Get Hammered with Metalology

Little Blue Berries Earrings in Sterling Silver and Swiss Blue Topaz

2010-10-17T19:17:00.000-07:00

Wow. These were in my imagination for a while and when I finally fabricated them they blew my mind. They are sooooo pretty, the photos don't do them justice.

I made a curl with some seriously thick wire, hammered it for texture, soldered it to a tiny round background and added a super sweet swiss blue topaz to the centers. They hang from tiny sterling silver handmade earwires and measure 1.5" long.

I can make these earrings using different stones: amethyst, garnet, moonstone, pink tourmaline, jade, aventurine green, golden topaz, aquamarine, manmade opal, etc. Convo me with questions and to see if your favorite gemstone is available!

Urban Industrial Razor Wire Tumbleweed

2010-03-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

Link

I live out in the deep woods here in North Carolina, so when I go into a big urban area, my eyes are wide open. I see shapes and textures we just don't have in my rural setting, like rusty razor wire fencing, old abandoned warehouses with shredded metal siding, and concrete everywhere with the occasional resilient weed poking its hopeful head up from the man made surroundings. I am strangely attracted to these textures: I am fascinated by the waste of it all, but I kinda like it anyway. This piece exemplifies those ideas. Made using recycled fine silver wire from my workbench, this piece is a big chunk of almost pure silver (.999) and has been fused and oxidized to bring out the most remarkable texture. It measures 1&1/4" long and 3/4" wide. This listing is for the pendant only, please convo me if you'd like to add a sterling silver chain for an additional $10. It is a one of a kind, I couldn't duplicate this piece if I tried! Thanks for looking!

Metalology Shop Link

Laurel Branch with Kyanite

2010-02-08T17:21:00.000-08:00

This delicate branch of sterling silver leaves is accented by berries made of flashy blue kyanite. The leaves were hand shaped by me, and attached to the centerpiece with sterling silver wire, then over-wrapped by the berries. The centerpiece suspended by two strands of palest blue-green sesame jasper. The entire piece measures 17" in length and closes with a sterling silver toggle clasp. This is a delicate piece, dainty and very feminine.

Link To ETSY SITE

Sterling Silver Ginkgo Leaf Pendant

2010-02-08T15:44:00.000-08:00

So I was walking through the parking lot of the Kernersville public library when I looked down and saw the most perfect ginkgo leaf. I picked it up, along with several others nearby, and flattened them in between the pages of an Eddie Bauer catalogue I had laying in the floorboard of my car. I woke up at 5:00am the next day with this image in my mindThis one is really beautiful, I made it with sterling silver sheet for the leaf part and hammered fine silver (for shine) for the stem. I created a vine like sterling silver wire bail to attach it to a chain. It would look nice on a sterling silver chain or a brass chain, it is very versatile. It has been set with a beautiful blue turquoise stone at the point where the stem meets the leaf. The pendant measures just under 2.5" long and just over 1.25" wide. It is a very graceful pendant, and has lots of movement. It will certainly be a great piece to wear for everyday!

LINK TO ETSY SITE

Constellations in the Night Sky

2009-09-03T15:57:00.000-07:00

Out here in the woods where I live we can see so many stars, and on a night when the moon is full we can hike by the light. I have spent many nights with my eyes focused on the stars, and I wonder how many other people are looking at them too at that very moment, and how we could all be connected by the same activity at the same moment.

I made this necklace out of sterling silver sheet that I cut, shaped and pierced with the pattern of the stars. I darkened the silver to resemble the night sky, and connected them all with sterling wire rods. I hand forged a sterling silver hook and eye clasp and added my maker's mark and sterling stamp on a circle tag that features the North Star Polaris in fused fine silver at the clasp. It is a fantastic piece, if I do say so myself, it is totally unique. I love the way the darkened 'sky' portion contrasts with the bright finish on the rods. It measures 17.5" in length.

These earrings don't match! One features the Big Dipper and the other features Orion. These are the two most easily identified constellations in the night sky, and the first ones I ever learned. They are still my favorites. They are a perfect match for the 'Constellations in the Night Sky' necklaceabove.

Here is the coolest part: When you stand with the light behind you, it shines through the earrings so it looks like the bright stars of the constellation!

