Just Get Those Stones Set Already!

While  gathering supplies at last year's bead show, I was drawn to different selections of jasper.

A nice variety of jasper ended up in my purchases that day,

including some stones that were drilled, bailed and ready to be used as pendants.

Although I loved the stones
(and the very reasonable price of the stones),
I didn't especially love the thought of using them as the intended pendants that they were.

As I stood there imagining design options that would allow me to conceal the drilled hole, another jewelry designer, who also sells in local galleries, saw the stones that I was considering.

She shook her head, telling me, 

"Yeah...I bought some of those last year and didn't sell one piece."

I'm sure they were friendly words of caution, but I chose to see it as a challenge and said,

"Oh well...I think we all put our own mojo into whatever we make."

and picked out a few more stones.

I didn't have the benefit of seeing what my fellow jewelry designer acquaintance did with her stones to get insight as to why they didn't sell, 

but decided it was time to do something with mine.

I love how the veining and deposits of minerals can suggest an abstract painting, and find that each stone has its own unique balance.

This stone appeared best in a horizontal placement.

I knew that I had no bezel wire with the dimension necessary to cover the drilled hole, 

so another method of securing the stone was needed.

The stone's shape was traced onto a previously etched piece of 16 gauge silver nickel.

After cutting out the shape with my jeweler's saw, I began to solder tabs of sterling reclaimed from an old bangle that was in my bin of 'sterling bits to be refashioned'.

Those sterling tabs will fold over to secre the stone in place while conveniently making the drilled hole disappear from view.

This is still a work in progress as I consider where the remaining tabs will be situated and how an eventual chain will be attached.

In the meantime...
I actually completed a project with some other stones that were purchased at the same bead show.
 These druzies have been tempting me since they were purchased,
but I kept getting in my own way as I tried to imagine
'just the right project'.

The druzy shown on the far right...

became a lovely ring.

I love the combination of sterling with the pale turquoise of the druzy.

Sometimes,
'just the right project'
is the one that you just do.

Painting Workshop

When I began painting around three years ago, I had the benefit of my landscape architecture background to help me understand issues like design, composition and perspective.

I did not have the benefit of understanding some of the painting basics like canvas preparation, color mixing and techniques of developing an atmospheric image.

Classes and workshops at Wayne Art Center have helped me to find a painterly voice.

I am definitely one of those who benefits from watching somebody paint as they explain the why and what of their methods.

I was very fortunate to be part of a recent workshop with Stanley Bielen, a favorite whose classes always have wait lists of those hoping to get one of the valuable studio spots.

When this most recent workshop was announced, it filled within hours and I happened to get one of the last spaces before the wait list began.

I appreciate the unique opportunity that a demonstration gives, allowing me to absorb information that will then inform my own decisions.

My Easel Day One:

My Easel Day Two Morning:

My Easel Day Two Afternoon:

When I look back at what I painted three years ago, 

I can see that I've improved

and know that I have much room for continued improvement.

Samara Texturing

I was doing the final raking of leaves last week when I focused on the abundance of samaras from the Japanese maple in my front yard.

These winged seeds are quite lovely...

and I thought that they might be a good rolling mill candidate.

Because it's inexpensive, I do all texture testing with copper.

Two small pieces of copper were cut and annealed.

I arranged a selection of samaras on one piece...

which was then covered by the other copper piece before using the mill.

I had hoped that the entire samara would be able to pass through the mill, but I learned that a samara seed is just too tough of a nut to crack under pressure.
I couldn't advance the mill while maintaining enough pressure to capture an impression of the wing portion of the samara.
Darn!

A little surgery with my X-acto knife removed the seeds

and I was able to crank the assemblage though the rolling mill with no difficulty.

After cleaning the copper, it was soaked in a liver of sulfur bath, turning the metal black with instant patina.

I'm liking the delicate texture and now think I have to get out and collect more of the samaras before the first hard frost.

November's Workbench

As is typical, November's workbench is a busy place.

Inventory has been dropped off for the 

Woodmere Art Museum Holiday Store, 

and preparation for 

Wallingford Community Arts Center Holiday Sale 

is well underway.

My stash of textured metals inspired some new pieces,like...

mixed, etched metals bracelet

with sterling bezel set labradorite caochon....

etched and roll-printed brass (and a smidge of silver nickel) bracelet

with sterling bezel set carnelian cabochon...

and etched copper ring

with sterling bezel set labradorite cabochon.

For several weeks, I've been working on another mission.
I found some great crystal briolettes at a bead show back in September.
Not sure how I would use them, I only bought ten.

I ended up wire wrapping the beads, making them the pendants of long necklaces featuring Herkimer diamonds, labradorite, citrine and amethyst.

The necklaces were well received at the Fine Art & Craft Festival in Swarthmore.

I regretted not having more and contacted the company that had sold them at the bead show only to find out that they had one left....

and they are not typically part of their inventory.

Of course.

Maybe I should have let it go at that point, but it was too late;

I was already a bit obsessed with having more of these crystals.

I also had the naive belief that 

'if I can easily Google it, I can easily find it.'

Well, not really.

These briolettes were not easy to find, even with the aid of the Google search engine.

But after emails, texts, shared photos, calls, false hopes...

I found some!

USPS dropped off my order yesterday,

and I got to work.

Wire wrapped crystals are now ready to become necklaces.

The wire wrapping sometimes had leftover pieces. 

I can't stand letting usable pieces of anything go to waste, 

so those scraps were turned into mini dangles.

How will I use the mini dangles?

