Plique a jour pendant

Plique a jour  Pendant

 This was just a project to see if I could expand my plique skills.

As always, start with a sketch (and a bunch of tiny pieces):

 this is me figuring out which colors to put where.

I made a custom catch.  I don't think I have a picture with the chain.

Ivory and Carnelian Ring

Ivory and Garnet Ring.  The Ivory is walrus tusk.  I got a whole bunch of ivory pieces from a knife maker here in Ellensburg.  This one is big, it was for my father-in-law and he's got big hands.  So it is a size 13.5.

Here are some pictures of the construction:

Basic silver construction, bunch on little pieces ready to become one solid mass

I originally thought I would make a ring of colour across the top.  This didn't work out as it prevented closing the bezel.

The piece on the right is the 'bearer', it will go inside so that the piece of ivory I cut will stand tall enough.

position the carnelian and make a bezel for that.

pause to goof off a little bit.......  The section of tusk on the right is where I cut the ivory from, more on that later.

Idaho Garnet Ring

Idaho Garnet Ring.  I bought the stone while visiting my sister-in-law in CDA Idaho.  Then I gave her the ring for Christmas.  She gave it back to have it re-sized, but in the meantime it was in a show at Gallery One in Ellensburg and the Larson Gallery in Yakima.

more photos:

Here are some photos of the construction:

This was the first of now I guess three Idaho Garnet rings I have made.    Pretty fun.  But it probably took about 20 hours.  I was learning and going slow and goofing off a bunch too.

silver and blue pin

Admittedly a strange little pin.  I wanted to learn about tube-sets and
polished acrylic.  But sort of fun.

silver and enamel ring - 1st scorpio ring

So this was my second attempt at a scrap silver ring, and I added enamel

to the concept. Cloisonne this time.  So I sort of mixed the stuff that worked from the scrap ring and the plique pendant.

The scraps in this ring were from the poppy pendant.  We use every part of the metal around here.

More photos:

It's kind of pretty just like that really.....

 

I gave this ring to my wife, but asked to enter it in an art show.  It has been in three now.  So maybe I should give it back to her?

Plique a jour Pendant

Plique a jour Pendant. This was my first go at plique.  Basically you fill an opening with enamel (transparent in this case) get it really hot, and you get a little window.  This little piece was scrap silver left over from something.  I was still learning how to use the GIMP software, so I made this sketch:

I used that to transfer the design to the silver and cut out the shape, and then threw in the enamel:

I even made a custom catch.  That is how you can tell a hand made object, the attention to detail and the craftsmanship.  It should look like someone cared.....

Dragon Bicycle Bell

This is a fully functional bicycle bell.  Nickle copper and enamel.  I fabricated everything except the bolts.  This is sort of what I would have imaged my bike bell to be like when I was a kid.  So that sort of explains the cartoon like image.

My professor told me that I couldn't make a bell, because we didn't have the right materials and tools.  I really don't like to hear that I can't do something........

DING DING DING!!!  OUTTA MY WAY!!!!

Here are some pictures showing the construction and pieces prior to assembly:

 

I think there are about 75 separate pieces.