Friday, September 28, 2007

Mica shift- first time!...

I have known it by seeing for almost 3 years and never tried to make it.

Yesterday I have got orders for 2 Mezuzahs- one for a friend's teenager daughter and the other for a new opened natural food store.
So I had my first Mica shift experience...

What is mica? wikipedia says it is a mineral.
The word "mica" is thought to be derived from the Latin word micare, meaning to shine, in reference to the brilliant appearance of this mineral . For more info- see wiki.

Mica is a naturally occurring stone that forms in thin crystalline wafers. It is very soft and can be pulled apart with your fingertips. Egyptian, Greek and Roman women used ground up mica in their make-up to impart a 'glow' to their skin because even when ground to a powder, mica's crystalline structure allows it to reflect light.
When you unwrap a bar of gold Premo ,you may notice streaks of dark gold running through the clay. When you process the clay in a pasta machine, the streaks disappear and the clay seems to brighten several shades and become much more reflective.

If you want to align the mica for maximum shine you must first process the clay,#1 on your pasta machine- for about 10 to 20 times...

 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Michael's butterflys-freedom!

I used to work hours on one piece...
Thinking, imagining, falling in love...
A month and a half ago I decided to make 120 butterflies magnets
in order to give as a new year (Jewish) gift to friends...

I had no idea of how I am going to do it! Never done such a quantity and I had time limit with other thongs to do.

This made me create effective and productive "systems" and I think I changed my hard disc for thinking about my abilities...

In order not be bored I made them in differant techniques-

here are some of them-

Flower buket cane-
 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa



 
Posted by Picasa


Donna Kato style-

 
Posted by Picasa



Mokumegane-

 
Posted by Picasa



 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa




Retro-
 
Posted by Picasa


 
Posted by Picasa
AA

 
Posted by Picasa


"Clasic"...

 
Posted by Picasa


Packed...

 
Posted by Picasa