ring a day has ended!

Ring a Day ended with 2010 and 14 people from four different countries completed their 365th rings yesterday. Today I want to celebrate those who made it through to the end, and in the coming days I will feature rings made by other RAD members.

Lets start with the most committed - we have THREE TATTOOS! Quite honestly I sorta regret not getting one.

mikeandmaryjewelry - Rachelle Stromberg (US)

Rachelle chose a jackelope from her fabulous Plastidermy series, she wrote, "RAD has been an amazing journey. Mike and I wanted to have a permanent reminder of the years accomplishment so today's ring (while not an actually ring it is still body adornment) is the tattoo we had done from one of our RAD rings."

"Congratulations to all of you who finished 365! And thanks to everyone who participated in this project this year for the inspiration."

mikeandmaryjewelry - Mike Stromberg (US)

rubygirl - Shannon Conrad (US)

Shannon said, "The very last ring! The inscription is latin and roughly translates to "One a day, every day". This project has been amazing and I want to thank everyone who joined in - ringmakers and ring watchers alike. You all are amazing and motivating and inspirational beyond belief!"

micicart - Aleksandra Micic (Serbia)

From Aleksandra, "New friends have been born this past year, new ideas developed and new ventures created for a new year. It has been an unforgettable delight being in RAD. Love you all!"

Markasky - Evelyn Markasky (US)

Evelyn wrote, "Well, I gave my last ring a lot of thought, and the more I thought about it the more I kept freaking out that I couldn't think of anything. I had all these cute little ideas, but my cute little ideas usually end up being contrived and not clever at all, so I remembered this sort of zen saying about mountains starting out as mountains and then they're not (hmmm or maybe it was Donovan!) and then they are again... so I thought I would just make a ring, a simple ring, then I thought I'd make it in silver and then I thought it would be really cool to do it in gold, of course I don't have any gold."

"I started making a prototype in copper and realized that I work in copper, why do I want to be something I'm not. So here is ring #365 in copper with enamel and heat patinas."

"One of the most valuable things I learned in RAD, and I mean I learned it in the last couple of days, was that I need to be true to who I am and what I do. The fun-est and at the same time most difficult thing about RAD was seeing the wide range of diverse work. So many different styles and ways of working. Many times I'd see a ring and think 'I wish I'd thought of that,' or better still 'I wish I could think like that.' Or maybe I should try that and I did many times. RAD gave us that ability to experiment. But in the end I am who I am, and through it all I've finally been able to see a glimpse of what my work is. It's no better or worse than anyone else, it just is what it is. My artistic statement in the world."

Vagabond Jewelry - Kest Schwartzman (US)
Kest's To This End, part of her Poetry series.

Colleen Baran (Canada)

Colleen said, "My final ring for the year! I’m so happy to have reached 365. It felt a fitting end to my year full of recycled/repurposed and alternative materials to use a pulled apart bit of cardboard mixed with facetted blue sapphires and silk thread."

"December was all about exploration of 'precious-ness', a subconscious/stream of consciousness led direction. With faux gold, faux metal, words as metals, a raw emerald, rubber gloves, and now a bit of facetted sapphires mixed with recycled cardboard. "

Lesley Tinnaro (US)
From Lesley's series of body parts.

Maria Apostolou (Greece)

Maria wrote, "365 days of ringmaking have gone by but it still feels like I barely scratched the surface of what a ring might be and I'm not anywhere near to unlocking the meaning of the ring concept.This only leads to one conclusion: I'll just have to keep trying next year :-)
So, as much as it hurts to write this, I have to say GOODBYE to RAD and HELLO to TADA365 and RAW!"

"I will need some time to digest what this experience meant to me but I will soon try to write it down, even make the book that we talked about. A big THANK YOU to all my Flickr friends for your invaluable support and encouragement during this year and a very special thank you to all the wonderful jewelry artists that we shared this journey together. I mean it when I say that it wouldn't have happened without you!!! Looking forward to seeing what next year might bring to all of us!"

Mary Lu Wason (US)
Mary Lu has graduated!

polymerclaybeads - Ponsawan Sila (US)

Ponsawan said, "When one door close, the other door open. This is not the end but the beginning. I don't feel trapped in my own little world any more. I am free."

amuck - Andrea Ring (US)

Andrea created an amazing puppet display for her rings 360-365. She made an adorable video of the figure (herself) waving goodbye to RAD and the RADders, you can see it here.

and it glows in the dark!

Kathryn Cole (US)
The only Journey is the one within. Zen Garden Ring.

Kathryn wrote, "This has been a great and wonderful journey with all of you. Thank you for the experience. I feel a special kinship with you all. Happy New Year friends!"

And my last ring

pink tourmaline, sterling silver