Gold and Blackened Silver Jewelry

As I play more and more with black oxidized silver, I've found myself craving gold. For years I've collected images of jewelry from artists that I admire which features the pop of bright gold with black. It's one of my favorite color combos.

So I finally dove in. I ordered a single ounce of fine gold casting grain to combine with some unused 14k gold rings from the jewelry box to combine for 22k casting. From this investment I have a collection of birds, flowers and leaves to try out in some new jewelry.

Goldfinch earrings
©2014 Vickie Hallmark
Argentium sterling silver, 22k gold

Here are the first few things I tried. First, a simple pair of earrings with birds in the treetops, obviously goldfinches. I've learned that I need to redo my models and molds, as these gold birds are much thicker (and more expensive) than they need to be.

Goldleaf earrings
©2014 Vickie Hallmark
22k and 18k gold

And I also made a pair of plain gold leaf studs, where I added 18k gold posts and nuts (my first time to solder gold, which went smoothly).

Earrings: Heat Hardening

A common platitude for artists is that working in a series fosters development of the work. The series may be performed in parallel, simultaneously working on several pieces, or in series, completing one after another. In either case, an idea generated by one version influences the next. This provides relief to the artist - we don't have to incorporate every trick we know into one piece, but can experiment with one or two ideas at a time and hopefully get a better handle on how to incorporate them going forward.

Anemone Drop earrings
©2012 Vickie Hallmark 
sterling clay, Argentium wire

As I play with the notion of components, I've tried fusing them onto Argentium and pasting them together in the clay state. Today I have several pairs of earrings influenced by a repeat of my Flock bracelet currently under construction. I love the sinuous movement given to the links by an attractive set of beaded linkages. Most jewelry designers would use jump rings, but I like the design element introduced by the beaded heads of these connectors.

Bird & Nest earrings
©2012 Vickie Hallmark 
sterling clay, Argentium wire

To get beautiful beads, I always use Argentium sterling, which balls up without the ugly wrinkling seen on conventional sterling wire. The first bead is easy to do on the bare wire. The second bead is tricky, because the other components in contact with the wire draw heat away, making it quite difficult to get the wire hot enough. There are two tricks to making this work well - one is Argentium, which heats more locally than regular sterling, and the other is the right torch. A small, tight, very hot flame gets in and out before the silver transmits the heat to its neighbors. Argentium also has the added advantage of heat hardening. After I get the beaded linkages all completed, the jewelry goes into the kiln at 570° F for a couple of hours to increase the hardness far beyond that of regular work-hardened sterling. Thus the wires, while not the typical jump rings, are beautiful and sturdy as well.

Simple Jewelry

To balance out the more complicated earrings I've been drawn to lately, I decided to whip out a few super simple pieces this week. I pulled out a texture that I've not used much to cut pieces for these two pair of earrings, accented with pearls. I've procrastinated on purchasing pearls, because the ones I wanted are expensive. I wanted the nice large round pearls, not the tiny ones or the rough shaped ones, and that made them seem too pricey when looking at a full strand. But I finally convinced myself that parsed out one or two at a time, they don't really add that much to the materials cost of my jewelry, especially when paired with a simpler silver component.

Finch earrings
©2012 Vickie Hallmark
sterling clay, Argentium wire, pearl

Sparrow earrings
©2012 Vickie Hallmark
sterling clay, Argentium wire, pearl

This super simple pendant got a silver leaf drop before the pearls arrived.

Flock pendant
©2012 Vickie Hallmark
sterling clay, Argentium wire, sterling chain

Moonflower Earrings

I'm trying out lots of new designs, just seeing what all I can do with the Argentium plus metal clay.  The latest have some soldering, since the small flower is placed on top of the large flower and leaves and doesn't really touch the Argentium enough to fuse securely. In retrospect, I should build the entire flower and leaf assembly in clay and fire it together, but in this case I used flower and leaf components. Chalk this time consuming pair up to experience.

Moonflower earrings
©2012 Vickie Hallmark
fine silver flowers and leaves fused to Argentium sterling,
chalcedony drops

Earring Madness

I've been trying to get into a groove with earrings, both metal clay and Argentium. I just keep working back and forth between the two. For Argentium, I'm fusing on fine silver. For the metal clay earrings, I'm working with sterling clay. My kiln is staying very busy between the two. More on the way.

