Turquoise and Silver Spiral Bracelet

 October is almost here and I love the warmth of the colors of Fall. The oranges and browns and yellows are such a contrast to the brisk temps. The turquoise stone in this piece just seemed to beg to be next to this orange pumpkin!!
  This bracelet has a small hook that ensure the wearer of security. It's kind of a bangle but can be unhooked to remove. I hammered a pattern in the round wire to add a sparkle when the light hits it.
  I think its kind of a fun piece...what do you think?

Another Pendent

Sterling Leaf made from the bowl of a silver serving spoon. The stone is actually a Moonstone that I set with a colored piece of plastic beneath it to give it color and hopefully make it look more like a rain drop.

Reticulated silver with a little "happy accident" leaving a "ruffle" which makes this piece look even more authentic! I sawed edges to look more leaf like.

Bottle Green Lampwork bead and chainmaille necklace and earrings

More Chainmaille

 I long for my torch and the smell of Al's studio but I haven't been able to get there so I'm soothing my nerves and emotions with a little more chainmaille. I don't make very many patterns nor do I try but I do enjoy the focus it takes to make the patterns I do make. The byzantine (top two pics) are made with 18 gauge sterling wire, both round and twisted. I placed a dime next to the unfinished work and added a couple of rings so you can see the size I'm working with. The 1x3 pattern in the bottom pic, which by the way I apologize for the bad photos, is made with 22 and 20 gauge sterling wire. These rings are much smaller and take more time and concentration to complete. Again I used a dime to
see the compared size of the rings and the chain.

16 gauge sterling Byzantine Mens Bracelet

 This is a very hefty bracelet and as you can see it weighs 48.1 grams of sterling silver. It's about one and three quarters oz. of silver.

 I made it big enough to fit a man's wrist, however it can be reduced if need be. The hand made jump rings are both plain and twisted. If you look closely you'll see the twisted rings are in threes and form a square rope.

 This is a close up of the closure. I enjoy making the S hook closures because I think its important to be able to put it on your own wrist and this style of closure allows you to do that. I even made Bruce put it on and he had no problem hooking it himself.

I took this photo with the #2 pencil just to give you some idea of the width.

Chain Maille Bracelet

 This bracelet is the result of my need to focus on
something structured, repetitious, and tedious! Sometimes in life there are sad or stressful things going on that we can't control so my way of dealing with my emotions is to find a way that I can remove myself mentally and produce something at the same time. Viola.

Oh look where those branches ended up!!

This pendent is 3 inches long from bail to the point of the hanging stone. I cut the bear from heavy
gauge sterling and soldered it to a larger back plate. I blackened the edges, as well as the
bear to accent the top and balance out the whole piece. I soldered the branches to either side
of the tube bail. I should note here that I tried placing the branches reversely, however they looked
more like antlers! I guess that would have been ok if the cut out was a deer. Moving on; I used one
of my favorite techniques to hang the Mookaite cabachon from the bear. Although it's not technically
a hinge, it works like one and allows the bottom weight to move with your body. Thanks Ed for helping me figure that out. So the Mookaite, which is a lovely stone mined in Australia, and is said to
strengthen the immune system, was cut and cabbed by a fellow jewelry maker. I set it in sterling and left an outer edge which I blackened to relate to the bear above.
  I'm not in love with the commercial Omega chain I hung this piece from. I'm now beginning to think I will use brown leather cord with sterling closures instead. Once again, I would love to hear what you think. Go to the comments icon here or email me. Thanks for looking!
  This piece will be for sale this summer. I may place it on Etsy...not sure.

The creative process includes many changes

 Here are the major changes I juggled around for weeks. The top two images here are what I thought I wanted and working from my sketches, I can see they too have alterations. My original sketches show a fish above the branches rather than the straight tube.

 The cut out of the Heron on the back has stayed relatively the same. The only change as you might be able to see below are the hand etched grasses near the bottom.















