Sunday, February 28, 2010

59/365 skull

sterling silver, copper

I melted this one, too. But in this case I think it sort of works.



final three rings for Haiti

We are down to the last of the rings to be auctioned for Haiti!

Lora Hart has created a marvelous piece from fine silver clay and a lab grown ruby with wonderful texture fleur de lis accents.
This ring has sold.



Sophie Wiggins offers one of her Sundiving rings made with beautiful fiery dichroic glass and sterling silver. This ring has sold.


And my Ring for Haiti, made from sterling and nickel silver. This ring has sold.


more CCAD rings

To date the Rings for Haiti ebay auctions have raised $1,593.00!

Kelly Malec-Kosak is Chair of the Dimensional Studies program at Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio. Ms. Malec-Kosak's students have been participating in the Ring a Day project, and have offered some of their rings in support of Haiti relief.

Britney Walker,
this ring has sold.


Emily Whiteside, this ring has sold.


Ashley Rini Wooten
, this ring has sold.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

58/365 spots


The construction of this was a comedy of errors. Several of the gold spots fell off, during various stages of the process. The silver was inadvertently reticulated, the seam busted open during forming, plus it was 2 sizes too big. So now it's adjustable and I sawed holes where some of the missing spots are. This was to be my 30 minute ring submission for Lark books, but now I'm out of 18k. I do like the holes, though.






Friday, February 26, 2010

Thursday, February 25, 2010

56/365 couch ring

Copper wire, turquoise beads.

I am currently working a very intensive artist residency at an elementary school, I teach eight classes per day, and the only time I can sit down is during my brief lunch break. When I get home I'm exhausted and always have things to do for the ongoing Haiti auctions. It was nice to sit on the couch and watch TV (for the first time in weeks), and make a mindless ring. There will be more.


Wednesday, February 24, 2010

55/365 door bolt


Don't! Nickel silver, sterling, copper, aluminum door bolt.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

54/365 water gun




I had wanted to do more to this ring, but it's late and I still have to prepare for an artist residency that starts tomorrow. The vid will have to suffice for pics.

Monday, February 22, 2010

53/365 malcolm x

sterling silver, etched shibuichi

Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X. I made a memorial ring, but made a big mistake with the etching and Malcolm was unrecognizable. Today I remade the top, and reused the band from yesterday.


A big thanks to Dauvit Alexander who sent me an article that he published about electrolytic etching. I have not tried the process yet, but his instructions suggested a halftone image for capturing tonal detail. I've been photo etching metal for years and have never been very happy with the results I've had with faces. I need to work on this a bit more (and try the electrolyte process), but I am very pleased.

rings for Haiti

To date the Rings for Haiti ebay auctions have raised $1,403! Many thanks to all of the talented artists who donated their beautiful rings, and the fabulous people who bid on them.

Kelly Malec-Kosak is Chair of the Dimensional Studies program at Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio. Ms. Malec-Kosak's students have been participating in the Ring a Day project, and have offered some of their rings in support of Haiti relief.

Mallory McClellan
, this has sold.

fine and sterling silver, antique glass bottle, cork, paper

Katrina Seitter, this ring has sold.

sterling silver

Kathryn Soule, this ring has sold.

sterling, silver, rose quartz

Ashley Spencer, this ring has sold.

fine silver wire

Jennifer Townsend, this ring has sold.

sterling silver, resin, dried flower, leaf

Sunday, February 21, 2010

52/365 bummer


I am so bummed about this ring. As you can see, I forgot to invert the image before etching. I noticed it when I was at Officemax having the print made, it's a 30 minute round trip drive and I was feeling rushed so I just decided to give it a try. (Of course they could have inverted with their copier, but I didn't think of that while I was there.)

To make things worse, I didn't patina and check the image before making the ring. It actually looked pretty good to my eye, for some stupid unknown reason. You can see what it should look like in the top image of Malcolm, and you can also see that the etch turned out GREAT by comparing it to the bottom image. I know what my ring will be tomorrow.

sterling silver, etched shibuichi

Today is the 45th Anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X. His life and words are a profound inspiration to me, and I like to believe that if he had lived race relations in this country would be different today.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

51/365 elements

Another Elements ring. Shibuichi, brass, sterling silver. This will be in my etsy shop soon.











Friday, February 19, 2010

50/365 shibuichi


I have been experimenting with shibuichi, a Japanese alloy of silver and copper, and I am in love. It is extremely hard, etches like a dream, and is made from 100% recycled metal like the sterling that I use. I have etched it with my fish skeleton pattern and soldered it to a sterling silver base, another design for my growing Elements Collection.


I like the way these post-set pieces float above the ring band.


t. bell rings for Haiti

Memphis jeweler Tootsie Bell has made two rings just for this fundraiser. The first, Relief, has sold. This ring is made of sterling silver and features a garnet stone set like a blood red tear.




Tootsie's second ring, Discover Strength, was inspired by my deep love of the brown pelican and their recovery from near extinction years ago. This ring has sold.








Thursday, February 18, 2010

49/365 elements



Another addition to my growing Elements Collection, much like my stacking rings, but the design is fixed. Recycled sterling silver, etched brass, etched copper.


SNAG video submission


Last night I worked on this video, one of my submissions for the
eXtreme Media Lounge at the SNAG (Society of North American Goldsmiths) conference in Houston this March. I re-worked my jug cutter video. I wish I had saved the original hi-res movie I took of the banana, I didn't feel up to shooting it again.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

six more rings for Haiti

To date the Rings for Haiti ebay auctions have already raised $1,188! My initial goal at the start of the project was to raise $1500, so I am thrilled as we may just surpass that amount. Many thanks to all of the talented artists who donated their beautiful rings, and the fabulous people who bid on them.

Kelly Malec-Kosak is Chair of the Dimensional Studies program at Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio. Ms. Malec-Kosak's students have been participating in the Ring a Day project, and have offered some of their rings in support of Haiti relief. I will be adding more student rings soon.

Jerrica A. Fields
, the auction for this ring has ended.

copper

Angela Fortin, the auction for this ring has ended.

vintage brass

Samantha Gonzalez-Flora. Go the extra mile, it’s never crowded, this ring has sold.

sterling silver and copper

Liandra Holmes, this ring has sold.

sterling silver

Jennifer Hutson, this ring has sold.

copper

Kristen Macauley, the auction for this ring has ended.