Feathers

I have been continuing my explorations with enameling. I started off with some cloisonné characters, but their images are going to be kept under wraps until I have them all fleshed out (several months from now, no doubt). I have also been experimenting with some simple sgraffito - a technique in which you scrap away enamel you have sifted onto the surface. The feathers were pierced from copper sheeting then I have layered two colours on top of each other. After firing the base layer I sifted the second colour and using a toothpick I scraped away to reveal the base colour and add more dimension to the feathers. I made these in mind with the Pay-it-forward volunteers from a facebook wall post a while back. To give all those who are not in the know a run-down on how this works: I spotted the declaration on a friend's wall for all willing participants to repost so that the first five people who commented could receive something that you have handmade. I contemplated going off into left field and creating something non-jewellery related, however as you can plainly see that did not happen.

Collana numero cinque is in the works currently...

So for any of the participants who are going to be receiving something in the mail from me... after numbering each piece I drew names randomly to select who was getting which feather. I hope everyone loves their new necklace!

A rabbit, a squirrel and a bird, oh my!

You may have noticed a trend in my posts. I absolutely love making gifts for people. Personalizing jewellery for my near and dears gives me that warm fuzzy feeling. It truly is better to give than receive. I love when my mind whirs into action thinking about a person and what they love in life and making something that reflects their personality and will hopefully bring a little joy into their life.

When I thought of this idea for a friend I went into idea overdrive and wanted to tack on as many components and do-dads as possible. How could one not love a piece that can be displayed, has interchangeable components and of course is all made by hand (a crazy person, that's who).

So, ladies and gents gaze upon this here object with envy because it is a one-of-a-kind creation for one special person!

I fabricated the pendant from copper that I then used different coloured flocking to jazz it up. I actually constructed it so that you can insert different background pictures into the square frame. I carved each of the animals from wax and then casted them using Ancient Bronze casting grain. A grain that I have recently acquired and absolutely love. The animals, base, and pendant each have Rare Earth Magnets to hold them into place when being worn or on display.

I simply painted the based and glued on some string and yarn - I finally found a use for my rainbow yarn that I love so much but never use.

Then I got stumped as to what kind and what length of a chain the piece needed, so after Gillian received it she added some of her heart chain, and BAM! it's that much more awesome.

A very Happy Birthday to Gillian!

Enamel 101

I have been out of commission for much too long, contemplating about what I would like to blog about as opposed to actually just getting down to it. The idea about doing a weekly or monthly feature on artists that inspire me has been rolling around in my mind. I would like to give it a scheduled update promise, but I will just put it on the things to do list for this blog. Especially since I have been slacking off on uploading photos of work. I have been taking photos, it's just the uploading part that I lag behind on.

Alright! enough boring you, let us get to some pictures. Lately because of a severe lack of motivation for my usual work I have been dabbling with enameling. After doing a colour test of all the colours in the studio i fiddled around with some stenciling and some cloisonne. Note to self: when doing cloisonne, fill and do one colour at a time - I think I lucked out with this first firing in the kiln, although the foot needs another layer of colour. The back of each piece was enameled with counter-enamel - an amalgamation of all the scrap enamel mixed together. Pretty fun stuff to do, I would like to try my hand at some enamel paintings, and some wirework pieces eventually.

Cutlery

I feel like since I created a ring for one of my brothers as a birthday gift, that this is the year that I make something for everyone in in my family. (We'll see about that...) I knew that my sister wanted some "threader" earrings (posts attached to a tiny chain that you pull through your piercing) and since we're both a couple of foodies I wanted to make her a set of cutlery to wear on her ears. These were so much fun to make! I realize I say that about everything I make, but I really do mean it. These were a joy because I turned such a small amount of material into something. They measure around 1.5cm. Using two tiny scraps of copper and sterling silver I butt soldered the two materials together and then filed them into their shapes. I added a bit of patina to them to give them an aged and used look. Hope my sister enjoys them.

Gargoyle

I just finished polishing off my little gargoyle friend. He is the jewellery charm replication of a sculpture that a customer brought in. Now he is a wonderful custom gift that is going to be added to a charm bracelet for a lucky lady this Valentine's. It was such a challenge working in such detail on a small scale, but I am happy about the results. When I was nearing the finish of carving the wax I accidentally poked a hole through him, so I had to melt some wax on top to fix his eye for him (which you can see from the black blob on the blue wax). Now all there is left to do is attach him to the bracelet. What an exciting piece to carve, I always love a challenge.

Ankh and Fleur de Lis Part 2

I just finished polishing off another custom band that is the design opposite of the ring I made back in November. This ring was made in part with a new flex shaft tool that I am in love with. I do have all sorts of diamond burs and basic wax burs, but nothing that is really small (less than 2mm wide). My new loves are cylinder square cross cut burs. With a bit of practice and a light touch I fell hard for them. Sigh. The pics are what the ring looked like in wax after I carved it and then the final ring that is cast in 18kt Palladium White Gold. Next week I will update with another custom made piece.

Look Mom, Mokume

Every once in a while since Gillian Batcher has taught me how to make mokume gane I get the urge to try my hand at it. When I realized that my brother's birthday was coming up I knew I should take a chance at it again. I realized that he had never seen any mokume that I had made, so that was double plus bonus as well. I went with one of my favourite metal combinations, sterling silver and nickel silver. Somehow I lucked out and made the exact amount that I needed after creating the pattern on the surface. All I had to do was solder the ends together (eek!) and then clean up the edges and voila! I then searched through some of my scrap bins and discovered a piece of sterling silver and copper mokume that I had made a while ago and decided to throw that together to make a ring. It is a huge sense of accomplishment to see an older piece and the new one to realize that I have become better at developing a great random pattern.