Intentional Stones

Artist's weekend

My family will be out of town having the time of their lives.

And I'm staying home to have a party! (yes, I do feel like a teenager whose parents have left town for the weekend)

It's an artist's retreat at Simbelmynë's house!  I'll hit Costco and fill the house with food. I'm used to all sorts of eaters-picky eaters, carnivores, vegetarians, vegans, food sensitivities, OmNomNomNivores... Also I have hot and cold running WiFi, which is, of course, optional.  And, never fear, coffee.

Everything's ship shape with lots of room for big projects.  I'm not far from Construction Junction, really you could get pretty crazy. I'm planning to set aside areas for specific things, and we can adjust as people arrive with their projects and goals for the weekend.  I have lots of places to sleep, if you're from out of town or just don't want to leave.

The jewelry studio will be in full swing.  I have almost every type of equipment anybody could need-from torches to finishing equipment. I have tables and corners and quiet areas for writing, being quiet, meditating.  A park next door for walks and listening to the world around us.  A full crafting room with all sorts of supplies, if you forget anything.  I even have a macro photography studio, if you want to get some small photos.

We can swap, dump, laugh, play, work, meditate, trade secrets, teach, learn, whatever we want to do.

If you RSVP I can make sure I have what you need.  Or just show up, the more the merrier!

Stay all weekend or come and go as you please. 

Official Start is 7pm Friday, March 18 and end at 7pm Sunday March 20.

-Simbelmynë

(412)608-8986

235 Oakview Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15218

(Please ignore the photo it's from the highway, for some reason)

We're the last house on the left.

Behind on the Runway

Clearly I would have been out weeks ago. (If I were the brave kind of person who'd try out for a reality show)

We've been watching, thinking and sketching.  At the party store (episode 3 season 8) I would be going the direction the winner went.  Paper!  Though I'd be into the confetti too:

Making beads isn't something I've tried, but I'm an old hand with paper and adhesives.  Laminating layers of color together would make a fun bead.  Including confettin in the mix would give it the necessary bling factor. 

Or I could use confetti as beads to sparkle things up.  Our party store also had statuary and trinket gifts.  Lots of fun just taken apart to be focal elements.

Episode 4's hats struck a real cord with me.  I started making jewelry because of masks, and maskmaking and haberdashery are close cousins.  There are so many fabulous hats to look at on the web.  I found a stunning flock of butterflies -shall we pretend this hat is my choice?  

I would look to the flowers.  Milkweed.  Dangling earrings or a necklace with a cluster of blossoms.

The last episode we worked on is the Team Challenge, Episode 5.  A major exercize in collaboration.  Each team was instructed to create a line of 6 looks that go together.   It turned out that the teams had different levels of success, in fact one team was really successful and the other almost completely failed.  The difference came from respect.  One team, the underdogs, was able to respect one another and keep lines of communication open, while the other, the team with 4 challenge winners, could not manage even a little bit of respect and tried to pin all of their failures on one team member.  It was sad.

Mina and I are very much thinking about collaboration lately.  Mina gave me this sketch:

An idea she had, inspired by the lovely mother of pearl art nouveau necklace. It seems quite doable.  We discussed shapes and available stones and means of attaching this focal piece to a necklace with chain and beads.  I only hope I can do justice to her design and that my knowledge of construction can make her vision possible.  One thing that helps me be confident in our success is Mina and I respect one another's talants and we can communicate very well about design and changes. 

-Simbelmynë

Art Nouveau Too

(Photo of the famous staircase by Victor Horta in Brussels)

But they got to me very early in the form of illustrations-

Arthur Rackham

Aubrey Beardsley

Kay Neilsen

The forms of nature in curve and geometry used to accentuate the beauty of the human form.  The amazing motion and color they used.  The richness of their images.  I love it all.

In these past quiet couple of weeks, I've even been playing with these lines in my own design

I love that I'm reaching the point in learning technique that I can begin to explore the themes of Art Nouveau in my jewelry. I can't wait to make more!

-Simbelmynë

Project Runway 2010, Simbelmyne's first look

The poor souls on Project Runway got a challenge right off the plane-Choose something from your luggage, this will be the foundation of your look.  But wait!  Hand it to the person next to you.

The look of terror on their faces melted my heart.  And maybe it made me laugh.  Nothing's safe on a reality show!

Mina rummaged through her available stuff and pulled out this one:

I'm learning Chasing and Eastern Repoussé this week, naturally the choice of the "Coins and Dangles" necklace was perfect for me!  This piece has always reminded me of belly dancing, with it's coin shaped accent beads, multiple tiers and moving pendant.

