Paradise “Camp Fire” Nov. 2018

I don’t even know how to begin.  My hometown Paradise, CA.  A place that never leaves my heart and where family still dwells.  My heart goes out to all of you that live there and those of you that are helping and serving.  I am still in shock and unbelief weeks later.   So much devastation and destruction.  It’s a nightmare that became reality.  I don’t want to focus on the negative even though that is all I can think of when my eyes see all that nothingness throughout the town.  It has been weeks since it started and the Paradise post mentions that “A total of 13,696 single-family homes, 276 multi-family residences and  514 commercial buildings have been destroyed by the fire that started  Nov. 8 off Camp Creek Road near Pulga in the Feather River Canyon.  153,336 acres have burned, at least 85 people died, and 296 are listed as unaccounted.”  My heart goes out to all those people from the area that had to go through this experience.  I can’t even imagine how it was, but my heart is with you and those kind enough to serve and help in the area.  I do truly wish I could be there to help my family and anyone compacted by this tragedy. 

Growing up in Paradise was good.  I loved playing in my backyard in honey run creek catching bugs or looking at the dragon flies pass by.  Playing in the “trails” making forts or tree lookouts with friends.  The fun of shooting BB guns and home made blow guns in our backyard.  Seeing deer pass through or stop by to eat our flowers.  Riding bikes all over town with no sidewalks and going so fast down those hills.  Going back up not so fun, but all good times.  Walking pretty far to friends houses or even to the grocery store.  Never any room for boredom or maybe boredom helped create fun like slicing through water filled soda cans with swords.  I’m sure my friends and I remember good times like those.  Really it was a great place to grow up.  I’ve never been able to create the same type of environment for my kids unfortunately.  

I and all fellow Paradisians will have an attachment to the town even after we leave.  Memories are what we take with us,  I’m glad that my family made it out safe even if there is nothing to return to.  We still can hang onto our rich memories that will stay with us forever.   With love…

The is where I grew up. Totally destroyed all but memories.

Photo credit goes to whomever took the picture for the active destruction map of the Camp Fire that started on Nov. 8th, 2018

Gemvision Matrix Dead or Alive?

What is Matrix?

Matrix is a plugin for Rhinoceros software geared toward the jewelry industry.  It has been around for many years now and I got involved and started using this CAD program in 2004 or 2005 when version 4 was out.  It was a tough learning curve at first, but once learned it only got easier.  Each version had it’s ups and downs with the software developers introducing new tools to make building rings easier.  Sometimes the new tools were only half developed and probably never got popular because of that.  Other tools had more time spent on them and became the strengths of the program that has made life a whole lot easier bugs and all.  

Community & Culture

So I always enjoyed being apart of  this growing community of Matrix users.  I had learned how to use CAD and I love sharing what I have learned with others.  GV (Gemvision) always brought an excitement for new versions of the program.  My favorite to this day was the day we received the newest upgrade in a sphere.  The CD inside and the coolness of it.  Then comes the GV symposiums.   I was fortunate enough to attend a few of them.  It’s always fun and exciting to learn better tips and tricks, be with fellow jewelers, and to meet new people.  One of the highlights to me was always the CAD contest which we could enter a design into one of three categories.  What a great and enjoybale times.  It was like magic.  They did a great job of creating this community of fellow like minded people that could share and have fun together.  After a training or symposium we had the forums to reconnect and continue our new found relationships and share knowledge as we learned the program together helping one another along the way.

Big company buys Little company

Matrix has been around for a while and has helped the jewelry industry immensely. 

I never thought that would happen.  I’m very sad about it, but should have seen it coming once Stuller bought it. 

 Stuller is the big company.  A great place to buy tools, metals and findings, etc for the jewelry industry.  I’ve used them over the years and am glad to have had them to purchase what I’ve needed for my artwork.  So the big company takes away the magic.  It’s too corporate to make it have the same feel as a small close company.  I think of it as a big pool absorbing a drop of water.  The big company only getting bigger while the small one disappears.  So sad!

The Future 

What does the future look like?  I can only give my opinion here, but it’s promising even with all the craziness that’s happening.

I totally disagree with the way Stuller is going about the death of Matrix.  They sent out emails for users to upgrade before they can’t anymore (users not knowing if Matrix’s death).  Then they announced that there will be no more upgrades or future development of Matrix.  They closed their user forums too.  Just like that years of knowledge gone.  

They came out with a new software called MatrixGold Essentials.  The pro version in the future.  What does that mean for us?  Bad news.  I can only speculate, but I already see them treating users unfairly.  So will they offer an upgrade price to the new program? Or only offer the new price?  It’s not right to scam us into upgrades and then cancel the program.  Full price?  Will they stop our Matrix key from working so we have to buy an $8k program?  Who knows.  I do know that we don’t know.  Lol

So the future regardless of feelings.  There is a future.  We will have to get on board somehow and evolve.  I’m sure the new program will be awesome.  We will continue to grow, learn and develop. As you can see though, they have lost the small business magic and it’s all gone to money and who cares about the rest.  Let’s force the money out of them. hahahaha.   

