For the past couple of days, I've been in Virginia Beach. Over the weekend, our Tidewater Artists Group (TAG) held a TAG Summer Art Camp. The event consisted of four workshops, two on Saturday and two on Sunday.
Dawn Gallop, host of Flip Flops & Pop Tarts, taught us two techniques -Wire Wrapped Jewelry Charms and Copper Word Charms. This was my first experience with wire wrapping and I loved it. I credit Dawn's detailed, but concise, teaching style for making it easy for me to learn the technique.
Next, we learned how to create the Copper Word Charms. This session was so much fun - and addictive. I know I want to make more of these charms. Check out Dawn's blog. There's lots of lovely jewelry and art to see there.
For our second Saturday workshop, Verni Sunders, host of Savor the Arts, introduced us to the world of Bullet Casing Etching. First, we sanded our bullets, stamped them (or doodled on them with Sharpies) and then put them into the etching bath solution.
After some rinsing and buffing with steel wool, a magical metamorphosis took place. Our simple, little bullets transformed themselves into sacred, golden amulets. (Verni had told us that something extraordinary would happen and she was right.) That day, I added some black patina to create some contrast.
Later, I'm going to buff on some Baroque Art Gilders Paste (in Inca Gold) to enhance the golden color of the bullet. We also etched some small metal squares.
In my next post, I'll tell you what our TAG group did on Day Two of Summer Art Camp.
Comments