar 2008 13:15:15 PDT
Feeling tired, mostly due to pain. I fell out of bed a couple nights ago and jarred my entire spine and am stiff and oh so sore.

I'm so sick of being in pain I just need a break.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/17401137/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/17401137/ Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:21:00 PDT
Currently looking for the perfect cabachons to set on the top of two reliquaries I'm going to be making for my mother's ashes, one for me and one for my brother.

Thinking of boulder opal...

We'll see.



]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/17216384/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/17216384/ Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:18:01 PST
I've been really demotivated of late and my sketches show it. Turmoil has drained some of the urge and verve in drawing. I've missed four days. It was going so well too

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16960666/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16960666/ Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:36:44 PST
]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16933586/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16933586/ Sun, 17 Feb 2008 17:34:22 PST
]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16895914/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16895914/ Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:08:36 PST
I like the fact that the banner ad reloading doesn't make my page jump anymore, and I'm pretty sure that will fix the bug where if you don't finish a not to someone in record time you lose it to an incomplete page refresh or some such nonsense.

I also added three sketches from last night in scraps. I particularly liked how the bunny girl turned out

*purrpurrpurr*

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16882877/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16882877/ Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:15:17 PST
*Mew*

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16774544/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16774544/ Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:05:44 PST
Was really beautiful and white and crystalline out today. The trees got a coating of ice and were just scintillating! (Sorry Boggleboy...no snow for you!).

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16672482/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16672482/ Fri, 01 Feb 2008 10:28:29 PST
I updated my scraps. My sketches have been craptacular the last week or so due to mucho mental and physical pain. But at least I did it, and kept at it right?

Hope anyone who's experiencing this snow storm is warm and safe.

*Hugs*

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16548388/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16548388/ Thu, 24 Jan 2008 12:48:08 PST
I've posted more scraps Jan 20 to 23 are in there now (just four more sketches). I'm pleased with my own efforts regardless of what anyone else says, but catlike as I am, me and my ego love the strokes.

Last week I ordered the BIG box of 132 prismacolors in the nice finished wooden box. They were on sale and even though the store I go to was out of them they are kindly extending the sale price for me for the set. Or at least that's what they're saying (could be that's what they always sell them for I have no way of knowing).

Still working on getting my studio/office space tidied and functional, but I'm not letting the fact that it's not there yet to keep me from drawing and doing art etc.

My LTD insurance claim is near to being adjudicated so hopefully I won't be painfully tight for money anymore (went to buy gas the other day and my primary bank card went NSF *OUCH*).

Hope you're all in good health and of good cheer!

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16493871/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16493871/ Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:35:48 PST
That is all...

As you were...

Edit: And 20...

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16429048/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16429048/ Wed, 16 Jan 2008 08:56:29 PST
Which would you like to see done up?

I plan on taking one or two of my sketches a month and trying to do a larger finished piece.

You'll need to have a peek in my scraps first though...

Cats
={^-.-^}=

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16414354/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16414354/ Tue, 15 Jan 2008 08:20:34 PST
Should I just not bother?

I've added from Jan 09 to Jan 14.

I shan't upload anymore if they aren't going to be even looked at.

*Pffttt*

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16358726/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16358726/ Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:33:53 PST
Sorry for the poor quality of some of them, I used my digital to take pics as I don't have a scanner.

Enjoy

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16315712/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16315712/ Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:14:10 PST
1. YOUR NAME:
Cats (as if I'd use my real name

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of real name plus izzle)
Catizzle

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav colour and fav animal)
Green Cat ....

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, and current street)
Heather Douglas

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, last 3 letters of mum's maiden name)
Milchler

6. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
TerraCotta Tea

7. YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, any letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your mums maiden name, 3rd letter of you dads middle name, 1st letter of a siblings first name, last letter of your mums middle name)
Hleuaja

8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mum/dads middle name)
Rosemary

9. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one your pets)
Black Snowball

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16143309/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/16143309/ Fri, 28 Dec 2007 18:48:55 PST
The thing is, you could call any moment forward a new year, though the calendar year may remain the same. So why do people wait until that date, that magic moment when the calendar turns over to January first to start anew? I mean, it's the day most people are LEAST likely to keep to a resolution (hung over, overtired, cranky, feeling bloated and lethargic, dreading the christmas bills, stuck in the midst of a dull and dreary season).

I understand that some folks need time to ease into the idea of doing something...time to prepare to quit something, a few more days of laxness before starting something, a goal to work toward, a deadline. But if something is important enough, why not start NOW, this instant?

I've never been one for New Years resolutions. Ever. But this year, I'm going to make one. It will be to endeavour to be creative every day, using whatever energy I have, negative, positive, indifferent. To this end I went out this afternoon and I bought sketchbooks, so that I may draw or sketch every day. They may not end up as finished pieces, but hopefully some of the skill I feel I've lost over the years, will return. As the saying goes, if you don't use it, you lose it. And I likely won't wait until the magic calender renewal...I more than likely will start marking up those pristine pages right away!

No time like the present!

The New Year is now.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/15890896/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/15890896/ Tue, 11 Dec 2007 14:19:18 PST
The thing is, come next April, the building the studio class is taught in will be closed and decomissioned by the college. The building is old, very old and it must be pretty costly to keep heated. The college still intends to teach the class but it's going to be transferred to Brantford which is about 32 km away from its current location. Not so bad since I live between the two, making it a 21km drive, but I wouldn't be travelling from home, I'd likely be coming from work (once I go back to work) which is 31 km away (so now 52 km) and then add another 30 km (so now 82 km) once my office moves from its current location to Mississauga

So, that means I have two semesters to take the studio course until it become inaccessable to me by distance. I'm really bummed about that. So I felt I needed to take advantage while I could.

I'm working on a project in class now, and have one more class to go. I will post pics when I'm done!

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/15684302/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/15684302/ Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:38:48 PST
I'm finished my lost wax casting class and managed to complete (sort of) one ring. I totally messed it up as far as I'm concerned because I worked on it when I knew I shouldn't, and having missed several classes due to depression and an evil head and chest cold...well..it got out of hand. So, it turned out really nothing like what I thought it should, other than that it's a ring and it will hold a Lapis. Will post up some pics of the WIP soon. The stone is being set by someone else, so I won't be able to take the credit for that. My instructor said to either, start over or flaunt the flaws. So I made it weird and organic looking . We'll see what ya'll think when I get it up.

Tonight...when I really felt like going to my studio class for a huge change, I get all the way down there and the weather was bad where the instructor comes from...class cancelled...no call from the school... Oh well. I got an XL chamomile tea for my troubles. Two weeks left of that. I'm not taking the studio class next semester (at least not as of this moment...may change my mind) but I am going to take the lost wax class again. Need to get on that and get registered for it.

I have an MRI mid December, so we will see what we will see about how much my back has changed in comparison to 2004 when I had the last one.

That is all for now *waves*

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/15236186/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/15236186/ Fri, 26 Oct 2007 22:11:37 PDT
i also have a gingerbread family piece i want to do for that class too. but likely won't get that done so...meh.

as for my studio class...just working on things i haven't finished. i've been screwing around with painting on liver of sulpher to get oil slick colours, but for some reason it isn't colouring evenly. i get the tail looking nice and the body looks like crap (just a muted grey black patina).

still frustrated, but at least i'm doing something.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/15215242/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/15215242/ Thu, 25 Oct 2007 12:20:51 PDT
What do you do when your mojo is low?

I feel like I'm wasting my class/studio time. It's very very frustrating.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/14883746/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/14883746/ Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:13:09 PDT
Here are the Rules:
1. post these rules
2. each person tagged must post 8 random (hopefully interesting) facts about themselves
3. tags should write a journal of these facts
4. at the end of the post 8 more bloggers are tagged and named
5. go to their page and leave a comment telling them they're tagged

_________
I'm going to play along, just because I'm a meme-sheep (baaaa!). The only thing I won't do, is tag someone else. If someone wants to gank this from here and do it, by all means do so Have a great day

I only wish I knew how to do all the cool add-age of icons and stuff.

Okay I've cheated somewhat for this, since I don't know what's interesting about me, so I asked some friends to help get me started, so here goes.
_________


1. One of my friends finds it interesting that I "bring a bit of mysticism into (my) life without it clouding (my) view of reality" and that "it's okay to believe without becoming obsessed with it." Another friend said "From what I've gathered, you have a very unique and wonderful view of the world, one which is born of curious mixture of materialism and the fantastic. I think it's cool. You're not a fluffy bunny pagan who thinks every creaking rocking chair is a ghost, but you're also not a dismissive skeptic."

2. I'm a furry. One of my above friends said "Well, I think you're one of the furriest people I know. You really ARE a cat. You have a sort of easy grace, playfulness, and a suspicious interest in birds..."

3. I'm a volunteer migratory bird bander when I have time and energy (see above statement about the suspicious interest in birds) and just love doing my little bit to help figure things out and hopefully make the world that much better (migratory bird monitoring is very important to know how the world is affecting bird populations) and make people aware that birds are dissappearing.

4. I have a degree in Animal Behaviour (Psych and Biology).

5. I failed chemistry all through highschool, barely passed the requisite in University, yet I work in an environmental analytical lab as a project manager (glorified paperherd and hand holder).

6. I love dark chocolate like some wine snobs love wine. Dark chocolate has the same subtleties of flavour and nuances of aroma from the areas in which it is grown...just like grapes.

7. I have a lot of pets, though far far less than I used to (One dog, five cats, a Schneider's skink, a guinea pig, two parrotlets and a cockatiel) as I used to breed birds and rats and rescue ferrets.

8. The other side of my fursonality is a feathery...a Magpie...hence the jewellery. My favourite saying is "Ohhhh...shinnnyyyyy..."

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/14769059/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/14769059/ Mon, 24 Sep 2007 08:05:36 PDT
This is going to be a huge challenge. I'm still off from work due to my back. The only good thing is, I can sit and pace myself as I go. I'm not going to have to do anything more than what I feel I can and I can leave early if need be.

I have two herniated and dessicated discs in my lumbar spine. The end of last June I reinjured them and it's been a long haul to recovery. The upper limit for standing or walking is about an hour straight, the upper limiting for sitting is an hour and a half (though I tend to push that) and when I wake in the morning, having lain for long hours, I feel like I'm 80 and it takes about 1/2 hour on a heating pad to get me mobile.

Tylenol 3 and 600 Ibuprofen three times a day are going to do my liver in I think before I get better

Anyway, enough whining. I hope to channel creativity from somewhere. I've been rather low and anxious the last week which is not conducive to creativity.

Wish me luck.
Cats
={^-.-^}=

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/14321926/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/14321926/ Fri, 24 Aug 2007 16:02:22 PDT I may need my head examined, but I've signed up for two classes in silver smithing. One at Mohawk College and the other at the Burlington Art Centre. The latter is a beginners course and looking over the syllabus, I'm way ahead of this, but another instructors perspective will do me good. However, I am NOT paying 2.50 a gram for silver when I can get it for 0.65 a gram. I strongly disagree with schools taking advantage of students to double (or triple) the cost of supplies unnecessarily, even if it is an adult interest course. Screw that noise!
I will be heading back to class though with refreshed interest and some new ideas. I went to GenCon the 15th to the 20th of August and met some wonderfully talented people that inspired me immensely. My goal now is to get some of the basic equipment in my home, and to have enough pieces to perhaps have a table at GenCon next year. We'll see how that goes!
I seem to be on a gryphon kick, so look for some sort of piece gryphon shaped ;3

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/13326254/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/13326254/ Wed, 13 Jun 2007 07:14:27 PDT
I realised that I like messing around bending wire making shapes and then creating something else. And it's something I can more or less do on my own at home with a fire brick, pencil torch, a pickle bath and a grinder cum buffer.

So over the summer I'm going to set that up and then noodle away. I also have a line on a used jewelers bench from a local jeweler retiring and going out of business. So I'm going to go over there and see what I can scoop up, if others in my class haven't already beaten me to it.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/13151509/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/13151509/ Wed, 30 May 2007 13:24:15 PDT
I'm going to register again in the fall, provided other things in my life are stable enough. That's the trick... Can one really get one's life sorted out in a summer?

We shall see!

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/12067845/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/12067845/ Mon, 05 Mar 2007 13:21:13 PST
I couldn't not :/ It's only ten weeks.

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/12024043/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/12024043/ Fri, 02 Mar 2007 08:41:55 PST
My instructor is also pregnant, and she will not be returning next semester...and possibly not for another full year, though, she said, depending on how things went with the birth etc, she might come back for the fall of 2007.

So I'm contemplating taking the april to june semester off and going back in september. I just don't know what to do. I can't seem to focus on my art...and I don't want to waste money and space in the classroom that someone more productive than me could use.

I have til Monday March 5th to decide, when I'm supposed to register for the next class.

*sigh*

]]> *Catsarah http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/10991986/ http://Catsarah.deviantart.com/journal/10991986/ Fri, 08 Dec 2006 07:18:53 PST
I do wish though that people would make comments on the individual pieces, particularly if they add them to their favourites. Would be nice to get a critique of some sort. Mind you, I have to follow my own words and do the same for others...Heh...*blush*. Will rectify that situation soon

Also, I don't like the way that DA puts jewellery into a category of "Artisan and Crafts". Sculpted or carved wax that in turn is cast in silver or gold or fabricated items are just as much an artform as sculpting large pieces and casting in bronze. I don't think sculptors are called Artisans are they?? I could see maybe bead stringing being placed in that sort of category, especially if the beads are not hand made by the stringer, but actual fabricated and cast jewelery I don't think belongs in an Artisan sort of group. My 2cents worth.

]]> *Catsarah