Flower Basket earrings
©2012 Vickie Hallmark
fine silver flower sand leaves fused to Argentium sheet and wire

Dark Flock earrings
©2012 Vickie Hallmark
sterling silver

Leaf Nest earrings
©2012 Vickie Hallmark sterling silver clay

Simple Argentium + Fine Silver Earrings

My Argentium sterling experiments continue with simple earrings made from sheet and wire with added sculptural elements made from fine silver clay. These flower earrings are as simple as it gets. A generic five-petal flower and two leaves pasted together and fired, then fused onto the Argentium base, cut out and finished.  Fast and easy.

Flower Earrings
©2012 Vickie Hallmark
fine silver flowers and leaves fused to Argentium sheet and wire

Fuchsia Bud Earrings

I love the fact that the shape of these earrings echoes the fuchsia design. I definitely want to expand these ideas more.

First Fuchsia Earrings Completed

The fuchsias worked perfectly. I had feared that the fine (26 gauge) beaded wire stamens might heat too quickly and not fuse well, but there was no issue with that. The only problem was movement of some elements. When the flux bubbles up on initial heating, small pieces often move. It's more a matter of training myself to be patient and check every little detail. Anything that moves has to be patiently moved back into position with a solder pick while simultaneously heating with a torch to make the flux fluid at high temperature. There's some skill involved, of which I am not yet the master. More earrings should help with that!

©2012 Vickie Hallmark
fine silver fuchsias and leaves
fused to Argentium sheet and wire

Earrings Old and New

Finally today I was able to finish up some earrings hanging out on my work table. First up is a new design, with a domed oval set into a flat frame. Called Nesting, these earrings depict a parent bird and a hungry nestling in the treetops.

This design is an extension of my favorite Meadowlark earrings, which incorporate that flat window frame with sculptural branches and birds. I've sold several pair of the Meadowlarks, each set one-of-a-kind with different birds and branch configurations. This is the design I choose to wear myself, day in and day out as I think it represents my personal imagery at its very best.

I'm trying to extend the concepts that I like the most about the Meadowlarks to make a larger collection of earrings, since I want to try approaching galleries about carrying my work. Meanwhile, both sets of earrings will be available in my Etsy shop, in case you're looking for a special gift for someone on your list (or yourself!).

Meadowlark Earrings

I just shipped out a special order pair of my Meadowlark earrings. Somebody very lucky has a spouse who pays attention.

Master Muse Project -- Enameled Earrings

I'm a bit sad to see my tenure as a Master Muse coming to an end. Today my final challenge tutorial appeared on Tonya Davidson's blog. You can see all the past Master Muse tutorial synopses (this is #48!) here.

The challenge for this sixth project was to use syringe creatively. I personally like drawing with syringe clay, so I designed a pair of earrings utilizing the syringe lines to create cells for enamel. Traditionally, fine wires are shaped and attached to a metal backing in the technique of cloisonne, so this is a quick and easy way to get that look. I wet-packed the enamel into the cells, using a variety of colors to create shading and depth.

It was a fun project, despite a few frustrations. I kiln-fired the enamels, using the Paragon SC-2 that I use routinely for metal clay. I don't typically use this kiln for enamel (I have another tiny kiln that I prefer because it recovers faster), but thought I should use the one that most potential users of the tutorial would have on hand. I found that the door closure jarred the enamel powder enough to scatter it on the face of the piece. Boo, hiss! Unwanted color in the crevices. But then I went and read my copy of Pam East's Enameling on Metal Clay and found that she learned this before me. If only I'd done my research, I could have followed her recommended fix before I made the blooper.

As I tell my students, making these mistakes is the best way to ensure that I'll remember the lesson next time.

Meadowlark Silver Earrings

It's amazing how much time a pair of earrings can take. From the individually textured suns on the backgrounds to hand-formed branches, leaves and birds all carefully placed and reinforced, to firing, polishing, and forming the earwires, there are several hours of work in a pair of Meadowlark earrings.

The first pair I listed on Etsy sold almost immediately (thanks, Kim!), and I was sad to see them go. So I finally made a new pair for myself.

Maybe if I made multiples they wouldn't take so long, but I'm not a production type of person. These are a bit different than the original Meadowlarks.

Meadowlark Earrings

It feels great to have a bit of time this weekend to catch up. I've made a few glass beads (eek! still can't do what I want to do!), torched some enamel on copper, and even put together some jewelry.

These darling Meadowlark Earrings are now available in my Etsy shop. Hand-formed birds and branches suspended across open windows, with the sun shining in the background. They might be my new favorites! I tried a new ear wire style, with a catch on the back. Pretty easy to do, and much more secure. I'm tired of losing one of a pair!

In a Fog

Why does it always seem that no matter how many supplies I have, there's always something missing?

