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:

Hammered Gold Ring 18k

This is another hammered gold ring, this time in 18k

This is a picture I took in my photography studio utilizing some innovative lighting techniques.

Actually my photography studio is my cell phone and the ring is sitting on an envelope on my desk.  The flash hit the shiny gold and made a pretty flower shape.

Anyway....   In my travels I came across this ring:

Marked Hidalgo 750.  750 is the European marking for 18k gold.  18/24 = .75%

 I looked around the dang old internet and found this: 

Repetition and Variation - Sterling Necklace

This is a Sterling Silver Necklace (with cording) that I made mostly for the CWU Student Art Show this spring.

Here are some pictures of the process used to make it:

Punch out some circles

made them into domes using the dapping block and hammers

aneal

this is the belly button technique.  once the dome is made, flip it over (anneal first) and push back through the center of the dome.  maybe a couple of times each way

I think they are more interesting visually of they are offset or just not perfectly alligned

sterling pendant

This is another of the belly button type sterling pendants:

Like the surface of the moon!

 Construction:

Pitch.  Like tree pitch.  It smells really good.

Chasing Hammer and Chasing tools.

Ellensburg Blue Agate Pendant for Yuri - Sterling and Gold

This is a Pendant I made for a friend in Tokyo.  It is a strange little stone, yet very beautiful.

I kind of like things that are not symetrical

I made the back out of 14k gold, which seems like a waste at first glance, but there is a window behind the blue agate.  When the gold color is behind the stone you get to see more of the pinks in the stone.  So I added a faceted rhodocrosite in pink at the top.  The thing is that these blue stones just look so much better in sterling or any white metal than the generally do in gold.

Basic construction layout.

calvin's project - St. Pat's School in Tacoma

This was part of my nephew's eagle scout project.  He refurbished the outdoor recreation space at St. Pat's school in Tacoma.  We were supposed to paint a triangle, circle and a square as targets to kick balls at.  I thought is would be better this way.

Flame Job Wheelbarrow

Yep.

Full Custom Wheelbarrow