pendant – Page 3 – dianne karg baron

YOJ09-26 Prong Set Pendant

Posted on July 4, 2009September 21, 2009 by dianne

Prong Set Pendant (2009)
Sterling silver, labradorite
Constructed, cold joined
Private Collection

I found this labradorite in my stash again recently while working on the prong set pendant tutorial.

I’m rediscovering my love of stones, and am fantasizing about going to Bancroft to *shop*! Having put myself on a buying moratorium for the last few years, I normally go to the gemboree just to have a look around.

When I floated the idea of going this year, my DH surprised me by suggesting I go by myself! It’s a long drive to take the boys on, and since they don’t show much interest in rocks (other than the ones they can throw into water), the show is wasted on them.

Hmmm…. the possibilities…

More photos:

YOJ09-25 Netted Pendant

Posted on July 4, 2009July 5, 2009 by dianne

Netted Pendant (2009)
Fine silver, sterling silver
L 6.0 cm x W 2.5 cm

I’m running a bit behind with my YOJ postings, but I have been keeping up with doing the pieces. My focus has been on preparing for my class, which starts 9 days from today! This netted pendant is one of the projects for the class.

The good news is that I will get all of the tutorials done. The bad news is that I have no idea if my wire is going to arrive in time!

Getting the supplies for these classes has really tested my patience. Back when I worked in the mining industry, the gentleman I worked for always reminded me to prepare for Murphy’s Law. I’ve been reminded of that over and over in the last few weeks…

I do my best to support Canadian companies, partly because I believe in buying locally, but also because that way I don’t have to deal with the extra hassle of shipping, customs, duties and fluctuating exchange rates.

But some suppliers really make it a pain in the ass to deal with them.

Case in point: John Bead, a trade-only wholesaler and beader’s heaven. They would be an ideal Canadian supplier if they actually had the things I needed IN STOCK!!! Three weeks ago I went to JB – my first visit in years – and I was reminded why I don’t bother to shop there unless I absolutely have to. The warehouse is a frustrating jumble of aisles and bins. Just finding things is the first challenge. Then the flat nose pliers I wanted were out of stock. I had to settle for a cheaper, lighter weight version. The round nose pliers – every style – were out of stock. The only pliers they did have in stock were their own house brand – at $20 a pop. They didn’t have enough spools of 26 gauge copper wire, so I had to buy half of them in brass. No 1.5 mm antique copper chain in stock. Barely any 2 mm copper beads in stock. This is a wholesaler, remember, with several thousand sq. feet of showroom space…

*If* they had had the pliers, I would have been well over their minimum purchase requirement. As it was, I ended up having to visit their Swarovski room and buy a bunch of Swarovski crystals I didn’t really want or need to make up the difference. And even there, the stock on some of the common colours was patheticly low!

So, if you’re in Canada, looking for wholesale Miyuki, Swarovski or Preciosa, John Bead is a go-to supplier if you can meet their minimum. As for me, I think next year I’ll deal with the shipping costs, and customs charges, and just order from Rio Grande…

And increase the cost of the kit…I’m dealing with a very tight budget here, so that makes sourcing reasonably priced supplies problematic.

Thankfully, I found another supplier for the round nose pliers – Habsons Jeweller Supplies in Vancouver. They had the quantity I needed in stock, and they had them packed and shipped the day after I ordered them. This is the second time they’ve come through for me on a hard-to-find item. Last year I bought a half dozen wooden ring mandrels from them – impossible to find elsewhere in Canada, but they had them. I love these guys. Great customer service. Actually, maybe I’ll order from them first next year…

Next was the still-ongoing misadventure with the copper wire.

There are NO suppliers of shaped copper wire in Canada. So, ordering from the US is required.

I placed my order in mid-June, with expected delivery in 10 business days. The time came and went, and when I followed up this last week, I found out the supplier missed something on the paperwork. The package had been returned and had sat in their warehouse for a week before being sent out again. So now I’m sitting here hoping the package will arrive in the next few days. If it’s not here by Tuesday, I have to re-order the whole lot (US$900+), and have it sent up here by express overnight courier. Cost of the courier: US$102. *gloom* And I have to re-source the cabochons because I cleaned them out of their 22×30 mm with my last order. And then I’ll have two complete sets of the wire I need for the classes once the other order finally does arrive. The owner is doing her best to be helpful, even taking time out of her vacation to deal with this for me.

