Christmas Break

So this has been quite a crazy break so far, so I haven't gotten much done in the way of metals and jewelry. I was home in San Francisco for two weeks, then had a few airline debacles but finally ended up here in Maryland. My wonderful boyfriend, Mark, got me a flex shaft for Christmas, and I cannot wait another week to get to Philly to set it up. I need to figure out how I'm going to control the saw dust...but that's for another post. I also got some awesome tools from my parents, pics of those to come!

New Earrings or Finals

Here is another pair of earrings for my final, right now I have three pairs.  I might make some more to sell at art unleashed this upcoming March/April.  I really like these, this will probably be the pair I'm going to keep for myself.  I decided I wanted them to be different, so the one on the right is black leather dye outside, red leather dye on the inside, with the little silver balls.  The left one is red on the outside and black on the inside (the colors are super hard to see in this).

I am really enjoying doing these quicker, smaller projects.  I've learned a lot of little techniques that I plan on using for my larger crazy and pain-stankingly hard projects haha.

Stone Set Ring Complete!

This was finished on Sunday, but I'm just getting to post it now because of finals week.  Luckily I'm pretty on track with my finals--probably for the first time in awhile.  I decided to oxidize the ring to further the dangerous look it gives off.  I'm very pleased with the oxidation and even more pleased that the stone still looks incredibly bright, even though the ring is now dark. 

 One thing that is hard to notice in the pictures but is actually quite awesome in person is where I filed off the oxidation.  Instead of doing what I've seen before and polished the silver around the edge, I polished the silver on just the bevel on the edge.  This means that, when looking at each of the edges, you see the polished silver on the outsides and then a very thin black line on the inside.  I really enjoy the way this looks and hope to use it again in my later projects.

I'd like to get some nice portfolio pictures of my more recent things up soon--the last time I took portfolio pics I had a lighting problem and couldn't really use any of them.

Also, I"M SO EXCITED FOR BREAK! It's much needed =]  All I have left is work tomorrow and two 20 minute critiques, then I'm off!

Sauron Ring Update

This is a short post, but i just had to say yay!!! The seats are finished and the prongs are filed and sanded. I re-sanded the outside to almost perfection, and it's just about ready to be buffed and hand polished, and have that stone set right in there! Wish me luck! Especially with that darn buff, it already took the piece outta my hands and mangled it up a hit, hence the refinishing :)

A Ring for Sauron, aka the source of my eye strain...

This is an in process shot of my stone set ring for Sharon's class--it looks quite like something Sauron would wear haha.  I must say, everyone who looks at it, including past grads, teachers, and non-majors, they all say "you're crazy!" I just get to sit back and say "thanks =]"  I like to be crazy, what can I say?

Sorry for the poor picture quality, I took these when I got home and rested my eyes.  Eye strain is no joke, I'm very glad to be going to the eye doctor in one break starts.

This is the ring after I cut and started to file the seats for the stone.  The reason this is crazy is because the stone isn't set on the top, but inside this setting.  That means I have to figure out how to do all this within the outer structure--not an easy feat. I'll probably be making my own tools to actually set the stone.

Look at that honkin thing!!! Gianormus...

Here is the stone sitting inside it.  It's not filed perfectly yet, the stone is a little crooked still so I need to fix that. Hence the eyestrain.  Looking at those tiny prongs through the loupe is...well...straining.  God I love this work though. I can't imagine another medium I'd rather do <3

Let's hope I get that stone in there perfectly! Pics of it finished in another week or so.

PS: This is synthetic, but even so, man rubies are amazing. SOOOO beautiful. Drool.

Random Inspiration in Class

I got this random inspiration in my Zen Buddhism class for a new carving, this time a necklace.  I have literally pages dedicated to doodles for this one idea (honestly I probably have just as many doodles and project ideas in my liberal arts notebooks as I do actual notes...) I'm really liking it, and I got the urge to try actually rendering it.  I have just about zero experience with rendering--other than drawing in high school and foundation year, and once Sharon had us try it out, other than that zip.  It turned out alright. Hopefully I can make this project, along with my finals, before I go home for the break. Yes, I'm crazy =] Well here it is:

[This is my fav doodle from the bunch in class]

[Rendered version, 2011, Elana Jovero]

Working on an earring series...

For our last five week project for Projects III, I decided I wanted to make a series of small, carved earrings. I've been doing so much carving--and for some reason all brooches--so I wanted to break free of that with this project. I also wanted to get practice carving smaller and smaller detail in order to further my skills when I work larger again.

[In Progress Shot]

[Finished drying! Boxwood, Sterling Silver, 2011 Elana Jovero]

Hello There

Hello There,

[Preciousness, Beach Sand, Turquoise, Sterling, Satin Ribbon, Cubic Zirconia, Watch Crystal 2010, Elana Jovero]

This is the official announcement of my blog! It's about time that I started one, I've been thinking about it for awhile now.  I'm going to be posting all about my work, including pictures of finished pieces and works in progress, my growing studio (aka the tiny corner in my studio apartment), and other info related to techniques, school, life as a jeweler etc.  Thanks! --Elana