Aye! Muy Caliente!

Well, as I’m sure you already know, the oracle has predicted. Yes, people, the little beastie named Punxsutawney Phil was rudely awakened from a sound sleep yesterday, yanked from his burrow on Gobblers Knob to forecast six more weeks of winter by the ominous sign of his shadow. Really, who is brave (or dumb enough) to stick their hand into a dark hole and roust a hibernating critter?

In other words, Happy Ground Hog’s Day.

Speaking of nature, did you all get a look-see at this week’s “Wolf Moon?” It was advertised as the brightest and largest lunar view of the year. Named, I reckon, for the canis lupus howling at it. If regular full moons have such pull with the ocean, making people loonier than normal, I wonder how influential this celestial tide will be upon personkind.

The timing of this satellite spectacle segues beautifully into a letter I just received from a woman nicknamed Snow White. Gee, I just realized I have all these people in my life with curious monikers such as Groom, Kimmmm, BeeBugg, Chakra Girl, God’s Minion, Zolo King, GoatMama, and of course me as Cinderella.

Snow White inquired about the jewelry classes we’re taking and asked if we have “a lot of fire” in our charts? What an interesting question, a curious thread worth pulling. Here’s the longer of the short answers. I have very little knowledge or experience of astrology. What I learned, I learned as a child. The first birth chart I heard reference to was the famous one those three Wise Men computed that led them by starlight to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.

The second was that greasy pick-up line from the late 60’s or early 70’s, “What’s your sign?” Although I was a mere babe in arms, my favorite answer is still, “the dollar sign.”

In order to answer Snow White, I did a little investigating and sure enough, she called it. Groom and I both have a balance of fire and air in our natal charts. No elements of water or earth - just fire and air.

Too much and the conflagration dies out. Not enough and the blaze consumes. As Groom and I recently marked 21 years as a couple, apparently we have the appropriate amount of oxidizing and combustible materials in our energy fields to keep the home fires burning.

This trail of thought opened up something for me to consider in a different light. Cinderella is the archetype, the blueprint of my life. I had always looked at my birthplace and life-path in terms of the Cinderella story, but until Snow White asked, I hadn’t thought about them in terms of the fire story.

For starters, take the name itself. The fairy tale princess, Cinderella, is really Ella of the Cinders because much of her work revolved around the hearth. And you’ll remember that Cinderella Lucinda is also a blood relative from the 1800’s as well as the name of our whimsical line of jewelry.

Secondly, I was born in the Land of Ash. Most of you know it as Ashland, but the meaning is clear.

At the time of my birth, our house was located in Phoenix. The phoenix, also known as a “fire bird,” is a symbol of the sun and is legendary for rising from its ashes.

My first name, a diminutive of both Cinderella and Lucinda (Cindy) means “goddess of the moon,” which is a reflector for the sun and is how we got started on this celestial topic in the first place (the wolf moon). My middle name, Rae, means “a beam of light.”

Okay, now I’m just cracking myself up as I follow the crumbs. A root of the word incendiary (containing a substance that burns with an intense heat) originates from the French incindere – to kindle, or incendie – fire. Say “in Cindy.” Hmmm, Incendie, in Cindy. Fire is in Cindy. As an Aquarian, I’ve never quite understood why this air sign is symbolized as a water-bearer. However, with all this talk of les incendies, perhaps it’s wise to have an urn of H2O in the ready.

Groom’s name is Donald and with his golden mane and red, fiery beard, it is no surprise that he is a Leo of Celtic descent. Considering today’s theme, I’m finding it quite fitting to discover that Leo is the sun sign. Donald, a clan name in Scotland, means “great chief” or if you go with the sound Dawn, it means the first appearance of light. Dawn is the beginning of a new day, something that begins to appear, develop, come forth. Perfect for a burgeoning photographer!

In the Chinese zodiac, I was born a dragon, a fire-breathing creature. One of the first descriptions of a dragon person when I googled it was “Dragon people are balls of fire! They are full of vitality and love life.”

For those of you who have ever broken bread with us, you know this to be true. We eat food of epic heatness. Some try to woo with chocolate, but those in the know come bearing gifts chock full of capsicum. People try to outdo themselves in discovering spices and sauces, powders and peppers with units rating high on the Scolville Scale.

Mmmmm, pyrotechnic peppers such as jalapenos, hildagos, orange habaneros, thai, caribbean reds, devil’s tongue, or white ghosts. Sounds almost druggy.

