Modern Heirloom® Fine Jewelry

A nother year ends and a new one begins . I t's time to reflect on the accomplishments of 2010 and look to the goals of 2011. I first began blogging with the goal to inspire and teach through which I would inevitably learn. The two go hand in hand after all and it was an honorable goal. Then the day to day demands of our custom jewelry shop take control of our time. This blog sits collecting dust as do many of the pieces we begin in the moments between deadlines and de sign challenges presented us throughout the year. So to begin this year, I am wiping off the dust and collecting the pieces. I am transforming this blog into a bird's eye view into the goldsmithing shop at our Gallery.... Si lver Bonsai Gallery . Rather than try to fit this blog into the spare moments of our daily shop demands, I will be highlighting them for you  project by project.  In turn I still plan to achieve my goal... to inspire an

I have noticed a pattern over the last 25 years of creating....yes I started at age 9 and then it was all about drawing disney characters as accurately as possible. It wasn't until I had many jewelry making years under my belt and I returned to drawing on the side that I noticed this pattern . I now try to make it a point to practice it regularly. What am I referring to? Improving your skill set through practicing another. After my art school days, I had been sculpting metal regularly. One day I felt inspired to sit down and randomly bust out a drawing. Low and behold, I was better at drawing than I ever had been before, Much better. Strange...I mean, I hadn't drawn in years. How could I have improved? What I found as I drew, was that my line no longer stopped at the visual edge of the object I was drawing. In my mind's eye, it traveled around the object. I could see the hidden areas. Working three dimensionally had taught me to better understand Contour and shape and mo

As I have been searching for what to create for the Vision Awards,(Yes I know last minute) , it got me thinking about design inspiration.... In order to train eyes and hands to the paper, we must first train our eye to the world around us, where everyday objects can inspire extraordinary things. I often find myself looking for underlying shapes & observing the textures and colors within them. I learn to appreciate the movement of line.... in, around, and through space. Becoming a visual data collector, this sense of observation harnesses creative inspiration and develops design skills. Our environment can serve as a constant source of creative and visual inspiration. From the organic line work of a flower to the architectural detailing of a building , we are surrounded by an inspiring array of shape, texture, & color. In jewelry design, we must also look to the human figure for inspiration. Jewelry by definition is meant to interact with the body. It is a wearable art. The figu

Scrolls of imaginative and ornamental patterns can be found throughout the hand engraving world. As the process of cutting a scroll unfolds, it is as if you are watching leaves uncurl and vines intertwine. When I began engraving, I was introduced to the concepts behind designing a layout by a very talented engraver, Jason Marchiafava . Therefore it made perfect sense to introduce you all to him now. Thanks again, Jason for supplying this evenings imagery. Inspired by nature, the curling of an Oak leaf, and the blooming of a flower.... the key to a well en graved scroll begins with layout. As we draw and paint the scroll,we train our minds to the patterns of line and the cuts in the metal become second nature. Technique breaks the lusciousness of the scroll into a well defined series of repetitious cuts. I had the fortune of first observing these techniques through Jason's skillful hands. This is evident through the Scrolls pictured here inlaid with 24K Gold & featuring exhibi