Kind of Strange

In my rush to get these ready for the holidays, I really didn’t take the time to take decent photos of these pieces.  I will attempt to bribe the new owners into letting me have them back for a bit at some point, so that I can get a better set of shots.

The running fox.  Simple pierced pendant using flame oxidized copper (18g, I think) and sterling silver (22g).  Riveted together with sterling wire.  This was made as a gift for a friend and neighbor of mine that helped watch my fat blob of a cat while I was in San Francisco.

Dragon pendant for my aunt.  18 & 22g sterling sheet, pierced, soldered and engraved with a florentine graver and then oxidized.  8mm carnelian cabochon bezel set with an open back. 

Another dragon pendant, this time for my mom.  18 & 22g sheet, pierced, fused and engraved with a florentine graver and then oxidized.  This one using an 8mm trillion cut london blue topaz.  This was the first triangular shaped stone that I had ever bezel set, so the experience was rather ‘interesting’.  Read: Lots of swearing and a healthy dose of patience.

All of these are original designs, drawn onto the silver with a felt tip pen before cutting.  I’m pretty terrible at making any manner of template as well, so while I could likely make something similar in the future, each of these pieces is a unique object all on its own.

There are a few more gifts I should include here, but which I managed to take no photos of.  I’ll see about getting pics from their owners in the future.

Near the end of each JTI class at the Revere Academy students are asked to complete a box ring project.  Every student starts by creating a basic ring consisting of four pieces, which when assembled form an open square on the top of the ring. 

You can see some examples from a previous class here:

http://metalcyberspace.com/blog/archives/244

From this basic idea, students are asked to design and build their own personal box ring.  The time limitation of the project is set at 8 hours for anything beyond the basic ring construction, but that appears to be more of a general guideline than anything enforced.  Students may use whatever materials and construction techniques they want, as long as it builds off of the base box ring idea.

Here’s what I came up with:

Materials used: Sterling silver, 14k gold, peridot, deer leg bone, wolf fur

Additional photos and Meaning(TM) after the jump…

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