Confession: Eating fire is a little bit (okay a lot) addictive. When those rascally chemicals from the peppers crash land on the taste buds, the experts claim “the body is tricked into believing that it is in pain and releases the pain-relieving endorphins.” Oh, let me tell you, my body is not tricked into believing it is in pain, in that moment, it is in pain. But what a delicious pain. Those endorphins come rushing in and gotta love the ride!

This brings to mind the seed of associating heat with the kitchen. A pleasant early childhood memory involves my mother playing Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire on her reel-to-reel tape player. The machine sat directly on top of the stove, “It burns, burns, burns…” sounding like her theme song. Mother was a musician, not a cook. The fact that music came from her oven and not food, well, that’s my mom.

In last week’s entry, there was a caricature of Groom and myself. It showed cartoony red circles drawn on my cheeks. Alas, I really do have bright, red, flame-colored cheeks. Some people are kind and call them “rosy,” but a rose by any other name is still as red. I’ve been distraught at times by their Rudolphian quality, but after considering Snow White’s fire question, it makes much more sense now.

For Christmas, we received two CD’s. One titled Rio del Fuego – River of Fire by joe scott and hannah alkire http://www.acousticeidolon.com/ and the other, On Fire, http://www.michelcamilo.com/. Coincidental?

If Simon Cowell, the smug (as in contentedly confident in one’s own superiority) American Idol judge, were to read this week’s entry, he might say in his distinctive British voice, “I find this to be quite self-indulgent.” And he’d be right. It is totally self-indulgent. But it’s also self-discovery. Perhaps for you, too.

What does your name mean? What sounds or vibrations does it carry? Where were you born, do any of these reveal clues to your path? For us, they were hidden in plain sight.

All this time, Groom and I have been surrounded by an effulgence of fire symbology (yeah, I don’t care if I used that incorrectly, language is rubber and I can bend it like Beckham), and we didn’t even know it. Drawn to metal and the desire to work/play with it, we’re discovering our own fire for the first time. We’re handling kilns and torches and soldering irons, heating metal and glass to their melting points. It’s fun and suddenly, all the fire we have makes a lick of sense.

Short answer Snow White? Yes, Groom and I have a lot of fire in our charts.

Update: Some jewelry tools have trickled in, so we can take a magic marker and scratch off some of those items from The List. Things like a soldering iron, a fire-retardant surface, a soldering tripod with screen, a charcoal firing brick and a crucible. A phone call from Zolo King says a crock pot, a vice and a ball peen hammer are on the way. We purchased two die cutters on eBay, a dapping set from Harbor Freight and have a rain check for a flex shaft.

If you’re still reading and your eyes have not glazed over, thanks for playing in my self-indulgent sandbox.

The List...

Groom and I were treasure troving at the Flea Market on Sunday (or if you prefer frenchy-fied, le Marche au Puce), when we ran into the gentleman of Z0L0 fame. He’s the one who misread my handwriting and thought the date 2010 said “Z0L0.”

Z0L0 King, as I now call him, was curious to discover what we were hunting for. Oh, lots of stuff, we told him. Mainly tools for our new metalsmithing adventure.

“Like what?” he asked. We mentally scrolled down the list and mentioned things like an old crock pot for pickling.

“Crockpot? Pickle? I thought you were doing jewelry, not canning.”

We laughed. A pickle is an acidic solution for removing fire scale and oxidation from doing mean things to metal like soldering and annealing. Which is why we were scouting for used items like an old crock pot, hammers –

“What kind of hammers?”

Oi, so many different kinds. Riveting, planishing, forming…

“Just make me a list,” Z0L0 King said. “Write it down and send it to me and I’ll see what I’ve got lurking around the old homestead.”

“We’re not looking for charity,” I told him.

“Would you just shut up,” he said. He’s that way. Bold, unafeared, or in his term, old school. “Just send me the darmn list.”

So I went home and did as I was instructed. I compiled a (partial) list of some of the tools and supplies we need to acquire with an interesting mathematical twist. The list is larger than our current budget. Throw in shipping, especially for the heavier items, and it makes the project of rearranging and slightly remodeling our basement into a jeweler’s studio even more daunting.

Everything we read and hear exclaims emphatically to ventilate ventilate ventilate. Okay, throw an exhaust system onto the list.

Since I spent so much time compiling the list, I forwarded it to GoatMama as GoatPapa used to work in a metal shop, is handy with tools, and is a bit of a collector himself. They said they might have a thing or two.

From there, we sent it to Groom’s brother, who is a professional contractor. He has a storage unit which I call a magic emporium and he already emailed back with a couple more very useful items on the list.

