5 Years of Art School at Work

Our jewelry store isn't like other jewelry stores... why use only standard black velvet displays when that twisted log in my backyard looks so rad? Buddha coin bank was just cryin' out for some necklaces... and antique iron trivets- I think I can find a good home for those. We have an incurable habit of leaving every park, antique shop, yard or basement with pockets full of miscellaneous objects and debris that somehow can be worked into a jewelry case display. Sometimes it can be awkward to explain when standing in line at the supermarket with 3 pounds of Goya dried beans- "Making soup tonight m'am?" "Uhhh.... not exactly". The folks at Home Depot seem the most confused as to what exactly I'm making, but I've learned that the simple phrase "It's for an art project" will usually receive a bland stare and an "oooh, ok" and will avoid further questions. Maybe we need more avenues to express our inner artists or maybe we just made too many dioramas as kids.

Emily and Ashley turn up the HOTNESS

Well folks, September is back again and you know what that means... enameling season is here!!! What were you thinking? Back to school season? Not really a factor for us here at the shop. Now a-days our year is judged by what conditions we can bear for certain metalsmithing endeavors. Nothing more lovely that warming one's hands by the kiln on a crisp Autumn day, but try sitting next to the thing in mid July while it radiates 1450 degrees Fahrenheit and you'll see why we only do it certain times a year.
Real vitreous glass enameling is a time-consuming, labor-intensive, eye-straining, back-aching process which only true devotees continue to practice. Champleve, the technique we use the most, is a method of glass inlay. First we create a metal piece with recessed areas-this can be done by either etching, carving, or piercing (sawing out a design and overlaying it on a backer sheet). Next we choose our ground glass powder colors and mix them with Klyr-fire (a tree resin product) and distilled water. Using a very fine paint brush or tiny spatula we fill the recesses in the metal with the glass/klyrfire/water mixture and let it dry. Once dry, we put the piece on a trivet or sheet of mica and place on a steel mesh rack which we lift into the kiln with that fencing-stick looking thing (sticking your hands into a kiln is a BIG no-no). In a few minutes the steel rack will be glowing a orangey/red and we know it is time to take it out. The glass should be smooth and shiny - underfiring will result in grainy or "orange peel" look (sometimes used for stylistic effect) and overfiring can change the colors to brownish hues or burn out the edges (which can also look cool for certain applications). Repeat the filling and firing many times until the glass completely fills the recess. Now the real fun starts! Grinding the glass down until it's flush with the metal and your fingers bleed and you've lost the will to live. Proceed to sanding and polishing out grindstone marks and re-fire to glaze the glass. Then polish again! It's really a blast. I kid, but really, it looks beautiful and (we feel) is worth it in the end. We hope you think so too ;)

We're #8 !!!

Nyack, NY has been proclaimed #8 "Coolest Small Town in America" by Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel magazine 2010. In your face Medicine Park, Oklahoma and Egg Harbor, Wisconsin (#9 and #10)! Just kidding -I'm sure they're lovely too. Anyway, we got a small mention of our shop, Torch Song Metals, and a picture of my very messy... I mean productive workbench. Other highlighted shops include: Franklin Antique Center across the way from us and jam-packed with fun stuff, Winter Wednesday Flowers which had beautiful arrangements but has sadly closed, Patisserie Didier Dumas our nextdoor neighbor friend who makes the best French pastries this side of the Atlantic, The Hudson House renowned for it's fine cuisine and delicious cocktails, and Riverview B&B which I am not familiar with, but that's just because I live here and therefore have never gone looking for a great place to stay. And just a note: there is not a floating mansion above our main drag- the scan just shows what was on the other side of the page... though I'm sure we would have made #1 if it was real... maybe we better get to work on that.