oops

These past few months I have been swimming in garden and yard related activities and all that is copper has been put on the back burner.  I think the last time I actually made something was the end of February.  My how time does fly.  In the interim, my studio workbench has been overrun by a myriad of gardening tools, gloves, organic pesticides and fertilizers, tools, tool belts, tool boxes and all things not related to jewelry making.  So much so that I can no longer see what lies beneath.  


The other day I was in a desperate search for my favorite gardening gloves when I found a plastic storage container that I use for my ammonia based patina.  I noticed that there was something inside.  Oh my.  It was two pieces of copper that had been sitting in the ammonia and salt patina for months.  I was scared to open it.  Fearful that it was some type of science project gone horribly awry.  But I braved up and opened the container.  Whew, did it smell.  But the pieces inside were just beautiful.  They looked like some type of dinosaur egg.  Okay, so I don't really know what a dinosaur egg looks like, but that's what first popped into my head.

It has made me remember why I love the old fashioned type of patina's best.  I did recently purchase patina's that can be painted on and there is no waiting involved, but a real patina is embraced with the love of time.  So in thinking about future projects I thought it would be nice to go ahead, cut out my copper, put it in several different solutions and wait.  Just wait.  There's always something else to work on while they sit and I always have the ole reliable liver of sulpur, so why not wait.


"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson