Discipline

If I haven't mentioned it before, I'm very disciplined.  Because I work a full-time job, on top of my jewelry business, I have to be able to focus and create when I have spare time.  I do it to a fault sometimes.  Every free moment I am home, I am in the studio creating something.  Today was no different, BUT...it was gorgeous out!  And with the threat of rain for the next couple days, I made a compromise with myself--work a little, then walk the gardens a little, work a little more, then walk a little more and admire all the new plants growing.

So, that's what I did.
I worked a little: 

Then I walked a little:

My plum tree is in full bloom and the bees were loving it today.  See any inspiration here?!

Worked a little more: 

Walked a little more:

And enjoyed my newly planted pansies.  I bought so many for my pots that I had to plant a bunch in the garden.

Back inside to work some more: 

And then back outside again:

I ended up finishing the day back in the studio with two additional pairs of earrings. 

One flower inspired and the other a continuation in the reticulated series. 

  

I had a lot of energy and inspiration to work today and even got to enjoy the nice weather too.  Now that's a good day's work.

Rocks

This weekend I went to the Maine Mineralogical and Geological Society's Gem and Mineral Show in Portland.  It's an annual event and always a fun show to visit, not just for the rocks, but the people watching is something!  I never leave empty handed and this year was no different.  I arrived at USM on opening day at opening time.  I walked the show absorbing what was there and noting what was most interesting to me.  After the initial assessment, I went to work.  I first purchased from Guy and Kim Pilla from Fryeburg.  Guy cuts beautiful cabs and I could easily see them in my jewelry designs. 

From agates to jaspers to beryl and dinosaur bone, I made my selections.  I envision most of these stones for use in pendants, pins, and necklaces.   

Next I headed over to another interesting table and visited with Tim Pratt from Global Pathways in Stowe, VT, and had lots of fun selecting from his inventory.  I came away with some lovely stones including several 

kyanites for rings and earrings, 

opals for earrings and pendants, 

and labradorites for necklaces and/or pendants.

My mind is spinning with new ideas and I can hardly wait to get back in the studio and get the new designs going. 

Finished!

After starts and stops and days of working, I finally finished the new reticulated necklace.  Similar to the original, this piece started off as 20g reticulation 80/20 sheet that I cut into 1 x 1 3/4 inch pieces.  Next I reticulated and textured the pieces and soldered on the continuous wire squiggle.  Pickle and clean between and then added the bezels and silver and gold accent balls. 

I've been using a simple but effective connection and decided I would use it here as well--linking the pieces together with balled wire that forms a half circle link in each corner.  The connection allows the links to move and adjusts easily to the wearer's neck.  The hook and eye clasp continues with the overall design and is easy for the wearer to put on and take off.  The whole piece was then cleaned, bristle brushed, and lightly polished before setting the stones. 

I highly polished the inside of each bezel to allow light to bounce off and through the selected translucent stones.  I opted for a mix of colors and included green chrysoprase, purple amethyst, Sleeping Beauty turquoise, hot pink tourmalines, warm carnelian, and red garnet.  The stones were set and then the burnished tool marks polished out to give a high shine.  Last, a half-drilled freshwater pearl was glued to the overhanging peg at the base of the front link's squiggle and... 

The finished necklace!

While on a roll and having some extra time and energy to work, I continued with the reticulation series and made two pairs of earrings.  One pair with amethyst cabochons and the other with chrysoprase cabochons. 

The amethyst earrings are 22g silver that I cut and reticulated.  I added a continuous squiggle soldered on to the front which continues up to be the earwire.  A couple silver balls add some interest near the top.  The chrysoprase earrings are also 22g silver with balls and wire detailing.  The apple green stones glow like no other. 
 

Until next time. 

Reticulation Series Continued

I mentioned I'd show you some other reticulation pieces that I've done, so here are a few. 

Both of these pendants are silver with amethyst cabochons.  The left is hinged and wiggles, while the right is held together by the curvy wires.  Below is a reticulated silver pendant with three pink tourmaline cabochons, sterling wires, and sterling, 14k and 18k gold ball accents.  A freshwater pearl is attached at the bottom of the pendant, while being suspended from a freshwater pearl necklace. 

Earrings are always a challenge in the reticulation series because the texture can't be easily duplicated.  So I try to match them as closely as possible and enjoy the fact that every piece is original. 

Left: Silver reticulated circles joined with a silver balled wire with hematite cabochons and stud backs.  Right: All silver skinny rectangles with silver ball accents and stud backs.  Below: Silver reticulated rectangles with hidden ear wires, wire squiggle and balls, and amethyst bead dangles. 

Rings have been fun to design in this series.  I have repeated the overlapped edge design several times and each one dictates its own design.  The gold balls glow against the soft, white finish of the reticulated surface.  The options are endless and the finished product is unlike any other.   

Going back in the studio to continue working on a new reticulated link necklace using this sold piece I designed earlier this year as my inspiration and jumping off point.

Changing Gears

After a few weeks of focusing on flower inspired jewelry, I decided to go back to one of my abstract series based around reticulation.  Reticulation by definition:  "Reticulation is a heat induced texturing process of sheet metal, utilizing specific natural properties of the silver alloy 80/20. The fluid relief pattern can be accomplished through an oxide protective skin build-up followed by localized liquification of the encased sheet metal in a row-pattened method."  My reticulation is mostly about getting a three-dimensional texture on the metal and then embellishing the surface with additional silver or gold balls, wire, and sometimes stones. 

I spent the day in the studio and was focused on getting some new reticulated bracelets made.  I've been making a lot of pendants and pins lately and realized that I was lacking bracelets, so I launched right in and made two new designs. 

     

The first is a 20g reticulated silver bangle that overlaps itself and at the joint is embellished with some sterling balls. The metal is 1 1/4 inches wide.  I used the torch to softly melt and curve the edges which created a nice wave that isn't sharp for comfortable wear.  The brushed finish is highlighted by the highs and lows in the textured surface.

The second bracelet is a cuff style.  It is 1 3/4 inches wide and has wire squiggles, sterling balls, and a 12mm peristerite cabochon bezel set on it.  I used the torch to soften these edges as well.  The brushed finish creates a softness to the design which relates to the final surface texture, along with a short time tumbling with stainless steel shot and this bracelet's highlights are lightly polished. 

 

I'll follow up in the next couple of weeks with other examples of my reticulated jewelry.  I'm most excited about a new necklace that is still in the design stages, but will use some amazing black tourmaline beads and hopefully matrix die formed, reticulated silver beads between them.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Craft of Maine

I was recently included in the March issue of Maine Home + Design magazine's feature Craft of Maine. The article featured 2 of my designs, including "Daisy Dance" one of my favorite flower pieces and one of the inspirations that has my continuing to design in this series.   I love pearls of all shapes and sizes and always felt that the daisy design would lend itself well strung with pearls.  This is a photo of the newly designed gold and silver daisy dance.  There are seven 18k gold daisies, as well as eight sterling silver.  I decided for this piece to have the flowers on shorter wires to keep them closer to the neck and not to detract from the beautiful lustre of the pearls. 

I got some great response from the article from friends and strangers alike and was commissioned to make a similar necklace with crystal quartz beads.  I was so pleased and suprised at how springlike the new necklace looks, which proves another reason to create a series of work--a subtle change in design can make an amazing new design difference. 

Next time I'll talk about the ring "Baubles" also included in the article and how I've returned to make some new designs within that series.

Flowery Finish

Finally, after days of sawing, dapping, and soldering and continually playing with all the components, I completed my envisioned flower spooly necklace and earrings.  Today I started by sawing out more daisies and then dapping them.  I added some short tubing to the mix and soldered them all together to make these double ended, double flower beads.  They are about an inch long and have a shiny brushed finish.  The new beads were just the thing that made the design--more substantial than the other flower configurations and it was just that that was missing before. 

 

Put it all together and you get this: 

Like the spooly beads before, the ends cup the beads and because of the flower design, creates a wonderful outline around them.  Mixed together with 12mm translucent blue chalcedony beads and some smaller dapped flowers, I strung the beads in a symmetrical design that circles the neck and sits naturally and comfortably.  The necklace is 15 inches long and ends with hand-made, sterling figure eight clasp.  I often throw in a splash of color to these necklaces and here I added a limey-yellow serpentine bead.  Doing this gives the pieces some spark and interest that adds to its originality. 

I just love the way the light bounces off the silver and catches all the reflections from the surrounding beads and environment.

The earrings are made of soldered double flower caps with a single blue chalcedony bead suspended on a sterling earwire.  They wiggle and dance on your ears, while not being heavy.

Look for more flower designs in the future.  It's a theme I continue to use and find inspiration from AND I have a lot more of those flowers ready to go!