Inspiration Series (Southwestern USA) : Mojave National Preserve - July 2019

Hello and thank you for taking the time to explore my blog! I’ve decided to start an “Inspiration Series” this series will give you some insight into what inspires me both as an artist and an individual. I will end this series with the infamous ‘Meet the Maker’ post. So, buckle up and enjoy the ride!

Traveling has always been a huge part of my life. I strongly believe that traveling lets you understand and appreciate the world in a whole new light. This means every time summer rolls around, we’ve already planned our vacation and have chosen some points of interest.

This year we decided on the fly to extend our vacation by a few days and stay in Las Vegas, NV before driving out to meet a couple of friends in Los Angeles, CA. We both love the biodiversity the desert has to offer so we decided to drive through the Mojave National Preserve.

The preserve has so much to offer its visitors even if you don’t have the time to get out and hike the area. The drive alone is scenic and there are only a few small “towns” within the area. One of which was the told Kelso train station which is right off the Union Pacific Railway. Not much is left there but it is one of the only visitors' centers and rest areas in the park.

I really love the desert flora because it flourishes in some of the harshest conditions. The Joshua Tree is one of many plants that fascinate me. The Mojave National Preserve has a mature forest of them, and you can see them while driving through! My favorite part of this side trip was the Cinder Cone Lava Beds. Geology has always been something that interested me so being able to see such a big part of geological historywas priceless!

*If you are interested in reading about the Joshua Tree. Here is an article on the Joshua Tree National Park Page National Park Service’s Page! https://www.nps.gov/jotr/learn/nature/jtrees.htm

2019 Booth Set-Up

Thank you for checking out my latest post! Today, I wanted to highlight some of the changes that I’ve made in my set-up since last season. These changes were necessary, as I have been invited to attend larger juried events this season.

Here is a-little background in 2018, I decided it was time to try my hand at selling my work through juried shows and makers markets. After attending my first few juried events, I realized that not only do I really enjoy getting to talk about my work and interacting with so many different people. But, I need to refine my booth set-up because my little 6’ folding table wasn’t enough. See the photograph of my booth from 2018 below.

Close-up of 2018 Booth Set-Up

My vision for the the 2019 season, is to make my booth more of a gallery experience for the visitor. In order to achieve this look, I will be using the walls of my 10’x10’ tent which will allow each visitor to focus on the work they see displayed in my booth. I have also purchased ergonomic flooring from Displays2Go in order to create a consistent floor no matter the setting. There will be two 6’ tables covered with black table cloths. One of these tables will have a portrait, artist statement, guestbook, and clear acrylic risers and jewelry displays for my work. The other table will have additional clear acrylic risers with jewelry displays and the check out. Please see the photograph below for current set-up.

Design and Fabrication: Copper Cup - Part One

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog. I’ve decided to base this months post on a Copper Cup Workshop I took at the Baltimore Jewelry Center with David Harper Clemons at the beginning of February. I took this workshop to both get comfortable with new techniques and because I would like to offer tableware on my site store later this year. I may also be a sucker for Moscow Mules!

During this two day workshop we were taught how to fabricate a Colonial Style Beaker using either a butt or lap joint to begin the fabrication process. To break these two joints down into laymen terms, a butt joint is a joint formed by two surfaces abutting at right angles. While a lap joint is made with two pieces of metal by halving the thickness of each member at the joint and fitting them together. I’ve utilized the butt joint many times. Therefore, I chose to create my cup using the lap joint because this particular joint gives you the strength needed for forming the piece later in the process.

Now for the fun part. Process and Fabrication! I started off with a 6x12 inch sheet of 16 Gauge Copper. This is what my template was cut from using my Knew Concepts Jewelers Saw. After my template was cut out, I filed my edges smooth and used a ruler to add an additional tab to the opposite side of the template.

After all my edges were smoothed out and I cut the tabs into my template. I used a Raw Hide to bend both sides of my template in opposite directions. This gives me the space and angle I need to file down each tab so it resembles wedge. Once my tabs are wedge shaped, my acetylene torch accompanied by flux and solder will be used to sweat solder the tabs on my template. During this process my metal became softened (annealed) due to the heating process. Quick side note: when properly annealed you can bend metal by hand using little effort. This allowed me to get my template roughly into shape before I added more flux to the tabs and used a stake to flatten the surface with the seam out. It is important that the metal fits snuggly together that way when it is reheated to solder that joint it doesn’t move or create any gaps within the seam.

Once the seam fit together, I returned to the soldering station and applied additional flux and solder to the seam this ensures the seam will be complete. After soldering, the piece is then put into pickle (an acid bath) and neutralized before I can do anything else with it. Once the piece is completely dried off I brought it over to a flat stake and began to hammer around the seam to ensure the thickness of the piece is consistent. After this the piece is brought back to the torch and annealed before being rounded out on the Blow Horn Stake to round it out.

Once the piece is rounded out and I have double checked that all the seams are still intact. I can start leveling out my piece this means, removing any metal that may have stretched outwards during the initial shaping process. Once both the top and bottom have been cut and sanded level. I can clean up any extra solder around the seam using a flex shaft and begin sanding the form. After a quick round of sanding, I brought the piece back to the Blow Horn Stake in order to begin planishing (adding texture).

Design and Fabrication: Harvest Moon

Thank you for coming back to check out my latest post! Today, I will be sharing some of the finer details on my Harvest Moon Earrings.

There are many things that inspire me while designing new pieces. Take these earrings for example, they were inspired by my favorite season, Autumn and planned to be demonstration piece for my cold connections class. “It’s" Riveting” focuses on these connections and when they are used in jewelry. This workshop allows students to plan and execute a piece using at least one of the three rivets they learned in the class. In the class, students learn how to make a standard, tube, and hidden rivet.

After sketching and choosing the pair of earrings that will best represent my class. I textured the copper using a cross pein hammer and cut out the fence using a jewelers saw. Next, I used my template to cut out each sterling silver circle. The bezel was soldered onto the sterling silver backing. During this process it is important for all components to be filed and sanded before assembly. Now, the process of riveting can begin I used a flex shaft/drill press to drill each hole in the piece and each rivet was hand cut then filed to size. One by one rivets were added to the earrings using a riveting hammer and anvil. This pair of earrings features both standard and hidden rivets which take time to fine-tune and correct.

Please take a look at some of my process photo’s below!

Design and Fabrication: Paleontological Discoveries

Hello and thank you for reading my blog. This year I have decided to start blogging in order to share part of my design and fabrication process.

Each final design starts with a sketch. After selecting a beautifully cut fossilized coral egg, I needed to start sketching potential designs. Sketching helps me narrow down ideas and decide elements of each individual piece. In this case, I added two 6mm Black Onyx cabochons in order to really make the color of the fossilized coral pop!

After I finalize a design, I began the process of fabricating the necklace. Each element of the chain has been hand sawn from sterling silver sheet or wire. The wire is then shaped to create each individual link in the chain. After soldering everything together, I hand filed and sanded the piece to the finish represented in the second image. I then used a tumbler to work harden and add the satin finish to the necklace. Lastly, after it has been rinsed and dried, I completed the necklace by setting the stones.

Presenting Paleontological Discoveries!