Color!

Red enamel can be tricky.  I probably have 20 different shades of red, but I only trust 3 of them not to be a disaster.  I'm taking a bit of a risk with this new shade, but it's so ruby red and delicious I thought it was worth the extra trouble.  I'm still a little nervous about it so I'm going to get the color down as fast as possible and get some clear on there to try to minimize the danger of the red reacting to the silver or getting splotchy.

The first layer went down fine, so I'm feeling a bit better.  I'm mixing the deep ruby red with some lighter shades of red, plus some yellow oranges for the belly and wings.

I'm also making another large necklace that was inspired from an Etruscan painted portrait I saw a while back.  It's simple, but I like the shapes, and the colors will be a nice gradient of green.  It's a refreshing offset to all that irksome red!  Anyway, here it is:

Dragon Part II

This is a large piece, so I added the wires in two stages, starting with the face and main divider lines. All those tiny scales are going to want to drift all over the place, so it's better to have everything else already fired in place first.

When I bent my wires, I used extra care to make sure the scales would fit as perfectly as possible.  With so many tiny little pieces of wire, one too-large piece could throw the whole design out of whack.  Even so, I spent time trimming things as I was laying in the wires.  

It looks like a lot of gold now, but ultimately, it's going to be a red dragon.  I used a foundation of 24K gold leaf so the reds will be as brilliant as possible.  

Happy Year of the Dragon!

One of the most common questions I get asked at shows is "How long did it take to make that?"  Well, it's complicated, because I tend to work on at least a dozen pieces all at once, usually one or two showcase pieces, plus some earrings and cuff links to fill it all in.  

But to give you a sense of the time it takes, I spent 5 hours bending the wires for the single dragon necklace shown in the above image.  I'm pretty psyched about it- I used 24K gold wires, and it's going to be a brilliant red dragon.  If all goes well, it should be complete by the time I go to the American Craft Council Show in Baltimore in February.  I will keep you posted!

Also, here are some highlights from last years work that I totally meant to put on my blog, but never really got around to it.  It's way more fun to make art than to blab about it online, but I've resolved to be better about it in 2012.  Seriously.  :P

Time for a Garden Party!

Just in time for a sultry summer garden party!  All of these are available from Cedar Creek Gallery ($145 - $195).

Dainty rings with flowers and gemstones:

Earrings in teal and fuchsia and green:

For those long Gothic evenings.  (Look at those spikes on that plant!)

Come visit my studio this weekend!

Cedar Creek Gallery is hosting the 43rd Annual Spring Pottery & Glass Festival the first two weekends in April. All the studio artists will fling open our doors and you are invited to come see how it's all made.  I'll be making jewelry in my studio, Lisa Oakley will be blowing some glass, plus other glass and ceramic artists will be demonstrating.  It will be fun for the whole family!

For more info, visit:

Cedar Creek Gallery
1150 Fleming Rd.
Creedmoor, NC 27522
919-528-1041

For the opening, I created a little "How it's Made" photo montage.  It documents every step of the creation process:

 

A sketch is made of the design and the enamel colors are chosen.

The designs are printed out on paper and glued to a sheet of fine silver.  Holes are drilled in the middle pieces to allow the saw blade to be threaded through and make the interior cuts.

The interior shapes are cut out first.

The exterior shapes are cut out and sides are filed smooth.

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The bases are cut out.  They are larger than the top pieces.

A copper solution is painted on the reverse side where the two sheets of silver touch.  This will lower the melting temperature and allow for easier fusing.

The pieces are set on a tripod and torched from below until they are fused into one solid piece.

The extra material is cut away and the base is ground smooth.

Texture is added with a scribe.

 

The base is domed using a soft mallet. 

To prevent cloudiness in the finished enamel color, the enamels are "washed" 7-9 times in distilled water.  A small amount of powder is placed in a cup, topped with water, and allowed to settle.  The water is then poured off, along with the impurities.

The enamel is washed and ready to apply!

Different gauges of fine silver wire are flatted using a rolling mill.

The wires are shaped into swirls and circles to match the design.

The wires are arranged on sticky tape that will hold them in place until ready to be used.

After two coats of colored enamel on the reverse of the base, a fine coat of clear enamel is fired in the kiln.

The wires are carefully positioned in the base.  Clear enamel is sifted gently on top, and the piece is fired in the kiln.  For more complicated designs, this may be done in stages.

After firing, the wires are gently pushed down with fingers to make sure they are flush with the base.

The colored enamels are placed between the wires using a fine sable brush.

The colors can be blended using water.

Before firing, the enamels are allowed to dry thoroughly.  If wet enamels are placed in the kiln, there will be air bubbles.

The layers of enamel are built up until they are higher than the exterior of the silver. 

The piece is affixed with wax to a wooden shim, and the top coat is ground flush to the metal.

After the first grind, the glass and silver are polished by hand using progressively finer sheets of wet sandpaper.

New work!

 

Above is my newest creation, made for the exhibit at Piedmont Gallery:

May 6 - 28, 2011

"It's All in the Pattern "

It's made up of 24 individual enamel pieces, and the petal motif continues all the way into the chain.  Jason Dowdle did these photos, and I couldn't be more pleased.  Here are two more necklaces I had photographed yesterday:

"Violetta Necklace"

Elephant Pendant.  Because who couldn't use a little extra good luck?

Happy New Year!

An oldie, but a goodie.  In honor of the year of the rabbit: