Kind of Strange

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.

Fairly tired from a long day spent in jump ring hell, so the textual portion of this update is rather brief.

Instead, here are some pics!

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First look at a new mask I’m working on. 

Plaster strip over brass mesh.  I still have a lot of work to do on this one, but not bad for an evening’s work.

Not a lot to say about this one just yet, but here’s a couple of very early shots.

The bone was split down the middle with a jeweler’s saw with a very fine blade.  The curve in the cut is intentional, meant to look more organic and fluid than a simple fracture.  Two pearls have been strung through the center using very fine gauge silver wire and patiently hand bored holes. 

Sideview shot, showing the little swirls of silver wire capping either end.

Created for a dental hygienist friend of mine:

One of my wee wisdom teeth, removed several years back. Still need to finish polishing it up and apply the patina. Bezeling that thing was a hell of a challenge.

I’m really impressed with bronz clay thus far.  While the texture and patina is definitely variable depending on where the piece is located within the carbon vat and the thickness of the piece, I’m getting a handle for it as I go along.

That and, quite frankly, the price is amazing in comparison to silver.  While I still intend to use silver for certain pieces, the bronz clay gives me the ability to play around and experiment without fear of wasting materials. 

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This piece I’ve called ‘Crabulous’.  The Key has a name as well, but I haven’t settled on it just yet, so for now it’s just ‘The Key’.  This piece is strictly display only.  While it is possible to wear it when done, I don’t think that a very wise decision.  The tentacles come to fairly small, sharp points, perfect for ruining clothes; the crab ‘shell’ far too fragile for any real pressure to be applied.

Just thought I’d post an updated shot of the bone mask.  Still plenty to be done to it, but the overall concept is starting to come together.  It’s actually wearable now, with straps made from thrift store salvage belts, snaps and a bit of wire rigging.

Lazily shot on my hallway carpet.  Surprisingly the cat is nowhere to be found.

I’ve had a request for a larger shot of Late Spring.

While not necessarily a new image, here is the original image in a larger format, which gives a slightly better picture of the detail and overall color.

Behind the cut due to general bandwidth hoggery…

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