I purchased these lovely moss aquamarines at Von's in Lafayette after the PMC Guild Conference. Few of the holes are big enough for my 22 gauge wire. I have 28 gauge, which seems too fine, but not 24 or 26. I made do by cutting up a head pin to get a bit of 24 gauge wire, then wrapped with the 28 gauge wire. So I need to order new supplies, for I fear these aren't as secure as I would like. I can't sell something I'm uncertain about. I guess I'll have to wear them myself until new wire arrives.

Then there's the question of missing pieces. I hurried to load a bunch of silver into the kiln before we went out the other evening. While dapping these flowers to dome them (it's easier than shaping them wet), I realized that I'm missing some things. Of course -- there was a whole other pile of parts on a different table that were left out.

Sigh. It does strike me that the aquamarines are blue-green-grey and misty like fog. How appropriate.

Forget about Perfect

Today's choice from Bruce Mau's Incomplete Manifesto of Growth:

2. Forget about good.
Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth.

I'm coupling that with #8 from Bob Parsons' 16 Rules to Live By: Be quick to decide.

I have this perfectionism streak. I get stuck because I can't do things exactly the way I want them. Sometimes I procrastinate because I can't figure out an acceptable solution. When something breaks it can shut me down until it's fixed. I hate that!

Since my oxygen source is out of commission, I need to make do with what I have available. I can't do double-beaded connections, so I'll just have to wire wrap, which is certainly easier. I don't like the look as much, but this is about getting started again, not about being perfect.

It seems like the opportune time to use up old supplies, such as fancy headpins for the flower centers. It took a few minutes of fussing to figure out how to make things hang right, but now I can think about variations on this simple flower earring idea.

It feels so much better to have it finished, rather than still waiting on the equipment repair, which sounds like it will involve shipping to the manufacturer, unless I decide to play scientist and look at it myself. Wonder where I can buy a can of molecular sieve???

P.S. Funny echo in the calculus lecture this morning (we're using Thinkwell for our homeschool calculus, because Ed Berger is an incredibly gifted teacher): If you can't do something, DON'T! Do something easier. See how many parallels there are between science and art?

Torch-Fired Enamel Earrings

I've been working on more torch-fired enamels and earrings to set them into.



Here's the first set. Hand-drawn black enamel on two layers of white, for a total of three torchings. I'm learning that I have to be careful, as the black enamel spreads when it stays hot too long.

The texture is a tear-away of a handwritten letter in French.

Earring Displays

I've long admired the polymer clay and wire earring display stands that Celie Fago makes for her earrings. In class one time she said that she used to give one away with every pair of earrings sold. I wish the earrings I bought from her had come with one. There is one example in her website gallery, here.


I've been trying to come up with a design to make for myself that will coordinate with my work, and I decided that simple leaves would do. Mine aren't nearly as involved as Celie's, but they'll be original at least. I've learned a few things about designing and making earring displays. First, heavy black wire is available at the local hardware store for a song, as compared to the black coated craft wire, which is very expensive. The drawback to the black steel wire is that it is oiled to protect it from rusting, so it is messy to work with. I've chosen to cut the 16 gauge wire I bought with my second string wire cutters, as steel is tough. Black polymer clay can be bought in a big block at the craft store. Sorry about some of the blurry photos, but you'll get the idea.

1. First I cut a length of wire and bent it in half, with a bit of a base.
   
   
   
2. Next, I used round nose pliers to make a long coil of wire.
   
   
   
3. The coil slipped over the overlapping wire stems.
   
   
   
4. Then I bent each wire end over so that it won't just pull out after embedding into the clay.
   
   
   
5. I formed four equal size balls of conditioned polymer clay and flattened them slightly.
   
   
   
6. After pressing them over the loop at the end of the wire, I blended the edges into a nice ball.
   
   
   
7. Then I shaped them into leaves and impressed veins on both sides with a needle tool.
   
   
   
8. I cut the brass wire off a flat disc, one-ounce lead fishing weight.
   
   
   
9. The weight was covered with more polymer clay, with the base of the leaves embedded at the top. I decorated mine with lines and dots.
   
   
   
10. I drilled holes in both leaves for the earring wires to fit through.

The display is too big to bake in my dedicated polymer clay toaster oven without lying down, which might muss the finish on the leaves. I solved that by baking it in my metal clay kiln, sitting on a piece of waxed paper, at 275 degrees for 20 minutes.

Goodies from Bead & Button: Jewelry

Oh, the treasures one finds at Bead & Button!



The first thing I snapped up: a silver bracelet from Andrea Guarino-Slemmons. Her table at Meet the Teachers was diagonally behind me, so I got to choose before the crowd picked them over (but not before her Master Class students got to them, I'm sure!). I love the loose silver cup flowers that move and jingle ever so softly.