In the meantime, I’m beavering away, working on tutorials, putting together what I can of the kits, and trying not to stress out…

YOJ09-24 Shiva’s Pomander

Posted on June 10, 2009April 20, 2017 by dianne

Shiva’s Pomander (2009)
Fine silver, sterling silver
Pendant: L 6.1 cm x W 3.2 cm
Chain: 88 cm
Constructed, coiled, cold joined, flameworked

A little over a year ago, Perri Jackson sent me Strange Attractor, a stunning wire bead she’d made as a thank you gift for helping her with a tutorial. Looking at it, I wondered how the structural coiling technique she used could be adapted to something other than a bead. Something like a locket maybe… It got me puzzling…

An opportunity to experiment came in the form of a call for entry from Rails End Gallery. Every year the gallery hosts a show featuring work by the faculty of the Haliburton School of the Arts. This year, the theme is “Vessel”.

Originally, I had wanted to make the vessel to house this heart, but screwed up – err… made a Design Choice that ended up creating a much larger container than intended. The original design would have hung horizontally, with the chain running through the centre. With this one, the design lends itself better to a vertical orientation.

This week when I was talking to Perri, I mentioned that I was working on a locket-type piece for the show. She asked what it looked like. “Sort of like a Shivalingam,” I said.

So… the piece is heading out the door today to get sent up to Haliburton. There is, of course, the obligatory Artist Statement that goes with it:

In Hinduism, the lingam is a symbol of Shiva. Worn in a similar fashion as a Christian cross, the intent is to draw the blessings of the Higher Power to the wearer. Using structural coiling and weaving techniques developed by Perri Jackson, I decided to interpret this symbol as a pomander worn over the solar plexus. It allows the wearer to carry a prayer or fresh flowers within: a reminder to always recognize the Source of all life’s gifts.

VESSEL: HSTA Faculty Exhibition
Rails End Gallery & Arts Centre
23 York Street
Haliburton, Ontario, K0M 1S0
June 30 – July 30, 2009
www. railsendgallery.com

More photos:

YOJ09-21 Viking Knit Torus

Posted on May 24, 2009May 25, 2016 by dianne

Viking Knit Torus (2009)
Sterling silver
Nalbinding
L 55 mm x W 55 mm x D 10 mm

I’m insane.

People who know me are familiar with this quirk in my personality, but every now and again I feel compelled to demonstrate it. Hence, this week I decided – despite numerous pressing deadlines – I absolutely had to attempt making a torus out of viking knitting.

Nalbinding was historically used for things like socks, mittens, bags, hats and the like. In wire, it’s been used mostly for chainwork. To the best of my knowledge, no one has tried using it for sculptural wirework, and certainly no one has tried using it to construct a torus. Loren Damewood, who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, has made a toroid bracelet out of string, with plans to attempt it in wire, but his technique is marlinspike knotting.

Thanks to my experience making the Merry Meet necklace, I decided to make the first attempt in polymer coated wire. I have pounds of the stuff, and it’s great for experimenting. Unfortunately though, it doesn’t lend itself to annealing, which meant I could only get as far as shaping the torus. I couldn’t finish the seaming without risking wire breakage.

I’m contributing that first piece to The Metal Arts Guild of Canada’s call for Nuit Blanche 2009.

I’m completely obsessed with this idea, so decided that I would try one in silver. At the Zilberschmuck “Connection” opening a couple of weeks ago, I was talking to Charles Funnell about viking knitting. He had been trying to do some chainwork and was finding it challenging. I commented that it would work better in fine silver than in sterling, because the metal is more maleable. Unfortunately, the only fine silver wire I have on hand at the moment is 28 ga, and the idea of doing it in that fine a gauge really didn’t appeal to me. So, I decided to try 24 ga sterling in dead soft.

Well…

It was easier to work than the polymer coated copper, but I still ended up with a blister on my pinky from pulling wire. After a while, even wearing a bandage on the finger didn’t help. Yes, I suffer for my art…

The main challenge of a torus is making it seamless. The rest is just like making tubing. I figured out a way of making the stitches nice and tight, thanks to a tool that Loren uses for his turks head knot rings. Three stitches before the finish, and despite frequent annealing, the wire broke on me! :bang head:

Luckily the repair was easy, and I was able to finish it up. I spent far too many hours on this, but I’m very pleased with it and want to make more as time and my finger permit. The ghost of Frank Hoffmann is whispering in my ear again though: for the amount of work involved, I should be making it in gold.

More photos:

YOJ09-19 Mother & Child Pendant

Posted on May 10, 2009 by dianne

Mother & Child Pendant (2009)
Sterling silver, formed, flame-worked
L 5.4 cm x W 2.4 cm

It’s Mother’s Day, so my piece this week is in honour of Motherhood.

I’ve had pregnancy on my mind a lot in the last week, because last weekend I had a miscarriage. That was why I didn’t post anything for Week 18. What bugs me is not that I had the miscarriage – it’s that I had originally planned to wait until May 1 to do the pregnancy test. Had I followed through, I would never have known I was pregnant. Instead, I did the test on the 27th. My husband was completely gobsmacked when I told him the news: he thought I was too old to have any more babies. I had to explain to him that even though I am of a somewhat advanced childbearing age, until I actually stop having periods, I can still get pregnant. On the 30th I went to visit my GP, and that afternoon I started spotting. I spent the evening at Emergency, where they took some blood and sent me home. On Saturday, I started bleeding in earnest, so I went back to Emerg, where more blood tests and 5 hours of waiting confirmed what I already knew: the pregnancy had aborted.

I knew the chances of this baby going full term were very slim. I’m on medication that can cause birth defects, and, in the second and third trimesters, is toxic to the fetus. Even that aside, this would have been an extraordinarily difficult and potentially life-threatening pregnancy because of my various health conditions. I swear, my warranty ran out after I turned 40…

I’m sad, but not as upset as I was with the miscarriage two years ago. More than anything, the experience has left both my husband and I wishing we had met ten years earlier. I am able to take comfort in the idea that I am still “Mommy” to five children: two I cuddle every day, and now three others I cuddle in spirit.

So, here is the Mother, full with her Child. The design is a bit abstract, and I decided that it would not work without a bit of soldering. I’ve wanted to do a Mother & Child piece for a long time, and, I’m pleased to finally have a design I like.

Happy Mothers Day to all the Mommies who read this :-).

More photos:

YOJ09-17 Chalcedony Effervescence Pendant

Posted on April 26, 2009 by dianne

Chalcedony Effervescence Pendant (2009)
Sterling silver, fine silver, chalcedony
L 3.0 cm x W 1.2 cm
Cold connected, flame worked

I went to the Toronto Gem Show today – and I was by myself!! Woo hoo! That meant I had the freedom to be able to browse, and chat with friends, and to shop. I was looking for some things for my upcoming classes at Haliburton, but in the end decided that what I’ve found online is still a better bargain. But… I couldn’t resist a strand of chalcedony brios I came across. In a table full of stuff that looked like it was dyed, I found one package that had a beautiful opalescent glow. So, despite being on a buying moratorium for the past three years, I decided those beads had to come home with me. Even the sales lady commented about the package, saying that if I hadn’t bought it when I did, it wouldn’t have been around later – someone would have snapped it up.

Tonight I picked out one of the beads, and made this little pendant. It looks somewhat similar to the pendant I made in Week 8, so I’ve giving it a similar name.

More photos:

YOJ09-13 Kaleidoscope Pendant

Posted on March 30, 2009March 16, 2016 by dianne

Kaleidoscope Pendant (2009)
Fine Silver, sterling silver, Swarovski crystal
L 5.5 cm x W 4.7 cm x H 1.0 cm
Cold-connected, formed

For the first time this session, my entry is one day late. It proved to be much more challenging to construct, as I kept changing my mind about what I wanted it to look like.

This piece also doubles as my entry for the Etsy Wire Artisan Guild‘s April theme “Kaleidoscope”. The technique is drawn from a tutorial written by Perri Jackson, a friend and very talented wire artist who makes very intricate pieces from very thin gauge wire. Ever since Perri asked me to test the tutorial for her, I’ve been mulling over an idea in my head for a piece that adapts the technique. I’m not ready for that project yet, but “Kaleidoscope” is an intermediate step.

Perri’s blog features more of her spectacular work, and is well worth the visit.

More photos:

YOJ09-12 Viking Knit Chain (and “Merry Meet”)

Posted on March 20, 2009March 30, 2009 by dianne

Viking Knit Chain (2009)
Fine silver, sterling silver
Chain L 68.6 cm x W 0.35 cm
Pendant L 5.8 cm x W 2.5 cm
Nalbinding, constructed, cold-connected, flameworked, cast

Several years ago, my husband and I collaborated on making a Thor’s Hammer. Malcolm is fascinated by all things Norse, to the point where I’ve joked many times about him being a born-again Viking. He carved the cross for this pendant, but struggled to model the head properly. I came up with the idea of forming the head out of stick tack (aka white tack, blue tack etc etc), and then we cold molded the whole piece for casting. That original was finished, and then remolded and four more pieces were cast.

Malcolm made himself a lovely chain to go with the original. Unfortunately, our studio gremlins made off with it some time during our move, so all he has now are the copies. Wanting to wear his Thor’s Hammer, he recently asked me to make a chain for him.

So this week, on the heels of finishing my competition entry, I decided to whip it off. My hands are not quite recovered from the massive project, so by the time I was half way through working on this chain, I was having to put a bandaid on my pinky. I was developing a blister from all the pulling.

My beloved husband is very happy with his new chain, and thrilled to be wearing his pendant.

Some more photos:

Also, as promised, I’m posting the photo of my competition entry to “Connection”, the National Juried Exhibition being held by Zilberschmuck Art Jewellery and hosted at Shao Design. The call for entry asked: “What is your interpretation of the word “CONNECTION”? Is there a connection part, link or bond? Is there an association or relationship between two or more things? Do associates, relations, acquaintances or friends influence the outcome of the piece? Is it a single connection or one of many types and kinds of connections that make up the piece? How can these ideas be formalized into a three-dimensional piece?” My entry focused on the connection we make with each other, through a handshake. Clasping hands in greeting, in parting, in confirming business arrangements, in offering congratulations, is often the only physical connection we make with each other.

Merry Meet (2009)
Fine silver, sterling silver, glass
L 102 cm x W 7.0 cm
Nalbinding, constructed, cold-joined, liver of sulphur patination

My husband’s comment about this piece: “It’s odd.”

Yes, but that’s “art” jewellery for you… LOL

The hands clasp together just over the solar plexus. If I thought anyone would wear it that way, I would have liked to turn it into a stomacher – I think it would be well suited for that – but it works as a necklace as well.

From start to finish, it took two months of solid work to construct, and is (pardon the pun) hands down, one of the most ambitious pieces I’ve ever attempted. It’s not exactly what I envisioned – that would have taken another three months of work to complete.

As I mentioned last week, it didn’t make the final cut for the exhibition, but I’m not disappointed about that. I am satisfied that I got it done in time for judging.

Here are more detail photos, along with shots taken during construction:

YOJ09-10 Fun with Fibre

Posted on March 8, 2009April 12, 2009 by dianne

Fun with Fibre Earrings 1 (2009)

Sterling silver, wool
L 6.7 cm x W 0.5 cm
Formed, wet-felted

Fun with Fibre Pendant 1 (2009)

Sterling silver, wool
L 6.5 cm x W 0.4 cm
Formed, wet-felted

Fun with Fibre Pendant 2 (2009)

Sterling silver, fine silver, cotton thread
L 4.5 cm x W 0.45 cm
Nalbinding (viking knitting), embroidered

This has been a frustrating week, in terms of getting anything done. Number 2 Son has been demanding a lot of attention. “I want to do homework! I want another printing sheet!” every 10 freaking minutes. Normally, a parent loves to hear that their child wants to do homework, but in my case, it meant getting up from bench, sitting down at the computer, waiting for him to make up his mind about what he wanted to work on – an achingly slow process – and then printing it off. As a result, I was never able to focus on finishing the project whose deadline came and went on Friday.

He starts JK in the fall, and then I will have more extended blocks of time to work without interruption. I’m trying to enjoy these last couple of months of us being together before he becomes a Big School Boy, but geez it’s annoying to miss a deadline.

I haven’t given up on trying to finish the project, which is very labour intensive, but by last night, I decided that I needed to change gears. “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” was on tv, so I set up my felting stuff on the floor, and played while watching the movie. I’m still working on learning felting, still hoping to apply it to bonsai. One of the websites I stumbled across applied roving to craft wire, so I thought I’d give that a go.

My results are nothing spectacular, but then they weren’t intended to be.

The other thing I wanted to try was mixing fibre and nalbinding. I actually wanted to mix nalbinding with wire embroidery, but figured it would be too high on the PITA factor. I ended up using embroidery thread, but the idea still has a high PITA factor. My embroidering skills leave much to be desired as well *grin*. I may try the idea again, but approach it differently.

More photos:

YOJ09-08 Effervescence Pendant

Posted on February 22, 2009February 22, 2009 by dianne

Effervescence Pendant (2009)
Sterling silver, fine silver, blue topaz
L 5.4 cm x W 2.5 cm
Constructed, flame-worked

Having made the decision to make more production pieces, I’m picking out stones from my stash and setting to work. This week’s piece reminds me of the “Use it Up” pendants I made back in YOJ 2005-06. I fished a piece of 15 ga. square wire out of the scrap bin and balled up the ends, then bent it into shape and added this 8.96 carat blue topaz brio. It looked too plain, so I embellished it with 2 and 3 mm sterling beads.