Here is a list of the constellations I used:

The Big Dipper is on the centerpiece
Orion the Hunter is on one side of the center piece
Cassiopeia the Queen of Unrivaled Beauty is on the other
Ursa Minor the small bear is next on both sides
Delphinus the Dolphin is next on both sides
Andromeda the Princess is second to last on both sides
Cygnus the Swan is at the clasp on both sides.
Polaris the North Star on the maker's mark tag.

It is an amazing piece of art-jewelry-meets-science. It is also perhaps emblematic of how nerdy I am...LOL!

Metalology on ETSY

Orbit of Pluto

2009-08-31T04:53:00.000-07:00

Pluto will always be a planet to me, no matter how the NASA scientists choose to classify it. I love that Pluto is part of a twin set, with Charon. I love to think of the two of them spinning with each other in the longest orbit of our solar system, caught in an eternal dance, like immortal lovers.

This piece is one of the COOLEST pieces I have ever made, I had to have one for myself! I love the use of the two different forms of silver, sterling and fine, fused together under the fire of my torch. The sterling has a very darkened oxidation while the fine silver is as bright as can be, a gorgeous contrast! The stone is a faceted labradorite with a misty blue flash, mysterious like it's namesake planet. The labradorite brings an amazing depth of color and texture to this piece. It is stunningly beautiful in person, I am so sorry my photos do not do it justice. It hangs from an 18" sterling silver chain that you can choose to wrap through it in many different ways. It measures 1.5" in diameter, but seems much more petite due to it's openwork and vine-like structure. It is amazing in person. I am completely in love with this piece!

Link to Metalology ETSY Site

sunflower seed pod swaying in the wind

2009-08-30T06:01:00.000-07:00

This time of year the seed pods of sunflowers are a textural masterpiece. Bumpy and spiky, they hang their heads atop the long stems ready to lay their seeds for next year's enjoyment.

This piece is a sunflower seed pod on a long stem for you to wear around your neck! It is made using sterling silver, a long hammered stem that holds a darkly patinaed cup that holds a smooth silver cup that holds the seeds. It hangs from a sterling silver chain that measures 18" in length and the pendant measures almost 3" long. It sways gently on the chain as you move, just like a breeze is flowing calmly across them in a field.

Metalology on ETSY Link

The life of an Ocracoke Island SeaShell

2009-08-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

I was on Ocracoke Island recently and the beaches there are amazingly littered with fascinating things washed up by the Atlantic. I collected many shells, saw iridescent jellyfish with a rainbow of colors, and watched the little shorebirds piping the wet sands for food, constantly in motion with their skinny legs blurry with speed.

Although I am a mountain girl, I love the seashore. I love natural beaches, uncrowded with people but alive with activity nonetheless. I love to walk along the water's edge getting my feet wet and picking up shells to look at the remarkable colors on the insides. I made this piece to reflect those memories.

I found one particular seashell on my last trip that looked very different from all of the rest. This one was rough, like it had been through a great deal of trauma. I loved the textures on the surface, thinking that each line or curve told a story about the life of this shell, like the tiny lines on the face of someone who has lived a life of adventure. I put it in my pocket and couldn't stop thinking about it.

I made this piece based on the shell in the last photo. I started with very thick gauge sterling sheet, added a three dimensional swirl to the top and raised pod shapes on the lower portion. I set a faceted labradorite in the center of the swirl to reflect the peaceful colors of the ocean. I made a tube bail at the top for use in stringing the 18" sterling silver chain through. It measures 1.25" long by 1" wide, same as the original shell from the beach.

Link to Metalology ETSY Site

my desk is a mess...what should i do?

2009-08-20T14:32:00.001-07:00

my desk is actually a workbench, and it is always a mess. i seem to work best when it is trashed like this because i am not worried about messing it up anymore, and i have all kinds of random little thingies laying around that i can see, pick up, and get inspired to make something new. i love the view from my workspace, it is a lush and green woodland garden complete with stainless steel sculptures. the photo on my bench is my little niece Noelle. she inspires me too.

i feel that huge mess calling me back to work now, see ya later!

