Halellujah! It Is Beginning To Look A Lot Like Autumn in the South

I love the South and wouldn't live anywhere else, but I am not a fan of our Summer humidity.   I walk around feeling like a piece of wilted lettuce until 10:00 at night, so I was happy to see some cooler, crisp football weather this past weekend.  

I was so inspired by the weather, I went back into the studio to do some more experimenting, this time mixing Pardo and Premo with alcohol inks and acrylic paint and to see how far I could take the baking temps on the Premo. 

Turns out Premo is best left to bake at 275 degrees for 30 minutes.   I burned, no charred would be a better description, several beads set at 300 for 30 minutes, and several I set on 275 for 50 minutes.  

I went back to the manufacturer's suggested temp for Premo and baked the blended Pardo pieces at that, with good results.   I didn't get the glasslike clarity with the Pardo at 275, but the surface of these pieces is VERY strong.   It took twice as long to sand these pieces, but I won't complain because the finishes are absolutely flawless, which really makes my OCD self very happy.

These luscious "Black Ice" pieces are Premo Gray Granite and Pardo Translucent tinted with a generous saturation of Ranger Pitch Black Alcohol Ink.  There wasn't any color shift in the baking that could be seen under the Tungsten lights of my studio, but when I took them outside, there is a slight aubergine cast to them.  I was very tempted not to buff these after sanding.  The matte black look is so attractive, but the OCD took over again, as usual, and I buffed them anyway.  

These blueberry/dark denim pieces were made with Premo Gray Granite, Pardo Translucent, and Ranger and Pinata alcohol inks, a bit of this color and a bit of that.  

I didn't write down the formula, however, so can't tell you exactly how much of any, but the colors were Ranger Denim, Mushroom and Pinata Sapphire.  

These are really rich looking, and the perfect color to accessorize a pair of your favorite blue jeans, particularly the Denim Blue Birds earrings on the left.  I was going to name them "My Little Blue Chicadees" but didn't want to run afoul (I am SO funny) of any copyright law. 

One of my local customers has been after me to create a faux abalone bead to match a piece that is missing from a necklace she owns, but I could never get it quite right.  Yesterday, in a total bit of unplanned luck, the last piece from an experiment with Premo translucent, alcohol ink and acrylic paints (see those pieces in my flickr photostream if you like) was exactly what she wanted.  I called her right away.  

I spent the rest of Saturday with the manual for my camera, trying to figure out how to photograph some "green turquoise" pieces that photographed a very bright, almost neon turquoise blue.  The only way I could make the photos come out anywhere near the actual color was to set the camera for inside under flourescent lighting.   I made a gorgeous pair of purple earrings, too, but they photographed cobalt blue!   Oh, well.  All in all, it was a very productive weekend.

Before I sign off, I also wanted to express my thanks to everyone who read my post about losing my job of 20 years and the scary and exciting next step of becoming a full time artist.  I didn't know I had so many friends, although several of you who emailed me or responded to that post don't even know me; but you are friends now.  All of you offered encouragement and support.  I am truly blessed to have you all, and you have given me a huge boost to my confidence.

Thank you so much!