As I was getting ready for class this morning, the idea struck to post this list to all you faithful readers. As I said to Z0L0 King, we are not looking for charity, but perhaps those of you who thrift shop might give us a call if you run across some of these items. Others of you will have a thing or two lying around. Still others of you will undoubtedly know a friend who knows a guy, well, you get the picture.

Often times, used tools have a proven track record and are quality made. Two different friends have had the amazing opportunity to buy the contents of somebody’s metalsmithing studio, so I know it can happen. Perhaps you know of someone who is retiring, or used to do jewelry, or thought they might like it but actually didn’t and has things for sale or giveaway. Think of storage units, garage piles, attic treasures, basement spelunking.

You can email us at http://www.cinderellalucinda.com/ and make our day.

Oh, I should probably warn you. GoatMama wrote back to me this morning and complained that her eyes were rolling back in her head from the list. It’s long. Many of the items you may not recognize, but hey, you could turn it into a challenge to see how many of them you do!

Thank you for reading and looking it over. We absolutely appreciate it.

THE LIST…

Hammering:

Heavy ball peen/light ball peen – “a popular hammer commonly used for shaping and flattening metal and for removing dents. With one round flat face and one round half-domed face.”

Planishing – “used for hardening metal and for smoothing the surface of gold, silver, brass, stainless steel and other metals.”

Chasing – “a multi-purpose hammer for chasing, chiseling, riveting or peening. With one flat face and one round face.”

Riveting - “used for forming metal and for riveting. With one round face and one chisled face.”

Plastic mallet – “useful for forming, bending and shaping without scratching or marring surfaces.”

Embossing – “also known as repousse, embossing works the metal from the back to form three-dimensional shapes. With two high-domed round faces.”

Forming - “used to move heavy-gauge metal while retaining much of the weight of the original metal. Substantial weight with a slightly rounded face.”

Anvil

Mini-anvil

Engraving Ball or Bench Mate

Vise

Mini-bench vise

Wooden hand vise (aka ring clamp)

Mandrels (earring, ring, bracelet, necklace)

Alphanumeric Stamping tools (also looking for random design stamps like heart, star, fleur de lis etc.)

Stainless steel shot for tumbler

Burnishing compound

Ultrasonic cleaner

Disc cutters

Dapping block & punches

Sandpaper with varying degrees (200-600 at least)

SOLDERING:

Work bench (plus fire resistant surface - sheet metal/ drywall (or?) so the thing does not catch on fire!

Exhaust device and /or bench top smoke absorber (Back draft, not overdraft)

Flux, flux brush

Solder (hard, medium, easy)

Soldering tripod with steel screens

Soldering picks

Third-hand (tweezer-like apparatus affixed to a base to hold piece while we solder)

Charcoal brick/magnesium/honeycomb brick to melt solder

Anti-flux

Copper tongs (or big copper tweezers)

Pickle/Citric Acid/Sodium bisulfate (Sparex?)

Plastic basket for pickle

Container for water (to plunge red hot metal into)

Stainless steel binding wire

Borax

GENERAL USE:

Optivisor or loupe

Bench pin

Bench Shear (Metal cutter / guillotine) Beverly Shear

Flex shaft

Container for liver of sulfur

Liver of sulfur gel patina

Caliper (mm gauge)

Two-hole Metal Punch (up to 18 gauge)

Soft brass brush (special, not like in the hardware section)

Steel wool and plastic brillo pad

Cut Lube/ or bees wax (Bur Life)

Tap to thread holes in metal for miniature hardware

Wire and lead bender

Leather aprons/natural fiber aprons

Lights for working in basement

Heater for working in basement

Smooth flatnose pliers

Steel burnisher

Polishing papers

Tube cutting jig for tube rivets

Shape templates (circles, rectangles, etc)

Alligator tape

OTHER:

Precious Metal Clay and supplies/tools – (which is an entirely other long list)

Digital Paragon kiln

Enameling supplies

Copper foil tape dispenser

Soldering iron (Weller 100 watt for stained glass: 700 degree tip and 600 degree decorative tip)

Scrap metal

Old license plates

Old round type-writer keys

Miniature hardware (rivets, washers, etc.)

Mini cookie cutters also known as aspic cutters (teeny teeny tiny)

1/8” cutter corner for lamination

Renaissance Micro-Crystalline Wax Polish


I’d like to say, “That’s all folks,” but every day we learn something new which dictates adding something new to the list. However, this will get us started.

Oh, and by the way, the fact that my birthday is rapidly approaching is totally coincidental.

Again, thank you very muchly!

And Then…

I didn’t realize how heavy the burden of wanting to “become a writer” was until I put it down. I’d been carrying it around with me since cognition and an internal voice constantly chided me to produce produce produce; it was exhausting and caused resentment.

Any time I did anything other than write, a feeling of resentment would rise within me, mocking my actions and convincing me I was a waste of time. Here I was over 40 and had not published anything other than a few newspaper articles. The internal dialogue was harsh and critical and made creating jewelry more of a slave task than a joyful one.

Do you remember me saying that we took a year’s leave of absence from making jewelry? That was in 2005. Without the jewelry to make, I was splitting my time between doing hair and wanting to write. So then I started resenting hair because it was taking me away from my fantasy career. When I finally decided to take a leap of faith and devote all my time to writing, guess what? I imploded.

What does imploding look like? Well, as a self-disciplined individual, I had never had any trouble before coaxing myself into making deadlines; in school, in college, or designing for the art shows. But as I finally had all the time in the world at my disposal - Groom and I agreeing to live off our savings while we got our writing careers on track - I could not make myself write.

I allowed and invented every excuse in the book to prevent me from writing. Oh, first I had to get my writing space just exactly right. Next I had to do a bunch of research, organize my papers, rearrange my files, and look over my notes. Thereafter, a scrub down of the house lead to a voluminous yard sale and in between if I ever did play on the computer, I couldn’t sit still for five minutes.

I’d start a novel and switch to an idea for an article and then an inspirational piece and then a short story and then about one of our travel adventures and I’d start a squabble with Groom because we were sharing the computer, so that definitely cut into my writing time and the Internet was too slow and I lamented I needed my own computer and thusly I managed to efficiently squander our year’s leave of absence from creating jewelry by complaining, whingeing, whining, diatribing, digressing, crying, weeping, swooning, pretend-fainting (okay, no, not that one) and otherwise wasting a perfectly good writing opportunity. That’s what me imploding looks like.

By 2006, I was thrilled to be making jewelry again. In the convening years, the lovely Hannah Goldrich instructed me to learn metalsmithing, we bumped up against a shifting economy and more competition, rules started changing on the playing field, we got our hands on cameras and began incorporating our images into new jewelry ideas.

We spent November of 2009 in the studio, sort of like mad scientists, thinking and plotting, planning and experimenting with the new jewelry ideas and took the tools we had on hand and came up with something fresh. Oh, don’t let me leave you with the impression that it was all beakers and crazy concoctions and dry ice and romantic Bride of Frankenstein and Madame Curie stuff. No, no, I definitely explored the emotional scale on this one.

It began with a question (what’s something new we can do?) and then it got exciting, difficult, impossible, hopeful, downright grave and depressing, then enlightening and much like childbirth, voila! a new integration of materials was born and I was riding the skyrocket of joy.

Until…

Until a Director of an Art Show told us that they were not good enough. She gave me many compliments on the idea of it, but said the execution was not good enough…YET. She suggested we look at the process as a marathon and not a sprint and take this year to go to school and learn some metalsmithing skills and by next year, with the new ideas, we quite possibly might jump tax brackets.

Hmmm, there it was again, “Get some metalsmithing skills,” told to us by people in the know.

Now I could have had a mini-meltdown (have you noticed I might have a little bit of what’s referred to as an “artistic temperament?”), but the funny thing was, after all that work and experimentation, I wasn’t even tempted to curl up in the fetal position after being told the work wasn’t good enough.

I was inspired.

Looking in the college catalogue, we found two classes that suited our fancy: Metalsmithing and Enameling. We sent in our greenbacks, got our student I.D.’s (hey, they’re great for various discounts) and started the new adventure in January. Wait, that’s this month.

We’ve been pouring over catalogues, getting redeye from scrolling through page after Internet page of websites offering tools, supplies, hints, tips, video lessons, eeeeeeee!!! a confusing tangle. What will we need and where will we set it all up in our doll-sized house?

Oh, one thing for sure, bandaids. As a delicate flower, I am not used to burly tools, hammers, drills, kilns, torches, grinding machines, things called flex shafts, in other words, lots of metal equipment with sharp or hot moving parts.

The first day I hammered my left digits, didn’t realize the metal could get so hot (ouchy-wah-wah!) and sliced my finger. Um, glass is sharp, man. The work scratches the heck out of my skin, requiring mass doses of hydrating cream, and my neck has been out for awhile now.

But guess what? I looooooove it!!!