yesterday we made things
I’ve been wanting to take one of Lubna Saif Abbas’ workshops for ages, but they always fell on days that I couldn’t attend. This one, however, was on a Sunday afternoon. Perfect. And what made it even more perfect was that I love playing with clay and I love silver and it sort of blended many of my interests into one 4-hour-long workshop given by architect-turned-metal-clay-guru Hawra Bahman. And I also met some really nice people. If this kind of thing floats your boat, you can follow LB o J’zazz on Facebook for more classes like this one. Or check out their blog here.
my own starter kit. I love containers of things just for me. even though I got to keep none of it, the contents were mine for four whole hours
silver and copper sample pieces
trying this really cool ring on. please ignore my witch hands and dastardly nail polish
i had a clear idea of what i wanted to do so i started with this herringbone design to imprint onto my clay
voila! the first piece done, dehydrated, and sanded
and piece number two. i purposely wanted two different shapes and sizes and was lucky they turned out the way i wanted them to. it’s hard to gauge how much clay you need per piece
next it was three minutes of intense heat. here the lights were off while hawra demonstrated how to properly torch a piece of clay. this part sort of freaked me out. but the aroma was gorgeous
manal and i are really concentrating while hawra teaches us how to use the torch. photo by lina mahusain
david and ream are concentrating too. i think. photo by lina mahusain
my turn. yikes. photo by lubna saif abbas
i love the burning marks left on the slab after each heating process. here, lina’s pomegranate piece has left behind a yin and yang
my two piece are done. i didn’t like the finishing so i decided to oxidize them
here hawra oxidizes my pieces in diluted liver of sulfur which is extremely smelly. think egg yolks left out in the sun for a day. in kuwait. in july
and done
now to add the eves
i created the components but lubna generously assembled the earrings. because i made the holes in my pieces so tiny, it was a challenge finding a wire thin enough for the jump rings, so here lubna is creating custom ones for me. this is what i call love and passion for one’s vocation
i attempted sneaking in a try on the other earring but somewhat failed. photo by lina mahusain
so lubna and her beautifully-ringed hands comes to the rescue. photo by lina mahusain
what a pro
and one final squeeze
hooray, lubna, hooray! i love it
one for the left or right ear
and one for the right or left ear
one for my ear. thanks, lubna, for chopping my nose off
and one for lubna’s ear
lina works on her pomegranate pendants
she’s already wearing the heart rings she made
look how lovely
two lovehearts kiss
meanwhile manal and hawra discuss design
manal’s elegant pieces
lubna demonstrating a coloring technique
and lastly but not leastly, david finishes his men-dant (that’s a men’s pendant, i just made it up): partial compass on one side and this script on the other
And thus the night ended. I had so much fun, created (with help) a lovely piece of jewelry I’m so proud of, and was completely uplifted spiritually (and those of you who know me know that I have been on a mission to drastically improve my life!). Oh and I had some of Lubna’s delicious, duck-face-inducing hot apple cider and a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Yum!