A Simple Pendant with the BIG made by hand Attitude

Being an artisan member of The Wilds Cooperative of Pennsylvania makes me, of course, USA made but, even tighter than that, #PAWildsmade.  Wild's creatives immerse themselves in the landscape producing such work for ie. photos captured, wood carved, metal formed or spirits distilled.  When enjoying artisan's work from this Wild's 'scene' you are part of the entire scope, the tangible and emotional experiences.   

Over the years my jewelry and mixed media techniques have continually drawn inspiration from those rural traditions that were once everyday life for our ancestors.  This way of tactile life, being a part of the process of just living, has become a need in this age of technology for me and so many others to make with our hands utilitarian wares or more refined artistic work from beginning to end.  

riveted copper bangles, antique cross peen hammer and air chased copper cuff #madebyhand Stephanie Distler Artisan Jewelry

airchasing a cuff on the anvil

There is honesty in the process, a feeling of release while striking the metal over and over and then a certain amount of authority over the finished design that is validating.

PA Wilds Made copper pendant progression in the hydraulic press. Finish work follows for the piece to get it to what is then for sale.   #PAWildsmade copper pendants available for purchase from my studio and The PA Wilds Conservation Shop at The Kinzua Bridge State Park!

SDAJ studio shot

While you are adventuring through the 12.5 county region known as The PA Wilds look for our The Wilds Cooperative of Pennsylvania membership popping up in galleries, as shops, breweries, distilleries, wineries, restaurants and historical sites just to name a few member types. You will find artist and artisan members among trading posts, host sites art shows and studios where they capture the landscape of the WILDS through #madebyhand work. 

stephaniedistler.com

Garden Studio- January Studio Tour 2014

Components at the ready for upcoming work along with Wubber pliers, kiln and storage area.

Some oxidized components, some freshly cut, hammered, wrapped, stamped or in the planning stages with a pattern drawn in using a Sharpie.

No DVD playing today since it is really, really chilly in the studio and would be difficult manipulating small wire.  Shelves of books, packaging ribbon, chains, thick leather cord, dvds, colored Sharpies, wire, boxed hang tags and trail stop display sample on this bench.

Long view of the left workbench, under greenhouse window with fibula safety style pins being prepped, bracelets being deburred, solid brass bracelet mandrel and tumbler at the ready.  Top right dapping set, jumpring cutter set, disc cutter, Lortone tumbler, knife sharpening stone, jumpring coil maker attached to window frame, letter/symbol stamps on glass shelves, aluminum vintage camping storage set for beads and project I am working on or traveling with, solid brass mandrel, etc.

Top view of said above bench giving a size reference for the little Wolf Belt Sander attached to Flexshaft and bench.  If you look closely next to the tumbler you will spy a super house sale find I made over the Summer which is a knife sharpening stone.  It is just like the one my Father owns that I always would someday like to own, now I do.  I have had in my collection of stuff a sweet little brass brush, you see on top and a small brass oil can, on the left, that makes a perfect 3 piece set for knife/tool sharpening.

Sweet little Wolf Belt Sander to be attached to Flexshaft style motors here on the same bench, attached to the piece of oak my dh screwed into the underside.  So far I have created fibula pin points, deburred blanks and cleaned up some old knives with this beautifully made little piece of workbench tool I had to have for my bench arsenal.

Wubber pliers, pendant typeset, maker's mark and PA Wilds branding stamps, steel anvil, cooper hammer and cross pein hammer are in the shot

A sneak peek of a new design being developed @ SDAJ based on an idea created out of my need to have a centering piece with me at all times that is tangible.  Each thread is linked to a loss, worry or expectation that needs to be expended as it is worked by my fingers until gone.