I would start with an idea like this one:

The other constraint on the contestants this week was time.  Only 5 hours to create a complete look!  Since I'd want to do some metal work, I wouldn't do a lot of restringing.  Simple jumprings would bring the strands together into more of a collar and the chain would serve to hang the coins.

Coins gives me a chance to try some branding! So on to designing three coins for our belly dancer's piece.  (I'm jealous of Project Runway's tablet PC's.)  I began sketching up a name-themed pendant a while back, tho it didn't go anywhere beyond preliminary design.  But, in my mind, Simbelmynë is very floral.  I like initials in a maker's mark, to identify the artist more clearly. 

Well, something like this. (As you've probably noticed, computers and drawing are not my thing, that might be the class I take in the spring.) 

Mina's design would be more Victorian, perhaps an illuminated "M" with a rose, of course.

Intentional Stones has a script already, fortunately.  So our "IS" would be pretty easy. 

I need to keep it simple, since I don't have a die cutter, but 24 gauge silver  or even thinner and my shears could cut the finished coins out pretty easily. The letters stamped and chased in. 

Lots and lots of the coins.  Maybe even some bells, if Mood would provide!

-Simbelmynë

Project Runway for jewelry?

PROJECT RUNWAY IS BACK!!!

Yeah, yeah, I’m sure no one else is as psyched as Simbelmyne  and I  are.  Or are you?   Here’s hoping you are, because Simbelmyne came up with this great idea to attempt the challenges right along with the contestants.    They’ll need some adapting, of course, and sometimes it will only be the design we show you and not a completed piece.  (This week, for instance, we  aren’t going to be disassembling anything!)

This week’s challenge was to pick an item of personal clothing, pass it to the guy next to you , and design something from it.  (Poor Casanova and his pants!)  So each of us has picked  one piece we designed and handed it over to the other.  Now we have to design something new i with that as our inspiration.  Simbelmyne picked this:

The Eudialyte cabochon is a complex matrix of pomegranate colored crystal with black.  On the braided wire crossing the cab are three faceted beads:  ruby, emerald and blue labradorite.    My first thought when I saw the piece was to make a bracelet.  (My second was a diadem, but I got over that.)  The size of the cab and the depth of color in the stone makes me think it would be well suited to a cuff style, something like this:

On the sides of the cab, wired into the braids, should be clusters of the faceted stones, like little bundles on a lattice.  The still rough and natural looking beads compliment the  cab so well., here should be more of them if the piece is bigger.

So, tell me, what does this piece inspire YOU to make?  And keep an eye out for Simbelmyne’s reworking of this piece of mine.




PS:  Looking for an example to use here, since I can’t sketch to save my soul, I found the jasper bracelet by Linda C.  Not only is that stunning, you should see the rest of her work on her Flicker.  STUNNING!!

Art Nouveau still speaks to modern tastes

I've always been a fan of the Art Nouveau period.  The fluid shapes and natural inspirations appeal to me.  The style's sense of Romanticism evokes a distant time when things were slower and people dressed for dinner.  (Not that I'd want to live then or anything.  I'm kind of a fan of the whole voting thing.)  As I was scanning my regular vintage fashion feeds yesterday, I stumbled upon this little beauty.

I'm not even sure where to start gushing about this necklace.  The first thing I noticed was the way the chain fits through the pendants.  While I'm certain the two side pieces are anchored so the necklace maintains its balance, they appear to float freely.  The abalone shell glows so strongly that Simbelmyne asked if they were really opal.  The pendants all have the fluid, elegant shapes typical of the period and although I'm not usually a fan of gold, it really works here to pick out the gold in the abalone.

The finished necklace comes across as quite opulent but if you look more closely, the findings are surprisingly simple wire wraps using stick pearls.  I'm not even completely sure the clasp bit is soldered.  The two pearl accents certainly aren't.   The baroque pearl drops are on simple pins with no additional decoration to detract from the pearls themselves.  The contrast between the simplicity of the findings and the elegance of the pendants lends to the romantic feel of the necklace.

Simbelmyne has been after me to 'commission' findings from her.  I think a few links similar to the pearl ones might be in order.  Oh PARTNER???

Where are they now?

Minor celebrities: These are pieces that seem to get a lot of attention when they're out on the table, and still they haven't sold! 

By Simbelmynë Kambaba jasper, dumortierite, aventurine and white howlite.  clasp and pendant are fabulous bead show finds, wire detail is hand made.

Here's the Listing!

Mina's piece:  Lapis Lazuli, pearl and sterling silver beads and toggle.

Lapis in Waves

Rivers and butterflies and fruit, oh my!

Pittsburgh's in a pretty special location, right on three rivers, near the Laurel Highlands, so I might be spoiled.

