I have been a lurker here on Ganoksin for several years, and lately I have been enjoying reading your blogs. I have other blogs that I keep up with at MySpace and Deviant Arts. But, I am looking forward to sharing my more technical explorations in metal and stones here on this blog.
I am not a traditional bench jeweler by any means. I am trained as an artist, and I am a high school graphic design and photography teacher. But, almost every free moment outside of the classroom, I am at the bench. I refuse repair work, and my work is only found in galleries; this frees me up to concentrate on just making what I want to make.
Here are a few examples of what I have been doing. I have been perfecting my skills in
steam casting lately, so my next post will include a bit about this ancient, efficient, effective, cheap, and low-tech casting procedure that produces results that rival centrifugal and vacuum casting.
I hope you enjoy :o)
Citrine Dreamer: Sterling silver, copper, 99.9 silver, citrine,
sugilite.
Ouroboros Ring: sterling silver and 2 amethysts. Size 7.
Ouroboros in 8 Revisited; sterling silver, copper, sodalite.
Oddity Number 7; Sterling silver, silver, 14k gold, copper,
Peruvian turquoise, and sugilite
Plato’s Ring: Sterling silver, copper, lapis, opal, gembone, and
faceted gemstone beads.
And, many, many more…
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
bethwicker 12.03.08 at 8:35 am
Cool stuff - look forward to the casting info!
Michael Johnson 12.03.08 at 12:56 pm
Thanks Beth, I have some pictures of the process, but I need a few more of the actual steam pressing part. It’s quite a simple process, but I just want to make sure that I cover the most important parts. That link on the page takes you to the best, most detailed website description that I have ever seen.