Medieval Pendant finished
I took my pendant along to Hadar's course (must write a post on that soon..) and got my pendant fired while I was there. I'm thinking that I didn't put enough vent holes in it, as part of the side blew out. :( Anyway, I patched it here at home (now we are in mid semester break - I have a little bit of time!) and torched fired it.. the patching worked really well, and the piece looked good. Some aura 22 and LOS, and a few orissa garnets.. and Voila!
Welcome to my home on the web for my newest passion - precious metal clay jewelry.
This site serves two purposes, firstly as a place for folks to read along, and for me to share my online “finds”, and secondly, as a kind of “virtual workbench” and notebook for me to keep all of my online bits and bobs organized and in the one place.
I’ve broken the site up into a number of sections:
Blog
Blog
My blog is my virtual thinktank.. a virtual stream of consciousness where I record all of my day to day rantings, raving, experiments, trials, temptations and tantrums! It’s my hands on notebook of ideas and progress.
Click here to read my blog.
Finished Items
Finished Items
Not much in here as yet! I’ve only really got one piece to a stage that I would deem “finished”. However.. I’m considering putting enamel on that after I’ve done a course. Maybe I need to deal with the fact that until I have all of the techniques mastered that I want to learn.. no piece can be considered “safe” and finished.
Click here for finished items.
Under Construction
Under Construction
All the things I’m working on and where I’m up to with them. Hope I can get lots of photos in here so that they can act as memory joggers for me if I need to make anything like them again! I also like the idea of keeping a record of this history of every piece. I guess because I haven’t actually made many many items yet, I kind of like the idea of keeping all of the “baby pictures” together. I’m such a sentimentalist!
Click for Under Construction work here.
Scrapbook
Scrapbook
Much of my inspiration comes from ancient jewelry items. As I browse around the web I’m always coming across scraps of information and photos that inspire me and give me ideas. Instead of printing these off, I’ve made a little place for them here. My online swipe-file, if you will!
Check out my swipe file here!
Other Sections in the works:
- The Wish List
- Suppliers
- Resources
Finishing the table..
May 26th, 2009 | 
Author: 
Showing the textured band and drilled dome
Well last night I spent waiting by the toaster thinggy for each successive layer of slip to dry as I built out the table on my latest piece. In terms of form, it’s actually worked quite well, however I’m a bit concerned that there are tiny tiny air bubbles caught throughout the table which may disrupt it when I try to fire it. It needs some sanding back and the decoration added, and that part is done. This one has been so much easier to make than the first one, I guess because I have already made one I know what I’m doing a bit more. It’s been in the differences between the two objects that I have spend the time. This new one does not have borders around the decorative band, and this is where I had difficulty attaching the table. I tried to attache them to the inner rim of the dome, but I couldn’t get that to work. If i want to do one without a border again, I think I’ll add the table first and the border band afterwards.
Posted in 
Wood Clay!
I cooked some wood clay today. I made some donuts out of it and put one of them on the toaster to dry it out.. however it didn’t dry out like silver clay does.. it started to cook! Yikes! I had to throw it out and start again.
The granulation train..
has left the granulation station!
I finally had some luck getting my *%&*% little balls some kind of round and stuck on my piece in a non-random pattern that I’m quite pleased with. My first attempt was a little skew-whiff and they were off centre. Unfortunately they were also a bit closer to egg shaped than to spherical so they looked a little bit more like tiny mouse poops than the elegant granulation that I had hoped for!
Vinson
Summit of Antarctica 4897m
Mountains are not fair or unfair - they are just dangerous. Reinhold Messner
Tags: Aconcagua
Summit of South America 6962m
He who climbs upon the highest mountains laughs at all tragedies, real or imaginary. Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra
Denali
Summit of Africa 6194m
If the conquest of a great peak brings moments of exultation and bliss, which in the monotonous, materialistic existence of modern times nothing else can approach, it also presents great dangers. It is not the goal of grand alpinisme to face peril, but it is one of the tests one must undergo to deserve the joy of rising for an instant above the state of crawling grubs. On this proud and beautiful mountain we have lived hours of fraternal, warm and exalting nobility. Here for a few days we have ceased to be slaves and have really been men. It is hard to return to servitude. Lionel Terray
Carstensz Pyramid
Summit of Oceania 4884m
To put yourself into a situation where a mistake cannot necessarily be recouped, where the life you lose may be your own, clears the head wonderfully. It puts domestic problems back into proportion and adds an element of seriousness to your drab, routine life. Perhaps this is one reason why climbing has become increasingly hard as society has become increasingly, disproportionately, coddling. A. Alvarez , The Games Climbers Play
Elbrus
Summit of Europe 5642m
Short is the little time which remains to thee of life. Live as on a mountain. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations