Whirling Dervish Unfolded

This is how the Whirling Dervish Necklace pieces look unfolded, before they were mounted. The design was painted on while enamel background using special enamel paints.

The Front of Angel II Necklace

Since in the previous post I wrote about the etched wing piece, and the Enameling Gallery only shows the back of the necklace, perhaps I should also show the front - here it is.

Etched Pieces Go a Long Way

Here are the examples of etched silver sheets, which were used to make several pieces. The Korean silver cloud piece was initially prepared to make the Silver Cloud Necklace shown in the Keum Boo Gallery, but if you visit the Enameling Gallery, you will see two more pieces made from the leftover fragments of the same sheet. Likewise, a fine silver sheet with the wing was used in two necklaces shown in the Enameling Gallery. The photographs show how the pieces were laid out.

Adding Dimention to Etched Surfaces

In the petroglyph cuff bracelet, I tried a two-step etching on silver. If you look closely, the animals are below the surface of the metal, while the abstract petroglyphs are above the surface. The abstract designs were covered with 23-karat gold, while the animals were oxidized to create the contrasting pattern.

These Carvings Are Amazing

I once saw this carved elephant tusk on TV and was amazed by the precision of the patterns. There are two different patterns carved in the ivory. I decided to use both patterns on the pair of Japanese, inro-inspired silver boxes. Each box was made using just two pieces of sterling silver. One makes the front and sides, the other one back, top and bottom of the box. Silk sachettes with lavender were inserted through the openings in the back.

Korean Silver Cloud Necklace - Inspirations and Techniques

The Korean Silver Cloud Necklace shown in the Keum-Boo section of the website was inspired by the Korean armor shown below, in particular the way gold chest pates were assembled and joined. The cloud pattern on the individual elements of the necklace was taken from the old Korean silver vessel also shown below. The necklace has a continuous design that transitions from one element to the next, as opposed to the repeating pattern on the armor chest pieces. Consistent with the oriental aesthetics, the design combines and balances the opposites: the masculine form and function of the armor combined with the soft and feminine cloud design. Somebody said that the design reminded them of an old map showing islands. I can go along with that too. The etched surfaces have a rippled appearance, like water, and the clouds, they can be islands in the sky. The necklace is executed in pure (99.9%) silver with 24-carat gold keum-boo accents. I made this necklace for a friend who is half-Korean.

Dog Friendship Bracelet and Silver Etching Observations

My son's German shepherd, Bishop, has the best buddy, a Norwegian elkhound, Dell. Dell's owner is a friend and I thought I would make a dog friendship bracelet for her. I etched silhouettes of the two dogs and a few paw prints in sterling silver and mounted the silver pieces on braided leather. When I was etching the dogs, I used two different solutions of ferric nitrate; one was older, the other one freshly made. The effect on the etched surface is very noticeable, although completely unintentional: the German shepherd was etched using the old solution; the Norwegian elkhound, using the new solution. Shown next to the etched pieces is the finished bracelet.

Beautiful Base Metal Jewelry

These two cuff bracelets are made of etched brass, so the material is very inexpensive. Each has a design etched in it. The first bracelet has an interesting patina that was made using low concentration hydrogen sulfide gas. It took me a few days to obtain the rich, deep shade of bronze, but it was worth the wait. The actual piece looks quite a bit darker than in the picture. A friend of mine wears this bracelet frequently and the way the patina turned out never ceases to amaze me.

The other bracelet is an artifact of the class that I taught on etching techniques. It was a demo piece, which I later turned into a bracelet.

Microbes Can be an Inspiration Too

Throughout the worlds of art there are many examples of deriving inspiration from the world of microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses. These small organisms form beautiful structures either by themselves or when they form multicellular colonies.

I came across the picture on the left in a popular science journal The image shows a cross-section of a virus and I thought that it may look interesting as a necklace. The photo on the left shows the end result -- the "Virus Necklace" executed in sterling silver with the cobalt sea glass. 

Starting my Blog

My son talked me into starting a blog to have a home for process pictures and more detailed descriptions of the techniques and inspirations. Good idea, I thought. It could also be a home for the picture of some of my work that never made it to the photography studio and only earned a snap shot. Not that the pieces were inferior to the ones that are shown in the Star Gazing Rabbit Collection. Many times a piece of jewelry gets gifted before I get a chance to have it professionally photographed.

I would like to start with two necklaces that I made this summer for two very good friends of mine. I tried to give each of them personality that would reflect that of my friends and also make them “wearable”. My jewelry broadly falls into one of two categories, which could be called the statement pieces and the “wearables".

The two photos show finished pieces. One uses irregular pieces of pure silver with pure gold keum-boo gilding, mounted on sterling silver foxtail chain. In the other one, small cylinders of lapis lazuli were mounted in silver and arranged on a black leather cord. The latter piece would particularly benefit from a better quality photo. Some detail, such as the oxidized fine tubes on the long connecting wires don’t show very well in this picture.