Monday, July 29, 2013

Unicorn Horn Necklace

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.
Dr. Seuss  photo unicornhornblogstyled1.jpg
I'll admit it, I'm a huge fantasy nerd. From the books I read, to the movies I watch, and now to the jewelry I make, fantasy for me is the most exciting genre. I've read my share of books that had unicorns in them, but it wasn't until I got this adorable teacup in London that I came up with the idea of making a unicorn horn necklace.  photo unicornhornblogteacup1.jpg
Teacup, Fortnum and Mason:  photo unicornhornblogteacup2.jpg  photo unicornhornblogteacup3.jpg
I began by cutting a triangular shape out of wax:  photo unicornhornblog2.jpg
I then carved it into a cylindrical shape, and used my tools to score the wax:  photo unicornhornblog3.jpg  photo unicornhornblog4.jpg  photo unicornhornblog5.jpg
Finally, I cast the wax in sterling silver and began refining the shape even more:  photo unicornhornblogmaking6.jpg  photo unicornhornblogmaking7.jpg
The finished product:  photo unicornhorn1.jpg  photo unicornhornblogstyled2.jpg  photo unicornhornmodellong.jpg  photo unicornhorn2.jpg  photo unicornhornblogstyled3.jpg  photo unicornhornmodelshort-1.jpg  photo unicornhorn-wtbackground.jpg
The Unicorn Horn is available now on my website!
http://www.luciusjewelry.com/product/unicorn-horn-necklace-sterling-silver

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Botanical Swing Earrings

I'm pretty excited about my newest piece. It's a bit more bold and daring than some of my other earring designs, but I think it still has the whimsical quality I try to incorporate into each of my works. I wanted to make something long and dramatic, using silver that fades into black. I was inspired by a design in one of my books, Le Japon Artistique. Here are some photos of the Botanical Swing Earrings, and a behind the scenes look at how I made them: Forming the silver to match my sketches (though I did stray a bit from that design in the end!):  photo blogbotanicalmaking1.jpg Using balled up silver to create the botanical "pods" at the ends:  photo blogbotanicalmaking2.jpg Soldering the metal:  photo blogbotanicalmaking3.jpg Using radial bristle discs to create a uniform finish:  photo blogbotanicalmaking4.jpg
The final product, oxidized and finished to fade from silver to black:  photo botanical4.jpg  photo botanical3.jpg  photo botanical5.jpg  photo blogbotanical3-1.jpg  photo blogbotanical2.jpg  photo blogbotanicalmodel.jpg  photo botanicalearring1-wtbackground.jpg Here are a few images from the Le Japon Artistique book, which inspired this recent piece. The works are from various Japanese artists from the Art Nouveau era, and they are just beautiful. I love the sinuous, curving lines from that time period.  photo lejapon1.jpg  photo lejapon2.jpg  photo lejapon5.jpg  photo lejapon3.jpg  photo lejapon4.jpg
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