Rutilated Quartz and Hand Cut Tree Sterling Silver Pendent

-->

Quartz is the most common mineral on Earth. It is found in nearly every geological environment and is a component of almost every rock type.  It makes up about 12% of the earth's crust, occurring in a wide variety of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. It is also the most varied in terms of variety and color. 

Rutilated quartz is found in Australia, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Norway, Pakistan and the United States.

Rutilated quartz has been referred to as Cupid's darts, Venus hair stone and Fleches d'amour.

 Rutilated quartz is said to slow down the aging process and is said to be a strong healer.

 I found this beautiful Rutilated Quartz and decided to use it to continue my Adirondack Series with it. It just reminded me of "roots" and I began cutting out trees. Two to be exact. This time I didn't sketch my idea out first. I just kind of knew with this piece what I wanted it to look like.  I used a square wire to surround the whole disc and soldered another reticulated "branch" to it.

 The chain is hand made and I guess I must have three hours of time just connecting the jump rings without figuring how long it took to wind and cut them. I did consider blackening the chain but at this point I've kept it shiny.

 The finding on the chain is a sterling magnetic closure. Easy to put on and take off and extremely strong so one doesn't have to worry about losing it.

As you can see, the size of the pendent is larger than a penny and I'm going to say the size of a quarter (should have used a quarter, huh?).

More Sterling Spoon Rings to Preview

Emerald size 8

Amethyst size 9.5

Simple leaf pattern size 11

Spoon Rings back for a new look!

OK, I will confess I was a child of the 60s and at that time, the term "hippie" took on an entirely
different concept from the Halloween costumes of today or the reference made anytime drugs are mentioned. Oh don't get me wrong: some of our outfits back then looked more like Halloween costumes for sure with all the bright colors and flowing long skirts, huge bell bottoms and massive platform shoes and pot....well lets not get into that!  Having said that, I'm going to skip right to the subject at the heart of this blog! The SPOON RING.
   The sterling silver (not plated) spoons I have been collecting from pawn shops, thrift shops, garage sales and such have been piling up in my studio so I thought I would make a few rings from them. For those who may frown on this activity because you think its a waste of beautiful sterling silverware- I want you to know that I use every inch of the piece and waste nothing. More importantly: I am so in love with the beautiful patterns on them that I believe the person who buys a ring will enjoy the beauty of the pattern far more than those of us who covet a set of sterling silverware tucked away in the depths of the china closet or drawer that holds the wooden box lined with a velvet cloth that holds those special eating utensils which hardly ever get used! You know its true. Polishing it and washing it every time you want to bring it out is a giant pain and its always the maids day off!!!
  So here they are and I would love it if you would "comment" (at the end of the post) and let me know what you think.  My favorite is actually the deco, more simple pattern that I see a man wearing.

The very ornate one has a Labadorite stone set on it and the third ring I used a glass engraver to create texture around the pattern which also covers up an initial that had originally been on it.

My 2012 interest in making pendents and necklaces

                                    The above are the reverse sides of the below

SOLD

                                                               

SOLD

                                                                       

Realizing my pendent and necklace interest of 2012

After looking at iphoto to review the work I've done in silver during 2012, I realized the focus on pendents and necklaces.  This year I became very excited about the Adirondack Collection and also
on working with all those beautiful natural stones from the beaches of Lake Michigan. The cabochons I selected for the pendents were the drive for my designs and I'm very happy with the results. The handmade chains I hung them from have given the pendents a great deal of validity and charm even though the prices have been driven up by the fact that silver was so high on the metals market for 2012.
   I hope you enjoy the following images. Thanks to Bruce for the beautiful photos. If you are interested in purchasing any please feel free to go to my Etsy shop: Etsy.com/shop/foresthollow or contact me by email: forest@ntcnet.com. If you can't find them on Etsy they are probably here in the shop in Remsen or at the Szozda Gallery in Syracuse. In any case they will be available to you.
Thank you for your continuing support.
Cat

Edgewood Orchard Galleries

I just send a submission of my silver work to a wonderful family owned gallery in Wisconsin.
Our friends took us there when we visited them in Sturgeon Bay and I loved everything about
it. The grounds were beautiful and contained wonderful sculpture as well as a walking path.
Edgewood Orchard Galleries is a very spacious and well organized gallery for both two and three dimensional artwork.  It is located in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. I will be very pleased if they agree to
represent me. Trying not to get my hopes up too high!