I have no idea.

They'll probably still be on my workbench when next November comes around.

Taking That Extra Step

Preparing to make some necklaces with some more of my bezel pendants, I made complementary copper links.

As is typical for my mode of operation, I may or may not immediately use the links,
but I appreciate being able to surround myself with a variety of materials as I'm working so that I can make choices as I follow my intuition.

Segments were cut from my stash of recycled copper wire.

I needed to physically expand the ends of those wires that I wanted to drill, and began by using my favorite hardware store hammer to smash and flatten.
While I accomplished my goal of creating enough surface for drilling,
I wasn't completely satisfied with the result.
(small grouping of 5, 2nd from left)
The hammering left the resulting tabs a bit too thin for my liking,
and I wasn't thrilled with the paddle shape.
I decided I should do a better job.

Using my acetylene tank, I balled each end of the next group of wire segments.
When I then hammered the ends, there was enough material to maintain a more acceptable critical thickness while having the surface necessary for drilling.
A happy benefit is a more controlled and consistent circular shape instead of that less desirable paddle.

The next grouping of links was formed with one of my bail-shaping pliers before soldering.
I thought these links turned out nicely, but maybe not nice enough.
A cleaner transition between the circle and the 'tail' was the image that kept nagging at me,
so I went back to my workbench.

Wire was coiled around a mandrel and then cut with my jeweler's saw to make consistent jump rings.
Some sources will advise using a flush cutter....
don't do it 
if you're making smallish jump rings and the goal is to solder them.
Even a good flush cutter will yield one flush surface and one pinched surface
while a jeweler's saw yields two flush surfaces.
Each ring was filed to create a bit of flat surface for a good solder joint to the 'tail'.
Definitely more work
and definitely a more refined result.

Some of the new links were used in the necklace completed yesterday.

 A practice bezel featuring one of my stones of mysterious origins is the focal point.
The bezel layer is riveted to the bail layer...

 made with roll printed copper and etched silver nickel.

Agate and brass beads are wire wrapped with copper links to make the chain which features a hand made clasp.

I recently gave advice to my sister's friend who is hoping to create and market a line of jewelry.
One recommendation was to resist the temptation to make pieces as cheaply as possible since there is a mind-numbing abundance of inexpensive jewelry.
It's very easy to get lost in a sea of low-cost items.
I made the personal decision to not compete with that portion of the market and instead
hold myself accountable to producing work I can be proud of.

A Pain in My Bezel

Recent work with bezel pendants inspired me to pull out my stash of stones that have been sitting (and accumulating)
at my workbench.

Stones are my weakness when I get the chance to attend a bead show.

I like knowing that however I eventually use a stone or cabochon, the end result will almost certainly be unique.
Unfortunately, I've become convinced that my bezel pieces are unique because they have absorbed my angst and my solder-soul-crushing disappointments.

Although I did take some classes at one of the nearby art centers, most of my jewelry skills are self-taught with...
reading lots of books and trade magazines,
watching lots of YouTube tutorials,
obsessively perusing the Rio Grande catalog to try to figure out what tools do what tasks
and
lots and lots of trial and error.
While I like to think that my skills continue to evolve in a positive direction,
soldering has been, and remains, my Achilles' heel as evidenced by a recent project.

Like most of my soldering projects, I began this one with cautious optimism because I was creating a bezel for a largeish stone,
around 5.75cm squareish.

For the base, I selected metal that I had etched with a pattern created by the talented local clay master/jewelry designer,
Barbara Hanselman.

My original plan was to have a collar around the bezel, highlighting a selected view of the etched texture.

Then the soldering started,

and then my problems started.

I wasn't surprised when I didn't achieve a continuous flow of solder in my first attempt.

After a pickle bath and brass brush cleaning, I tried again.

Ughhh...

I realized that I had lost full contact between the bezel and the etched base in a few spots and gentle nudging with my solder pick was not correcting all the trouble spots.

There were repeated visits to the soldering bench, and after each clean-up, I set my stone in  place to make sure that I was maintaining the proper bezel shape.

A piece of dental floss was used to make sure I would be able to get the stone back out.

Too many attempts had me admitting defeat, and I decided to creatively cover up my solder misses.

Using my acetylene torch, I balled scraps of sterling and soldered them in place, turning my points of failure into points of interest.

The collar of etched metal no longer seemed to make sense, so I used my jeweler's saw to cut most of it away.

I will have to make better use of Barbara's lovely pattern on my next bezel project.

According to some rough calculations of time and materials,

I think I'll have to sell this pendant for $986.75.

Bezel Pendants Part Two

After completing two bezel pendants this weekend, I returned to my workbench , planning to make two necklaces....

and then I sat there, stymied.

Often, the obvious direction is already in my head and I can put all focus on the making of whatever I'm envisioning.

This was not one of those times.

Since I wasn't sure how to construct the necklace, I decided to use some of the sterling links that I had just soldered.

I shaped a section of heavy gauge wire to fit through the formed bail and drilled both ends for wire wrapped connections.

As I began to construct a chain of links, I became increasingly dissatisfied.

Nothing felt right about my approach.

The pendant, with its large stone cabochon and riveted layers, did not need competition from a busy chain of over-sized links.

I needed to simplify, letting the pendant be the unchallenged "it" of the necklace.

Sterling chain replaced my chain-of-links, although I kept two links for added interest and texture, appreciating how they mimic the shape of the bezel.

A liver of sulfur treatment and sanding block cleaning were the finishing touches.

Much better.