Metalology Modern Organic Jewelry

2009-08-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

Hairy Potter

2009-05-31T14:56:00.000-07:00

yesterday my beloved mr. metalology and I went into town to do something creative. did we drive all that way because we just can't be creative enough at home, you ask? well, sometimes it's nice to do something out of our comfort zones to regain the inspiration we need for what we like to do normally. and painting our own plates in a little ceramic studio is about as far away from my comfort zone as a thing can be, not to mention mr. metalology's opinion on the matter.

which is ironic since he is such a fantastic artist. he majored in fine art in college, and is quite an impressive oil painter and cartoonist. yet he always hems and haws around like he doesn't know what he is doing. he finally settled on a dot pattern showing the sun setting (or rising, i guess) over the mountains. it is lovely! my design was cheerios, of course, just circles of different sizes in different colors. not very inspiring, just colorful.

muddpies studio is where we did our damage. in kernersville, nc, it is a cute little gallery and ceramic painting studio we stumbled on one evening last week when we went to town for dinner. i immediately knew i wanted us to make something together, and since he agreed so easily, i decided to go ahead and schedule it before he could change his mind! haha! he has participated with me on several of these creative experiments, and although he dreads it up to the minute we start, he usually enjoys it in spite of himself.

so after a morning spent working hard on our plates, we left to go find the happiest surprise of the day: a great restaurant we didn't know about yet. at the two brothers greek diner we enjoyed the best gyros we've had since we moved away from charlotte and the famous shomar's greek restaurant. it was amazing, delicious, and i think the most enjoyable part of the day for my reluctant artist husband. he stills smiles when he remembers that sandwich.

i need elbow augmentation surgery, but instead...

2009-05-27T17:14:00.000-07:00

as you may know by now, i love organic fibers and fresh styles. i need for my clothes to be different, otherwise i might vanish into the background and never be seen again. i like long skirts and monochromatic tops that i can wear with my merrells sandals. something that drapes nicely to cover up my quirky curves and razor sharp elbows. (not kidding about the elbows, sadly, or the curves...)

i always love eileen fisher linens and silks. i always love earth creations hemp. i love sangam cottons and two star dog anything. i love flax linens too. lately i have been cruising Etsy to find my latest favorite new top, and have come across some real jewels, but cannot decide:

i love this: from ureshii, this is the milkmaid top. it is gloriously elegantly casual. i think it would look nice with capris or a skirt. it is so lovely, and is offered in a variety of colors. hmmm, but what about my razor sharp elbows, you ask? with a top this perfect, maybe no one will notice?

this gorgeous top from sandmaiden is available in bamboo! how cool is that? she has a nice range of colors too, but i am partial to this black one. this looks so lovely with the really groovy collar and very cool sleeves that would solve that elbow problem of mine. it is just perfect!

i love this top! it is so cute and has the cutest name: little bits by ellainaboutique. it also comes in a nice range of colors, i like the grey and the coffee brown. it comes with a long sleeve option, 3/4 length sleeves or with cap sleeves. (a sleeve for every elbow shape, perfect!)

everything by secretlentil is awesome. her work is creative and fun, and looks like nothing else i've ever seen. i am completely infatuated with her very cool designs, some with razor sharp elbow coverage and some without! the color combinations are inventive, the styles are unique, and the size range is very inclusive. i love it!

so you can see my dilemma, how to decide which first? they are all so lovely, and like picking my favorite among my beloved little doggies, i cannot choose just one. HELP!

folly folly folly

2009-05-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

today mr. metalology and i went on a field trip as we do most saturdays this time of year. he is an amateur film maker and makes travel videos for our YouTube site and dantraveling.com. this week we chose to visit the strangest house in the world, Körner's Folly, in kernersville, north carolina. it is an amazing house!

Körner's Folly is an historic home that has twenty-seven rooms on seven levels. it is a rambling victorian mansion that could have only been envisioned by the artist and ad man, Jule Körner. Some of the rooms had ceilings so low that everyone but me (hysterical isn't it?) had to duck. Some of the rooms had ceilings twenty five feet high. in the attic space there is a little theater, called cupid's park after the murals decorating the walls that were painted by Caesar Milch.

we were lucky enough to stumble in on puppet show day. this morning, the attic theater was host to several children anxiously awaiting the show that tells the history of the family and house using the most elegant handmade puppets! the puppeteers were great and took extra time to come out after the show and talk directly to the children. it was a special experience to have, completely by chance.

the house itself was overwhelming. the rooms are connected by winding staircases, some of them so narrow i began to regret my big breakfast. these narrow passageways were obviously built before the days of the super size extra value drive thru meals. the rooms were lavishly decorated with incredible antiques and some rather strange pieces of furniture. the details in the woodwork and trim moldings were intricate and the fifteen fireplaces were decorated each with a different theme.

it was a strange house to tour, and i cannot imagine living it in, much less cleaning it, but visiting it was the perfect adventure for a lazy saturday morning.

on the hemp again!

