Necklace in Sterling and Turquoise

Sterling necklace

This is the necklace I made concurrent with the “Flowers for Brenna” necklace. This one was much more visually complicated and more similar to the original one I made in Sterling and Coral.

When I start one of these necklaces I have no idea how they are going to look. This one was also started by my apprentice, Dick Barber. He hand cut the sheet in sizes I specify and then used the Bonny Doon hydraulic press to start to bend the tubes. He then joined the seems with a hammer and soldered the seams. I then take the the tubes and start to join them to make the final form of the necklace. I started by bending the major tubes as a frame work for the rest of the necklace. The tubes bend the way they want to and on this necklace one of themajor tubes looked great if I pointed it down instead of around the neck as in previous necklaces. This got me so excited it carried me through the making of the bezels which is the most tedious part of these projects. The organic nature of the construction of these pieces is really fun for me. I have no way to draw on paper them before starting them since I have no idea how they will end up. I let the materials tell me how they want to be put together and they have different ideas than I do much of the time. So I just let the work flow, I try not to fight it. I have never been able to think 2D and put my ideas on paper. I have always thought this was a negative thing about me but I have come to accept that I am a 3D thinker.Not being able to draw is a problem when I am working on a commission and I have to communicate to clients what I am thinking. But I don’t know how else I would be able to make these necklaces if I were to be strictly bound to a drawing.

I used the same Morenci turquoise that I made “Flowers For Brenna”

I sent this necklace and “Flowers For Brenna” to Vicki Turbeville of southwesternjewelry.net and she sold it right away.