Even since my friend Anna did the flower arrangements for my wedding, I’ve been mindful of the principle of using odd numbers for groupings. She explained that it’s more pleasing to the eye to see 1, 3, or 5 things together, rather than 2, 4, or 6. To some extent that principle is at work here with the three larger beads, and groups of 5 beads.

After I got it out the tumbler this morning, I tried it on. The beads looked like fizzing over top of the brio, and made me think of what my kids refer to as “bubble water” – soda water. So, it has the name “Effervescence”. *grin*

My husband likes the pendant, but then again, he prefers any pieces to which I’ve take a torch. The pendant wears well, but I’m not completely happy with the result – decorative beading is really not my forté – so I may it try again.

More photos:

YOJ09-07 Double-sided Citrine Pendant

Posted on February 16, 2009February 22, 2009 by dianne

Double-Sided Citrine Pendant (2009)
Sterling silver, fine silver, citrine
L 3.0 cm x W 1.3 cm
Constructed, woven

I bought this wonderful citrine at the Toronto Gem & Mineral Show many years ago. I think I bought it when Thumper was still a baby. Part of the reason I’ve never used it is that despite how beautifully cut it is – double sided cushion cut – I didn’t really know how I wanted to set it.

This week, while giving myself a break from the never ending viking knit project, I decided to go digging in my stash and found this beauty again. I decided to try setting it to show off both sides of the stone. I’ve discovered that I’ve developed a serious dislike of wrapping with half round wire. At least, I dislike the 21 ga half round I have. It’s just too thick for what I want to do. So, to make a thinner setting, I use 28 ga fine silver. It’s fiddly to work with, but it allows the stone to take centre stage instead of being overwhelmed by the wire. Both sides are worked almost identical. The bezel is basically two pieces of square wire woven with 28 ga wire. The channel created in the centre of the weaving holds the girdle of the stone. The 2 mm beads act like prongs to hold the stone in the setting. It’s visually similar to the pendant I made in Week 4. I like the way it turned out.

I’m making progress on the viking knit piece – it’s now 3 1/2″ long, but I’m starting to doubt that I will have it finished in time for entry to the competition. *sigh* I’ll keep plugging away at it, because it’s really starting to take shape. At the same time though I need to work on production pieces, hence the citrine pendant.

More photos:

YOJ09-06 Viking Knit Pendant

Posted on February 8, 2009February 16, 2009 by dianne

Viking Knit Pendant (2009)
Sterling silver, fine silver, glass
Constructed, liver of sulphur patination
L 2.9 cm x W 1.9 cm

I’ve got Viking knitting on the brain this week, because I’m working on a competition piece that uses that technique. It’s a slow, tedious process, but at the same time, strangely rhythmic and meditative. So far on the competition piece I’ve used about 15 ft of wire, and have oh… 1 1/2″ (just under 4 cm) of knitting completed.

Needless to say, it’s not the piece I’m posting for this week.

Since I have my fingers suitably warmed up, I figured I’d try using the technique on a pendant, and add a woven bail. This result is slightly different than the netted pendant I made for myself about a year ago.

I also decided to add liver of sulphur patina to it because silver and clear glass is just plain boring. The thing I love about LOS is the range of colours that can be produced, from straw yellow to deep dark black. My LOS is very old – so old in fact that it doesn’t dissolve properly anymore. I mixed up a weak solution and swirled the pendant around in it. Initially it went gold/brass coloured, but I decided I wanted to go deeper, so I popped it back in. I like the coppery brown colour I have now.

More photos, both with and without LOS:

Tag Archives: pendant

YOJ09-26 Prong Set Pendant

YOJ09-25 Netted Pendant

YOJ09-24 Shiva’s Pomander

YOJ09-21 Viking Knit Torus

YOJ09-19 Mother & Child Pendant

YOJ09-17 Chalcedony Effervescence Pendant

YOJ09-13 Kaleidoscope Pendant

YOJ09-12 Viking Knit Chain (and “Merry Meet”)

YOJ09-10 Fun with Fibre

YOJ09-08 Effervescence Pendant

YOJ09-07 Double-sided Citrine Pendant

YOJ09-06 Viking Knit Pendant

Other Musings

Blasts from the Past

Photo of the Day

diannekargbaron