Why I should be fired as a blogger

Perhaps because I haven't blogged in awhile. I'm not making excuses. I've had some great opportunities come my way recently that have taken up a lot of time. Time that I used to put towards blogging. As much as I love to keep in touch with cow art enthusiasts through the cow art blog, I haven't found a way to eek out any more minutes from the 24 hour day.

I have secretly hoped that there was a telepathic blogging app for my phone that would allow me to get posts out. Until that happens, I guess I'm going to have to deal with them being a bit less frequent.

That being said however, I do want to know what YOU want to hear about with Cow Art and More. More on the artists? techniques? studio cat pictures? Please leave your ideas in the comments section below.

On a semi-related note, I do have two blog posts that have been gnawing at me to write. They don't really relate to art, but more as my job and role within agriculture. If you will give me a little latitude this week, I would like to write about them here.

Thanks for listening. More to come this week.

Friday's art article - Central Florida cow art in ag

In case you missed it, Cow Art and More and several of its artists were featured in the November 2011 issue of Central Florida Ag News. Missed it in your mailbox? Read the issue online! (Find us on pages 7, 9, and 38)

Polishing silver cow jewelry

*This is a reprint of the original post from April. Since I've been busy polishing jewelry this week, I was inspired to share again.*

In getting ready for the Cow Art and More booth at the National Holstein Convention this June, I decided a jewelry inventory was in order. In doing so, I had some dairy cow jewelry pieces that needed polishing.


Metal doesn't want to be shiny. If silver had its choice, it will be a dull flat gray color. We jewelry folks give that bright shine that is so appealing. This is a group of cows that have been polished (foreground) and another group that need polishing (small pile to the upper left of the picture). Before polishing, I coat all of the pieces with a black patina (stain). This will buff off easily, except in the cracks and crevices. This is actually what I want, since that dark patina will highlight some of the subtle details of the cow charm.


The cow to the far left has the black patina, but has not been polished. The one on the right of the picture has been polished.










There's a couple different ways of doing this, but this time, I'm using a flex shaft tool with a buff and red rouge polishing compound. While spinning the buff, I dip it into the red rouge (the mostly hard brick in the right part of the picture), then press the buff onto different areas of the cow charm.







In case you're thinking this looks like your dentist's office, you're pretty much right. Just imagine the higienist polishing your teeth with that minty toothpaste, except I'm using polishing compound on metal.








It leaves a dark red residue on my hands and fingers, which mostly comes off with soap and water. It does get into the cracks of your hands and fingernails though, so people will wonder if you have some strange incurable fungus or something similar.

When I'm done polishing, I use Dawn dish soap to get the greasy compound off. I dry them thoroughly, then they're ready to go!

Click here to see the complete collection of sterling silver cow and farm jewelry charms.

Monday's agriculture website - Christmas Tree facts

Learn about Christmas trees and more on today's agriculture themed website. The National Agriculture Library has an all inclusive page of links to information about Christmas trees, other holiday themed plants, and decorations. There are tips for keeping your tree looking great while it's on display along with advice for how to plant your live tree after December. Readers can also get helpful hints on keeping your holiday decorations safe. Readers can also enjoy a list of organic Christmas tree growers to purchase a tree from.

Packing cow jewelry for shipping

Wonder what happens when you place an order for cow and cowgirl jewelry on Cow art and More? Wonder if the little minions are filling your order or if it's even filled by some big warehouse with lots of forklifts driving around? This short video shows you exactly how your order is carefully packaged and shipped to you!

Thanksgiving blessings and #foodthanks

As we all sit down to our respective Thanksgiving Dinners tomorrow, I wanted to give personal #foodthanks for several items:

1. Thank you to all the farmers that work 24/7/365. Farming isn't a job, it's a lifestyle. You make many sacrifices to make sure others can have food to eat.

2. Thank you to all those who choose to work in a place to allow me to get this food. Whether you're a trucker, grocer, or processor, thank you for helping to bring food to my table.

3. Thank you to the charities and organizations that make sure people around the world can avoid hunger.

4. Thank you to the people who teach others how to use food to their advantage by improving their health and well being.

5. Thank you for those that choose to make preparing food your profession, especially when you're one of my favorite eateries.

6. Thank you for those involved to help me get some of my favorite can't live without foods: any dairy product, coffee, chocolate, wine, fresh herbs, garlic, ripe tomatoes, and a really good filet.

7. Thanks to those who are producing technology to help provide food security for those around the world.

8. Thank you to wineries and Food Network television (and magazine!) for helping me to appreciate the art of food. (Everything involving the 'art of food' has quickly become one of my favorite ways to spend time with my family.)

9. Thank you to those who lose sleep over keeping our food supply safe.

10. Thank you to the local farmers who sell at farmers' markets. Those relationships are such a wonderful things to have.

What are you giving #foodthanks for today?

Monday's agriculture website - #foodthanks

Food doesn’t just happen. It takes an incredible number of caring, thoughtful, hard-working individuals to provide the food for the meals we enjoy every day. From farmer to processor to truck driver to chef to retailer, millions work hard to provide our food.

Those people deserve our thanks, especially during the Thanksgiving holiday. Please remember to give #foodthanks this week on your blog, facebook pages, and twitter, especially on Wednesday, November 23. (Learn more at the official Foodthanks website.)

I want to take the opportunity to personally thank each and every person for helping to provide the food myself and my family will consume for our Thanksgiving meal. I know there are a lot of hands involved and my thanks go to every one of you. Thank you for providing a safe, affordable, nutritious product. I am also proud of the small role I play in helping to bring food to the table of many families. It makes me proud to say that I help farmers take care of their animals so they can feed people.

Regardless of who produced your food or how it got to you, I hope we can agree that they all deserve our thanks. As you sit down for your Thanksgiving meal this week, please remember to give #foodthanks.

P.S. For those of you on twitter, #foodthanks is the hashtag to express your gratitude there as well.