I’ve been commissioned to do a piece as a gift from someone who likes my work to someone else who may or may not like it. The theme is simple. Love, marriage, the melding of 2 families. Easy. I can knock this out in no time! I have this great idea of twisting the “bodies” of 2 people facing each other with the female trailing a bouquet behind her. I decide to do a small domed bead, silver front, copper back. It’s a little more delicate than my usual style and I think it will suit the wearer better. So I saw and dap and fire and add a bail for a chain and it’s pretty. Except I was a little heavy handed with the solder when putting the 2 pieces together and it’s all over the copper back. So I file and file and file and sand and file some more and the solder doesn’t budge. The copper underneath will file away before that %#^*ing solder. So I put a low flame to the back. Maybe I can fire it away, or spread it around so it looks like I did it on purpose. It almost works. Until I turn it over. And get this:

Oops. I shall now start over. I try something a little different. I pierce a vine and leaves with a saw for the bouquet. Very pretty. Until I dap it into a dome and everything spreads until the delicate vine and leaves look like a bloated swan. Add leaves! More copper leaves! Now we have a swan who was raised by Indians about to devour our unsuspecting young lovers.

Oops. I shall now start over. Screw the damn bead. I’ll stick with what I know best. Twist, fire, pierce a heart. Looking good…until…

Oops. Melted her head off. The bride has been decapitated. I shall now start over. Funny how something so simple is so complicated. I get my best stuff from pain and suffering, controversy and crazy, tension and tsunamis, bad dreams and goodbyes. Those are easy. Love, joy, simple…that’s hard.