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  Markasky

Fun With borax

5/4/2016

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Using borax and heat to color copper. I think the best part is watching the borax dance around the metal.

Trying to up my technological skills!! I did it all on my phone and edited as well using iMovie! It was very exciting!

A good part of the process was not melting my phone!!
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Radical Enameling Workshops w/the Center for Enamel Arts - Liquid Form Enamels & Enameling on Steel

11/28/2015

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​One of the meanings of 'radical' is thorough-going or extreme, especially as regards to change from accepted or traditional forms. (From dictionary.com)

Well, the Center for Enamel Art has embraced that definition thoroughly with their 'Radical Enameling' workshops! And Liquid Form Enamel and Enameling on Steel with instructor Kat Cole, at the Richmond Art Center this past month definitely met that criteria.

During the 3-day workshop we learned about steel: different types (which had always confused me); which work best with enameling; resources for finding it (literally finding it, as well as buying it); and yes, you can even enamel on stainless steel - Ikea bowls were provided to us in the workshop!! We learned about porcelain enamels and how to mix them (details I had never known about while playing with it on my own.) Several different techniques for applying liquid enamels, as well as sifted, combined with mark-making and adding foreign materials to add color were demonstrated. 

Continuing with the 'radical approach,' we were encouraged to experiment - forming, sandblasting, spraying, folding, torch firing, soldering, embedding, thinking outside the box. Everyone in this intimate little group went off into their own little world and direction and created some amazing works.

In addition to this amazing workshop, we were able to attend a lecture by Kat to learn more about her work and see where her inspiration comes from; attend her opening at Velvet da Vinci in SF; and explore the galleries and restaurants of Point Richmond and Oakland. A very full, informative, and fun weekend! And of course, thanks to Ed Lay for his vast supply of knowledge, expertise, help, and fun at the workshop and showing me how to use the 'Weed Burner!!"

Thank you for bringing enameling in to the 21st century!

Check out the FaceBook page for the Center for Enamel Art
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Obsession - Installment 1

9/11/2015

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What is art if not obsession?

Billy Pappas started a drawing of Marilyn Monroe in 1994, wanting to set a new standard for realistic imagery. He worked on the portrait full-time for nearly nine years. There is a documentary about his work called Waiting for Hockney.

Tim Jenison is an inventor who believed that Johannes Vermeer used a camera obscura to paint his paintings. He went on to try to replicate The Music Lesson using this technique. Talk about obsessed - he starts out by going to Buckingham Palace to view the original, then recreates the scene and makes everything in the scene by hand, including a harpsichord - BEFORE he even starts painting. The whole project took years. Check out the film about it - Tim's Vermeer.

Hell, it took Michelangelo 4 years to paint the Sistine Chapel after negotiating to do it how he wanted. He even designed his own scaffolding.

I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea.

Do artists become good because they are obsessed or do they become obsessed because they are good?

A couple of weeks ago I found a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle and because we really don't eat dinner on the dinner table I found a had a place to set it up and work on it. It was a compilation of Norman Rockwell paintings - that's art, right?

Well, I became obsessed with working on this puzzle, it was all I could or wanted to do. Some nights I'd be up until 3 or 4 in the morning, looking for 'just one more piece.'
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Well, needless to say, I found a whole bunch of 500 piece puzzles (of food, no less!) at the thrift store for $.50 each! I bought them all. And continued on my journey.
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Doing puzzle after puzzle, I decided that I would stack them and then I can create something artistic with it when I'm done.

My husband keeps asking me why I keep doing this or why I am doing this. And the truth is - I just really like doing jigsaw puzzles, but it feels so frivolous to just do them for now reason - so then I become obsessed (again) to turn them into art.

So, I decided to document the process (to make it all even more meaningful - cuz you know that's important) and here is my first installment of my puzzle blog. As a friend once said to me - what could you possibly have to say about doing puzzles - you pick out the edge pieces, make the frame and then fill it in?
We all know that's not true... I have many keen observations and wisdom from my puzzledom (or puzzledumb) that I will be sharing with you... please stay tuned for Obsession - Installment 2...

