An Experiment in the Treatment of Andamooka Ranbow Matrix Opals

February 22, 2010

My question going into this experiment was how can rainbow matrix opals from Andamooka, Australia be treated safely and efficiently in a small lapidary studio? The Andamooka variety of rainbow matrix is know in the bush as cement.  It is an opalescent play of fire within a matrix of dull gray and tan limestone, and [...]

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The Time is Upon Us…

February 9, 2010

Metalsmith buddies, lapidaries, jewelry lovers, and friends, help out a great cause. Know When I was young runny nosed kid, I remember people telling me that this thing or that would give you cancer; smoking, junk food, drugs, DDT, alcohol, sex, birth control, the color red, walking backwards, breathing, liberals, and chemicals the government put [...]

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Bra for a Cause

February 5, 2010

Here are a few pictures of the finished bra designs for the “Bra’s for Breast Cancer Fund Raiser.”  I didn’t get a chance to make a more professional photograph of these before Lora took it to Tuscaloosa’s Druid City Hospital’s annual Bra’s for a Cause fund raiser, but these show off Lora’s beautiful contribution to [...]

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Bras, Breasts, & Piercing Clouds

February 2, 2010

Busy, busy, busy, here in the Cosmic Folklore Studios.  We’ve been wrapping up orders as fast as they’re coming in to be able to take a weekend off and do the gem shows in Tucson.  In this blog I am showing off the newest pendant design and sharing this year’s philanthropy. This year, Lora and [...]

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An Approach to Teaching Metalsmithing

February 1, 2010

I’ve made some blog posts before concerning teaching and my struggles between teaching a technique, teaching a project, and teaching some very narrow “follow the leader” step by step project.  I’m not going to say what I’ve come up with is better, or even entirely original, but it works for me and my students.   I’ve [...]

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Lora’s Gift

January 9, 2010

This was a Christmas present for my girlfriend, Lora.  She handles so much of the business part of what I do.  I am at home at the workbench, sketching, cutting stones, and working the metal; but, when it comes to selling my work, I am just not comfortable standing behind a counter fielding questions.  It [...]

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One that Binds them All (or Combines)

January 7, 2010

I was asked to create a turquoise ring for a husband. This was for a gentleman who had just gotten into riding motorcycles, so a combination of machismo, Western, and classy was in order.   I started to really like this idea and really wanted to make this my own.  We talked about places and rings [...]

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The Gift

December 22, 2009

I think that I’ve made as much jewelry this last 2 months as I have all year. Working 18 hour stretches at the bench, forgetting to eat, and having to stop every six hours to put all of the tools back so that I can find them when I need them has become par for [...]

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Tis the Season to Hollow Form

December 21, 2009

Hollow forming presents all sorts of engineering challenges for the jeweler.  Using the correct gauged sheet, drilling holes in strategic places to allow gases to escape while building, and engineering the inner structure to allow the stresses without collapsing or denting the metals, such as the pressure of setting a stone and polishing, are a [...]

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Order of the Dragonfly Revisited

December 12, 2009

This is my third work in which I use the sculpted dragonfly.  I think that I am attracted to these water loving bugs out of respect for their audacious manner of flying right in your face and hovering.  They can be very intimidating, until you realize that they are practically harmless.  But, they are beautiful [...]

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