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.

Related posts:

1. Tree Pendant
2. Weekend Projects
3. Wisdom Tooth 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…

I wanted to make something that was both aesthetically appealing and personal in nature.  I have always connected with and sorted through concerns in my life a bit easier through a sort of personal symbolism.  Sometimes having a representation of a thought or concept can make it easier to relate to or focus on.

One issue that’s been particularly difficult for me in the past year is the death of my brother.  My father died when I was much younger and while I understood and accepted that in the way that the very young seem to, the death of my brother was a blow to my core.  We had just begun to reconnect over the last few years after most of our lives apart and to find him suddenly gone tore into my heart in a way I never fully realized was possible. 

I found myself reevaluating what I valued and had done with my life thus far.   Clichéd though it may sound, I found myself realizing that life is too short and too uncertain to keep putting off those things that you’re passionate about.   I find my passion in designing and constructing things with my hands, more specifically jewelry and the realm of personal ornamentation.  With that in mind (and my employer’s understanding blessing), I jumped into the JTI class at the Revere Academy to immerse myself in a way that otherwise really wouldn’t have been possible.

The ring itself is a culmination of the skills I’ve learned and as a symbolic focus for remembering and cherishing those that are now gone from my life. 

The organic elements and stone are symbols of remembrance, death, healing and strength.  The golden hoop at the bottom is meant as a connection point on which to suspend the name of the person I am remembering, which is then held in the palm of the hand.  The golden hoop on the side of the ring is meant to hold charms that represent life and growth, though I haven’t sorted out what those are just yet. 

I have spent a good deal of time in my life thinking about death and what it means.  Now it is time to think about what it is to live.

The following cards accompanied the ring:

Title Page:

Predator & Prey, Life & Death

Page One:

Wolf: family, teacher, protector, death & rebirth

Deer: gentleness, balance, love, healing

Peridot: healing old wounds, balance, releasing negativity, strength

Page Two:

“Live! Live! Live within your own mind, and never have a care in the world.  When you go to sleep and don’t wake up, we will know that you are cured.  We will dress you in your finest clothes and place you gently down in your bed, cover you with your favorite quilt.  We will kiss you softly on your forehead and wish you the very best of times as the infinite universe of the self opens to you, and all hurts are healed, and all will be forever well.

The rest of us will live, love, laugh, be hurt, weep, and die.  It won’t be an easy ride, to be sure.  But we’ll do it with each other.” – Pete Overton, 2009

 Page Three:

G. Aunt Betty, 2009

 I did not see Betty much, but I heard about her all the time while I was growing up.  She was vibrant, full of life and passion.  She was wild and funny, committed and loving.  She married the love of her life and they spent more than 50 years together, still visibly in love after all that time. 

The last time I saw great aunt Betty was during my trip back to MI for my brother’s funeral.  She comforted me when I needed it most, and for that I will always be grateful.

I see her personality in my mother and grandmother, a joy and laughter that the world could use more of.  She was a good person, and she was family.  I wish that I had known her better.”

Page Four:

Grandma Joann, 2009

Grandma Joann wasn’t technically my grandmother.  She was the grandmother of my ex step-father.  All the same, she acted like a grandma to me and accepted me into her life.  She watched me as a young child and helped me learn the value of doing things yourself and staying pro-active in life.  She was no-nonsense, but welcoming. 

I remember watching Murder She Wrote and falling asleep next to her on a regular basis, after a day of errands and running about. 

She had a great collection of random rings, though she seldom ever wore them.  I’m not sure why that always comes to mind, but it does.

Page Five:

Duri, 2008

Duri was a friend of mine, the kind you meet and feel instantly like you’ve known for years.  He was a tall, fanged, long-haired modern-day warrior, who just happened to work in the game industry.  The solution to many of life’s problems was a hearty laugh and a bellowing of AXE!

He was a kind person and always there for a good rant-and-relax session.  A good man who was troubled by the demons life had dealt him.  Unfortunately these foes were not ones the warrior could defeat, and a good man fell.

Warrior, geek, gamer and friend, I salute you and miss your laugh.  AXE! on into eternity, as only you could.

Page Six:

Ian, 2008

The consummate big brother. 

