Of Grease and Fire

Have you ever noticed how mechanical stuff seems to happen bunches?
Tally for this month: 
Spend week wriggling under vintage 1954 tractor to remove filter for hydraulic system. Damn I love the smell of gear oil. 
Pull wheel bearing out of 4wd repack and replace. Damn I love the smell of grease.
Pull defunct temperature probe out of venerable Bobby the Barrow (Bobcat) Try to fit new one but probe too big. More disassemble to come.
Replace front drive shafts on my little car. But hooray someone else did this!

With my greasy black nails and total chaos in the studio things somehow appeared.

 A timber wolf etched into faux bone on enamel
mount. Think polymer clay is easier and more versatile than the FB. Also have developed a thing about rough frosted glass beads.

Next playing with ceramic decals fired into enamel surface. A few bubbles caused by air under top coat, but rustic wabi sabi is all OK. Counter enamel not thick enough and focal bowed. So first attempt at a soldered pin mounting. Like the simplicity it gives to the enameled piece.

Look at the bail upon which the golden angels hang. My battered gold and opal ring that has been at the bottom of my stuff drawer since forever.

My stuff drawer also yielded 70 packets of china paint squirreled away yonks ago. Figured I may as well try and use them. Mix with clear liquid enamel and painted away with many firing between layers.

Awwwww a widdle wabbit. Almost outsmarted myself with the shape of the copper and with the enamel layers distorting the whole thing. Had to be a pin mount again. Only took 3 goes to figure it out.

Quite minimalist for me don't ya think. 
(I think I am now addicted to pin mounts).