Another Rainy Day in Portland

Good thing I like the rain.  I always have - especially in the fall.  I love the smell of the fallen leaves.  I love the smell after it rains.  I love walking my dogs in the rain.  I'm probably in the minority on that one, since most people I talk to hate the rain.

I'm pretty much settled in my living space now - just a few more boxes that can wait a bit.  I'm tired of unpacking and trying to find a place for things.  I really just need to get rid of more stuff that I really don't need!!  Moving into a 210 square foot space definitely takes some getting used to, but I have everything I need and my two dogs and I are adjusting nicely.  Here's a couple of pictures of my little rays of sunshine:

Kenny - pondering the meaning of life

Rachel enjoying the sun

Waiting patiently for their walk

I finally checked out Powell's Books - in one word?  Overwhelming!  4 or 5 floors of wall to wall books.  To me, it's not really a store for browsing and meandering about.  I, thankfully, ordered my book online, walked all the way up to the 4th or 5th floor (can't remember) to the will call floor, and picked up my book.  I did find the metalsmithing section, and did browse for a few minutes, but didn't find anything.  My next field trip will be the Portland Art Museum.

Studio Update:  It looks like I'll be able to move into the new studio this weekend, yay!  It's cheaper than the one I'm in now, and bigger.  I've been working on two pieces that are giving me a headache - mostly because when I first started finishing them a few months ago, I didn't have all the tips and tricks to finishing to a brilliant shine so I still have scratches in the surface that I can't seem to get rid of.  May be time to alter the designs so I can move on!!  I got a new tool that I can't wait to try out! It's a dapping block, which is a steel square block that has different sized depressions in it, that when I put a round piece of metal in one of the depressions, I use the corresponding dapping tool (a steel rod with a bulb head on the end) to create a concave or convex, depending on how you look at it, piece.  I have all kinds of ideas stored in my head and in my sketchbook that I can't wait to execute!  Plus I have some enamel, resin, and Precious Metal Clay that I want to try out also.  For those who don't know, Precious Metal Clay or PMC, is fine grains of silver mixed with a binder that when wet creates a clay like substance that can be worked and molded just like regular clay.  But, when it is fired, the binders burn off, and you're left with nothing but your silver piece.  Most people use a small tabletop kiln to fire it in, but you can also use a torch if the piece isn't much larger than a quarter.

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Well, Monday is almost over - have a good rest of the week.  And if you hate rain - try to stay dry!  

Caio for now...