An hour's drive away, through some smaller towns I don't know well at all, we found a little bit of heaven this weekend.  We traveled to Perryopolis, on the Youghegheny river and visited Hazelbaker Canoes.  

Two familes, three canoes.  The guys had experience, one's a kayaker, he took three of the kids.  Adam, son of a boyscout leader, took two more, and the moms had a boat full of "our sanity," welcome company as neither of us had paddled a canoe on our own before.   We stopped about halfway through the run for lunch.  The guys tried kayak tricks on the extremely mild "rapids" portions of the river.  I think next time I'll bring a trashbag, because little bits of litter stand out a lot in such a beautiful place. 

Canoeing I didn't bring the camera.  I fear for it on the water, and all, but we had almost as much fun after we canoed!

Ill advised fun, but I was impressed with his skill.

My friend felt like a bride when the girls brought her flowers. 

On the way home, near Rostraver airport, between the tempting signs that said "pilots wanted, will train," was a great vegetable stand. I'm not sure what the watermelon said, but the kids were adamant that she be quite while I took the photo.

Historical Inspiration

In the past few days, I've read Agamemnon by Aeschylus and re-read Oedipus Rex by Sophocles for a class.  My mind overflows with regal women trapped between the rocks and hard places created by their men and their own pride.  Not to mention the pride of the gods.

This has, in the way that it will, made me think about what kind of jewelry these women would be wearing.  (Okay, yeah, I'm a dork about it.  Hush. )  So, off I went to look on the ever present Interwebs for some inspiration for this week's jewelry making.  Mind you, I think most of what I found will be more inspirational to Simbelmyne, given her gifts with wire.

Here's what I found that really struck me.  I present them to you for your enjoyment and record them for my own work later.  If I make anything based off them, I promise to post them.

 

Mycenae Earring

    

Greek Bracelet and Hellenistic Earrings

And my absolute favorite ones:

3rd Century BC Hellenistic Earrings

What stone won't let you go?

I asked and friends answered. 

That green stone, you know, the one I keep looking at? 

Apatite

Articles I've found identify apatite as yellow to yellow-green usually, but most of the examples I've seen sold as gemstones is usually deep green blue. While yellows are very much in the spirit of this spring season, it's those blues that won't let us walk away from the jewelry.  I'm not the only one who's confused.  The stone's name comes from a Greek word meaning "to deceive" because of it's variety of colors.

The literature I've looked at attributes amazing things to these stones.  It will help you realize your own strengths, integrate and balance emotions. According to some sources, it encourages psychic powers,  reveal past life and karmic influences, open the mind to dreams and creative problem solving.  It's a medical miracle worker-Improve declining eyesight.  The blue variety has wind energy and the green water.  Green can help us accept abundance and heal emotional problems with money.  Golden apatite can help you figure out what you really want at a confused time and with creative effort.

Here's where my own confusion kicks in.  I know I respond best to the stones when I'm most attracted to them.  Apatite was not having any conversations with me this week.  I gave rough chunk of dark green-blue apatite to two friends on pendants and we all wore them for an entire week.  To Nytesong and I it really said little.  I did have many dreams, but none of them prophetic.  (I hope that I won't be seeing my, unfortunately deceased, ) 

But to Catharine, it spoke volumes.  And, true scientist that she is, she wrote it all down for me.  She felt that she was "more able to appreciate other people's perspectives, and not stuck stubbornly only in my own viewpoint.  I feel less isolated in a crowd and notice things you usually don't about the environment."

My overall impression is that apatite is one of the choosier stones.  You're among the fortunate if it really does it's work for you. Catharine found it to be hard to wear with other stones. 

Apatite is a phosphate mineral-meaning it's primarily composed of calcium with six of PO₄ groups attached. Its different colors come from the fluorine, chlorine, bromine or hydroxy ions attached to it.  Hydroxylapatite is the greatest part of our bones.  Apatite is with us always!  When phosphate fertilizers were heavily used, apatite was a source. 

It is found in in Idaho, Tennessee, and Wyoming, in the US and in Brazil, Russia and northern asia, among other places. It is mined without harmful chemicals and pollution to the environment in open cast mines. Pits and terraces are dug and can be refilled and replanted once gemstone deposits are exhausted.  Mined materials are washed with powerful jets of water which separate the gemstones from the other rock materials. 

-Simbelmynë

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This gemstone entry is linked in the Intentional Stones Language of Gemstones and Metals page.

Also, as we learn more and more about these beautiful pieces of the earth, we'd love to hear about your experience visiting the places where they're found.  Please post your comments, links, travellogs, favorite pages, anything you like in the comments section!

Reference pages and books for today:

I always start off with the Book of Stones by Robert Simmons and Natasha Ahsian

GeoGem International Jewelers Mining information page

Wikipedia entry on Apatite