New Goodies

Here are a couple of new models I've been working on. I was unsure of the Fish ring... fearing it might turn out too dorky. I don't think it ranks obnoxiously high on the dork-o-meter though. I made it for pennies fished out of a fountain. Right now the bezel (where you put the stone) got crunched down a bit in casting. (Insert favorite gosh darn it phrase here.) So I can't fit any penny in. I can fix it. It just was taking a bit too much time and patience so I decided to go ahead and take some pictures with a dime.


**One of my problems with the fishy ring is... I kinda have a dork asthetic. Obviously. But when I tried to stylize the fish at all... I was messing with symbols, it seemed to me. And since I'm not religious, I don't like to utilize such symbols in my work unless its for a particular purpose. A fish symbol with the casual inference of religion didn't feel right. If I could stylize the fish successfully, to where I didn't see such casual inference, that would be best. I didn't make it in this round. I was left with dorkiness.

**This may seem like over thinking. (lol.) But this is one step where things succeed or not. It is not just that a design is pleasing, but whether there is a sense of coherent thought or intention behind the work. Which, in all honesty, may be one reason why my successes are dwarfed by my failures. I do not excel in coherence. In fact, I think dorkiness is okay, the way pizza and beer and football can satisfy if a few brain cells and a certain portion of the psych is left, fumbling for the ideal.
----
This is the flower POWER ring. Both of these models need to get cleaned up, then molded and recast for the finish piece. (They are carved out of wax then cast into the silver shown here.) I made the flower ring so that I can use nickels too. Or dimes.

Singing Penny Ring

I might change the title of this ring. Who knows. I just listened, yet again, to little Gina Marie Incandela sing the "Star Spangled Banner." The major thing I'm following in the NBA playoffs is did the little girl sing. Well, that and I hope the Lakers loose. Which has given me a very small sliver of insight on how anyone can't not appreciate the beauty of the Patriots' winning ability. ;)

Here is the temporarily named "Singing Penny Ring" (Before I showed it as a model. Here's the real deal. Its a Peridot semi precious stone I set.)



And Gina. You go girl!


*oh. Guess I should explain the connection. Gina is considered Orlando's Magic (NBA) good luck charm. They are 6-0 when she sings before a playoff game. Gina has a form of autism, and learn how to sing when she was enrolled in a program to help her speak. The song she became fascinated with was LeAnn Rimes' rendition of the national anthem.

*but frankly, I just like hearing her sing. And I just finished this ring.

The Penny Rings

Well I made 2 rings (Carved out of wax, now cast into silver.) The one on the right is the first one, the newer one is the one I think I'll get molded and recast. I need to adjust the area for the penny to allow for 5 percent shrinkage. Right now these are silver models, so they aren't polished or antiqued. The little cup on top will be a bezel for a stone, maybe a blue topaz.

My Town... is a Town of Fine Metal

Here's a wax of my latest ring...

Its a wax I carved... I'll get it casted into silver this week. (For the model... which is then used for a mold and more castings.) I've been trying to make a house ring for a while. This is the sort of conundrum I run into when someone asks about how much time does something take. Its like... how much time it takes to finish something? How much time does it take for something to succeed? or how much time does it take to become a famous wealthy (I'd skip fame for wealth any day) jewelry designer? I like the house shape. It started in some drawings I did a couple of years ago. Last year I made these earrings....

(Which. I'd switch out the earwires were I to list them again.) A couple of months ago I carved one "house ring" which bombed. I never casted it into silver because... well... I liked the idea but it wasn't there. The "house" needed more company for a ring. I'm pretty satisfied with its latest incarnation.... more of a "Town Ring." After a couple of years of thought... earrings... one bombed wax drawings and numerous sketches... I still don't think is all that is because there was something in the first "house ring" that interests me so we'll see. But then... I'm the sort that does not edit out fragmented sentences... the thought... the process.... is always going on....

Rings and Things...

This is an update on some stuff. The two rings are the "Sleep Patterns" ring and the "Cluster Pod" ring. (I went with GirlSavage's name of it.) (I highly recommend visiting Girl's blog... she's got some incredibly cute ferret pictures posted.) The Cluster Pod I'm just going to size on a request basis. Its too much of a mess to clean up after casting to try and sell much of! And I'm still sleeping on the other...

Tree Ring, and Eggs

The green is a ring that is almost finished, carved in green wax to be cast into silver. I might use a bit of enamel with it. The silver ring is a finished master model that was originally carved into wax. I have some recasted tree rings... they still need to be cleaned up and liver of sulfur added to bring out the forms. I just got impatient and decided to post a picture of the model. Plus I wanted to see what the eggy wax one looked like. Sometimes seeing a picture of something I'm working on gives me a different perspective.