double wow, metalsmiths

WOW. and DOUBLE WOW.

this sculpture was formed from ONE SHEET of metal.

which makes me weep real tears of JOY.

this was made by Steve Shelby of Indiana.

{an incredibly talented maker}

read more about the piece and his process HERE

tension ring workshop

tension set gemstone rings from Sunday's workshop at the STUDIO...

rings by Melissa, Andrea, Karen, Pam, Sandra, Lori (and samples by me)

GREAT JOB, LADIES!

I know it was a challenging project

super beach surprise

my dear friend Ginger and I went on a 5:00 am beach walk this morning,

and something TRULY AMAZING happened...

(sadly, we were unable to capture this spectacle on film)

when we stepped into the wet sand, there was a MAGNIFICENT GREEN GLOW radiating from our footsteps, for about ten inches!

we threw sand around and watched it glow.

we splashed around. it glowed some more.

we rolled up our sweats - a look we call "business shorts" (coined after a favorite tune)

and went in to our knees.

we contemplated a swim, but alas we had no suits & no towels, and the morning rowers & runners were starting to come out by then.

we squeaked and squealed and played with joyful abandon like little kids.

(and, yes, I know the dinoflagellates are some sort of toxin, but...)

WHAT MAGIC.

AND A BEAUTIFUL START TO THE DAY!

sometimes i amuse myself...

well... I recently fulfilled a large order of silver jewelry.

it was a fun project, a labor of love, and I feel lucky to have been

helped by so many SKILLED AND WILLING hands...

just to entertain myself, I put up a display in the shop

a handful of the hundreds of pieces that were shipped.

yes, they are ALL the same!

entertainment

rings in silver with 14k granules, all size 8

views from the garden

spring has indeed sprung in our succulent garden....

the colors are popping out here!

such inspiration

a life of abundance

some days I am very in-touch with the abundance in my life....

a bounty of lemons that will yield the perfect lemonade

a jar of ALL COPPER pennies

(I am going to use these at the bench for solder-lifts)

{{I used a zinc penny by mistake recently and plated a complex and gorgeous ring. ugh. more on that later}}

and a great job

{{making LOTS of jewelry}}

these days

yesterday: I metalsmithed in flip flops (hey, I know it's a no-no)

and I worked on what is JUST POSSIBLY the coolest ring I have ever made

AND HERE IT IS

a wedge of tourmalated quartz tops a bold and modernist reliquary

on a wide band, with a super-smooth brushed finish

THE RELIQUARY HOLDS

rough diamonds. twelve of them.

{{nope. I'm not kidding you}}

here are a few other treasures.

I also made a ring from a STUNNING 20 carat star ruby

today: I metalsmithed in ugg boots (chilly day)

and I worked on a (somewhat tedious) production project.

not quite as cool as yesterday, but still a joy to be doing what I love

today in california...

clear blue, perfect skies...

beauty, appreciated, in the moment.

photos taken today by Ian, my most wonderful 16-year-old son.

{{thanks for sharing these with me, Ian}}

virtual metalsmithing...?

I am pretty much a hands-on, old school, manual arts type person.

this said, I was recently shown this amazing metalsmithing tool - the imakejewelry app for the iphone (or ipod touch), by incredible jewelery artist Victoria Lansford.

I would usually scoff at some techie thing like this... but this is AN AMAZING BENCH TOOL. every imaginable gauge, weight & length conversion, ring sizing by gauge, and all sorts of info on stones... IN YOUR POCKET!

all that and it's under four dollars. worth it's weight in silver.