Once when we were young I hit Ian over the head with a baseball bat.  I was maybe 3 at the time, no idea why I did it.  My mom heard the yell of surprise and pain and came running.  Still clutching his head, Ian grabs me in a hug and starts saying ‘It’s okay! She didn’t do anything!’.  My mom still laughs about it today.

That was Ian.  Even if you didn’t really deserve it sometimes, he loved and protected you all the same. 

I will miss him always.

Page Seven:

Dad, 1987

My father was not a great person.  He had problems with alcohol and with his temper.  Despite this, my scattered memories of him are full of love and kindness.

After a long day at the foundry, soot still on his face, my dad would sweep me up into his arms for a big hug, m&ms and creme soda.  He loved me in that doting way that fathers do best.  The memory of that love still comforts me in times of need.

My father may not have always been the best person, but to a young girl he was a great dad.

Related posts:

1. Box Ring – Sneak Peak
2. Wisdom Tooth Ring
3. Wandering

Sterling Silver, 14k gold, peridot, deer bone and wolf fur

Related posts:

1. Box Ring Project: Predator & Prey, Life & Death
2. Wisdom Tooth Ring
3. Two weeks down

Instead, here are some pics!

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No related posts.

The dinner get-together served as a great ice breaker between the two halfs of the larger class, as the interaction between the two during the day is fairly limited.  Some good food, wine and stories all around made for a great night.  Ronda was also kind enough to do several demonstrations on the fusing properties of argentium silver.  It’s easy to see why she’s so enthusiastic about the metal; fusing it provides a clean seam with none of the solder clean-up you might run into with sterling silver.

Below you’ll find a photo of Ronda’s studio space.  I am completely envious of the vast workbench area and the copious amount of tools.  Hell, I’m envious of Ronda’s apartment as a whole.  She’s made that space into one heck of a beautiful place to live. 

Also pictured: The desk space I sit at in the mornings, with a small view.  There have been people working on the windows on the building off to the right for the entire time I’ve been sitting there.  I really wish I could determine what they’re doing, as there’s no way it’s just washing unless they’re the most diligent window washing crew I’ve ever seen.

Lastly pictured, a shot of my little tool container which I use to shuttle my tools between the classroom and studio space.  I know it doesn’t look like close to $1k in tools, but it came pretty close. (+ a few books & polishing tools not pictured).  *twitch* 

Week two involved making round, pierced earrings and various type of stone setting.  I caught some sort of cold bug that quickly turned into a sinus infection and asthma hell around mid-week.  This taught me a fairly valuable lesson about my ability to work while sick.  That being that I really shouldn’t if possible.  With my brain that fuzzy I caught myself making ridiculous mistakes and fumbling tasks that I normally don’t have a hard time with.  This of course leads to frustration and poor overall confidence.  It’s all a learning experience though and I did a fairly good job of not taking it too seriously.  These things happen and I learned quite a bit along the way. 

Week two wrapped up with a trip to see the King Tut exhibit at the de Young museum.  Much conversation was had over how on earth the artists of that time accomplished the work they did with the limited tools of that period in history.  A lot of the work would have been impressive using the tools available today, let alone what was available then.

Week three is off to a better start, though I’m still at the tail end of ye olde lungcrud.   I sound horrible, but am at least feeling a bit more up to actually doing work.  Today we learned a bit about casting and converted a piece of square wire into two half round pieces of wire through the use of magic! (or a draw plate and some tongs)  I look forward to seeing what comes of it tomorrow. 

Pics of actual worth forthcoming. I attempted to take some last week but the results were poor.

Related posts:

1. Tools Purchased

Sunday consisted of locating the school and getting settled in at the house I’m staying at.  (thanks Richard!)  The BART runs from a few blocks nearby to within just a few blocks of the school, so the commute is a breeze.  Well, mostly a breeze.  I’m currently staying on top of a rather large hill, so the returning home at the end of the day bit can be a bit rough.  But on the bright side, I’m getting one heck of a work-out.  My physical therapist would be proud.

Day one of the class was largely introductions to the teachers, classmates and general working practices around the studio.  The overall class size was more than 20 people, so classes were broken up into two smaller groups.  I choose the evening class, as I enjoy sleeping in a bit and generally hit my productivity upswing a bit later in the day.    