In the meantime... Are YOU obsessed with something? Tell us about it in the comments below!!
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Enamels and Decals

8/15/2015

5 Comments

 
The main ingredients:
The proper printer and the proper decals.
I use an HP LaserJetP1102w. The toner cartridge is 85A. Pretty much any printer that uses an 85A cartridge should work for the decals. If you look at the MSDS sheet of a particular type of toner you can find out the percentage of iron ferrite in it. Below is what you are looking for. Ferrite is an ingredient of toner, powdered iron, at high temperatures in the presence of air, it will become iron oxide. For example, the Lexmark 260 MSDS listed the percentage of ferrite in the toner as 7-13%, where the HP is 45%, giving it more durability. I have only used the 45% one. (Thanks to Ed Lay for that info!)
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I get my decals from DecalPaper.com. Below is the code and description of what I get. I prefer the clear decal paper over the white. They seem to come out clearer.
http://www.decalpaper.com/
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For this sample I used Thompson's 1020 unleaded titanium white. (Counter enamel just like you would do for anything else you enamel. I don't always counter enamel) The decals show up better on a lighter enamel, but of course it depends on what you want and I always feel it's a good thing to experiment. Opaques and transparents will both work, it will just be a different look. You can also enamel on top of the decal, but too many firings will eventually burn out the decal, at least it will with the torch, not sure about kiln-firing.
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After printing your sheet of decals, cut out the one that will fit on your metal, and drop it into some water. I did use a decal with white backing instead of clear, only because I just wanted to get something quick so I could take some pictures... after all it is Friday night and I said I would do this at the end of the week... some people consider Sunday the end of the week... It doesn't really matter how long you leave it in the water, but you want it in there long enough to get the decal to slide off of the backing paper, maybe a minute. It won't hurt it to be in there longer. Put the decal ink-side down on the metal (the backing paper will be on top) and slide the backing off of the decal. If you ever made models as a kid or with your kids and put the decals on the models, it's the same process. The decal can still be moved around on top of the enamel so you can place it where you want. Some people suggest letting it dry over night, or for a couple of hours on top of a kiln, but I don't have the patience for that... I'll dry it a bit with a heat gun, (be careful not to get it too hot, you just want to evaporate the water) then push out any air bubbles with a piece of cardboard or a paper towel. Air bubbles will cause pinholes in the decal, which can be cool, or not. I used to obsess about popping all the bubbles with a needle, but it never really seemed to work... I find that heating it slowly with the torch, even if it bubbles up gives me pretty good results. It takes a lot of practice.
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On the decal below, you can see parts of the image are light brown. That part wasn't fired into the enamel long enough. However, I like the way it looks, so I left it. And that's pretty much how you do it.
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5 Comments

Back to the Earth

5/23/2015

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I like routine, I like when things stay the same, I like when things don't change... it gives a sense of having control over our lives.
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But the reality is that everything is constantly changing, coming in and out of existence... and the truth is - I like that too. Nothing is permanent or lasting and what I've expressed with these pieces is not knowing what stage of becoming they are in. Are they just being formed? Or are they just starting to decay? Solid earthy pieces which have the appearance of just being dug up or on their way back to the earth.
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 This work is lucky enough to be in the same room as this exhibit:

EVAN HOLM's the river made no sound  a multi-dimensional solo show by sculptor-installation artist Evan Holm is open through June 27, 2015.  The first floor of Vessel Gallery will showcase Cloud|Clock a sound machine composed of kinetic wooden gears, cloud lattice, and 600 lbs of flour. Upstairs Holm has constructed Forest Pools. This installation, with 23 pools of sumi ink running through an oak grove, makes quite the impression. 
Oakland Art Murmur Reception: FRI, June 5, 6-9PM, music sound performance by Evan Holm
Vessel Gallery Artist Talk Series with the artist is Saturday June 13, 2PM.
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New Year Resolutions: Etsy Metal Blog Carnival

1/5/2015

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Check out what other Etsy Metal members have resolved to do for 2015:
2Roses 
Fenton Designs 
Laura Jane Bouton 
Beth Cyr  
Lou Hunter  
Nodeform  
res·o·lu·tion noun \ˌre-zə-ˈlü-shən\: the act of finding an answer or solution to a conflict, problem, etc. : the act of resolving something

: an answer or solution to something

: the ability of a device to show an image clearly and with a lot of detail
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/resolution)

It seems like a New Year Resolution is finding problems that you may have and finding a way to fix them. I would like to eat less sugar, less carbs, I would like to lose weight, I don't work hard enough, my art isn't making enough money, blah blah blah... It seems like it's the same issues every year... Well, I've come to the conclusion that my life isn't so bad... it doesn't need 'fixing!' I'm just going to do the best I can each day and enjoy it while I'm doing it!! Although I may try to show images more clearly and with a lot of detail!!

