Monday, September 14, 2009

small stones


Three weeks to go before Weston’s Applefest! Little plastic bags filled with finished pieces keep pilling up, and I took time this weekend to play in between soldering and hammering to-dos.

The lovely little beads above were born of scrap silver. I squirrel away filings, destroyed creations, and any extra pieces of metal as I work. These little bits were piled into a well in my charcoal block, and heated until they melted and pooled together.

It was delightful.

…until I had to drill the holes, which demanded deep breathing and zen-like cursing. (Do zen masters curse? I would.) Eventually I was able to line them all up into this row of uneven, textured beads, each like a small stone. I can’t explain how incredibly happy they make me.

Below are two of the beads decorating a simple, curved earwire.

new book


Need an end of summer read? I have a new addition to my bookshelf, The Zamler’s Last Stand, a first novel by our friend Matt Caldwell. Finishing a book is a seriously cool accomplishment, but most importantly, Zamler’s is a wonderful coming of age tale. The story is complex and human, mixing friendship, baseball, and mystical Judaism against the New York skyline.