The second treetop brooch came out the kiln with some minor issues of its own. First, there were a couple of branches that had breaks, one at a seam and one behind a bird where it didn't show. In both cases, I added more clay and refired, which worked fine.
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©2012 Vickie Hallmark
Treetop 2 brooch
sterling silver |
You'll notice I haven't inserted the stainless steel pin stem yet. After the first Treetop brooch, I realized that the the pin stem shows through the open center of the brooch, so I decided I should do the photos before I install it.
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©2012 Vickie Hallmark
Treetop 2 brooch, reverse, without pin stem
sterling silver |
Other issues that arose are hidden on the back. This brooch was my first use of tube set CZs for the brooch mechanism. I used the extruder to form a tube of clay, then opened the center of the tube with a stone setting bur to hold the stones properly. I filled the lower space in the tube to make it solid and more sturdy, but then cut slots in the clasp posts for holding the pin stem closed. Since I didn't think to support the cut tubes somehow, both sagged due to gravity during the firing and subsequently the slots had to be filed out and the tops aren't level. Also, either I didn't get the stones transported to the kiln straight (I was very careful when I first installed them) or they moved during the firing and aren't seated in the tube settings nicely.
These are overall minor issues, but I am trying to get better at controlling all the little details so that I can present the very best work possible. So all these mistakes are opportunities to master my technique and develop solutions to these issues.
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