Day two:  Got to arrive a bit later, which was nice with regards to getting a bit more sleep.  The BART route is easy to navigate and found the school again with no problem whatsoever.  The weather took one heck of a turn, whipping wind and incredible amounts of rain around throughout the day. We worked on polishing a little brass alloy hummingbird charm and just started in on a boxy silver ring before we broke for lunch and switched over to the studio workspace.  Polishing is interesting, but I can’t claim it’s my strong suit at the moment.  The evening studio time headed by Alan focused on ring construction and soldering.  From a piece of square, silver wire we made a simple ring. A large piece of copper wire was drawn through the rolling mill to demonstrate how it worked and pieces were cut for use in making a ring the following day. 

Day three:  More work on polishing this morning on the pre-cast silver ring.  I wasn’t entirely pleased with my output, but it was a good learning exercise as I’d never attempted polishing a ring with such a sharp, stepped design.  Breaking in the new brushes was entertaining and I somehow ended up with copious amounts of rouge dust on my face.  I wandered around the city a bit at lunch, trying to get a slightly better understanding of the surrounding area.  After lunch we jumped into more lessons on soldering, another demonstration of ring construction and got to work on the thick copper ring. 

Overall, my initial impressions of the class have been very positive.  The teachers are very knowledgeable as well as personable.  Alan himself seems to have an endless reserve of patience paired with a steady manner and direction.  The class itself is, as it states, rather intense.  I’m finding it hard to remember what happened on what day as it seems impossible that it’s only been 3 days thus far. 

Photos to follow in the updates to come.  I have the short term memory of a gnat, so I’ve managed to forget the camera the past several days.  Go me!

Related posts:

1. Two weeks down
2. Tools Purchased

Today was one of the few days when I remembered to take my camera along.  I don’t have any expectations that I will get any fantastic photos out of these wanderings, but I have a fun time doing it  and it helps me recall the mood and any thoughts that may have been present at that point in time.

Here are some of today’s wandering photos (click for larger version):

I saw these in the window of a store downtown and laughed.  They’re candles, evidently.

A random piece of beachwood that caught my eye.

From the same beach as above.  Just a large, well worn tree root some 4+ ft in height.

This was found on a park bench near the beach.  The shoe was already there when I got there, presumably placed in open view so the parent could find it if they noticed it was missing. 

I love Vibram FiveFingers ’shoes’.  These were my birthday present to myself.  I love the ability to grip things with them, such as this lovely yellow fire hydrant.

Typical orb weaver spider working on a new web.  Seemed oblivious or unconcerned about how close I got to its web.

I loved the color on these tall, bright yellow flowers that I found on the way back home.

Related posts:

1. Box for a friend
2. Wisdom Tooth Ring

The mask consists of plaster strip over fine brass mesh, which I formed on a glass head.  Thankfully said glass head is just about the same size as my large noggin.  It’s held in place on my head with strips of white leather, salvaged from an old pair of pants I found at the thrift store. 

The proboscis portion is a piece of deer leg bone, cut and polished to size.  I dropped it at one point and it split in two.  Thankfully an application of superglue followed by beeswax has solidified it.  Super Sculpey tentacles and toothy bits are near the top, though they’re intentionally difficult to see unless you’re willing to get very close to the mask.  They’re obscured by bleached horse hair left over from a previous costume.

Click for larger view.

From an early birthday and going away celebration in the park.  A small group of us are featured in some Seattle couple’s wedding photos, as they saw our group and thought it would be a fun addition to their special day.  ‘Tis nifty, no?

Related posts:

1. Bone Mask in the Snow
2. Wandering
3. New mask, first look

Unfortunately the tools I did purchase are being shipped directly to the Revere Academy, so I won’t be able to play with them until I get down there. Explaining the amount of hammers in my luggage was a less than desirable scenario though, so straight to the school they go! I do appreciate that Otto Frei offers that option with no additional fee, at any rate.

Related posts:

1. Foredom
2. Tuition Paid

Place to stay: Secured!
Plane tickets: Purchased!
Time off: Pending final approval

Now to suck it up and buy the required tools & books!

Related posts:

1. Tools Purchased
2. Quick Update – Revere Academy