Deep in the Heart....

 After all the hard work and prep, time has finally come for us to help Casey pack up and head down to The Lone Star State where there are fields of yellow roses, belt buckles the size of a small child and the setting for the answer to one of life's most frustrating and nail biting questions "who shot JR?" 

What's the reason to head down south besides warmer weather, no snow and the possiblitiy of morel hunting...(as if that wasn't enough)...it's the....

Bayou City Art Festival 

CSD Booth #161

http://bayoucityartfestival.com/

(click on link for festival details)

 


Stop by, say howdy and see what Casey's been up to...

Here is a little sneak peek...

 Once Casey is back it's home for bout three weeks then loading up again for 

CRAFTBOSTON

http://www.societyofcrafts.org/cbspring/artists.asp?whatpg=artview&navig=media&id=2877#a

Click link for Show details
  
On the way back Casey will be going through St. Paul and will take part in the Saint Paul Art Crawl...details to come or click onto link...

http://www.stpaulartcrawl.org/
 
 

Here's a little peek, Casey will give you details bout inspiration during Casey time...speaking of which...it's...

Casey Time
"Life...now go live it"   

  

Today's Casey time is bout life...on Friday my grandmother passed, she lost her battle with cancer, she is missed and loved by all that she knew...upside, she is now at peace and not in pain...

I wanted an uplifting song bout life not about the sorrows of death...this song by M83 puts a smile on my face and hope it does the same to you...Love you Lois...RIP 

and another...since my gma always called me Sassy...

 

but with death comes reflection and sometimes doubt...am I living my life, is this what I want to leave behind, did I do what I wanted to do...love it when Gandolf says "..what to do with the time that is given.."

Over the last couple of months my life has lead me to a place of reflection where I have decided to focus on "Imagining the impossible and making it possible" and passing the word and education about handcrafted...most of you already know this but it's nice to see with having the influence of seeing a life lived and then passed that my ideals are reinforced...

This brings me to what I've been creating and the inspiration behind my current work..at first I really wanted to create something based on Alice and Wonderland because not everything is what it seems, it's evolved with this idea into who we are...we are shells, some beautiful on the outside, some not, some filled with life and others empty, there are even those who don't even know themselves...we morph or evolute with our experiences, some leave scars and others leave wounds that will never heal...

This series takes me to a place of vulnerability, a place in life that I am very comfortable on an every day basis (most of you know that I'm a pretty open book and not afraid to share, probably share too much:)) but when it comes to my art, it terrifies me...that's why we are going there...the ring to the left is the beginning...I'm focusing on the skills part of my craft...I want people to think Skilled Metalsmith when they think of Casey Sheppard...

This series will show people in my life, the ones that have left a print, whether it's good or bad it's made a mark and influenced who I've become and will be...to the right is a necklace I'm working on...made of copper and sterling silver...

 This brings us to another moment in handcrafted time...I'll show you a little look into how I've been making this series (it's untitled for now, suggestions on a name for the series?)



We start off with sheet metal...I either cut out a circle with my saw, disc cutter or snips...Next is forming the circles with a dap block and hammer...I then add texture to the formed sphere, here I've drilled holes...

Each drilled hole is then dapped with a hammer and spiked tool to give the sphere a raised 3D form...it also adds an organic feel to the metal...

After more drilling, dapping and texturing the rest of the sphere we need to make the ring band, we use large gauge wire then soldered to the base sphere...

The top sphere is then soldered to the base sphere, this can be tricky since the bottom sphere has already been soldered to the ring band, if I heat the ring too much the other solders can become loose or unsoldered all together...I also don't want to overheat the metal, this can cause it to become brittle and even possible crack or break the piece...

 
 The finished ring, I've added a wire that weaves in and out of the spheres after I've sanded and brushed clean the pod...last steps are to add a patina to the metal or oxidization by using silver of sulfur, then lightly brushing clean with steal wool...

 What else have I been up to, you ask...well....since the snow won't go away the tenacious ladies I ride with and I decided F it...let's ride...a little snow singletrack at Swanson...creating our own trails and a bit of downhilling Nebraska style (the hill top is close to a baby baby baby mountain, right?)...

Along with winter riding...I am now riding for Cycleworks...that's right...Team Rasta...passing the message of cycling and it's radness...

http://cycleworksusa.com/

 

Had fun digging out the car this am...and yes, I just put the bike rack back on cause it was 60 degrees the day before...I should know better...

Upside to the snow, CX skiing...but even more of an upside...the next photos you see will not be of snow!!! Yeah!!!
 
(BTW this is not today, I just used a picture from a few weeks ago to make it seem as if I went skiing today, instead I've been on the computer, hate to have any Lincolnite head out to wilderness in high hopes)

I'll leave you with a final thought...I have a new goal to add...I want to see CSD on the red carpet, not me of course...I've got a little less than a year but for the 2014 Oscars I want a celeb to wear one of my creations...Can you imagine it...sounds impossible...how marvelous...til next time....

Casey

 

You still here??? Once you get her going there is not stopping her sometimes...to finish out...here is a look at the Chain Project Exhibition that CSD was juried into...it is currently on exhibit at A CASA museu do objecto brasileiro in San Paulo Brazil...

Now time to get back to work, life and to making things happen...Go Get Rad!!!