Rings--silver, stones, and more!

I've been working on a lot of rings lately--rings with funky and unusual stones and settings. Sometimes the stone does all the talking. Like this fire agate:

Simply brushed sterling silver shelf around the stone accentuates the cloudy edges and then the pop of the orange y-brown fire and the iridescent green--gorgeous stone!

And who can resist a large turquoise with black spider-webbing?! Oxidized to set off the large silver hammered balls. Everything is over sized and makes a statement in this ring. 

I am highly inspired by Native American and Mexican silversmiths from days of yore and can truly appreciate their skill and craftsmanship. I feel I struck a real Modernist look with this next ring.

It's a large round red agate cabochon that's bezeled in fine silver and off set in the larger circle. The outer edge is heavy square wire that frames the design. The inside is oxidized to set apart the areas of the ring.

Because I often don't repeat ideas or thoughts (sometimes on purpose, sometimes not), I thought I'd use some of the same design elements in another ring, but boy does it have a completely different look and feel.

A 6mm faceted blue topaz gemstone is tube set in the center of a silver bauble field. The background is oxidized to give depth and texture, while the outer square wire creates the same frame as above. I think it's pretty cool!

So many other things are on the bench, including some commissions that I'm finishing up. Lot's more to come!

This and That--Filling in the Blanks

This week finds me working in all directions.  Maybe not the most inspired way to create, but with 3 upcoming shows in November, I'm making things to fill in the holes in my inventory.  I've laid it all out to assess--and yes, I'm in a bit of a mess. 

 

After taking a visual inventory, I realized I needed some important pieces like reticulated earrings with stones, some flower chandelier earrings, and more bauble rings.  So, I set out on my mission and here's what I've done:

New reticulated earrings with carnelian cabochons & black onyx cabochons.  

Two new pairs of sterling silver tiny daisy drop earrings.

And three new bauble rings, L to R: 

 

4mm Tsavorite garnet bezeled in fine silver; sterling silver and 18k gold; 3mm blue sapphire with overlap.

A few fun pieces are in the works too.  Be sure to check out next week's blog to see!

A Minor Setback

I've had a minor set back physically, but am on the mend and will be back to full health soon!  I'm taking this down time to soak up some amazing sunshine and take slow walks around the gardens.  It's truly spring and the daffodils are amazing! 

Hoping as I feel better, some new studio designs will emerge.  Talk soon.

Keeping it Up

I've been trying to keep my stride in the studio--working on a couple more new rings, as well as some commissions.  This ring is really great!  The turquoise stone is huge!!!  22 x 30mm--I wish the scale showed.   

The stone is bezeled in fine silver and the rest of the ring is sterling silver.  The shank is nice and heavy too.

Here's a new picture showing how the ring looks on--isn't it great?!

This next ring I struggled with.  We fought the whole time, but I persevered and got it done!  Not sure why some pieces go smoothly and others can be painful--something to do with the creativity gods I guess.

Here's a rose cut free-form blue sapphire and a 2.5mm diamond.  Both are bezeled in 22k gold and the accents are also 22k.  The remainder of the ring is sterling silver.  I love to mix silver and gold so you're not tied to one or the other.  The gold adds warmth, and the silver has strength. 

Put it all together and the results are striking. 

It's raining here, and it's supposed to get even worse tomorrow.  We need it!  Here's hoping I'll get another full studio day!

The Inspired Hand V

Look for 3 of my cuff bracelets on display at The Inspired Hand V show, January 20 - March 16, 2012.  This is a juried exhibition of work by members of the Maine Crafts Association.  The show will be held at the University of Southern Maine-Lewiston-Auburn College, 51 Westminster Street in Lewiston.  I am honored and pleased to be included in this show.

End of Day Finish

After a morning and early afternoon gardening, I got back in the studio and completed the three-dimensional flower bead necklace.  It looks really great--shiny appliqued flowers and brushed satin background.  I opted to string it with these simple-cut blue kyanite beads and a number of silver and gold bead accents.  Notice here that I continued the design of the flower to the clasp, where I made a user friendly hook and eye.  While designing, I pay attention to the details and notice the small things...because they matter. 

Here's the full necklace.  It looks even better on.

 

Next up on the bench, the reticulated bead.  We'll see where inspiration leads. 

Rings and Things

I've been trying to move forward with life and work and have fortunately been able to get some work done in the studio.  Been focusing on several different things, but really struck a roll with rings using some of my newest stones.  I started out with one of the beautiful large blue kyanite squares and mixed sterling silver and 18k yellow gold to create this--

I followed up with another new square stone, but this time a smaller bluish-green tourmaline cabochon.  It's bezeled in 22k yellow gold and has a small gem cut peridot on the corner and a few 22k gold dots.  The setting is raised off the shank and sits very comfortably on the finger--

This ring I finished last night.  It has a star ruby cabochon that is bezeled in 22k yellow gold with tiny gold dot accents and a heavy sterling ring shank.  It is highly polished and looks beautiful.  I couldn't get a photo showing the 6 pointed star, but will try again. 

It's a happy thing when all the pieces come together.  I'm going to keep going with the flow and make  more rings.  Still have lots of new stones to play with including all color tourmalines, kyanites, opals, sapphires and more! 

I love this photo showing the rings together.  Wouldn't you just love to have them all?!

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!