Day One of sunshine and buffing jewelry

Day one of buffing......

   Does anyone know what one of the most terrible sounds when buffing jewelry is?

  ........ping, ping, tink, thud, and slience.

That was a very small piece that you can barely hold on to with your gloves. It has now bounced around the buffer, and a wall, the floor, and where now?....is an early Easter egg hunt. If I am lucky I managed to catch sight of it as it bounced. Today, I did manage to find the two that got caught with the buff wheel. Also, another lost last year. It was all the way out the door and under a util. table we have just outside.

                                                 
Think this will ever look like real jewelry?

      Remember that photo of misc. jewelry items and pieces? Well, over the last week or so it has grown some. This photo is just some of the items after buffing most of the day and this evening cleaning the buffing compound off and out of tiny little holes and spaces. They were rinsed in clean clear water and now I am going to take each item one by one and dry it and inspect it for any problems, such as broken solder joints. Tomorrow, I will try to finish another bowl full ready to buff and clean.

  Today has been beautiful! Georgeous sunshine. Really felt good to have the sun warmth. The weather report, actually gives us another 3 or more days of this sunshine too! We might actually start to dry out some.

This is another picture of Clover Creek. Just outside our studio door over the weekend. We had heavy down pours with thunder and light'n


That's all for tonight....
                                        will update again later this week.
Also plan to post some pictures of my new work. After I finish setting the stones and doing the final polish.
 Have a good night, and peak out at the stars.

Keeping Busy On The Bench

  Since I last post with you, I have been busy on the bench. Really at this point not much is completed. It takes many, many processes and pieces. To put together and finish into a completed piece of "wearable art" jewelry.

Many times I have been asked " how long did it take you to make this piece".   Well, to truely answer that question is very hard. As with many artists that really MAKE their jewelry by hand fabrication. I do not make it a policy to "time" each process. Simply because as an artist I become so "taken" into the designing and making of it, time just flies by.So my reply to this question is usually "about 25- 30 yrs." Which is about how long that I have been making jewelry.

To the left is a picture of some of the the pieces that I have made so far.......

At top center is a pair of large Montana Agate earrings. Below are several beads made in Sterling Silver and Copper; a dragon fly pin; another pair of small Montana Agate earrings; Rhodocrosite and Tourmoline pendant. If you look to the left top, you can see the pair of Agate earrings that I showed the design process in the last posting. I am still making up the finished design for the metal beads. At this point I will add Silver links along with some other beads to make a long necklace.

  Often I will have stones laying on my bench in visual sight while I am fabricating...off to one side of course. Sometimes, designs just "pop" however, other times I will think out several designs before actually sketching.

 Stones like these are placed in reference to where they may be when piece is made.

This morning I have these ....plus several more "working" in my mine.  I will often go thru our "candy" in the safe to gather a few stones. And before I realize....the whole plastic bowl is full!    On the left are two pieces of  beautiful Baltic Amber with a newer found color combination of Picasso Jasper. I am really "drawn" to these colors right now so I have several shapes and colors.

To the right are three more free form cabochons with a 5mm round Hessinite Garnet. The Garnet will accent the red orange colors that are flowing thru the Picasso .

Back to the left side...this will be a set of three pieces. Georgeous Purple Sage with Dandrentic "fern" like markings. I will most likely add some Amethyst and Citrine stones as accents.

.....Back to the metal pieces in the picture at the top...Next I will tumble polish then, I will polish each piece by hand with the buffer. Clean the buffing compound throughly off each piece, rinse with lots of clean water, and hand dry them one by one inspecting them for any compound left or other imperfections that need to be done. Then finally, I am ready to set the stones and do the final polishing; take pictures, and make up a price tag, and put them into a plastic bag ready for our next show.

Then, I will post these pictures to our blog, Facebook, and our Etsy store for you to view and  purchase them. Knowing some of the process done to create these I hope will add to the excitment and interest in the piece that is YOURS.

 Just attempting to give you an idea of what is done by all artists in their attempt to make you their own creation just for you!

Designing Style

 I promised a session on design a few days back.
           So here we go.....
  Usually designs just "appear" as I start looking at "free form" cut stones. I like things that are "off center" for the most part. Fancy long name for this is

asymmetrical. Never have been able to get into the geogemtric look, guess     because I like odd looking with flowing lines.

 I like taking pictures as I go, and sending emails with updates on the progress. This builds "energy" as I work and gives my client an opportunity to input their thoughts, or just see THEIR own piece come together.

I usually work up a design draft sketch, something like this one......
 I will state materials to be used such as: 18ga. round wire for outside design wires/ 14k yellow Gold 18 ga. round wire for the center "s" design.

Then a close up is next step. With this is the actual size of the finished piece.  Showing the stones laying in place. In this draft the earring is 1  & 1/2 in. x approx. 1 in. Then I give the final cost of completion.  At this point I have the client make the final approval.

  When working with a new client. I like to get some input from them. I usually say " just look thru magazines, or " doodle" up something. Then I look these over , and make my own concept of the idea. For the most part, it works for the both of us.

   After getting to know clients thru the above process or most often from "one on one" contact at shows when purchases are being made. I get a "feel" of what they like....design looks, colors etc.  Usually after a few contacts, a client will basically turn it all over to me to design and make the piece. As they feel confident that they will like the end result.

   I will keep all work done within my style of design. Not that I am not open to new ideas. But, that is what it is all about....my style. Not a copy of someone else. 

 The finished photo of this pair of earrings will follow in our next NEW work post.

    Hope this has been interesting to read. I will write some more in a few days or so. I am trying to establish around one posting every week or so. As I get closer to show dates, the busier of course I will be.