I just took these images to show the differences from the original piece. The center silver bead moves between the two small posts. I'm making the chain and including black onyx beads for accent. I believe the new design is simple enough to allow this type of chain. I had planned to use a commercial chain which would run though the tube (above), however with the design changes, I once more find myself creating my own chain.

I'm happy with the results. What do you think?

Remenicing with Acrylics!

 Well, I do love these paintings but my renewed interest in oils have been great. As soon as I get back to my home painting studio I will be painting larger with oils.

Comparisons

 Well, I took the below piece apart and redesigned it...I'm still not finished. Since I did away with the tube at the top and replaced it with a gentle curve of an 8 gauge round wire, I plan to solder posts from each end and place a beautiful faceted onyx bead to hang a hand made chain intertwined with more faceted beads both silver and onyx.

 I do think the simplicity of the new design allows the whole piece to work together.

I know some of you liked the "branches" however I think as some others suggested- the branches distracted from the stone. In any case this is what I've decided to do and once I've added the chain and cleaned the piece up I will add the final picture, so stay tuned in and please comment because I do consider and love your ideas and thoughts. Thanks.

OILS

 Still plugging away at my oil connection. I thought I'd try the figure since that's where my beginnings are. Not quite sure how I feel about them so far. I think I'm getting too trapped by detail once more. Part of my issue is that I'm not able to stay with the act of painting long enough to deal with ongoing elements because of my commitments at the moment. I think once I'm finished with these two paintings that I will return to "fruit and flower" subjects until I return to my home studio where I can work with less interruptions and more concentration.  As always, please send your comments because I really do value your thoughts. Thanks.

 The lampwork beads were made by an Etsy artist called Beatle Baby. I really like her work and this series of beads she makes have tiny sterling silver dots embedded in the beads which work well with my silver work. I used a very strong sterling magnetic closure for the necklace. Makes for a wonderful easy time putting it on. The earrings match with sterling shepard hooks that I also make by hand. The rubber stoppers keep the hooks from sliding out, especially if you have long hair.

New split moving bead bracelet

 For this new bracelet, I used peridot crystal beads for color. All beads turn and rotate.

The wire holding the beads are wrapped between two soldered silver balls on either side

The back side is smooth and comfortable

IT'S A PROCESS!

 Well, this is part of the process:to decide if I'm really happy with the almost finished results. Apparently, I'm not or I would be posting the finished product! I don't know if you can see the etched Heron on this black onyx (not my work) but the cab is not yet set because I'm not sure of the tube bail and I'm not real pleased with the branches either. I do like the cut out I did on the back which I guess makes this piece reversible.
Another option would be the chain or cord used. This commercial chain is obviously too delicate to use but I wanted to see how it hung. It has been suggested to me that a black leather cord might be an option. The other option I've been contemplating is to remove the tube and replace it with a reticulated branch, similar to the two vertical branches. If I do that I will be obligated to the design to solder a ring from both ends and
attach a handmade chain. This will require much more
time and effort to the piece which has already sent me
over the top! Ugh, what to do, what to do!

Tufted Tit Mouse Earrings!

Spring is coming and I wanted to post these little guys. They are the size of a nickel and for anyone working in metals, you will appreciate the time these earrings took to make. There are three layers here. I cut the back rings from discs and cut the birds out separately, stamping all their details with various chisels and center punches. For the branches I fused and reticulated 20 gauge round wire (of course, everything is sterling). Once I completed all the parts, I then soldered them together. I finally put them on Etsy. Sometimes it takes me a while to post my work because I just like keeping them for awhile and enjoying them before they leave!!! Is that silly?

Revlon

Here's another small oil. I'm loving the speed in which I'm able to paint these little 3x4 blocks.
I've sanded them smooth, prepared them with gesso, sanded smooth again and they're ready to
paint. Saw tooth hanger on back. I think my next one will be a bottle of nail polish....what a fun series that would make. Imagine the colors I could use and the different bottle forms I could paint. Sooo happy I returned to oils.