Mixed Metal Mandalas

I've been making mandala forms in jewelry for a long time, probably over 45 years. And before that I drew and painted them starting in high school on the edge of notebook paper in classes I found boring. That was in the late 1950's. At one point I got into creating bigger ones, the biggest being on the side of a building in which I had some of my jewelry for sale in Ventura, California in 1970. It was about 8 feet in diameter and painted with house paint. I wish I had taken a picture of it but I wasn't into photography at that time and I don't think I even had a camera. I still make metal ones now and draw one occasionally. Recently I've been playing with doing collage work in mandala form with images harvested from books and magazines and sometimes with drawn elements.


Much of the jewelry I make is part of a series that develops and changes as the series progresses. Sometimes there are dozens of pieces in a series and in a few instances hundreds. Each series is like a group of cousins, each a little different. The timeline for a series can stretch into many years, I normally only make one at a time and when that one finds a home make the next. The game being that the new one has to be different but related. Different size, different combinations of metals and stones, different textures and so forth.

The first and third pictures to the left are of a flower mandala series that I started about 3 years ago and have made 6 of I think. They start with the top smooth and polished silver piece, then a different silver underlay that is either oxidized black or etched or textured. The copper dots around the edge are the rivets that hold the two silver pieces together. the flower shape is copper and the disc in the center is 14k gold. The bail at the top swivels and has a gold disc on the front.

The other two pieces pictured are mixed metal mandalas but distant cousins. The top is brass over copper that has been roller printed then heat colored in some areas and mechanically etched in others. The copper domes are the tops of rivets. It's set with a piece of paua shell, a specie of abalone that live in New Zealand. The bottom one is silver over heat colored and etched copper set with a peach colored moonstone.

Playing with Mixed Metals

To the left a piece made by Jima. Bottom gem is Botswana agate from Africa polished by Jima. Small stones are pink moonstone, blue agate and orange coral. Metals are a mixture of silver & gold. To the right is a pendant with Mendocino abalone shell in sterling silver created by Carlie





Carlie's earrings to the left are a mixture of silver, copper and gold set with abalone shell and amethyst, a combination she has done several times. Jima's bead is one he calls a ripple disc because of the center copper undulations. Other metals are silver and brass. The black dome on the outside is textured silver that is heated with a torch to turn it black.

 We've been enjoying making
asymetrical earrings and have
had a very good response from
customers. We've made them
for some years but are making
 more than ever currently and
I expect that will continue.
Carlie made the ones on the
left. Silver copper & gold with
lapis lazuli from Afghanistan &
Brazilian amethyst. The bottom
parts are on hinges so they swing
freely.










Jima Made these earrings. They are
brass riveted to an under layer of copper
that has been roller printed from a
pattern sheet of nickel silver that
Jima made. The copper has been gently
heated to give it that colored patina. The
moon and star are of sterling silver. Carlie
makes great ear wires, she makes many
more earrings than Jima so he trades her
parts that he makes for ear wires to put
on his earrings. A bartering system between
adjacent work benches.

Below are two pieces featuring abalone shell, the one on the right created by Carlie utilizing a
piece of Mendocino abalone found, cut and polished by Jima The pendant is silver, copper and
gold set also with a fresh water button pearl and a labradorite. On the left is a butterfly mandala
piece made by Jima last year with a brass butterfly shape riveted onto a silver pierced form
backed by a piece of copper that has been stamped with a small chisel and colored with heat.
It is set with paua shell, a specie of abalone that live in the waters of New Zealand.