2009-05-22T18:01:00.000-07:00

so, today i went back to the meadows of dan trading company. i have a serious problem...

hello, my name is janet and i am addicted to hemp.

i really needed a haircut, in the worst way. due mostly to laziness i have not had a bona fide haircut in a couple of months or more. i have remedied this oversight by begging mr. metalology to cut my hair for me in the bathroom with a hand mirror in my hand shouting out directions and, 'no god no not that much' and that sort of thing. so after the kind of courage that only comes from seeing the bottom of the wine bottle, last night i decided that this morning i would go to stacy's and have a real haircut.

here's the history: i have super bad luck with haircuts. super super bad. the worst haircut of my life happened about 3 weeks before my wedding, and that trauma lingers. and worse, since moving to north carolina i haven't really settled in to that trusting relationship with a haircutting professional that is so essential for me to have in order to allow anyone that close to my head with a sharp object, the kind you aren't allowed to take on a plane anymore. i have had excruciatingly rotten haircuts here in my new state. i am sure it is all my fault, i do not speak the 'haircutting tongue' my lexical skills just do not include bob, wedge, weave or any other term that might apply just as easily to boxing as to hair design. having said that:

so i was off to see tracy first thing this morning. i was very hopeful, i emailed myself a photo of a haircut i liked to show her on my iPhone. i figured a picture was worth a thousand words to avoid misunderstanding in this case. she did a wonderful job, my hair looks great, just like the picture (at least today...we'll see what happens when it's my turn to style it...) and i was so pleased and invigorated with the new energy that only comes with a successful new haircut that i took my car to the carwash and had it cleaned too. a fresh start all around!

to reward my bravery, i decided to go back to the meadows of dan trading company and procure a new skirt. which i did. it is lovely, pale green and just the same as the last one i bought there. i also got a 'mud dyed' tee shirt with a lovely scoop neck and then on the way out to the car i found a sleeveless top on the sidewalk sale rack for $17 in my size, so OF COURSE i grabbed it too.

hemp makes me feel good. but not because it is a sustainable fiber and good for the environment and blah blah blah, i mean those things are good too, but i like the way it hangs. i like the way it breathes. i like the way it looks on me, and i like almost nothing on me. i like the way the edges of these garments are serged and not hemmed. i like the raw edges.

Trilliums

2009-05-20T18:07:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about our upcoming trip back to Tennessee with great excitement. Mr. Metalology and I were just back in our beloved Smokies in early April, to celebrate our birthdays and do some hiking. We were so lucky to see the trilliums in bloom all over the rocky hillsides. It is my favorite wildflower, and nothing beats seeing it covering the ground in my favorite places.

I came home with the idea to attempt to make a trillium flower in sterling silver. I hammered out a couple of different prototypes and was pleased with the shapes and forms, but nothing can capture the natural beauty of the real thing. Still, I try...

So our next trip to the Smokies will be the third week of June, and we are renting a mountain top condo to share with Mr. Metalology's sister and her family. It will be great, because when we are together there is lots of laughter. There will undoubtedly be hiking; hot, sweltering summertime hiking with bugs and possibly snakes. But there will surely not be the peace and quiet that we so enjoyed in April. The trails will be more crowded with tourists. The mosquitoes will be buzzing in our ears. But best of all, there will be the laughter of memories being made.

I hope I come across something else that will inspire some more metalwork, that will mean that long after the trip is over I will still be reliving it at my workbench.

wasting my raw materials just for fun

2009-05-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

I don't know how other people relax, but I know what works for me. I like to do things that are unnecessary but yield a finished product anyhow, you know, goofing off by wasting my materials stash. One of my favorite time-wasting ventures is to get out some fine silver wire and fuse up a bunch of rings.

Fine silver wire is the coolest thing! It's nice how it can be fused to itself and to sterling silver sheet metal. But I can really zone out by making a little stack of rings.