Conclusion

In all seriousness I’m hoping they will care for the old user base and work on keeping us happy instead of pushing us away. I’m hopeful for the future and know it will bring some amazing new tools for us users to keep creating and making a living.  So the real answer is that yes, Matrix is dead, but alive until further notice.  

My Craft Table

I know, I know. When you think of crafting you may not always think of leather work, sewing, gourd making, etc as crafting, but I do. I’m setting up this table as a way to finally have a designated spot to do what I love doing. My little area outside the shop. I know it’s a messy table, but that’s because I’m not done organizing the area. I brought most all my crafting tools to the table and now I’m trying to figure out what I need to get organized. I’ve put up some shelves so far, but the area needs a lot more. I’m excited about it. I’ll keep an update of it as I go. Here’s to more of my creations of art. :)

Leather working and sewing table.

Stump

You know ever since I lived over in Laos and learned a little about raising metal, I've wanted to do the same here in the U.S.A.  I never got that stump that I felt I needed to make it all happen.  20 or so years  later I finally bought a stump and am motivated to start using it.  Hopefully I can find the time to start learning this again.  I love doing it so hopefully I can get some practice in.  As yo can see in the image the first school I went to to learn silversmithing. I worked on the bowl for a long time over that stump and although I made it too thin by the end, it was my first one and I love how it turned out.  We started by melting a bunch of silver into a button.  Then from that point on it was all hammering and annealing.  First hammer out the disc and then start to raise it.  Then chase it at the end.  I hope to do this process again because it brings back so many memories, but for now I think I'll buy the sheet to save time.  Either way I now have a stump and a few hammers to get going.  This was a long time waiting,  so let's see what can come of it now. 

My new stump

Crazy Hair Day

Don't we all feel like this sometimes?  A little fun mixed with crazy hair day?   That's all I can say about this. 

Anja's Crazy Beach Hair

Silhouettes

Some silhouettes that I captured of my son.  I love playing around with photography.  Lately I have had to do most of my photos from my phone.  I like how they turn out, but I wish I had the higher resolution of my SLR camera.  Anyway, I do love the feel this photo captured. 

Lucas' Silhouette at lake Rroosevelt

A little getaway

We needed a little getaway so we jumped into the car and headed for Utah to visit my Aunt and Uncle.  We got to head up the canyon to see a little snow.  The kids second time in snow and they absolutely loved it. It's nice to get away from the heat once in a while. 

This also goes along with inspiration and design.  There are at times when designing I tend to be less inspired or have no motivation.  That's when I need to change things up and do something in a way I haven't done before.  It again rejuvenates me and inspires me to move forward with more interesting designs.  I'm sure we have all come across this so just like in everyday life we need change, as artists we need change too.  As long as we can keep moving forward that is good.  Anything not moving forward is only going backwards.  You might say you are not an artist.  I believe we are all artists in our own way.  We all express ourselves in our own way.  So let's all keep moving forward on this wild journey of life and art. 

My family in Utah Snow

Family time at the Zoo

How are things going with you and your family?  I hope well.  Weeks ago we went to the Phoenix zoo.  It was a cold day and even a bit rainy.  We enjoyed walking around seeing all the wonderful animals.  My youngest daughter loved it the most since it was her first time getting up and close to animals this big.  I captured this orangutan relaxing and keeping warm.  I thought it was just so cool.  At times we need to take a break from our daily schedules and spend time with the family doing something we can all enjoy.  The zoo worked out great for us.  I always enjoy visiting animals as they can have a huge impact on our lives.  I hope to do more fun things this year with my family and so should you.  Have a great year everyone!

67 VW Beetle

My first car is this blue 1967 VW Bug.  I even took my driving test in it and I've owned it for 28 years.  As my main car for 20 years it had a lot of wear and tear put into it.  Also this Arizona heat did not do nice things to the interior. Although I've had a different engine put in at one point it died on me about 8 years ago and has been sitting in my garage.  I got it fixed and it's running now.  It has front end damage from a few crashes, but the rest is in fixable condition.  My goal is to slowly fix it up with my son.  It won't be a full restore or anything, but a fun project that will bring the  car back to a better condition and a little father and son bonding time.   I'll try and share images as we work on it.  Our success and failures.  I would love to get it to a point of safe so that my son possibly can drive it.  My first car - his first car.  :)  So many memories. 

My 67 VW light blue bug

Christmas Time

What a great time of year. I love getting together with family and enjoying this time of celebrating Christ’s birth.  With all the gifts and the way Christmas is promoted it’s hard at times to teach our kids why we have this Holiday.  My 5 year old wasn’t quite connecting this holiday with Christ.  After we’ve been exlaining it she now knows, but still is excited about the rest of the holiday. I hope we can all enjoy this Christmas season and to remember the true meaning of Christmas.