A Month of Recycled Jewelry comes to an end

“Jewelry takes people’s minds off your wrinkles”
― Sarah Phillips

I’ve had such a fun time this month.  I dedicated January to using up some of my “orphan” pieces, and remaking pieces that simply had not sold and needed a new look.  I finally saw what it looks like outside of my comfort zone!  Here is a picture of my last completely recycled necklace.  Made from copper dangles that had been hanging around my bench, I used some lovely beige pearls and jasper tube beads to tie everything together before mounting everything on a sterling chain.

For February, I’ve decided to camp far outside the limits of my comfort zone.  I need to learn to make consistent bezels.  I have several small drawers filled with beautiful stones and titanium pieces that I have been saving until I learned to mount them professionally.  Well – now is as good a time as ever.  In keeping with the theme of January – recycling, and  February’s theme of stone setting, I worked today on a transition piece.  I made it in a wonderful bezel setting class with artisan Holly Gage.  I never liked the way it looked, the silver snakes around the opal was far to reminiscent of Dan Quail’s wife’s “flip”.  So today I got out my handy Kew saw, and went to work.  This is why I always emphasize that all metal clay artists should understand the basics of traditional metalworking.  I like this piece much better in it’s current design.  I hope you do too.

 

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