End-Of-Year

[The Justified Sinner]

I am now winding the workshop down for the end of the year. I'll be shutting-up fully on Thursday for two weeks, back again in 2013 with new projects to tackle.

Although I've not been quiet in this holiday season, I have been dealing with people who have been startlingly organised and this has meant that for the last week and the week to come, I don't have any rush-jobs to complete, no last-minute dashes to the post-office. The last Commission for the season was sent out on Saturday.

What this has meant is that I've had time to work on some projects which were begun a while back and not completed for various reasons. I've also completed the "Imperial Overcoat Star Of The Order Of Aksentii Poprishchin", made from silver, pure iron, found steel sewing-machine needles, rock crystal and amethyst:

 

 

The lettering on the front reads, "сумасшедшего" - "Madman" and is cut from pure iron sheet.

The back is engraved with the details, "October 3rd - 34 March. February, 349.", the dates which open and close Gogol's "Diary of a Madman":

 

 

One of the old pieces which I picked up is this bangle from 2008, made from an old steel rule. It has the more up-to-date touches of the little graffiti skull and the spikes on the hinge, and the fastening is made from rare-earth magnets reclaimed from old electric toothbrush heads - none of which would have been part of this had it been completed in 2008 - so I am quite glad that it still works as a complete piece and doesn't look at all bitty:

 

 

 

I also started on a piece from 2009, "Fourteenth Century Nightlife", which was uncompleted for technical reasons, namely that I want it to light up with a self-contained, rechargeable LED light: 

 

 

I think that I now have the ability to get the lighting sorted out to make the polished tagua nut glow!

A more recent project completed was another of the found nut rings, this time with a large garnet set in a true gypsy setting:

 

 

There will be a couple more of these small projects over the coming few days.

 

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I have had a really lazy day today, having done very little but read and watch old films. I was raiding the marvellous collection of"Film Noir" at Archive.org and found some marvellous films there: I can highly recommend Ida Lupino's "The Hitch-Hiker"; "Quicksand" with Mickey Rooney and Peter Lorre; and "Impact".

While on that subject, I have to suggest that for a festive movie treat, why not watch "Santa Claus Conquers The Martians"? 

[Brigitte Martin]

:-)))

[The Justified Sinner]

Thanks, Brigitte! I, too, love "Madman", as it shall now be known for short. I will have it properly photographed and it can be a new work for the show in Istanbul next spring. 

I will aim to find "A Christmas Story". Dingo and I really are going to watch Santa Claus Conquers The Martians on Christmas day.

[Brigitte Martin]

The MADMAN is absolutely fantastic!!

PS: If you can find it in the UK, see if you have time to watch "A Christmas Story", you'll laugh yourself silly...