Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

In the Tucson Mountains For months,I've been looking forward to Hadar Jacobson’s class on mokume gane using base metal clay.   I also knew this was an opportunity to learn more about her new clay. ( http://hadarjacobson.com /)  Lyle Rayfield ( www.lylerayfield.com ) hosted the class in the Tucson Mountains.  What a beautiful setting for an intense 3 day class!  Taking a class with a master teacher like Hadar adds so many dimensions to the process.  I have all her books and now that I know some techniques first hand, it will be so much easier to follow the text.  Meeting other people interested in the same things helps make the class more fun and creative.  I have new friends I can email and share information. I love the texture and ease of the base metal clay which makes constructing something a joy.  It’s that carbon and firing that makes me crazy.  So I’m going to focus on using Hadar’s clay for the next few months and improve m...

Pre-Workshop Necklace Hadar's Clay - my pre-workshop necklace February means Tucson!   It’s the Gem Show and The Bead Show with warmer weather than Prescott!   This year I started with a 3 day intensive class with Hadar Jacobson.   Twelve artists met at Lyle Rayfield’s studio in the beautiful Tucson Mountains to learn how to make architectural style jewelry using Hadar’s clay.   Our Class! As a member of a Face Book group, I’ve been reading for quite a while of artist’s challenges occurring in the process of sintering (when clay becomes metal), firing, etc.   I was totally intimidated.   Intimidation is not a state I’m comfortable with but I continued to delay using the clay myself.   One day I received an email and phone call from my good friend, Lyle, who also certified me in Art Clay.   Lyle wanted to invite Hadar to teach ‘Pictorial and Architectural Jewelry’ and needed attendees.   I whined a little and said, “OK.   ...

Off to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show!  Actually I'll be spending 3 days in an intensive workshop with Hadar Jacobson artinsilver.com  learning to use her clay and producing (I hope) some lovely pieces of jewelry.  I'll be sharing that experience when I return.  It is also an opportunity to see some friends, take care of having taxes done and seeing my old home town of Tucson.  I understand the downtown area is much improved!  And the temperature should be warmer than Prescott! Later!

 Copper Bell using Hadar's Clay  Last January I listed my goals for year 2012 as: I will have fun doing whatever I am doing. I will experiment with new techniques and share them. And I’m very pleased to say I accomplished them.   In fact, I think I will continue them for 2013! Having fun doing whatever I’m doing is pretty easy.   I’m at the age that “If it isn’t fun, why would I do it?   And if I have to do it anyway, I might as well make it fun.” Experimenting with new techniques turned out to be a mixed bag.   I experimented with polymer clay and became known as the “Button Baroness”.   (I laugh about that).   I have several mixed metal, silver metal clay and polymer pieces on consignment in two cities.   (Amazing myself).   New tools have made experimenting easier and fun.   The copper bell really tinkles!   And somewhere this year I signed up to take Hadar’s   artinsilver.com/ class in Tucson in Febru...

Some of you may have noticed I skipped last week's blogs.   Sometimes I just don’t know what part of my days I want to write about and sometimes I just can’t focus on writing.   If you have been following my posts, you know that my love, Peter, has two benign (the joy of hearing that word) growths on salivary glands.    One of the glands decided to cause a problem.   We ended up going to Tucson to the University Medical Center and having the surgeon, Dr. Gernon, look at the problem.   Peter was admitted to the hospital with a staph infection.   It is cleared up now and surgery will be in June. While Peter was in the hospital, I made Viking Knit chain by his bedside.   As you can see, I was there quite a while!   But I’ve wanted to try combining wires for a striped or segmented effect.   I used copper, brass and steel wire. It was interesting to work with 3 metals of the same gauge and see the differences.   The steel ...

Sweetwater (Water Reclamation Ponds) in Tucson is one of my favorite places to visit and do some nature meditating.   Sometimes it smells a little foul; sometimes it doesn’t.   You just take your chances!   It is a popular site for birder’s as the 7 ponds (which might be full or not) draw a variety of birds.   On my recent visit to Tucson I just had to go see what birds were visiting and walk the trails.   It is so easy to regain a sense of peace in this place.   Of course I had my trusty camera and am sharing what I saw with you 3 Turtles Sunning Solitary Sandpiper -He's been here several months  Great Horned Owl  Beautiful Yellow Warbler Great Egret at the top of a tall tree - searching for food in the water below.  Pie-billed Grebe - in reflection  A Surprise! 3 American White Pelicans Red-winged Blackbird - if you've got it, flaunt it!

When something piques my interest, I seem to dive right in.   What? Me try to do just one and see if I like it?   Oh not me! Exploring in depth is more my style.   I love vintage hats, hatpins, perfume bottles and ribbon flowers.   My mother-in-law gave me some very old family heirlooms – tiny ribbon flowers.   I treasure them.   So when my friend, Jay, asked me to go to a class with her and learn to make ribbon flowers, I just had to do it.   Jay is an accessorizer extraordinaire - http://www.plant-effects.com .     The class was held at http://www.askrenandsons.com a floral warehouse business in Tucson and I came home with lots of gorgeous silk wired ribbon.   I had such a good time with Kathy Askren (instructor) that I bought several books and kept learning different techniques.   After several months, I also had lots of flowers!   They were used on beautiful packages as part of the ribbons and worn on dresses and coats. ...