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Primitive Spiral Single Earring
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Earring A Day

1/1/2015

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ACK! I just committed to doing another 'A Day' challenge. Ok, it's been 5 years since the last one -Ring A Day

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This one seems so do-able, it's not even a pair of earrings... it's just one single earring, how hard can that be? It's also very freeing not to have to make 2 earrings that look alike... it's hard to experiment when you do that.

So for January 1, day one. I thought I would start with a spiral. The direction my art has been evolving had been towards 'origins.' I've been working on a project called personal icons, where I have combined images from when I was little (mostly religious icon type things, in addition, to relics, superstitions, etc.) with styles from some of my favorite artists like Andy Warhol and Jean- Michel Basquiat. The other direction my art tends to find itself is primitive and organic, so I am working at getting those 2 directions more on the same path. Hence, my spiral earring.
My first thought was to  make a spiral earring... I've made them before... wire twisted into a spiral, then hammered, generally using 16-20 gauge wire. Probably about 20 minutes worth of work. Of course, I can't keep anything simple. Instead of 16 gauge wire, I thought it would be cool to use 4 gauge wire which is .3249" or 8.2515mm. Let's just say pretty thick. So curving that into a spiral after forging took a while. Then I wanted to add a thicker piece of sterling and forge it down for the ear wire and that took awhile too. Then there was more texturing followed by polishing followed by adding a heat patina. Then there were the photos and listing it on Etsy (cuz that's part of the challenge) and posting it on FaceBook and posting it on Flickr and then blogging about it here.
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Let's just say it took longer than 20 minutes!
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It's big and it's heavy... 3" high,1.25" wide, and .25" deep, not for the faint of heart. As a matter of fact, I think you have to be pretty bad ass to wear it!
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Anticlastic Forming

11/10/2014

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When I first started working with metal, everything I made was flat... after awhile I started to realize that metal could also be dimensional. One of the most intriguing and challenging forms for me was anticlastic forming. The best part was getting to buy new tools and getting to use words like 'sinusoidal stake' and even making some of my own hammers.
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It was a pretty big learning curve (no pun intended) but I couldn't stop doing it. You can see some earlier photos from the 'Ring-A-Day' series on flickr. Forming it, of course was never enough, so I had to start enameling the forms as well. That was also challenging because I use a torch to fire my enamels and it takes some thinking about how to fire both sides of a spiral shape with a torch. For me, experimenting is one of the most fun things to do, so I was up for the challenge. I like using transparent enamels with Carefree Lustres©.
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I just sent off some anticlastic formed ornaments to the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis for the annual Holiday Ornament Showcase, as well as some anticlastic earrings for their Holiday Show and Sale
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AND... I just listed these on Etsy
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Etsy Metal Project Runway Episode 3

8/14/2014

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"Welcome to the Future!"

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"Project Runway" Season 13, Episode 3 Air Date: 08/07/14.

In this episode, the Project Runway designers were asked to integrate the past, present, and future in their creations and they were challenged to get inspiration from Marie Claire magazines from 1994, 20 years ago, to create looks they think will be relevant 20 years in the future.

So for the EtsyMetal Translation:

IF you were making jewelry in 1994, revisit one of your own creations and update it for 20 years in our future, 2034!

Or, make a piece that is inspired by your life in 1994 and modify it for the future 2034!

This was a hard one, mostly because I have to remember something! I think that it's generally safe to say at anytime in my art career, I make art based on my Photo Booth pictures and influenced by Andy Warhol. I feel that the styles of art come and go and come and go... always repeating cycles. In 20 years, I'm sure I'll still be using photo booth pictures with new technology in a slightly altered way.

Torch-fird enamels, decals, copper.

Check out the Etsy Metal blog here

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EM Project Runway Challenge #2

8/7/2014

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Episode 2: 
"Unconventional Movie Challenge"
 "Project Runway" Season 13, Episode 2  Air Date: 07/31/14.
In this episode, the designers' challenge was to create a look inspired by
"Things you would find in movie making & movie watching!"

So for our team challenge we are going to define it and use the same materials the designers used for their runway creations, or you can use the show's theme!
Remember this is a Unconventional Materials Challenge, go wild!

PAPER  •  STRAWS  •  TICKETS  •  ZIP TIES  • LETTERS (FONT)  •  COMPACT DISCS (CDS)
Of course, I had to go with letters. Also inspired by the movie - Jean Michel Basquiat, Radiant Child - and the artist, Paul Klee. I used 'A to Z' - letters pierced out of copper, torch-fired enamels with alphabet decals. They are big, 2" wide x 2.5" long
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Evelyn markasky
Santa Cruz, California

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