Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Happiness is......

a returning customer.

by MaryAnn Carroll

Today I just want to share a little bit about what my friend and LMAJ associate, Karen McGovern, does with discs that I create specifically for her two or three times a year. What I love about working with Karen is that she gives me lots of freedom and doesn't put limits, directions, expectations, etc. on the custom order. I am not one for custom orders because I am a little obsessive and worry that things will not turn out okay. They tend to take me twice as long.  I prefer to create freely without the unpleased customer's fictitious voice echoing in my head, "that's not what I envisioned, wrong color,  I don't really like that... etc."

Karen simply let me know that she didn't need any reds or yellows. I forgot about the yellow part between the message I read upstairs in my house and the walk to the basement where my very messy studio is! Whoops! It's the old being in your 50's thing. You'll see a couple yellows below. I am not a fan of yellow, so it isn't something I tend to favor, unless it has earthy tones to it.

She did tell me the she gravitated toward the discs that are the light caribbean blue, so I decided to make lots for this order in various sizes. The discs range from eensy weensy (1/4") to large (1 3/8"). It is actually those two sizes that are the toughest to enamel. The larger take longer and many coats to achieve a rich color and with the smalls, you have to be careful to be fast, so that the copper doesn't melt in the flame. The color can disappear from that size in a couple of seconds as well as the disc itself!

Here is what I finished up last night.




What I find amazing is how Karen uses these in so many different ways. I think anyone that see her work would agree that she is incredibly talented.










And some of my favorites.....




Karen also offers a tutorial about one way to use discs.

You can find that HERE. You can also find more from Karen on Facebook





7 comments:

stacilouise said...

I love seeing your work together like that! Nothing better then taking one artists vision (component) and taking it further down the road!
Maryann, I drool at that picture of all the disc's- lucky lady getting all them!!!

Patti Vanderbloemen said...

What a collaboration! Love your enameled discs - oh the color combos!!! And Karen certainly has a way of showing off those beautiful colors in the most artful way!

Karen McGovern said...

Thank you so much MaryAnn! I absolutely love working with your discs. It's hard to go wrong when you have such beautiful elements to work with. I am addicted!

Karen McGovern said...

Thank you so much MaryAnn! I absolutely love working with your discs. It's hard to go wrong when you have such beautiful elements to work with. I am addicted!

Anonymous said...

Wow! She sure does use those components in many intriguing ways! Your colors are fabulous!

Monica said...

OMG! I'd forgotten how much I love Karen's designs! They always blow my mind! HUGE fan! And the enameled discs too, of course, without them there would be less life in the design!

Unknown said...

I love Karen's imaginative, original style. Awesome pieces (made with awesome components!)

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