Update and project pics

Hey! So it's been forever since I updated anything on my blog so I wanted to let y'all know what I've been up to. I started working at Macy's Watch and Jewelry Repair, and I'm still working with a jeweler in Sausalito, so my schedule has been insane lately. One of the biggest pieces of news is that I got my own set of torches! I've been working for my jeweler at home now that I have those torches--it's an amazing tool to have again, though I am finding it hard to find time to make my own work!

A client of mine commissioned me to make an oldschool style pipe. It feels amazing to be carving again. I needed a break from it but now I'm ready! I'll take more Studio pics once I clean my room. It's Uhhh, pretty messy. That I have not had time to deal with either haha. And I need new furniture! And I want to move into a new apartment, but I'm trying to save money right now. We shall see what happens! But before I get too off topic...

Here is the pipe in mid production. I NEED to learn how to turn ASAP. if anyone wants me to make them a pipe I'd be happy to talk to you about it. Hit me up via text or at elanajovero@att.net and we can go over details. <3 Lani

Some pics

Here are some pics of what I've been up to at my own bedroom studio. More to come soon :)

I got this little butane torch so now I can solder at home. Yay! I made this pair of earrings in that same style as before, and I'm actually getting the little bubbles cast so I can make a mini collection of rings/earrings etc.

As always, a cute pup photo has to be thrown in

Getting back into the swing of things

It has been 2.5 months since my last post, which means that it's been 2.5 months since I've really made any work.  In this time I've had a lot going on, some jewelry related and some not-so-jewelry related haha.  I've been working as a production jeweler at Love and Luxe, a wonderful gallery in the Mission district of San Francisco, and recently started working with another artist, Amy Nordstrom, in Sausalito.        I've been enjoying my break from making, living it up in the warm California sun (insert beach boys reference here), hanging out with friends I haven't seen in forever, and making new ones too =]  Finally I'm ready to get back into making work and I'm seriously jonesing to start ASAP. It's gotten to the point where I'm seriously obsessing! Supplies, you better get here fast!

The main thing I am working on now is "breadcrumb" work or production work--do you remember those tasty little bubble rings I made for the artUnleashed ring workshop? Yup, those are going to make a comeback, and even better this time.  I have a lot of exciting designs and ideas around them, but I'm going to start off small at first.  I plan on taking them to galleries and jewelry stores and seeing if they want to sell them, wish me luck! Luck might be a little forward though--I have to actually make the work first =P

I would also like to officially state here that I'm going to start carving one of a kind pieces again.  There is a project, I can't remember if I mentioned, that involves orchids and earrings and such like that.  It might be that.  OR it might be a life size star gazer lily.  But I'm not sure the Lily is going to be a jewelry piece. I kinda want it to just be....REGARDLESS. Are you excited? Yes! Am I nervous? Of course...Haha.  PS: to let you in on a little secret, I'm stating this officially here so that I have a commitment to start carving again! (not that I really need one persay, but I've just been in a weird out-of-school funk where the lack of deadlines are....terrifying.  I'm still getting used to being done with school)

Until next time, my sweets! <3

Studio is just about ready!

Sorry for the bad pics, but here is the studio! It's just about ready--everything is bolted down and ready to go. Once I get the tanks, my next big purchase is going to be a mini bandsaw, then probably a tumbler and/or dapping set.... Anyways, without further adieu:

Horay for my FlexShaft! And the galvanized pipe holder for it and pliers and such =]

Organizer and such

The whole thing

This has a lot of various tools in it. Here I should thank Jennifer who sold me a ton of her tools at a HUGE discount, they are filling these bins =]

This is my new baby, it swivels and rotates in literally every way possible. <3

And my old baby, all my carving burrs, with a few new ones!

Setting up a studio!!!

So I'm very excited to announce that I'm In the process of setting up my studio, and I'm almost done! All that is left so far is getting a pipe from the hardware store (I got one that was too long), getting the right seal for my torch, and filling the tanks!! So excited :)

Unfortunately I tore a muscle in between two ribs, so I'm moving somewhat slower than I'd like. However, pics and fun stuff to come! Wish me a speedy recovery!!

Recent Updates

Hi there!

It's been awhile, but it's so nice that it has! I've been home, relaxing, and loving living in San Francisco again--getting to see my friends, and someone a little more special, while seeing all the lovely things California has to show me, from the beautiful view to great food and people.  I've started to set up my own home studio at my parent's place (I'll be here for a few months until I save up enough money to be on my own). Alas, it is getting set up slowly, but that is mostly because I've been enjoying relaxing.  I started to work at Love and Luxe, a gallery in the Mission.  Here are some things I've been working on, freshly brass brushed and still wet from washing all that stinky liver of sulfur off:

These are charms that will go on silver chains, and will be given away with any purchase at their one-year anniversary party on June 2nd.  You all should come and say hello!  There will be lots of fun things to see and do, and of course, the lovely girls who work there!

Graduation and Senior Show!

This is kind of cool, I'm blogging from the plane no San Francisco...

Anyways, here I am the day after the show getting the hell outta dodge. I wish I had some more time in Philly to see and do some of the things I love or haven't done yet, and especially to saw goodbye to the friends I have made, but life is kind of funny the way it works out. The Senior Show was amazing, and a great note to end on. I don't know quite whats ahead of me, but I can't tell if I'm more afraid or excited of this fact. All I know is, San Francisco, here I come!

Below are some pictures from the actual show as well as some photos the lovely Karen Krogh took of my work. Enjoy!

The day before senior show!

Today is the day before senior show, and things are FINALLY winding down a little.  I set up all my work except for one piece I need to finish tomorrow morning, the etched pod.  I've been helping my friend finish her work and hopefully we can get it done tonight. WISH US LUCK!  Everything is coming together, and I'm so excited.  You all should come see it, either tomorrow night or Friday May 4th =]  I'll post pictures tomorrow! Yay!

Braids in Progress

Here is an in progress shot of how I'm resolving my braids. All I need to do is finish the silver and put it all together. They're in the coarse tumbler as we speak! Hope you enjoy :).

What I've been up to

Life is so crazy right now that I can't even begin to delve into it--from couch surfing to ArtUnleashed to finals and much, much more.  I don't want to give too many excuses, but I do want to write about what I've been up to.

Firstly, ArtUnleashed, the school's fundraiser, was amazing (as always).  I actually sold my thesis work that I put in (don't worry, it'll be in my show).  You can see pictures on my blog, it's "Lasianthum," "Hawthorne," and "Calotropis Gigantia." I think it's kinda funny that none of the rings we made in the gemstone workshop sold--but that's the problem with rings: they have to fit.  Luckily I get to keep mine and the stones, so if anyone is interested in them let me know!  All the people are amazing that went and it's such a fun event--I hope I can go next year.

I finally got to talk to Sharon about my necklace, Power, and I'm working on it now and it's soooooo much better.  She helped me find a way to make what I wanted actually happen. I WANT TO SHOW YOU RIGHT NOW! It isn't done yet so I'll show you when I finish it, but it has quite a bit of lovely forged silver on it. Soooo pretty. Worry not my loves! It will be up soon.

Now I have to keep finishing projects and shipping my stuff home to California.  Wish me luck!

Phew, time to relax...though not really

I've been so busy especially this week that I haven't had time for anything, let alone blogging. Sorry about that folks.  However, I have this Saturday off (yay!) and the competition on Thursday is over (there is a rumor about who won but no one has heard this from a judge, sadly the rumor isn't about me) Regardless, I'm so glad I was nominated and I'm even more glad that it's over, now I can relax for the weekend and then work work work for the next three weeks until the show.  I have three pieces finished for show, potentially four if I decide to put my braid necklace in.  Here are some pictures from my set up at the competition.

"Power" finished as I originally wanted it

"Hawthorne" and "Lasianthum"

"Lasianthum"

"Hawthorne" and "Lasianthum" have "stands" of the spikes.  The idea is that they create a still life, and you take a piece off that becomes the jewelry.  This melds sculpture and jewelry together in a way.

I want to make a ton more of the rings for art unleashed but unfortunately I was so focused on this work that I couldn't make more in time for the cutoff, however, I want to start selling them on etsy. I really really love this work and I know I can go a lot of different ways with it.  Let me know if you guys like that idea! Wish me luck finishing all this crazy work. Thanks! =]

Finishing =]

I know I mentioned that my butt was being kicked in my last post, but not today! I was the one kicking some butt and I am so happy with the progress I made today.  Firstly, here are three pieces for ArtUnleashed, the fundraiser for students and student scholarships.  You see the ring from yesterday finished, and another ring with an oval amber and then earrings with oval amethyst. I LOVE this work, I'm so happy with it, and I can see so many places this can go (including casting to make a whole line of jewelry)  We are going to make breadcrumb work as a project in Advanced, a term coined by the lovely Stephanie Tomczak.  Breadcrumb work is the non-one-of-a-kind and more affordable work you make that either gives people on a budget a taste of your work, and the idea is that these littler pieces are the breadcrumbs that people can follow to find your one-of-a-kind work. I like that term, and it seems to be catching on with all of us.

Here we see my lantern pod finished, whaaaaaattt? It took many hours to etch, but it came out really awesome and I'm very excited about it.  The jade bead is set inside here as well, and all I need now is the rest of the beads to sting. Yay progress!

More Projects in Progress

Sorry it has been SO long since I've posted BUT, here are some updates.  Firstly, my chinese lantern pod has been kicking my butt. I love the way this has come out now, and I am so glad I took the advice of my teacher Sarah Martin and redid the lines.  It has finally hit that Senior Show is in one month, and that I need to actually FINISH projects...which also means I need to START others.  Well, only one that still needs to be started.  Anyways, here is the pod ready to be etched tomorrow:

If you don't know the etching process you're just like me, but from what I think I know about it you hook the project up to one end of a battery and another piece of metal to the other inside a salt water solution, and everywhere where the resist is not slowly is etched away.  Here the resist is the black lines, painted with asphaltum.  One of the beads below (orange jade!) is going inside as the little seady-type thing inside the pod and I want to make a chain of graduated beads for the neckpiece. Yummy!

Also, here is a photo of the ring I made in a gem workshop we had at school with alumns of the program, it's not totally finished, but its close! It needs to be polished a little and the stones actually set in, other than that its done! It's a 10mm amber stone and two smaller (I can't remember the size) amethyst.  I'm also hoping to make oval amethyst earrings and an oval ring in this same fashion.

Craziness is happening now that it's so close to the end, and deadlines are not only coming up soon but more and more are popping up.  I was nominated for the Mary Louise Beitzel Award at UArts, and I'd like to have most of my senior show pieces finished to show during that jury process. However, it is taking place in a week from tomorrow, so we'll see how much I can finish by then!  I'll try to keep you updated on the work, wish me good luck!

Quick Update!

Here is the next stage for a few projects; these carved pieces are getting closer to becoming jewelry.  

New project for senior show

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, things have been busy with the impending senior show (only 44 days until the opening!) Here is another piece I'm working on.  At first I didn't really like this, but now I'm super excited for it! It's going to be a brooch, which...I feel weird that I've made mostly brooches lately.  But I know what I'm going to do with it and its super fantastic =] More picks when its done.  Also, ignore the pink tint it has (haha) and no it's not from the pink pencil in the pic, thats just a coincidence XD I'm really excited for the show and I have so many ideas, now I just have to find the time to make them all!! I don't want to lock myself into anything, but I'd like to have two collections of at least three items each, buuttttt we shall see.

PS: contact me to buy tickets to the raffle, you can win even if you're out of state! 

Senior Pendant Raffle!

Here is the official Poster to the Senior Pendant Raffle, all details in the image =]

Pics of Liam!

I thought I would make a fun little post and show the little guy we brought home a few days ago. =]

Check it out!

I set up my own mini polishing lathe :). Surprised at how well this works!

Decisions, decisions.

I finished the carved braid necklace that I was working on, with an exception of it needs juuuusssttt a little more sanding. And by that I mean at least a weeks worth because man that takes so long.  I really like the way it turned out, HOWEVER, it's going to change.  The carved braids are calling for something else--they're just not getting the justice they deserve in this manner.  I have contemplated many different ways, here it goes:


1. Keep it the same way and add focus to the spiculum

2. Turn it upside down and add something to the focal point. Either a big honkin stone, or cast silver braids that would seamlessly transition onto the wood

3. Take the spiculum out completely and reference Victorian Mourning Jewelry more directly, making it into a brooch (probably) or a pendant in this configuration, and adding something to the center.

Knowing me, it'll probably end up the third way.  I can see it having a cameo in the middle, but that seems too obvious to me.  I've had a suggestion of a fist holding the braids like this as well.  I'm so intrigued!

PS: On Saturday I'm looking at and probably taking home a puppy. Look forward to puppy posts! I know I will =]

Valentine's Day Haul and Photos!

I got more tools!!!!!! I love new tools, they're probably one of the best things on earth, next to cafe latte lollipops and sunny, lazy afternoons.  Mark's present to me this Valentine's day just came and I can't be more excited =]

I got a ring sizer, which is always necessary--not just for sizing people's fingers, but also for drawing circles.  There's a mini bench vise, a sharpening stone for my gravers, and a sterling stamp with a bent shank so I can officially mark work metal to be sold.  I need to figure out how I'm going to attach the bench vise to this crappy ikea desk...it's that weird particle board so screwing it in isn't going to work.  I'll probably screw it to a 2x4 and then camp that to the desk, we'll see.