The circular pattern is a visual for working to center with the proverb, this too shall pass, as a mantra.  These will be available in the online shop soon!

www.stephaniedistler.com

On the bench- keeping tools clean

Keeping your work area clean and somewhat picked up is important when making jewelry.  This is true for feeling creative and making quality work, for I don't or can't work in a hot mess of a studio but, creative clutter is another thing :) When filling inventories in stores, galleries and trail stops or filling custom orders organized clutter is best.  Well.... I have no choice since the studio is 11'x10'.  I often describe the space akin to a cooks galley kitchen.... for when working on the stump bench I can either reach what I need where I presently am working or a couple rolls of the chair wheels gets me there snagging what is needed.
I will write a post talking about 'studio move' in the near future.  Plans have changed from originally building off of the existing studio, to upcycling our existing back screen porch into a super area for SDAJ.  This change makes the dh happy and also adds another living area to the house and increases the studio's possibilities when hosting open houses, classes and artisan trail events... + makes me smiles too! HOOT, HOOT!!  The finished studio will be 7 times what I have now.

hammers here at the ready allow the artist to freely move from one technique to the next

Simple is best not needing much effort with keeping the floor swept, benches free of metal shavings, tools in their homes and surfaces ready for that next big project.  If your tools are where they normally are at all times, you tend to be more productive, which decreases stress  when you reach for that lost riveting hammer and time, when in a crunch reaching for that brass mallet for your punches.

files on a magnetic strip at the ready

 Files should be free from bits of filed metals, steel wool and rust to file properly lasting for years.  The magnetic strip is a pain with magnetizing so all your steel wool floaties get picked up...grrr
Files can't be touching each other for it damages the teeth so the strip works great for that but, you can also have them in a single layer in a drawer.  I won't have them on the front of this work bench again but, attached to the back wall for these crazy things fall every where from just the slightest bump. 

antique hammers or old school work horse hammers for texturing here an old ball-peen....see my fave texturing hammer in the background, an old cobbler's hammer.

just a simple cleaning up

Hammers are an artisans bridging between them and the metal being formed.  I feel hammers are my favorite tool as you can see from the photos hammers live on the stump bench, tool boxes around the studio and are seen featured in many photos when even featuring my jewelry or metalprinting.
HAMMERS are the heart and soul of the 'work' screaming their existence in and out of the studio, making themselves heard. 
Yesterdays Instagram post was the above photo showing 4 of the hammers in the collection that I wanted to start using regularly but, could not with rust and crud covering each. The ball-peen, cross-peen and a tack hammer were first sandpapered with 400 grit wet/dry mechanics paper and then steel wooled.  I also took a punch to my favorite texturing hammer tightening the handle once again, pictured above the Instagram shot.
 

What is on your Jeweler's Bench Wednesday

http://www.flickr.com/groups/wednesdayonthebench/
Today on the bench, typeset and tools readied for upcoming Doctor Who textured and printed copper pendants.
tips/tricks:
I find an old polishing cloth works best to cushion a steel anvil more so than those rubber blocks. When using a rubber block during metal printing you don't get a good dead blow surface which causes the hammer and stamp to bounce for an unclear or double image.

Group Description

Every Wednesday or a Wednesday that you happen to remember post to your blog or another social networking venue that you frequent, a photo of what is on it for that day and link back to this group.
You might want to describe what you are making or not it is up to you :) Just call it 'What is on Your Jeweler's Bench Wednesday' and you are good to go.
This group will be a collection of those photos which we all need and love for I am hungry for all the eye candy I can gather up. 

pizza baked in a cast iron skillet last night for supper...  HINT : don't use a pizza cutter while still in pan...grrrrr My poor perfectly seasoned 'ERIE' Griswold skillet :(

On the Bench -setting up a typeset when printing with sheet metal

Setting up a typeset, when metal printing, is the best way not to waste sheet metal by making a crazy mistake while stamping. Here I have used the top wooden lid of another letter stamp set to arrange the different fonts. I also stamp out the saying/quote/names before to make absolutely sure the letters chosen work with the thought/design or even with especially the lowercase letters making sure the b, d, h, p etc. are the b, d, h, p or even y It is important also to check for the aesthetic by stamping on a piece of scrap wood with your leather mallet seeing if it all works together. There are about 3 scrap pieces of wood floating around the studio (I will get a pic later) for this reason so I don't stamp on the benches in studio.

setting up a typeset for PA Wilds woodland pendants 'Wild about the PA WILDS'

 

group shot showing tools used

signing and branding with custom created metal stamps

centering and measuring with then marking with a Sharpie and a metal ruler