Also at Meet the Teachers, I scooped up Gordon Uyehara's class sample earrings -- copper and silver clay combined.


My only jewelry purchase during the main show was from the talented Gail Crossman Moore, so supportive of my injured status since she recently went through trials of her own. I went looking for something from her new series of work, like this necklace that won second place in the Saul Bell Design awards last year. I got caught by these bronze dangling earrings in a related style.

Bracelets and earrings, my two favorite things to collect and make.

Earring Give Away

Bet you thought I forgot, in the midst of my life chaos?? Slowly, but surely, I'm trying to gather all my loose ends together. It's been more than a month since the Month of Earrings Challenge ended, but I finally had my friend Leslie write the names of all those that completed the full thirty pairs onto scraps of paper. Then I tossed them mightily and had her draw a name. I even let her choose the pair of earrings to give away, so as not to bring my own personal bias into the selection.


Congratulations, Purple Ebren -- I'll be sending you the pair of sapphire chevron earrings shown here. To collect, please send me your snail mail address. You can use the contact button on my website to e-mail me.

To all who played along, I give my heartfelt thanks for inspiring me to meet my own challenge and allowing me to have a collection of earrings to take for my Meet the Teachers table at Bead & Button. I'll list any that come home from there on Etsy in mid-June.

Month of Earrings Challenge -- The Stars

I thought I'd highlight the artists who joined me in the challenge I started. Almost twenty artists total signed on to create 30 pairs, a month's worth, of earrings. I opened the challenge on January 31, with a completion date of April 1, so that was 30 pairs in 60 days, or one earring per day. I'll give links here to both the individual Flickr sets and to websites or blogs.


First to join me was desertbloomdesigns, fellow glass beadmaker and metal clay artist, Louise Little. These silver clay flowers set with amethysts were my favorites.


Next came Carol Bradley, who successfully completed all thirty, many of them etched copper with natural stones like these turquoise. Visit Carol's blog here.


Kristi Bowman, aka DreamSomeDesigns, didn't quite make the full thirty, but the twenty pairs she did were full effort, gorgeous constructions like these three piece drops.


Purple Ebren offered up the full thirty pairs, including these cool green faux bone hoops. I like people who think outside the box.


Joan Furilla came very close to finishing, with 25 pairs of metal clay earrings, many with these interesting snake bails. See details of her work on her blog.


Ruth Baillie of Birdland Creations offered a full collection of her typical whimsical earrings, with a few new explorations thrown in. My faves were these anodized aluminum birds.

Lora Hart played along briefly, before returning to her Ring A Day fascination. She is the Queen of Rings, so I understand. I just love the acrylic paint "patina" on these silver earrings. Follow her blog for lots of inspiration.


Michela Verani of Everlasting Treasures completed thirty very inspiring pairs of earrings. So many clever ideas were presented, including these innovative curly earwires.


Diane Sepanski wasn't able to continue with us, but not before loading some gems, such as this bird and birdhouse pair.


Lorena Angulo also tried to do both Ring A Day and Month of Earrings, with Ring a Day winning. She completed a third of the earrings, beautiful pieces such as these bronze clay and turquoise dangles. Check out all her incredible creations and a blog link at her website.


Cherylyn Bredemann, of c-lyn studios, used her varied arts backgrounds to produce an eclectic set of thirty finished earrings. Fun resin, enamel, and even shrink plastic, as here, combine with metal clay in her work.


Dina Alexander took time out from her usual fabulous work to create a few sets of earrings. I wish she'd done all thirty, because every pair she did were masterpieces, like these layered silver and turquoise poppies. Her Etsy shop showcases a load of favorites.


Zsazsazue played along briefly with glass beads and this pair of tiny crocheted balls. Mindboggling!


Fellow Austinite Mary Newton started late, but zipped through more than thirty pairs of earrings, including etched copper and fused silver. I liked these simple rolled tube beads. Check her blog for the details of each pair.


Convergent Series got caught up in earring making and turned out bonus pairs! Check out the spinner earrings that move freely. Her blog has lots of details.


For an international flair, try Merlin Lõiv's earrings. I can't read the information (I'm not even sure of the language!), but she belongs to a group doing lazer cut jewelry, so maybe that's how these are made.

All in all, a very inspiring collection of work from some major talent. I thank each and everyone for making the journey with me, as well as all those who just peaked in to keep track of the productions.

As promised, everyone who completed the challenge will be entered to win a pair of earrings, coming up soon. Any votes for which pair?