I’ve been doing jewelry work on a small scale for awhile now… I have some earrings stamped 2005, and a few exhibition pieces older than that. All my jewelry work is  influenced by my previous experience as a blacksmith*, though on a naturally smaller and lighter scale. Each piece is a unique, handmade original. Check back often, as I’ll be adding more photos as pieces are completed.

METALS: While I have done a very small amount of work with gold, most of my jewelry work is in forged silver on copper plate, hot forged nickel on copper and cold-forged pure silver. I have done a few pieces that combine silver with Damascus steel.

STONES: Ever since I was quite young, I’ve been a bit of a gemstone junkie. My very first purchases were from the Thai gemcutters who would sell in the street markets in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The challenge is to find genuine stones that are reasonably priced. I’m always trying to educate myself regarding lesser-known stones and their characteristics. For example,  I have had some lovely results using zircon, Tanzanite, spessartite garnet, and amethyst. I generally use natural stones and not lab-grown, though lab-grown CZ can give you the look of a diamond without the potential social conflict.

OPALS: While I love working with a variety of gemstones, my favorite is opal. They are all unique in color, pattern and intensity, and I never grow tired of looking at them. I have a few stones that were purchased finished, but I have a large collection of opal rough that I cut and set myself. Most of my stones aren’t super expensive… large stones with deep, intense color are very (very) pricey. Still, you never know what’s inside an opal until you cut it, and I often get some nice surprises.

EARRINGS

*I was a professional artist-blacksmith and writer for many years. From 1999-2010 I was the editor for ABANA’s The Hammer’s Blow, a quarterly techniques journal.