I just got home from the enameling studio again (for the time being, this is a Tuesday trend) where I made more progress on the earrings and the pendant I posted pictures of last time. Here's a picture of how the pendant is coming along:
As you can see, I've started laying the colors, and next time they'll get a little more evened out. I put three layers of glass on this evening, and probably have another six or so to go.
I put several more layers on the earrings as well, but as I am just using clear to fill at this point, they look just like they did last week, and I am not posting new pictures. They need very little more glass before I grind and polish them. If all goes well, I will be able to do that next week and start making the settings. Enamels must be ground down with four diamond grinders of various coarseness before being scrubbed with a fiber glass brush and put in the kiln for their final firings. These last steps are what give them their smooth, polished finishes that make them so incredibly beautiful.
We don't have much going on this weekend so far, so I think I will be able to go by the studio this Sunday to work on the silver earrings I am making for my sister's birthday (which was almost a month ago).
They're big silver discs with off-center holes. The stones in the picture are 3mm blue topaz. Each earring will have six stones set around the hole.
For a moment I have to geek out about math a little bit - this is something I do fairly often. There is no geometrical way to trisect an angle. It is not hard to divide the circumference of a circle evenly into sixths by using an accurate compass and placing the center of a new circle with an equal radius on the circumference of the first circle, but it is extraordinarily difficult to do this on a concave surface when the center of your circle is in the middle of a big hole in your surface. Where's Euclid when you need him? Not that Euclid could really help either: he's the one who proved you can't trisect an angle.
So there's my jewelry construction gripe for this week. My next step for Meredith's earrings is to drill six evenly spaced spots around each of the holes. Wish me luck.
Liz and I had a long business meeting last night. We talked about our website revamp, our new print materials, and the future of the business in general. After letting Lucky Lizard sit on the back burner for a while, it feels great to be back in it full of ideas and plans and energy. Stay tuned! Great things are afoot.
Martha
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