Kind of Strange

On their own:

The necklace on its own:

The earpiece on its own (prior to adding the mink bones):

More behind the cut!

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In which I actually have some professional photos of my work!  Many thanks to Val Mohney for his fantastic photography skills.  You can see more of Val’s work here: http://www.valmohney.com (also responsible for the infamous Bone Mask photos)

Without further ado, the pics!

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Not just another porcupine quill earpiece post!

…well, there is a new earpiece, but there are other things to see as well!

Note: Click the pic for a larger image.

Copper, sterling silver, 3mm fire citrine, wolf snout fur scrap

Sterling silver, fine silver, 14k gold, 12mm rutilated quartz, African porcupine quills

Barnacle, sterling silver, fine silver, 3mm moissanite, fox fur scrap (pending verification)

Also known as ‘The Slightly Less Dangerous’ model.  The quills used here are in the 6-8″ range and look downright small in comparison to the first version, though still quite dramatic.

This one uses much smaller quills and has an additional accent in the form of a peridot cabochon set in fine silver and 14k gold. 

I’ll be taking pictures of this one on its own, but wanted to show the context of where on the ear the piece lies.

Just a quick look at one of the pieces I’ve been working on:

Sterling silver, african porcupine quills.

That’s the first version, the proof of concept, and will be sticking around in my personal collection. A smaller, more polished version will be up shortly.

http://www.kindofstrange.com/livestream

Next scheduled broadcast will be this upcoming Saturday, March 27th from Noon PT until whenever I wear out. (3pm being the earliest possible end time)

You may have noticed a new link at the top of the page. It can also be directly reached via:

http://www.kindofstrange.com/livestream

I’m experimenting with the idea of broadcasting my bench work live. The wonderfully talented illustrator @3liza has been broadcasting her work live for some time now over at ye olde Sweatshop.tv, and has inspired me to follow suit with a stream of my own. Using a LifeCam HD, a Livestream account, some dubious mounts (I’ll be building a proper rig at some point) and a steady flow of tunes from Pandora, I’ve set something up that (mostly) works!

Starting next week I’ll be posting a schedule and broadcasting on a fairly frequent basis. Random, unscheduled appearances may also happen and are usually posted to my Twitter account 5-10 minutes before broadcast. Check back on the BenchCam page for a schedule and some general guidelines early next week!

One of several objects I’m making this month.

Sterling silver box ring, duiker horn and wolf fur (pending confirmation, came from a very tiny scrap).

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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