I first take my wire and wrap a long length of it around the wooden handle of my brass hammer. I have a ring mandrel, but for whatever reason, I always reach for that hammer handle instead. I make a long tight coil around the wood, slide it off and cut the rings like you would when you are making jumprings. I fuse them using my biggest butane torch, a totally zen experience since I usually do this at night and turn off my bench lights. I watch the metal glow to that salmon-peach color just before it fuses at the joint. I quench them, but only because the one time when I didn't, I burned a ring-shaped hole through the rubber matting I have laying on that part of my workbench. Once they are quenched, I use that same little brass hammer to texture the edges and then put them aside to be tumbled.

I am always amazed at how bright and shiny the fine silver gets once it is out of the tumbler. It makes all sterling silver, no matter how polished, look dull by comparison. I have now made several stacks of these rings and wear them on several fingers. I also use this technique to make hammered links that I use in different projects, usually as a connector for a pendant, only for those I like to reshape the ring into a somewhat triangular pebble shape, a more organic and less symmetrical look. If I reshape it after fusing but before hammering it is easier to get the new shape I am going for, while the metal is still soft and has not been work-hardened yet.

I don't know if it's the glow of the metal in the dark that I find relaxing, or just the repetitive action of making something I already know how to make, something that's not even challenging in the slightest bit, something so familiar that were it not for the fire coming out of the torch, I could maybe do it with my eyes closed, but something about the melting silver is the little relaxation award I like to give myself at the end of a long day at my bench.

Chicken in a Biscuit

2009-05-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

today dan and i went to pocahontas virginia again for a visit. we have been there numerous times over the past couple of years, it is our unofficial home away from home. we first went there to make a little travel video for dan's youtube site:

http://www.youtube.com/user/dmccoig

then we went back to make a longer full length documentary complete with oral histories and interviews. over the course of two years we made about 12 weekend visits and several new friends in this sweet little town. our film project is over now, we showed the finished piece at the annual exhibition mine opening ceremony a few weeks ago.

today we went back for a visit with our friends Tom and Amy. it was a great day and i wore my new blue hemp skirt (see previous post) layered tee shirts and my favorite merrells sandals, which made me feel awesome and prosperous.

while we were there, i met some new people, one of whom was also wearing merrells, and i was immediately interested in her cute shoes. she complemented the necklace i was wearing, and since i almost always wear my own designs, i said,"thanks, i made this friday morning, i'm a metalsmith." it was one of my reticulated rose prototypes, all sterling silver and i am proud of the piece since it's still new and i'm not tired of it yet. she said, "oh, who do you work for?" and i said, "myself, i have my own business and sell my work in a few galleries and online at Etsy." to which she promptly said, "oh."

i don't know why people seem disappointed when they find out that i am in business for myself, i think of it as every american's dream to have their own business doing something they love and find fulfilling. but when i tell someone that's what i do, i actually feel silly saying it out loud and feeling like i might have to defend it. crazy, right? maybe not...

hemp addict...

2009-05-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

hello, my name is janet and i am addicted to hemp.

i recently discovered hemp clothing when i was in Mount Airy, NC at the Meadows of Dan Trading Company. i saw this skirt from across the room. i sauntered over to the skirt and gently touched the fabric, expecting it to have as much of a smooth and supple texture as an old rope-swing. can you imagine my surprise when my fingertips were instead rewarded with the silky softness of the fabric, that wonderful fabric that drapes across my sad little body like a fine grecian toga. i was hooked after looking into the dressing room mirror. i couldn't believe my luck, a skirt that was comfortable and organic and fashionable and smoothed out some of my sadder curves.

of course, i bought the skirt. and the jacket. and a cami, just in case.

now i feel compelled to purchase this skirt in every color available, i mean, i can't wear this same skirt everyday, someone might notice. so i looked to the internet to find more.

http://www.earthcreations.net

amazing, right? i know. i even found one on eBay, and guess what? it was $12 and so i bought it too. it is a lovely robin's egg blue, my fav, so even though the skirt was a size 16 and i am an 8 at best, i bought it trusting that my alterations lady could fix it for me. she is awesome, and she charges $12.50 to rework this wonder of fashion design to fit my body. so the total price for this skirt, brand new with tags, is $24.50, still far less expensive than the $50+ i paid in Mount Airy. and yes, i see the irony of paying more for the alterations than for the skirt itself, but hello, my name is janet and i am addicted to hemp.