Lovely Laura wondered if I would be able to create a similar piece to a costume ring which she and her friend both loved, as it was made in a plated base metal which had deteriorated.
It was a mercy dash to the finish line, as the ring was needed for a special birthday right away!
Although it’s not identical (the original would have been cast in a factory mould), I think it turned out ok – and I believe the birthday girl was very happy too!
Thanks Laura!
Occasionally I do stop long enough to make myself something! I confess it was over a year ago that I made this ring, and it’s taken me this long to post it.
As you can tell from its well worn appearance, I wear it all the time!
A lovely dad, George, was asked by his daughter to have me create this custom made pearl and sterling silver ring for her birthday.
I was very glad to help! Simple and stunning.
Pantone have just released their Spring Colours for 2016. I’m ready with some divine gemstones to match this fashion report!
If you see a gemstone you like the look of, and you’d like me to create you a custom piece, let me know.
Pantone’s ‘Color Of The Year’ for 2016 is, for the first time ever, a blend of two shades: Rose Quartz & Serenity, which you can see above. A serene and peaceful feel, just what the world needs right now. Imagine what gorgeous pieces you could have with a combination of these two!
Bandar admired this serpentine ring in my shop, and wondered if I could resize it for him.
I wasn’t able to, but luckily I had another cabochon the same in my gemstone collection, so I created him the same ring but in his size.
The ring is now happily in Saudi Arabia with its new owner!
Albert Henry Munsell was born in Boston Massachusetts on January 6, 1858 and died on June 28, 1918. He attended the Massachusetts Normal Art School in Boston, and was hired as an instructor in 1881 shortly after graduating. He was later appointed lecturer in Color Composition and Artistic Anatomy. Munsell taught at the institution for 37 years. He took a brief leave from 1885-1888 to study art in Paris at L’Ecole des Beaux Arts, where he won several awards for his work. (I feel Massachusetts must have been a magical place – my favourite Ralph Waldo Emerson was from there, as were Edgar Allan Poe and the wonderful Theodor Seuss Geisel!)
{photograph of Munsell included in his 1905 book”A Color Notation”}
Munsell is best known for his 1905 book ‘A Color Notation’, and his 1915 book (and precursor to today’s ‘Munsell Books of Color’), ‘Atlas of the Color Solid’. As well as being an artist and teacher, Munsell was also an inventor. He holds several patents for a color-sphere and mount; an artist’s easel, and a photometer. I love that he developed a range of crayons in 1906, which in 1926 were sold to the Binney & Smith Company (owner of Crayola) and were then referred to as ‘Munsell Crayola Crayons‘.
The Munsell color system is three-dimensional, and specifies colors based on three color dimensions: hue, value (lightness), and chroma (color purity). This evolving color science theory served as the basis for today’s color matching technology.
I was very taken with this system, as it seems to me to be able to pinpoint with ease every imaginable colour! The only place I feel it is lacking is in the romance department – colour is divine, but gorgeous names for colour make it even more so. It doesn’t matter at all – we can all see 5GY, and call it lime, apple, chartreuse. 5RP makes sense – and it can be known as magenta, fuchsia or mulberry.
To celebrate finding out about Munsell, I’ve re-organised the ‘filter by colour’ option in my shop to include some more of the wonderful hues (and I’ve named them, too.) Beautiful, wonderful, magnificent colour – where would we be without you!
Matthew was looking for a gift for his wife, and he got in touch to see if I could create a bangle similar to this one, but with some gemstones included.
He got their small daughter to choose the gemstones from my collection. She picked garnet and lapis lazuli.
I hope this thoughtful present was well received!
A day (or two) in the life of a jeweller! First some mandrels and my mallet. (I was creating a set of palm bracelets and I needed to make them uniform, hence the texta markings on the mandrels.)
A sneak peek at a very special birthday present in the making! More on that to come.
Me, setting a stone in a ring using my engraving ball.
The end of a productive session!
Natasha contacted me after she saw my work on FaceBook, to ask if I could make her partner a ring.
After some lovely email chat, I sourced a stone for her partner, and Natasha asked if I could also turn the piece of charoite I had in my gemstone collection into a ring for her mum.
I’m so pleased with the way this turned out; I think it’s gorgeous, and Natasha and her mum do too. I’m working on Natasha’s next ring now. I love my job!
I created this custom bookmark for my client to give to her daughter’s boyfriend upon their graduation.
What a great gift for a book loving guy!
