New Rings are almost here!

Stacking Pearl Rings

I’m a bit obsessed with stacking rings - I think it relates to my love of all things Wendy Ramshaw (I’ve written about here before, you can follow the link to find out more about this iconic British woman goldsmith). This is my latest iteration of elegant stacking rings in sterling silver - with pearl. You can see some of these in person at the Craft Ontario Shop, but I’ve been working on some new ones that are coming to Jewel Envy soon!

In the spirit of waste not, want not, I use the cutouts from my M cells to form the pearl cups on the rings, so I like to think of them as my “nuclei rings” :). It’s a little secret story that you don’t know about unless you know about it! Yes, it makes my little geeky science heart happy! And each one is different from the next one!

Old jewellery, new jewellery

I’ve been hard at work doing a number of custom pieces, which I can’t really share at the moment, as they’re not completed yet, but I did complete a couple of pieces recently that I wanted to share with you. It’s fun when a client brings me their old jewellery that they want to reimagine into new pieces.

Re-imaging jewellery you have is a good way to retain materials, but give them a new lease on life! I feel so happy to be involved in helping to remodel so many meaningful pieces!

I removed the central stone from the ring, and made it into a new bezel set floating pendant in 14k white gold. It looks stunning! The rest of the stones will go to be used in other pieces, and the gold was recycled in another piece as well!

Here, I removed the side stones (so the central stone can be used somewhere else!), and remade them into these sweet, delicate earrings, also in 14k white gold. The gold from the ring was reclaimed.

So, do you have any jewellery lurking around that you want to give a new lease on life ? Get in contact and let’s start a dialogue about remodeling your jewellery—all quotes are no-obligation and free!

Happy Sunday!

-Robin.

Construction of a New Piece

As an independent goldsmith, I make a fair number of pieces that are small batch productions, so, while they are all unique in their own way, they’re still of a similar design, and generally use similar methods.  Part of my practice, to keep exercising my creative muscles is to challenge myself to make larger pieces on a semi-regular basis.  Last year, I made this piece:

Oxidised sterling silver, 10k yellow gold, blue topaz and sapphire necklace with roller printed elements and two-tone blue needled felt. This necklace is very kinetic, and hangs about 19" long.

If you’re familiar with some of my work, you’ll see that it incorporates a lot of different elements from other pieces that I’ve made, but puts them together in a new and more elaborate way, incorporating some gold and more precious gems than I might normally use.  (If you're interested in more information about why I use these elements, you can read a bit more here.)

This year, I set myself a similar goal: to make a larger, statement piece, that incorporates a lot of elements that I normally use, in a larger format, and incorporating or extending my skills at the same time.  This piece presented some challenges for me, in terms of the physical construction, because I couldn’t use a lot of my normal techniques to create the individual pieces.  This made it a lot of fun (I like practical problem solving/troubleshooting), but also rather frustrating at times. 

Some pictures of the necklace in process

starting to put the elements together

One down, one that needs alot of laser welding to get it together!

Just the finishing to go!

This necklace is part of my sci/art collections, and is entitled Invaders/Defenders. Since it is more specifically an art jewellery piece, the design is associated with different symbolism for me.  The piece has two different finishes.  The oxidised/dark element represents the infectious invaders, with the mostly oval cabochon sapphires being reminiscent of a bacterial shape, and the random placement showing some of the disorder that happens in the infection process.  In contrast, the matte silver/light element represents the immune cells that defend against infection and disease, with the incorporation of texture and irregular cutouts. The more organic nature of the circular shape of the two larger elements reflect the cellular/tissue environment where these biological entities interact, and the two elements are united in a continuous loop with a steel cable, as the different sides of this process are irrevocably linked in biology.

The final piece and an impression of the scale. The two main elements are made of sterling silver, with sapphire cabochons, roller printed elements, seed freshwater pearl beads, and deep blue needled felt.

I’m really pleased with the overall effect of the piece, what do you think?  Would you be interested in some smaller pieces in a similar style of one of the elements, perhaps as a brooch or a pendant?

You can contact me here to start a dialogue about this piece, and commission a new work.  I look forward to your comments.

Have a great Sunday!

-Robin

The Earring Show 2020

As some of you may know, I haven’t been in “business” for long yet. So, as you might imagine, Covid-19 is not really helping me! I’ve already had to forgo participating in one show (which hopefully will still happen in the Autumn-so more info on that in the future!), and I was due to start teaching workshops at the Jewel Envy studio, where I am a resident goldsmith, both of which have somewhat derailed the progress I was hoping to make this year. However, in the midst of all my doom and gloom, back in late March, I had a glimmer of excitement!

Part of my professional development this year is to apply to exhibitions (where and when I can!). I had put in an application in early March to the Craft Council BC to participate in their annual Earring Show exhibition. To my delight, I was accepted! Of course, it was supposed to be a physical exhibit, which is not now happening. But the Council was very proactive, and they’ve managed to organise an exciting virtual event on Zoom and Facebook ths Satuday, May 9th, 2020.

It’s a tough time for all of us, but attending (and telling your friends about it!) the event is a good way to support artists and local business-and who knows, you might find something you love in the exhibition (everything will be available for sale from the day of the exhibition).

These are my earrings that are featured in the exhibition-They’re my Asymmetric M form earrings. Made out of sterling silver and needle felt (I love the pop of colour and the contrasting texture the felt pad gives these pieces!), they’re one of a kind (although I do small production of this design), and because of the construction, they’re very light to wear, but still make a statement.

This is another version of my earrings. These are inspired by the macrophage/monocyte cell of the immune system (yes, I am a science geek!). When they are stained, they have cool nucleus shapes, which inspire the cutouts I make in my pieces. Although I reproduce this design, each pair of earrings are one-of-a-kind, as I handcut the domes using one-use hand-drawn templates, the elements are placed slightly differently on the curved wires, the felt inserts are available indifferent colours, and the earrings are available in different finishes. They retail for $180 (CAD) + HST. Fancy a pair? Email me to order

Hope to “see” you this Saturday!

-Robin