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measured approach

I am in the midst of several commissions at the moment and one of them has a fairly tight deadline. In the past, I would have freaked out and said to myself “do as much work every day as possible!” and probably felt crunched for time every single day and disappointed at my lack of progress for which I set my expectations too high.

That gets tiring.

You’d think after this many years I could come up with a different approach. Well, I have! A friend recently reminded me of a technique I have used off and on: using music to measure time. In other words, I will commit to working for the duration of an album or two. The other tactic I am employing is to list all of the steps I need to perform in order to finish the piece. As a chronic list-maker, I’ve done this before. But this time, I scheduled the steps for each of the days I have remaining. Now, each day has a goal, and I work for an album at a time (40-60 minutes). Between albums, I take a break, which ensures that I give my eyes, shoulders, and hands a little time out. The daily milestone means I can go to bed knowing I accomplished what I was supposed to for the day and that I am right on schedule to meet my deadline.

Today was day two of the schedule and I even managed to work ahead a little. So far I am enjoying the measured approach. I need to keep this up and complete the project by the 18th. Oh, and here was today’s playlist, if you’re interested:

XTC – Apple Venus, Vol. 1
Steve Winwood – Back in the Highlife
Radiohead – The Bends
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention – One Size Fits All

So Much Jewelry

As I look at doing more shows, I am finding more and more are saying their jewelry categories are full or almost full. This already tough game is getting tougher. I guess this means I have to innovate and stand out from the crowd even more…or resort to bribery? At least the world has plenty of jewelry to choose from. On the plus side I am getting more commissions and have plenty to keep me busy. Plus, I have a trunk show this evening at Purlescence Yarns in Sunnyvale from 6-9pm. Just in time for Mother’s Day! Fingers crossed for the application I’m sending out today for Capitola Art & Wine. Who wouldn’t want to do a show by the beach?

Red Drama Drop

I had a specific person in mind for this drama drop, and am really pleased I was able to pick up a fabulous center bead from JC Herrell at a bead show last year. I can arrange beads on my design desk and say, “yeah! I want it to look like that” but getting them connected isn’t always as easy. I created a hollow bail where the chain could pass through and hang the center bead in the cleanest way possible, while still allowing for movement. The unique, coffee bean-shaped crystal beads can be adjust up the sides of the chain. She loves it!

Ready, Set, Wire!

I now have four more bases to wire up. A fifth one didn’t turn out in the glaze firing, so it might get smashed. I also have one from earlier when I initially made two. I wired it, didn’t like it, tweaked it, and just haven’t quite settled on it, so I think it’s going to be cut off and done over. It’s been awhile since I’ve been in a space where I’ve had to or even wanted to start over like that. It’s a freeing kind of feeling and I like it.

New Style in Progress – Porcelain!

Since I’ve been playing with clay a lot lately, all sorts of new ideas are springing up. It’s kind of like cross-training, no? Making beads seems like an obvious path, but I’m more interested in creating a different relationship with the wire and the clay – perhaps something that only one who is designing in both media can do. Jewelry is a fickle market, so if I can carve a niche, carve I shall! I sketched some ideas, created a some custom tools, and finally got my hands on some porcelain to create the first pieces, in progress below. They will be fired this weekend, then I can add some color (glaze) and wire them up. Can’t wait to show you!

welcome!

I’ve been working on a few new things this year, and updating my webpage was one of them. Thanks to some expert help from my brother, Ian Dahlberg, I have a new look and better functionality. Hooray!

Another new thing I’ve been working on is getting back into ceramics. I have played with clay off and on my whole life and have recently decided to dig in a little bit. While practicing some bud vase techniques, I thought I’d try a little hybrid experiment. Behold, my ceramic and Viking knit vase!