Five Senses

Lavender outside my workshop

Smell - I've been on holiday for a couple of weeks and when I opened up my workshop this morning and began to clean it, ready for work, it smelt wonderful.
Lavender bushes outside mingled with the evocative smell of my freshly oiled rolling mill, the sweet acid of the pickle I clean my work with and warm dusty wood of my workbench.
Sight - Colour has always been vital to my work. I love the subtle tones of contrasting metals from the soft sheen of silver to the industrial grey of titanium. Then there's the rainbow colours of resin or acrylic and in my latest work, pictured here, a touch of bright linen thread

oxidised silver chain with linen thread

Hearing - I like to work to music. We have a discussion thread on the etsymetal forum called "studio tunes". Imagine all those jewellers worldwide singing along to their favourite rock songs or arias. Haha, did you shudder? My workshop has really thin wooden walls and I pity my neighbours, I admit. At the moment I'm listening to Little Dragon, all light and summery but come the autumn and it'll be Clash and Bowie and by the depths of winter Tom Waits and Nick Cave will be growling with me.
Touch - The best way to tell if a piece is finished? Close your eyes and run your fingertips over it. The slightest bump from the solder join on the smooth inner curve of a bangle will tell you - back to the filing.
Taste - Hmm, I don't like working with copper much because the smell "tastes" really strange to me.

resin and paper earrings

The inspiration for my meanderings is the August etsymetal team blog carnival. Read all about their senses here:
1. Beth Cyr - http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com
2. 2Roses http://www.jewelrytutorial.blogspot.com
3. Victoria Takahashi - http://vtakahashi.blogspot.com/
4. Cynthia Del Giudice - http://cynthiadelgiudice.blogspot.com
5. Rebecca bogan - http://AdobeSol.wordpress.com
6. Lou Hunter- http://peculiarforest.blogspot.com
7. Inbar Bareket - http://inbarbareket.info/blog
8. Abella Blue - http://www.abellablue.com/blog
9 Quercus Silver - http://quercussilver.blogspot.co.uk/