Theme Competition June 2015 - Summer

[ajda]

A week to go and I have something taking shape, though only on paper and little bits of card only at this stage. I'll try to get it done, but don't hold your breath - I'm not good at working to a deadline...

[Sammyjean]

Hi! Summer is well and truly here! Finally i got something finished in time to enter. My summer is dominated by beach! The colour of these frosted amazonite beads were my inspiration to begin with, I love them. I made the beads from sheet, they read 'sandy toes and salty kisses' and 'life is better at the beach'. A smooth 'pebble' between them (domed sheet really). The other beads are beautiful lilac, pink and peach baroque pearls and pink opal coins. The other links are random and relaxed, to echo the beach vibe. I've rubbed the crimp covers to satin too. I think I might keep it.
Sam.

[trialuser]

Lovely, but also the photography is great.

[Tabby66]

Absolutely love that Caroline!!

[caroleallen]

Really love that.

[ajda]

This is unfinished, a work-in-progress, or perhaps a study for something bigger and better. One of my favourite summer pastimes here in Pembrokeshire is watching gannets diving for fish - if you don't know what I'm talking about, just google images of "diving gannets". Anyhow, I thought I'd try to make a diving-gannet-piece-of-jewellery. But then last week, on my way home from a trip to Gloucestershire, I dropped in on a small exhibition of sculpture near Stroud - Terence Coventry, mainly welded sheet steel and cast bronze, plus a few pieces in cast silver. (It runs until 24th July and for anyone who can get there I'd seriously recommend it - at the Pangolin Foundry, Chalford Industrial Estate, A419 just east of Stroud.) The upshot was that I've attempted a Terence Coventry inspired sculpture in silver. It's meant to be three gannets, one soaring, one stalling and turning to dive, one about to enter the water - they dive from a great height and at the last moment pull their wings tight in against their bodies, pointing straight back, and hit the water at over 60mph like arrows. This is nothing like Terence Coventry's silverwork and it's ridiculously small compared to his steel and bronze sculptures - actually would have been much easier to realise on a larger scale, but all I had handy was 0.5mm sheet. Fusing without solder is one of the things I like about working with Argentium, but on this scale there's a fine line between successful fusing and meltdown. The first trio of pics here shows it before I started cleaning it up. (I was afraid I'd break it, so took some photos to keep a record for myself.) In the others I try show it from various angles. The glass plinth is made from broken bits of a Bombay Sapphire bottle fused in a kiln. I'd like to experiment with texturing and patinating the silver - gannets have bright white bodies, black wingtips, golden heads, blue eyes and blue-grey beaks - but I think I'll leave all that for the next one...

[caroleallen]

That gannet piece is absolutely gorgeous.

[CJ57]

That gannet piece is absolutely gorgeous.

It has such great movement

[Tabby66]

That's lovely, I remember watching gannets dive off Neist Point on Skye some years ago......a truly spectacular sight!!

Great design

[Kermit]

I'm a lurker on these boards, reading but rarely posting.

I love using copper in my work as I like the warmth of the colour and the contrast between the copper and silver.

This set of a pendant and earrings were made looking out into the garden for inspiration - I love this time of year when everything is coming to life, but also seeding and starting the whole circle again.