MM Diploma Project

Here is a project for the local Mason's Lodge.  Back in the old days - 100 years ago - when you achieved full membership in the fraternity as a Master Mason, you would be given a diploma that recorded all the whens, hows and whos of your progress.  The one below was created from a cell phone picture of an ancient chart that has apparently hung in the Ellensburg Lodge since 1909.

 The one below is for a Lodge in Seattle.  It is sort of a work in progress, but you might get the idea.

Moonstone Pendant - Sterling and 14k

This is a moonstone pendant.  Just a little project with a very simple design...

The gold is on the back.  Sort of a weird place to put the gold....  It is only there to enhance the color of the moonstone

It is hard to seen in a photo, but the stone has little inclusions that come across brightly with the gold behind.

closer up maybe:

This one was donated to and auctioned off at the Annual Gallery One Paint Ellensburg event.

Sterling and fire agate ring

Sterling and Fire Agate Ring

It is a really good stone, it is hard to get photos that show the colors as they seem to move around in the light.

Dragon Bicycle Bell

This is a bicycle bell made in the fall of 2014.  

 I fabricated all of the pieces except for some bolts

I re-did the enamel and patina for the art show this spring.

I also changed the striker mechanism and gave it an earring.   Way more better.

 Older pictures and construction pictures

Ruby and Monica Rings

These are rings for my nieces.  Beryl on the left and Welo Opal on the right.

They seem to enjoy them!

Gold and Oxidized Sterling Ring - recycled

This is a 14k gold and Sterling ring I made for a friend.  

It is re-purposed from an older ring he no longer wore.

 

The blackish, purplish, bluish part is sterling with a liver of sulfur patina (oxidation).

It is hard to get a photo that shows the color-play

polished silver inside....

Here are some pictures of the construction:

it started as the ring on the right...

Ellensburg 39 jewel - sterling and gold

This was my first attempt at a Masonic Jewel.  It is a Past Masters Jewel for Ellensburg #39, to be given to Ron Graham the Master in 2014.

Shiny objects are hard to photograph.

Work in progress..... Construction pictures are below.

gold ring - modern take on a diamond ring

This is a ring I recently made for a friend.  It is 18k

The stone is off-set, on purpose......

Most rings are perfectly symmetrical.  Nature seems to prefer symmetry and to design objects that look good but are asymmetrical is really difficult.  

The other thing that always bothers me is that rings are nearly always made to be round in the inside.  Look at your finger.  Are you looking?  Is it round where a ring would go?  How is it supposed to fit?  Does it spin around when it shouldn't?

View from the bottom

Here it is on my finger:

Oxidized Sterling and Gold ring - Fall 2014

Here is a ring that I made for my wife, to sort of get back into the swing-of-things.

It is a simple sterling band with 14k gold and it has been oxidized using liver of sulfur.

 Some pictures of the construction:  Basically the gold was sweat soldered to sheet sterling, then rolled flat to 'smush' it together.  Smush is a technical term.

 This is what it looked like before the patina.

 The mixture of metals in the area where the solder alloyed with the sterling and gold creates some interesting differences in the patina.

Pretty fun.  I think it took about 4 hours, and I found all of my tools again.....

Silver and stone rings - Spring 2014

This is a grouping of silver rings from this spring.

Each is a little different, but there is a continuity or theme.

The stones are Chalcedony (orange),  Welo Opal (center) and Moonstone (grey)

There were going to be four, but I got a little overzealous with the torch on the last one....

planning.........

The Welo Opal, from Ethiopia, is so good that it looks fake, or maybe like there are batteries in it somewhere, but it is difficult to get a good photo.

This picture probably shows the colour the best.  It is unaltered, the photo and the stone, that is.

I like this one, even though it is not a normal shape for a man's ring.  This picture is before the stone was set, it doesn't sit so high on the last version.

Eye and heart Pendant - Sterling enamel and Ellensburg Blue

This is a piece I made for a co-worker as a present to his wife for their aniversary:

This side eventually held a stone, but maybe I didn't get a final picture.

Here are some pictures of the process: