Metalsmith -Instructor- Jewlery Artist

Sunday, April 27, 2014

REPRESENT.. yeah go for it.

I needed  a drop dead gorgeous  statement piece to wear  with a black maxi dress to a black tie event. 
After all  I can't just wear some rhinestones..  I MAKE JEWELRY!  I need to wear my own work..uhh don't I?  It's awkward when you meet someone and they ask you, "So,what do you do"?  Umm, "well I make jewelry".  Immediately their eyes take inventory.  First my ears, neck, fingers and wrists..looking to size me up.  See?  So i have to R E P R E S E N T!  

 Hmm.. well I've been looking at the beautiful crown I made from Goldie Bronze Clay for months now trying to decide how to finish it! It's regal enough for the event I'm attending. 

   I love the beautiful look I got from my Goldie bronze pieces but they looked flat and boring.   I cringed at the though of darkening all that pretty gold color.  But, on the other hand, I wasn't feeling the love the crown I made deserved. So whats an artist to do?  I dipped my brush into some Novacan patina an applied it  sparingly to selective crevices of my crown and brass bullet casings :)  The results are, well..quite pleasing and give the crown a much richer appearance.  Combined with the hammered wire shank and beads, yeah  I think this will do nicely.   


Here is the back side view of the bail .. equally as important....

Hope it inspires you :) 

Hope it inspires YOU!

Monday, April 21, 2014

Shabby Chic, Just a visit to the hardware store!

So I was at the hardware store buying a can of mapp gas, and a guy comes in and says to the cashier, "hey do you recycle old copper pipe? This one has been nothing but frustration to me!" No.. the cashier said .. we do not!.   I saw the bent and wriggled pieces in his hand, looked like they came from under his sink. 





I replied, "Well Sir, I'll take it and make it into somethin purdy"!  He handed it to me and said "here ya go lady, good luck!"  So I took it home, cut piece off hammered it flat, and torch fired some enamel on to it.. and now its pretty!

Friday, April 4, 2014

Where is your current inspiration coming from?

So where is your current inspiration coming from?     I'm loving choker style necklaces with large focals and long dangles .....This one is Palm 23 set in resin with touches of enameled rings, pearls and wire wrapped beads.....

And,  this one was for  Easter!   I love the message of the cross and God's love for us all.    I also love fashion!  I've been trying to master enameling (which for me was NOT as easy as it looks) and was very inspired by Susan Lenart Kazmer's enameling DVD and her recent Elle magazine shoot.  The  look of her long pendants with large focals sent me over the moon :)  . Here's the result ...some robins egg blue enamel, prenite stacked beads and a very large copper etched  cross.....
I revamped some resin set pieces, adding long dangles and enameled elements using Susan Lenart Kazmer's cone shaped copper looks and mixing kiln firing with  Barbara Lewis immersion enameling method..which is much easier than traditional torch fire enameling since you do not need to counter enamel!

Hope I've inspired YOU :)  !!!!! 
Be blessed!