Below is a picture of my piece for Advanced! It's not finished, but it's exciting to see it all come together.  I still need to refine the carvings so they're perfect, file and sand the bejesus out of the spiculim so it's super purrrtttyy, and then attach all the little findings and caps and such.  I've got a lot more work to go! And that doesn't even begin to cover polishing, heh.

Updates and such

So I don't really have any photos to show you all because A: I forgot to bring home one piece and B: I want to finish some others before I bombard you with more photos.  I've been working a lot lately, but not just on projects for school.  To keep myself sane as the semester goes on I've been working on projects for myself--things I've been wanting to make for awhile or just fun projects for me.  It's nice to work on stuff that is more purely technical and without trying to add narrative to it so it fits my thesis.

I forgot my pendant so I don't have a picture of it yet, but I'm glad I FINALLY got it started. The metals majors are all making pendants for a raffle that will support our senior show.  When I have all the info (and the pendants are all made) I'll post it on here so you all can see.  Mine is floral (of course, ha!) and potentially going to be painted! I honestly spent the last bit of money I have until payday on paints.  I forgot how much I love painting, especially mixing colors.  Pics soon!

My carved braid is going well, I started the second one and have some refining and such on the first.  Lets pray I can bend that spiculum, it's giving me so much trouble!

As far as my personal projects go, I am SO excited to post pictures.  I made a stone set ring, very feminine and traditional with my little twist on it.  I carved the setting for what I'm calling the behemoth: it's a 6.25mm lab created ruby.  I know it's not THAT big,  no where near the size of the stone in my Saron ring, but it's pretty friggin awesome.  There are two 3.25mm lab created rubies and two 2mm cz's gypsy set in the band.  I just taught myself how to gypsy set a stone and I'm so excited for it!! I bet you'll be seeing a lot more of that in the future XD

Okay, now that I talked your ears off, I'm going to get off this and relax! Have a good night =]

Super Secret Project Revealed!

I know, I know, it's not Valentines Day, but it's almost become a tradition that I give Mark his presents early so I couldn't really break it this time hehe.  Regardless, here it is! [PS: Sorry for the bad pic!]

[Spinner Ring, Sterling Silver, Elana Jovero 2012]

It's a spinner ring, so the center band spins.  It's actually really complicated to make, which most simple looking jewelry is.  I'm very pleased that I was able to make it right on the first try! Essentially, if I were to get any solder on the center ring it would be ruined and I'd have to start over.  This was a good test on controlling my heat.  The other parts are a sort of matte polish, and the inner, spinning part, as well as the inner ring of the band, are high polish.  I textured the inner ring in the same manner as I do with my woodcarving projects.  Yay!

Another Update:

Here is the silver spiculum for my necklace, which I am supposed to bend by hand. It will not budge.  At all. UGH! We'll have to see if it works later on.  I really like the way it looks with the braid, though I am getting sick of refining the carving....Good thing I have to do another one! Ha! That's why I'm taking lots of breaks to make other projects, that way I don't drive myself too crazy.  I'm really excited to see this one finished, but I am sad its not related to my thesis. Anyways, I've rambled enough. Bye!

Getting closer

AMAZING BLACKWOOD! And super exciting project sketches

I haven't posted in a little while because most of my time right now is dedicated to making various samples, figuring out the logistics and such of the senior show, and my super secret project (don't worry, you only have to wait just a a week and a half more!)  Here are sketches of a new project I'm really excited for.  It's going to be crazy meticulous and super difficult, but hey, the best things are, aren't they?

Below are the two design ideas I came up with.  In both the bottom is a silver spiculum and the two sides are carved braids in blackwood (picture at end of post).  The top one is a torc, so it's entirely solid and non-moving.  It is worn as a collar around the neck.

This version is the one I'm leaning towards, but I'd love anyone's opinion.  This one has silver caps at the ends of the carved braids.  These caps will have links to the spiculum and the chain closure, so it can move around and be more comfortable to wear.  I think this version is more structurally sound than the first.

To aid in my carving process, I made some sculpey braids.  I really like the left one, but want to stick with a simple braid for my first braid carving.

Some studies of the braid:

 Last but not least,the African Blackwood!  It's soooo beautiful.  Joe warned me that this piece has a lot of brown in it, but that's actually why I choose it.  I love that it has these natural brown highlights mixed in with the black, it gives it more dimension. Sorry these are terrible pics, but you can kind of see the color in the bottom photo.  Yay! This board is somewhere around 15 inches I believe, so it'll last me awhile. So excited to start carving into this one =]