Inertia
Last week was a rough one. I knew it would be - getting back into the studio after any time away always is - but I always, somehow, forget and end up feeling surprised at how hard it is to pick up where I left off.
My work flow seems to rely heavily on inertia, meaning that once I’m rolling I can just go and go and go - but getting up to speed definitely takes a little determination and there’s no quick way to get there after a break. So on Monday, I opened up the studio feeling heavy and grey, and ended the day with a sore butt and stiff shoulders. Tuesday and Wednesday went much the same. But by Friday my muscles had remembered the way of things, and I fell once again into the rhythm that is metalsmithing.
I do think it’s fair to attribute some of my sluggishness to the fact that I broke my saw.
My saw is my favorite tool - an extension of my arm, the way I translate my thoughts into metal. And the frame I’ve been using for the last six years? The frame that has sawn EVERYTHING I’ve ever made for Clementine and Sage? I’m a little bit attached.
So when I went to tension a blade (the way I’ve done a thousand times) and the steel that joined to the handle suddenly twisted under the weight, I guess you could say that I had a minor panic moment. It was just such a shock to see my trusty old friend become suddenly fragile. I did my best to straighten the frame and carry on - but there was a sogginess to the movement and it was clear that my blade was no longer steady.
When I bought this saw, in college, it was a fairly new design. Back then, they were made in small batches and I remember waiting anxiously for them to come back in stock so I could claim one before they sold out again. I would have loved this tool for its looks if nothing else - but those gorgeous curves have just as much substance as style. The WEIGHT of this tool - magnificent. The way it sits in my hand - glorious. So when I reluctantly realized that I needed a replacement, there was no question in my mind about ordering the same design once again.
The new saw came lickety-split, thank goodness, and holy moly - have there been some improvements! To the untrained eye, they may look exactly the same (with the old on the left, the new on the right) - but right away I noticed the way that the steel in the new saw has been widened in the place where my old saw finally failed. The old saw’s handle had some lumps from the injection molding process while the new is perfectly (beautifully!!) smooth. The welds on the pegs are now clean and neat instead of, what I would kindly call, “ugly but functional.”
So I’ll be finding a spot on the wall for the old saw to hang, a relic of my making, and the new one will reside on my bench for the foreseeable future. It’s already earning its keep.
We also had ourselves another smoky apocalypse day, where the ever-present trail of smoke hovered above a thin layer of REAL clouds and held the light at a sunset/twilight glow for the whole afternoon. The air was, for once, listed as “Good,” so I packed up the dogs and went for a little walk on the edge of town to immerse myself in the wildness of it.
While we walked, I kept thinking back to an art history class I took, and a discussion where we unpacked the meaning of the word “sublime” in relation to several paintings. In that particular context, the word was used to convey more than just beauty which inspired awe - it was meant to convey that the beauty was SO awe-inspiring, it was terrifying.
As I walked, I just kept thinking I’d never seen anything so art-history-class-sublime in my whole life.
Over the weekend, we got about a foot of snow - so while things will probably keep on burning for awhile yet, I’m thinking (hoping, praying!) that we’ve had our final major fire day for the year. Nothing lasts forever and we’ve GOT to be coming to the end now. We’re going to make it through.
And while I wait, there are (of course!) bezels to make and stuff to solder and stones to set. I’ve got my inertia now and I’m running with it.
