We've had a great week with Ruth and John! Some highlights were joining Ruth for her Aqua Aerobics class, eating Thai food in Sonoma and then going to the local theatre to watch the epic movie "Lawrence of Arabia", enjoying the local Glen Ellen scene at the Fig Cafe, sipping on delicious Birdland Merlot, enjoying cocktail hour and singing with Harold, the parrot, and shopping together in Santa Rosa. A special highlight was going to San Francisco on Saturday night to hear Ruth sing music composed in the eleventh century by Hildegard Von Bingen with her quintet, the Vajra Voices. It was amazing to hear the hauntingly beautiful music performed by these five gifted women.
In between all this fun, we actually had a bit of time to spend together in Ruth's studio.
We were excited to learn how to make anodized aluminum bangles. Ruth showed us various techniques she uses to decorate the bangles and away we went. The possibilities were endless for color choice and design. I decided to "tangle" my bangle, (hey, that rhymes!) with some designs from Rick and Maria's site called Zentangle and a site called Tangle Patterns. Here's my first bangle!
For my next bangle, Ruth taught me how to use this clever little riveting machine from Metal Clay Findings. It made it easy to attach the two parts of the bangle together.
I was excited to learn the process of riveting! I'm anxious to try creating designs with rivets when I get home. And I loved using these "Telesight" magnifiers. I've had trouble with some other magnifiers because of the prescription in my glasses, but these worked really well. The magnifier part of the glasses just flips up when you don't need them. Now I've got to get a pair of my own!
Angie made a bangle using a Queen Anne's Lace design which is one of her favorite wild flowers. She loved the deep red background color that she achieved.
We loved learning some new techniques with Ruth. It's always so much fun to spend creative time together.
Yesterday, we said our goodbyes to Ruth and John and wished them a wonderful time in the U.K.
And now our adventures with Harold begin...
You're a good boy, Harold!