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YOJ09-37 Paua Shell Bangle

Posted on by dianne

YOJ09-37 Paua Shell Bangle (2009)
Paua Shell Bangle (2009)
Constructed, cold joined
Sterling silver, fine silver, paua shell
L 19 cm x W 1.5 cm

I have lots of supplies left over from my classes at Haliburton, which I’ve decided I will not be using next year.  The cabs I ordered were a huge disappointment, with widely variant thicknesses.  In particular, the green paua shell cabs were paper thin, making them virtually useless for wrapping.  Basically, they can be pressed into something else, like maybe polymer clay, glued into a pre-manufactured setting or as part of some other craft item.  Unfortunately, by the time I got them, it was too late to send them back to the supplier and order something different:  the supplier wouldn’t have been able to give me anything else in any case, because I had already cleaned out the stock she had.  The students who had to work with these cabs did admirably, but we had to change the project to make it work.  Oh well, lesson learned.  I’ll use a different supplier next year and put the remainder up for sale as a destash on Etsy to see if I can recoup any money that way.

The blue pauas were meant to be used for rings, but again, the thickness (while much better than the green) was an issue.  They are actually quite pretty, so I may try to make something out of some them.

The first go is this variation on my Art Nouveau Bangle, which uses four wires instead of eight.  It ends up being a very dainty looking piece.

More views:

YOJ09-37 Paua Shell Bangle (2009)
YOJ09-37 Paua Shell Bangle (2009)

YOJ09-36 Green Sprout Pendant

Posted on by dianne

YOJ09-36 Green Sprout Pendant (2009)
Green Sprout Pendant (2009)
Constructed
Sterling silver, fine silver, prasiolite (green amethyst)
L 4.6 cm x W 2.2 cm

This week, I’ve been thinking alot about growing things, regeneration and rejuvenation.  Unfortunately, spring is a long way off, so I’m sort of out of sync with the cycle of life.  It’s the colour of prasiolite beads I bought in Bancroft (the only strand of beads I bought there).  It’s such a sweet, fresh green, and it reminds me of spring, seeds sprouting, life bursting forth anew.

So, I used the bead as a sort of seed, with “roots” growing around the peak, and a little plant “sprouting” out from the roots.

Prasiolite, commonly called “green amethyst” as a marketing ploy, does occur naturally, but is very rare.  Most prasiolite is created by heat treating amethyst or citrine.  Just to confuse things, there is another stone called praseolite, also green, which is created by heat treating iolite (cordierite).  This latter stone has a greasy luster, which may help in distinguishing the two.

My copy of Love is in the Earth by Melody (Sixth Printing 1993) doesn’t include an entry for either stone, but I found this entry just now on another website while writing this blog entry (added emphasis mine):

Prasiolite brings one appreciation, approval, and acclaim (and occasionally) fame. It further promotes the recognition of ones accomplishments and furthers the completion of same.

Prasiolite has been known as the “celestial root”, bringing the ancient knowledge of illumination, germination, and growth. …. Prasiolite further provides for sufficient tranquility of the minds to assist one in contemplating metaphors without vulnerability to the unknown.

Prasiolite has also been used to bring forth a polarizing prismatic energy, which engenders a spectrum of energy to clear and to activate all of the chakras……

Prasiloite has been used to stimulate healing on the spiritual level and to assist one in regaining the connection with the perfection of the self and the physical body….

Ha! How’s that for connecting with stone energy!?

More views:

YOJ09-36 Green Sprout Pendant (2009)
YOJ09-36 Green Sprout Pendant (2009)
YOJ09-36 Green Sprout Pendant (2009)

YOJ09-35 Moonrise

Posted on by dianne

YOJ09-35 Moonrise (2009)
Moonrise (2009)
Pendant, Sterling silver, fine silver, rainbow moonstone, indicolite (blue) tourmaline
Constructed, cold joined
L 6.4 cm x W 1.8 cm x D 1.2 cm (widest point)
SOLD to a private collector, September 2010

On my annual trek to Bancroft this year, I decided to focus on buying cabachons.  I have a huge stash of beads, but I’ve been moving away from working with them.  The last time I was in Bancroft, I bought some really nice cabs from one particular vendor, and was really happy to see them again.  This year, I scored a bunch of beautiful tourmaline, prehnite, kyanite, garnet and rainbow moonstone.

As a member of the Etsy Wire Artisans Guild, I’m supposed to make a monthly “theme” piece.  Well… I’ve been a bit lax about it because of my other commitments.  So I’m playing a bit of catch up.