Adding to the Adirondack Collection

Well, I just can't seem to stop admiring these wonderful beach stones from Lake Michigan!!
I know they aren't from the Adirondacks but they are organic and they make great jewelry so

there you are! Reason enough to create! The ring shanks on these two are very different. The oval one, a size 6, has a reticulated shank and the round one, size 5, has a more contemporary shank. They both fit very comfortably. Since I can't install pay pal or another other way of
paying on here I believe I will begin posting them on Etsy. If you're interested go to Etsy.com/shop/foresthollow. 

Adirondack Collection continues

I collected many beautiful stones on the shores of Lake Michigan. It's the perfectly round or
oval stones that amaze me. The little sparkle or the black against the silver holds so much interest
in this piece. Bruce drilled a bunch of the small morphic shaped stones for me so I can link them
with other stones. The branch I made by fusing silver wire and reticulating it to look like the surface
of a branch or twig. This is hung from black leather with sterling closures.

"Trilogy of the Rings" New pieces of organic work...Reticulation!!!

 Medium width band, 3/8 " wide, with the surface having been reticulated and the edges uneven to give a natural look to this piece.

 Wider width band, 1/2 " wide, with a wonderful texture made by heating the surface, cooling, pickling, and using a brass brush to bring the fine silver to the surface. Repeating this process creates a beautiful surface.

The thinnest band, 1/4" wide. This ring has the reticulated surface however rather than hiding the soldered seam I overlapped and soldered to create more interest.

FIRST TRENTON FALLS ART FEST...come enjoy nature, art, music,food and more!

Adirondack Jewelry Collection

I'm still working!! Stay tuned for more new work! Genius takes time ya know!!!!!!

Sagamore Great Camp(Vanderbilt owned in the Adirondack Mts)

What a beautiful place! This is just a small portion of the dinning building overlooking Lake Sagamore.

 The leaves were just beginning to turn. The air was crisp and chilly walking to breakfast each morning.

 This is Bill Smith, the Adirondack storyteller/furniture maker/basket weaver and just all around "great person"!

Bill and I sitting in the sun!

Two more additions to the Adirondack Collection

Looking for a good home!

 I'm looking for a good home for some of my paintings since I've moved onto another theme and another palette, these paintings need a new place to dwell.

New Adirondack Collection

 Well, I'm pretty darn excited about my new beginnings. The cardinals came out great. I did not make a template or pattern for them but just drew on the silver and cut them out. These are of course just models and I plan to tweak them before putting them "out there". I plan to include many other Adirondack birds in this collection as well.

 I've had this beautiful stone for years. I've always wanted to use
it but never felt inspired but now it just sang out to me from the depths of my tool box!!! Doesn't it look like a beautiful Adirondack lake at night with tall grasses in the foreground and dark clouds settling in over the water? I'm so pleased with the way this piece came out and the links I made to look like twigs are just enough to give it a unified look.  I may not be able to part with this one!

Moonstone Ring size 8

Picture Jasper set in Sterling frame with hand cut tree

 Well, here are my last batch of finished pieces. I'm quite happy with the results and have been seriously considering working on a separate group of work. I've done a small amount of research on "Adirondack Jewelry" and found most of the work being done is cast for commercial levels of production. I'm certainly not considering production but instead thinking I might enjoy using the "Adirondack" theme in a body of work. I'm pretty sure there aren't many followers of my blog but still I'd love to know what you're thinking of this if you should read this post. I've also begun using fine silver and fusing it to look like the texture of twigs and tree branches. It's pretty exciting to do so I've played with and unfortunately wasted a lot of silver getting the "hang" of fusing. It's all about getting the correct balance of heat and knowing when to pull the heat away.  In any case I'll be posting some of my results. I expect this work will take me a good part of a year to complete and I intend to market it in a "smart" way. My track record for selecting venues hasn't been great but I'm learning and despite what my Dad used to say about me having to learn the hard way: I'm a fast learner!!!!

Back of Picture Jasper pendent and can be worn on eith

Sunrise Sonora set in sterling silver