47/52 Joyful Torii Part 2

Back in September I made this Torii pendant as part of my challenge. You can read all about how I made it in 31/52 Joyful Torii Part 1. 

This is the back of the pendant.

Now for Joyful Torii Part 2!!!

The plan was to try using some glass Filato that I bought in Murano, Venice years and years ago. I always wanted to try doing a bit of micro mosaic, but of course having bought these, there they sat, unused!!! Filato are made from Smalti glass and are long rods that are only 1-2mm wide.  

I've never tried anything like this before - so I will say straight off that I was winging it as I went along!! :D It largely depended on some internet research and a bit of trial and error ;)

First was cutting up the rods into small bits for the pattern. I wanted to stay with something really simple...so I just went with some coloured stripes. I used some sticky stuff on paper so I could work out the design, you can see the pieces being put together on the left in the above photo. 

 Next job was to start gluing all the pieces into the frame. If you've read Part 1 you'll know I wasn't too sure about the overall shape of the frame. As you can see from the photos I went with taking off the two lower side pieces.I like this shape better.

I had already realised that I should of made the frame deeper before I ever got this far, but what the heck, I was going for it anyway :)  I knew it would mean I couldn't really go for the mosaic surface being flush with the frame, but it was all a learning process!!

My cutting of the pieces was quite an inexact science so the top surface wasn't very even, but at least they all fitted in!!

I let the glue cure and then started to file the surface off to make it more even.

The glass filed down quite easily.

Finally I sealed the top surface. The plan here was to use Lisa Pavela's Magic Gloss to give a nice shiny raised finish...however that idea went out the window when I found the new bottle had gone off and set solid :( Apparently it has a shelf life and I'd had mine for years!! 

So instead I just sealed the surface with more Weldbond. Not ideal and I'll probably redo it in time. Anyway here is the finished piece on a chain with a few complementary beads!

It is far from perfect but I learnt loads doing it. I know I need to cut pieces to a much more even size and shape, I probably need to find a different glue, I need to make frames deeper etc etc...but mainly I learnt...I liked doing it!!!

So this is another technique I'll have another go at in the future to see if I can make something much better :D

Have fun!

Joy x

46/52 Japanese Mask

As I'm sure you know I've made masks pendants for quite a while now. Most of my masks are based on Venetian ones, but I've also made an assortment of animals and aliens!

When I was in Japan I saw lots of festival masks and decided I really should try to make a Japanese style mask! I was just taking a photo of them in this shop window when Dice Minagawa did his impression of one as well! ;)

That kind of made up my mind which style to try! I think this comic mask face is whistling and is called Usofuki from Kyogen traditional comic theatre (but of course I might be wrong!!) :)

I started out using my own mask mould, the same one I use for all my masks. This mould has the eyes cut out though and for this mask I wanted to add eyes (a first for me!!). I decided to fill the eye holes with more Art Clay silver and then set about building up the cheeks and nose to make the comic face. This is a work in progress photo. At this point I was still creating the shape and just trying out how the eyes might look with some dry scraps of clay. 

Once I was happy with the face I finished the back (more on that in a moment) and then fired the piece. Here it is after a quick polishing.

Next was enamelling. A little red in the mouth, some white and yellow for the eyes and black for the eyebrows and nostrils. The dark around the eyes is from a patina I added after enamelling, which I then polished back when I added a stain finish to the mask.

As well as having eyes the other difference for this mask is that I decided to make it into a brooch. Another first for me!! :D

I added a tube and a hook, both made of of silver clay, before I fired the mask. The very last job I did was to add a length of hardened sterling silver wire for the pin.

I've tried wearing it and it sits quite nicely! 

It was a fun brooch to make and something different for me...which has gotten me thinking a lot more about some new styles of masks!!!

That's something to watch out for in 2016!

Have fun!

Joy x

45/52 Joyful Parrot Fob

I couldn't post this one before Christmas as it was a present! :D

It is made in fine silver and about 4cm high. The colour is all enamel. It is a fob...designed to be attached to a pocket watch chain, hence the style of clasp on it. 

It's double sided and both sides are enamelled so it doesn't matter if it turns while it is being worn. 

It's quite thick to make it nice and strong.

I've been promising to make this piece for several years! Somehow each time I tried to start it I just couldn't come up with a design or style that I liked.

Parrots are very special in our family (my maiden name is Parrott ;) ), so any old parrot just wouldn't do - it had to be right!! It also had to be very bright and colourful (of course!)!! This is based on a macaw.

This year I've been making a lot more enamelled pieces in this sort of style and when I thought about it I realised, at last, it was perfect way to make the parrot. 

 I now have one very happy brother ;)

Have fun!

Joy x 

43/52 Mini Moon Flask

One of the first things I made on this year long challenge, it was way back in January, was a moon flask. I've made several more since and I teach making these in my Porcelain Illusions / Joyful Moon Flask workshops. 

I love the shape of these moon flasks and decided to revisit the making of them and have a go at a miniature one! It is all made in silver like the bigger flasks, but I've developed a slightly different technique for making it :D

Each side is enamelled...

...and it has a little stopper so you could use it for perfume. The stopper on this one is set with a 4mm faceted rainbow moonstone cabochon. I think it looks a bit like rock crystal. I chose it because it seems to suit the different colours on each side of the flask. 

 

The round main body of the flask measures just 18mm in diameter. 

 

Here it is with one of its 'big brothers' to give you a better idea of the sense of scale...

 

 

 

...and in my hand. 

Cute isn't it! :D

If you want to make a Moon Flask do get in touch! :) 

Have fun!

Joy x

39/52 Flower Chain

I really enjoyed making this necklace!

When I made my necklace 'Precious' (below) I added some small enamelled links into the chain. It was the first time I had made enamelled links like that and I really liked the result. I realised they would make a lovely necklace on their own.

So I decided to make some flower links. Here they are made and being enamelled. First I enamelled the black and green on each link. Black and green are both nice safe enamel colours that will not overfire so that is why they go on first. Then I enamelled the other colours.

You can see from the photos that I started off with six links. Now an even number of pieces is not generally considered very good in design so why did I make six? Not sure really, but in the back of my mind I think there was a vague idea of enamelling the flowers one of each colour...red, orange, yellow, green,blue and purple. Of course that changed!

I had already tried the links together as six and I sort of knew I should only really use five, but as I'd made six that was what the necklace was going to be.

Then serendipity stepped in!!! While I was enamelling the blue flowers I managed to forget to set the timer for one link! It ended up in the kiln for FAR too long!!! The end result was the turquoise enamel started to slightly overfire in the centre.

The link wasn't ruined...but no longer matched the others - so that was that. The necklace was obviously only ever meant to have five links!! A happy accident! :D 

Don't you just love fate!!! 

The little link above will make it's way into a delicate small necklace some time.

I finished the chain with some handmade twisted silver links and a silver toggle and clasp. I'm pleased with the outcome and I'll be making more necklaces like this in due time.

I'll also be teaching how to make your very enamelled link chain in a workshop next year! Watch out for more details soon :)

Meanwhile...

Have fun!

Joy x

36/52 Captured Crystal

This next challenge piece turn into a labour of love - largely because of a major saga to photograph it!!

I have NEVER posted so many disparate photos of one piece...ever! I've had such a hard time trying to photograph this :D

I actually finished it several weeks ago, and since then have had various attempts at photographing it. It's too large for my normal set up (note to self - don't make large things!!!).  I've ended up with a photo (or two) from each try so I do hope it gives you the general idea of it. 

I wanted to create a piece using a double terminated quartz crystal. I've made several pieces this year with wands/points but not one that was pointed at both ends. I really liked this crystal and thought it would be nice to create a way of hanging it so that the crystal could still be removed if desired. 

This was the solution I came up with. Each circular piece of silver is textured on both sides and the large ring is notched to the exact shape of the crystal so it sits snugly whilst still being free to move a little.

Around the large ring I hung three garnet beads to add colour and movement to the whole piece. They swing nicely when it is worn.

 I originally created this as a pendant, and it certainly could be worn as one, but it is a little bit on the large side for something I would wear. The quartz measures 68mm from point to point, so I decided it would be lovely to make a base and hanger for it.

I used a piece of bog wood which I polished up to a nice shine and found some good strong springy wire. I made a nice arc of the wire and a hook at the end of it (yes, I know it doesn't look like a nice arc in the photo below but it really is a nice curve - it's just the angle in that not very good shot!!).

Today was a lovely day here in Hastings so I took it down to the Old Town for a couple more shots - and decided it really was time to show the world!! 

Today, at last, I got some nice light into the crystal, and the bonus of our unique, world famous Net Shops in the background!!!

I've  gotten used to it sitting on my table while I'm working and I think I prefer it on the stand!

One final thing - you might notice in my photos that when hung on the wooden support there is and extra ring and hook and small black bit.

When I hung the pendant direct onto the stand it could not turn at all and I wanted it to be able to. After a bit of searching I found some teeny tiny micro swivels used in fishing - perfect!!! I'm sure I'll find a use for more of these in the future! 

Have fun! :)

Joy x

31/52 Joyful Torii - Part 1

OK, this next piece is going to be in split into 2 parts for the challenge! No, I'm not cheating, really! There is quite a lot to it all, and I have used two different things on my challenge list so all is good! :)

Having recently won the Silver Accessories Contest in Japan (yay!) my mind is now turning to all things Japanese. I have booked my flights and will be going to the award ceremony at the end of October! It's all super exciting!!

I decided to make a piece inspired by some of the wonderful images I've been looking at online while trying to organise my trip. I particularly like the shape of all the Torii I keep seeing! (A torii is a traditional Japanese gate which marks the entrance to a sacred space.)

My first challenge was to use a heap of pieces of Art Clay Silver that have been sitting beside my kiln for over 5 years now! You can see them in the top photo. There are a lot of little extruded square profile rods and a little roof shape. The clay has discoloured a lot in places, but dried silver clay seems to keep just fine.

This was a rough idea of what I had in mind. (I keep my designing on the simple side! ;) )

I started out making a square tile of silver clay textured on one side only.

A bit more googling images of Torii and I soon realised the roof need to be much shallower - and the other way up with the wider part at the top! I joined the square rods into pairs to make the various beams and added them to plain side of the flat tile of clay to make a framed area. Then I added the roof at a sloping angle to the top.

Whilst I hadn't done any drawings I knew in my mind that I wanted to extend the beams out each side to give a bit more interest to the piece, so I added the four small pieces onto the edges.

Finally I added a couple of hanging loops and my logo to the back. You can see in the photo below I used up most of the rods. These were the only bits left at the end!

Now the piece was ready for firing. This photo gives you an idea of the scale before firing.

Once it was fired I polished up the silver and added a patina to the piece. Then I photographed it ready to do this blog post...

...and then something interesting happened!

As soon as I uploaded all the photos ready to start blogging and looked at them all I realised that I had gone OTT!!! I looked at the photo higher up this post, the one showing the piece before I added the four small extra bits on the side and thought...actually less is more!!!

So it was off for a quick bit of work in Photoshop to check this out! Here are the three options I have. The piece as it is at the moment on the left, with the bottom two edge pieces removed in the middle and with all four edge pieces removed on the right. Isn't modern technology wonderful!

I can immediately see that it has to be option two or three. In my attempt to add more interest I have lost the look of the gate! The question now is do I go with the middle or right hand side one. I'm quite torn between the two different looks, but I think I will most likely go with the middle one :)

Now you have probably read all this (assuming you have made it this far!) thinking...

 'what about that boring plain bit in the middle?? You've called it a Joyful Torii but there is nothing very Joyful about it!!' 

That will be Part 2 in this saga!!

Next I plan (to try) to add a micro mosaic into the the frame!!! It's on my challenge list! I bought a whole load of smalti filato (now you'll have to google that!! :) ) years ago in Murano, Venice, and have never used them. I have no idea whether I can do this as I haven't tried at all before. I realise already I've made the frame a bit too shallow so that will add extra fun, and I'm not even going to tell you what design I have in mind, it might all change once I get started! lol

So...watch this space for the next instalment - finishing this piece off :)

Meanwhile...

Have fun!

Joy x

29/52 Tideland-esque

This challenge piece follows straight on from my last one 28/52 Rainbow Ripple, using the same techniques for creating unique textures to enamel onto.

I think this one is my favourite of the two. It is made using fine silver and the 2mm and 3mm stones are set into seashell bases. 

For this one I did a bit of bead stringing. The beads would, of course, look a much better colour photographed on a white background! But the black background makes a much better contrast with the enamel! Oh the trials and tribulations of photographing your own work!! lol :D

I'll be teaching this technique in April next year at Craftworx in Yorkshire and I'm really looking forward to it :)

Creative Doodles for Enamelling :D

Have fun!

Joy x

28/52 Rainbow Ripple

For this challenge piece I've been working on creating unique textures in metal clay for enamelling onto. I had a lot of fun with this! 

I started out with a few practise pieces to see how the idea looked. I liked the effect in this one below (OK so don't even ask why it is that weird shape - that's what happens when you re-purpose something you broke on another occasion ;) )

For this piece I went with more of a swirling design. It is fine silver with enamel and set with 2mm orange CZs and 3mm black spinel stones all around it.

 

On the back I added decoration with silver shapes. The centre round has one of my own textures on it (and I now have a heap of my own textures sitting in front of me waiting to be listed on my website!! :) ).

Once it was fired and finished I made a handmade silver chain to go with it. Each link has a hematite bead which I thought blended in with the black spinel well. 

I've had these hematite beads for ages, but they are magnetic and a right pain to try to use! So following on from my success at demagnetising steel shot a few weeks ago I placed the beads onto a ceramic pad and covered them with some ceramic fibre, then put them into a preheated kiln at 800c for 5 minutes. I took them straight out and left them to cool with the ceramic fibre over them and yes, they were no longer magnetised!! Yay!! 

I've already made a second piece along these lines and I'll be posting it very soon!! :D

Have fun!

Joy x