It’s been a couple of years since my last attempt at a multi-stone pendant.  That attempt was… adequate… but really not up to the standard I like to set for myself.  So, for the EWAG’s “Blue Moon” theme, I decided I’d take another stab at it.

Back when I was single, I lived within walking distance of Woodbine Beach in Toronto, and would regularly stroll along the water’s edge.  I always loved watching moonrise over the water.  The reflected light from Luna rippling over the waves was so peaceful.  The Moon is the ruler of my astrological sign, Cancer, so I feel a special connection with it.  With my feet in the water, I would say prayers of thanks to the Creator for all of the blessings in my life, and listen for the messages in my heart of what direction I needed to go.

For quite a long time now, I’ve been getting messages telling me I need to reconnect my spiritual side with my jewellery.  I feel really strongly that doing that is going to resonate with others.  So, in the past few months, I’ve been making and posting work that draws from my inner life.

I gave conscious thought to the stones I chose for this piece.    The calming, balancing energy of the 11.7 ct moonstone helps connect with intuitive promptings, and the loving, powerful energy of the 24.42 ct blue tourmaline helps bring awareness and communication of those messages.

The wavy line coming down from the moon was always part of the design, but I also wanted to incorporate the shimmering and rippling of the water by incorporating weaving into the bezel of the lower stone.  I’m very happy with the way it turned out, and the energy that comes off the piece is wonderful.

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Other views:

YOJ09-35 Moonrise (2009)
YOJ09-35 Moonrise (2009)
YOJ09-35 Moonrise (2009)
YOJ09-35 Moonrise (2009)
YOJ09-35 Moonrise (2009)

YOJ09-34 Stocking up for Christmas

Posted on by dianne

YOJ09-34 Christmas Stock Up
The week 34 project isn’t a specific piece of jewellery, per se, more like a bunch of things I made in preparation for Christmas sales on my Etsy shop.

Not really much more to say than that.  Oh, and if you’re interested in purchasing my jewellery, click this link.

YOJ09-33 A Boulder Opal from a friend

Posted on by dianne

YOJ09-33 Boulder Opal Pendant (2009)
Boulder Opal Pendant (2009)
Sterling silver, boulder opal
Constructed, cold joined
L 3.7 cm x W 1.8 cm
Private collection

I used to be very active in the Gem & Mineral of Scarborough, and developed many good friends there.  One of them, David Bellamy, gave me this stunning Australian boulder opal as a Christmas gift.  We were at the club’s annual Christmas Sale, and one of the vendors was selling self-cut cabochons.  Most of them were stones from Nova Scotia, but a few, like this opal, were from rough he had bought.  I was completely enamoured with the stone, but put off by the price:  $60.  At that point, I was still trying to recover financially from my first failed marriage, and couldn’t justify spending that much on one stone.  So, I was absolutely speechless and overwhelmed when David presented me with the stone.

I made many trips up to the Bancroft Gemboree with David over the years.  He’s an avid collector of “species” thumbnails, and consistently creates some of the most interesting displays at the club’s annual show.

I used this stone for the prong set pendant tutorial I wrote for Haliburton, but the setting really didn’t do the stone justice.  So this week, I took the setting apart and remade it.  This one is staying in my personal collection, as a reminder of a passionate rockhound and generous friend.

YOJ09-31 CZ Solitaire Pendant

Posted on by dianne

YOJ09-31 CZ Solitaire Pendant (2009)
CZ Solitaire Pendant (2009)
Sterling silver, cubic zirconium
Constructed, cold joined
L 1.5 cm x W 0.6 cm

Getting caught up after a couple of weeks away.  I kept up with the projects, but didn’t have a chance to photograph them until today.  My entry for week 31 is an adaptation of the solitaire prong setting by Jorgen Greftegreff.  My husband gave me a solitaire pendant for Christmas a couple of years ago, and I’ve always wondered if the setting could work in wire.  This version, while successful in the sense that the adaptation worked, is a bit too messy on the back for my preferences.  It was worth the experiment though :-).

YOJ09-28 Prong Set Ring

Posted on by dianne

YOJ09-28 Prong Set Ring (2009)
Prong Set Ring (2009)
Sterling silver, cubic zirconium
Size 7
Constructed, cold joined

Life is crazy busy right now as I finish preparations for Haliburton.  So this week’s entry is a variation on Jorgen Greftegreff’s Prong Ring (published originally in the April 2001 issue of The Wire Artist Jeweller).

The good news is that my wire arrived finally, and I didn’t need to reorder anything!  *Whew*

My computer access is going to be limited for the next two weeks, so while I’ll try to post YOJ pieces on time, more than likely it will wait until I get back.

YOJ09-27 Art Nouveau Cab Bangle

Posted on by dianne

YOJ09-27 Art Nouveau Cab Bangle (2009)
Art Nouveau Cab Bangle (2009)
Sterling silver, bloodstone
L 21.5 cm x W 2.5 cm
Constructed, cold joined

Although it’s supposed to be a calming stone, I’ve always found bloodstone to have a kind of overpowering “in-your-face” energy that’s difficult to deal with.  For the last few weeks, though, I’ve been wearing it while working on my tutorials, and it’s been helpful for keeping my energy levels up and focused.  I love the red spotting on this cab, and the slight yellow cloud overlaying the green.  This was part of a group of cabs I bought when The Nautilus closed 10 years ago.  The Nautilus was *the* place in Toronto to buy rockhounding and lapidary supplies.  Located in the far, far east of the city, I remember it taking an obscenely long time to get there on city transit from where I lived in Little India.  But what a treasure trove!  The owner, Roy MacLeod, was a passionate rockhound and filled his store with all the bits and bobs needed to work with and admire rocks.  Sadly, Roy didn’t live to see the millennium, and the closing of his store left a void that still hasn’t been filled.

In designing the Level II course for Haliburton, I was thinking about what skills would be most useful for the students to learn.  In Level I, they learn the basics:  working with single wires, developing dexterity with tools, etc.  There are very few multi-wire projects.  In Level II all but two of the projects are multi-wire pieces, and the students have to deal with doing steps early on that don’t actually come into full use until much later in the construction. Wire control becomes very important.

One of the things Level II focuses on is settings:  half of the projects deal with some form of stone setting.

I think this is by far the most complex of the projects I’ll be teaching.  Hopefully by the time we get to this point in the course, the students will have enough confidence to tackle it.  If not, it’s easily adapted to something simpler.  I’ll let them decide how energetic they want to be.

This tutorial will be available for purchase and download off my website after I get back from Haliburton.  I’ll post the link when it’s up, along with more photos.

YOJ09-26 Prong Set Pendant

Posted on by dianne

YOJ09-26 Prong Set Pendant (2009)
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:

YOJ09-26 Prong Set Pendant (2009)
YOJ09-26 Prong Set Pendant (2009)
YOJ09-26 Prong Set Pendant (2009)

YOJ09-24 Shiva’s Pomander

Posted on by dianne

YOJ09-24 Shiva's Pomander (2009)
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:

YOJ09-24 Shiva's Pomander (2009)
YOJ09-24 Shiva's Pomander (2009)
YOJ09-24 Shiva's Pomander (2009)
YOJ09-24 Shiva's Pomander (2009)
YOJ09-24 Shiva's Pomander (2009)
YOJ09-24 Shiva's Pomander (2009)

YOJ09-23 Standard Form Ring (Again)

Posted on by dianne

YOJ09-23 Standard Form Ring
Standard Form Ring
Sterling silver, jasper
Constructed, cold connected
Size 10

Yes I’m posting the same project as in Week 2.  At that point I had written the instructions for the tutorial, and the carnelian ring posted was the product of the writing process.   This time the ring is the product of the photography process.  I have now completed two of the six tutorials I need to write for my class.  Number three is written and transcribed to computer; photography for that project will happen tomorrow.  With any luck, number three will be done by Wednesday.

I’m now into the most challenging part of my schedule for the year.  With five weeks to go until my class, I’m multitasked up to wazoo.  I’ve been taking advantage of the convenience my netbook is offering me:  I can sit out on the front porch and work in the warmth of a sunny day while my children play in the yard.  If they are working on an educational CD doing “homework” on the clunker laptop in the kitchen, I can also sit at the table and do “my” homework.

Life is humming along…

Next week’s project will be much more spectacular, I promise.  It’s in the finishing stages now, and will be on its way to the Rails End Gallery this week for the HSTA Faculty Exhibition, “Vessel”, which opens on June 30.

YOJ09-22 Viking Knit Bracelet

Posted on by dianne

YOJ09-22 Viking Knit Bracelet (2009)
Viking Knit Bracelet (2009)
Fine silver, sterling silver
Nalbinding, cold connected
L 20.5 cm x W 0.4 cm

I’m hard at work on the tutorials for my class, so this week’s project is the product of that work.  I’ve been doing a lot of photography, and editing and layout.  I’ve been pretty much eating, sleeping and breathing the project.  The first tutorial is finished, and the second is well in hand.  Four to go… and six weeks until the classes start.

More photos:

YOJ09-22 Viking Knit Bracelet (2009)
YOJ09-22 Viking Knit Bracelet (2009)
YOJ09-22 Viking Knit Bracelet (2009)

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Judith Goldstein