White Rose

I only get three hours a week in studio/class to work on my jewelry. Normally I plan what I want to make, sometimes down to the steps I want to follow – a mise en place of sorts. Often this results in me having time left to make something simple/quick towards the end of class. This is another of the “I have time left to make something” pieces.

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A Gothic Romance

My high school art teacher had a wedding ring that I remember till this day. While I don’t remember exact decorative details, I do remember it had a red heart-shaped stone with a silver dagger apparently piercing it. Back then, I thought it was very romantic.

A friend of mine recently got engaged, and her ring featured a similar motif – it didn’t have a stone though. None the less it sparked the fire of inspiration. I set out looking for a red heart-shaped stone – something I didn’t expect to be as tedious as it turned out to be. After checking several shops, I settled on what I think is a red Zirconia. I don’t really care, just wanted to make this ring. I’m pretty proud of my first attempt at setting a faceted gemstone.

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I didn’t use wax or any casting methods to make this ring. It was built up from scratch. The heart and dagger motif has an interesting history – at least in tattoo design. You can read more about that here and here. I learned later that my friends ring (that unlocked a memory and set this whole process in motion) is actually a Claddagh ring.

Because I’m very happy with how it turned out, I’m sharing more photos than usual.

Wrapped

After a short hiatus as a result of scheduling conflicts, I am finally back in studio. I had some grand ideas of what I would make, but realised that I didn’t have enough silver to do what I wanted. Note to self: make an inventory of everything you need before you actually get to studio. I managed to MacGyver enough material together to make this ring.

Wrapped Up, Silver & Pearl, 2015

Wrapped Up, Silver & Pearl, 2015

Wrapped Up, Silver & Pearl, 2015