EtsyMetal Project Runway Challenge Season 9 - 1

scrap pile

Yay! I skipped participating last season and maybe the one before that too! I'm going to do my best to make something each week this time.

The first week's challenge was was to make something from scrap on our workbench. What a fun challenge! I had a piece I cast probably about 2 years ago, maybe more - with a rough green sapphire. It was still attached to the button! I cleaned it up and using only other bits of wire and chain from the same scrap pile - I finished the necklace I meant to make so long ago! Maybe not the most creative, but I'm glad I felt inspired enough to get it done! yay!

August EtsyMetal Blog Carnival: Roots

It's August already! And the topic this month for EtsyMetal's Blog Carnival is "Our Roots" - Where we came from. How our families have influenced us, artists in the family, etc.

I think I was like a lot of kids who loved to draw and color - starting with crayons and markers, and colored pencils. I remember when I was 7, having drawing of a tree I did in the Alabama State fair. It was a crayon resist - yellow crayon and brown water color. There was probably more to it, but I don't remember... I'm not even sure if I ever got it back. No artists in the family, but my mom was always very supportive and really creative. I had a wonderful art teacher in elementary school, Mr. Lyles. I used to stay after school and use the kick wheel - learning how to throw little pots was the first 3d thing I remember learning. There were a couple week long art camps during the summer I went to. One of my grandmothers was really creative to and did a lot of different crafts. I remember painting and decorating fancy easter eggs with her, as well as a lot of other crafty creative things.

Sadly - there was minimal instruction or direction once I got to middle school. There was a fire in my school that damaged the wing the art room was on - my art class was relegated to a small trailer - so the curriculum was a bit lacking...

I had a great and supportive art teacher through part of high school. We even had a dark room where I learned how to develop my own photos and really became passionate about photography. Sadly my wonderful teacher left and was replaced by someone... not so wonderful and I didn't even get to have an art class my last year in high school. The other high school in the county had a dark room and a couple times I got permission to go over there and use theirs after ours was out of commission.

And then I went to college and was surrounded by wonderful art teachers and all the art classes I could ever want!

make sure to check out the other participating etsymetal members:

Erin Austin - http://metalmusing.blogspot.com
Nodeform - http://nodeform.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth Scott - http://esdesignsjewelry.com/blog
Inbar Bareket - http://www.inbarbareket.net/
Cynthia Del Giudice - http://cynthiadelgiudice.blogspot.com
2Roses - http://jewelrytutorial.blogspot.com
Evelyn Markasky - http://markasky.blogspot.com/
Twigs and Heather - http://twigsandheather.blogspot.com
Andrea - http://www.artigianojewelbox.com/category/blog
Danielle Miller-Gilliam - http://daniellemillerjewelry.blogspot.com/