Tale of a Guardian's Tail

Guardian's Tale - freshwater pearl, waves, a small starfish, and of course a whale's tail. 2011.

Last year I made a ring with a whale tail for a friend while her family was going through some tough times. To her the tail is a symbol of strength and faith as it reminds her of the Bible story of Jonah in the whale's belly. My friend is an "everyone's Mom" kind of gal - brings people together with potlucks at work, stops to help at car accident scenes on her day off, and would give the shirt off her back to someone in need. Or in this case a ring.

Original carved whale tail ring with blue CZ, 2010

The decorative seat for the pearl came about as we both liked the idea of the tail wrapping around the pearl and she happened to see a mabe pearl ring with an ornate floral bezel style setting in an Avon catalog. (Unfortunately neither of us can find the original picture!)


A flat ring band made the base, a small circle for the the pearl wire to attach to was added, then the design sketched onto the band. I cut out small whale tail shapes in card stock until I had one that wrapped around the pearl seat nicely. An escapement file was used to carve waves in the back ground, while coils of clay were added to make swirls and waves.


Everything including a nice blue patina came together well! I love the dimension and depth from the combination of carving and addition of clay brings. Definitely my kind of thing and something to keep playing with.

Updates, Calamari & Caviar

This past week or two has been a bit of a crunch with looming deadlines, but gotta plan if one wants to have summer plans I suppose!

Quick update on RAW projects, as I've fallen behind I've decided that my goal is now to complete 52 rings this year. Continuing to plug away at the rings slowly will at least give me the satisfaction of being able to work on pet projects along with other obligations. Better late than never :)

RAW 6/52 Calamari & Cavier

I've been intrigued how to drape clay into an anticlastic curve before firing. The shape of the extruded ring band made me think of a fried calamari ring. Of course, where there are fried calamari rings, there are tentacle bits. & really, if you were an octopus, where else would be a good hiding place than inside a calamari ring? Made the week ACS took a price jump, going for the good stuff - fine silver & a diamond.

Diamond from my "rockhound fairy godmother" to experiment on.

RAW7/52 Leaf Wrap

The curved leafy focal was textured with paste and fired in its curve. The open band was attached to the focal but fired flat and shaped after firing. The band had a curved side and wavy side resulting in a slightly tapered band. Slightly adjustable, it is also comfortable to wear.

Still experimenting with photography, both rings were set on glazed black ceramic tiles and shot outside in full sunlight.

On a side note, other RAW rings not posted here are are on Flikr.

Must be Related

Week 3's rings for Ring(s) A Week were inspired by my youngest brother and all his teenage glory over the weekend. The rings are made of paper & an internet picture of one of my brother's favorite characters when he was younger.

Week 3 RAW: Comic Rings
(Angry Pikachu image by Beebarb)

If I was a webcomic artist I would draw the panels, but as I'm not here's the back story of gory details. Mostly for me to use as blackmail when he's older, I will say there is a RAW work in progress update at the end of this post.

Me: Hi! How's the homew...interweb chat...?
Bro: (types on compy) Hi, eh..
Me: (looks at blank page) What are you doing for Japanese class?
Bro: (types) ...brb..
Me: uh, is BRB enough time to finish this page? Is your page upside down?
Bro: You're worse than mom
Me: ouch

TV room, sometime after everyone is in bed, almost.

Bro: (walks in) Are done being Mom-ish yet?
Me: (?!!!) Are you wearing a blanket??
leaves, comes back to play video games
Me: So...are you going to be able to get up tomorrow?
Bro: well, technically...(insert speech here)

Finale:

Me: I'm going to bed..(need to walk between tv and bro)
Bro: My concentration can't be broken right now! You don't understand, I've been working on this for 3 weeks!!

*sigh*

As mom said, "Don't you remember being a teenager? I remember too well!"

*ahem* yes...see my desk?

This week friends at work who are doing Ring/Thing A Week have decided to coordinate and make Wednesday our Show and Tell day. As it is almost Wednesday, here is my update as I don't quite have rings made yet!

After debating for the longest time (hey, look at the cool shapes! :D but the cleaning, nooo!) I now have an extruder for my clay. After a lot of fiddling, cleaning, and opening additional packets clay (really? how many ways can 2 caps be screwed onto a pipe for this to work?!) things look promising for the moment. The extruder hasn't quite squeezed its way into the fave tool box...yet, it does have potential.

RAW 2 & 2.5? S'not bad for a week!

For week 2 I ended up playing with the idea of rings. There are rings for fingers, ears, noses, and other places! This is a nose ring can be worn on a finger and has its own nose ring. What I like the most is that it makes people chuckle.

Some people have also said the nose looks like an elephant or a tooth...

This little guy is # 2.5/52. Playing with a ribbon motif, this little guy may end up in a class soon.

Ring A Week - RAW Intention

2010 mini "party animals"

A New Year means time to start a new sketchbook! Though my digital sketchbook has been rather sparse on entries, the intention for more updates on activities this year is here.

Ever get so wrapped up in thinking about the logistics of how something would work, that it feels like all the energy needed to physically make the project has already been spent? Hearing about challenges makes me head straight for my sketchbook, trying to figure things out until suddenly time's up. I think a week is a manageable time frame for me to focus on completing a project. Something more "fun" to feed my inner artist and keep momentum going.

Started last year as Ring A Day, a group of artists on Flikr have a Ring A Week (RAW) photo pool going for this year. The goal is to make a ring every week from materials of your choice & share it with others.


The finished ring turned out a bit more raw than expected. I wanted to showcase the raw materials or unpolished look of silver clay right after firing. As much as seeing them bothered my sense of craftsmanship, the cracks and bumps were left as they were to show some of the metal's previous state of a clay form. The front of the letters were brushed with a brass brush and the edges of the letters burnished to show a bit of the evolution of finishing. The band is made of sterling silver wire.

This ring is my Intention for 2011. To participate more in the metal clay/ jewelry community, teach, and refine my skills as an artist. Other than that, I can't wait to see what other people create!