Labradorite in copper

Upstairs in the loft I have nine boxes of cloth, it’s beautiful and is full of potential, potential that is destroyed as soon as I take it, chop it up and make it into clothes. It then becomes fixed, that piece of wool is now a pair of trousers and will never be a skirt or all the other wonderful things it could have been.

I have a similar situation with my silver, with the additional problem that the price has gone up hugely so I can’t be sure I can afford to replace what I use.

Wanting to make a large cuff with a square labradorite cabochon, I decided to use copper. It’s a beautiful metal; maleable and full of character. Unfortunately it’s also a pig to solder!

This project would require a bit of care if I did it in silver as the heavy cuff would need to be heated to the same temperature as a small bezel to allow the solder to flow. Since that temperature is not far off the melting point of silver, a moment’s inattention can lead to a sad and soggy melted bezel.

In copper, the project becomes even more of a nightmare as the metal quickly develops an oxide layer that stops the solder from flowing. There was much screaming and swearing.

Oh yes, I also chose an “ethnic cut” (not my description) rectangular stone which was cut in India, by eye, on a wheel and so is a little rough and ready. Making a bezel for a notionally rectangular stone with four corners that have a different profile is really difficult!

The end result was not entirely good.

By Erica Madelin

I also lined it in verdigris coloured soft leather which was a good idea and one I will use again but even with leather edging paint, it just looks scrappy. The leather is soft and even a sharp Stanley knife seemed to tear it rather than cutting it cleanly. Next time I will use a harder, thinner, more compressed leather if I can find it.

So, after that experience and inspite what I said about not using up my precious and dwindling supply of silver, I made this.

Silver collar by Erica Madelin

Inktober

I had a good day of painting yesterday, by which I mean, I pottered around for four whole hours, doing some cleaning, sorting out the washing and generally procrastinating.

Or that is what it may look like from the outside… (and I really need to ask a friend about this as she is literally a world expert in procrastination…and gratitude and any number of human behaviours that one might not really think about but which have a big impact on our lives, success and happiness)… but I find that sometimes I need this seemingly wasted time to get in the mood for something creative.

After my period of procrastination, I got on with painting for the next six hours.

What I am trying to explain though is my absence since August. Month long furloughs at work were replaced with week long furloughs and I am now back full time and I just don’t have time for four hours of procrastination before the creative spark kicks in.

As a result, I have achieved very little since then, a bracelet of dubious quality, a necklace and a couple of items of clothing.

I was very grateful to my friend Annemarie who suggested Inktober in good time for me to have a think and take part, something I have been meaning to do for years.

I did a drawing every day to the official theme list but don’t worry, I won’t include them all here. Some days were a bit of a cop out (a leaf of “rocket” for example) but I find that if I miss one day then it is much easier to miss the next day too. It’s like exercise, one press up is always better than none.