Mandalas

I started drawing mandala forms back in the mid 1960's and later got into painting them, the largest one was about 8 feet in diameter on the side of a building in Ventura, California in 1970 or so. It was only natural that when I got into jewelry making that the mandala form would
spring up. This one was a pin/pendant made of silver riveted over copper. The bluish color on part of the copper is created by heating with a torch. It's set with a fresh water pearl in the center. It was about 2 1/2 inches in diamter.

Another Direction for Circle Wave Pendants

 This is a developmental series of circle wave pendants in which I set a cabachon behind so that I can do metal work over it. I started out doing patterned agates but have in recent time mostly used black onyx. I started this series maybe 25 years ago and it still continues. Each one of the series is at least a little different. It's  more interesting that way. I'm not certain how many I've made but I would guess at least 60 to 80. They all share genetic material like cousins. The scale varies from 3/4's of an inch in diameter to 2 inches. This series will continue as they have all found homes except the one that I just made.

The next step in Circle Wave Pendants Evolution

I get infatuated with spiral forms sometimes so it seemed a natural step to incorporate them into my circle wave pendant designs. I started doing variations of this particular design in 2013 I think and am still doing them currently. Each one is a little different, different scale, different metal combinations, adding textures, different stones. That's a lot more fun than making them the same.

Changing Circle wave Pendants

One of the next steps in the evolution of our circle wave pendants was to add double wave shapes that we cut out of sheet metal to the lines of copper and silver wire in the designs. Jima made the one on the left and Carlie the one on the right.

The Evolution of Circle Wave Pendants

I started making this series of jewels which I call circle wave pendants back in the 1980's when we were living on some property that we bought on the San Juan Ridge north of Nevada City in the hills just south of the Middle Fork of the Yuba River. We lived without being connected to the electricity grid for a number of years, at first making jewelry either in daylight or when working at night using the light of kerosene lamps. I did buy a generator to run the polishing motor and other electric tools but a lot of our work didn't take electricity. Later I put up some solar panels to power lights and built a studio with skylights. It was an interesting time. After we moved to the Mendocino coast in 1997 we spent a lot of time at the ocean and I saw even more wave forms beginning to find their way into our designs
These three pendants pictured are characteristic of some of the first wave of
this series although a lot at the beginning were even simpler than these. They have continued to evolve and change up to this day and have become a very integral part of our successful jewelry business. The series continues to develop and change which is typical of the way I make jewelry. I'll make a design and am happy with it but will then think about how I can make the next one at least a little different. Different metals, different stones, different bail, different size,  change the lines, add new elements. This keeps it interesting for me as opposed to making pieces that are the same and it also lets previous customers find something different the next time that they see our work at an art show. At most shows that we do, up to 90% of our sales are to people who have purchased from us before so it's vital that we have new designs and variations. In the next few days I'll post more images to show how this series has evolved over the last 35 plus years.

Multi Dangle Pendants

Sometime midway through last year Carlie started making some of these hanger pendants, playing with some of the ideas she had developed in making a series of asymmetrical earrings for the last couple of years. As often happens in our work, we play with each others ideas, throwing them back and forth between side by side work benches like we have for over 40 years. Carlie made the pendant on the right here. I made the one on the left. I didn't have a complete idea when I started, the design grew a little at a time, Changing several times in the process. Both are mixtures of silver, copper and gold, Carlie's with garnet and pearl, mine with pearl & carnelian agate.




Another hanger pendant by Carlie on the left with black onyx and pearl, mine on the right set with pearl, Mendocino abalone and a small green chrome diopside. We expect this design series idea to be in play for some time and it will be interesting to see where it leads us.

Spirals & Textures

Along with my fascination with texture goes an infinity of spirals which I've used in a great number of the pieces I've made. I suppose I'm infatuated with them. The piece on the left is silver and copper with a black onyx. The copper inlaid pieces are sheet metal that I have roller printed to get the texture using a sheet of nickel silver that I stamped a design on. I've made about 20 or 30 of these design sheets and always have several in the works since they take time to make. I think I'm working on three currently. Carlie uses these plates also in  her work. This piece is one of a kind at this point. The piece on the right is part of a series, number three at this point. Each one a little different as I like to make them. Sometimes the series will go on for years, but I only make one at a time. Unlike most of my current work this piece is all silver although the ball shapes are argentium silver, an alloy that I like to use for making balls because they come out perfect and smooth with no pits as sometimes happens when you melt sterling silver. Argentium is the best metal I have found for fusing also, one has a lot of control in the process.