Nectar

[In the spirit of my "Day in the Life" posts, I wanted to bring a "Birth of the Art" post to life.  A photographic account of where a necklace begins, how it grows and is built upon, the various (but not all) steps and phases of bringing the intangible spark of an idea to fully fledged and tangible life.]

- Nectar -

(a celebration of the sweetness of summer)

Observations, sketches, playing with line and shape.

Tracing basic shapes and sizes right onto sheet sterling.

Hand sawing out each layer and element.

Hammer engraving the floral sketch.

Caving depth and relief around the engraved lines.

Texturing the edges.

Hammering specific markings.

Fitting and wrapping the bezel for the [sun]stone.

Soldering the first and second layers.

Quenching the freshly soldered piece.

Tracing the size needed for bee wing elements.

Rolling mill imprinting real bee wings into sterling.

Initial filing, sanding and surface perfecting.

Soldering jump rings.

Deciding on chain length.

Soldering chain components.

Keum-Boo (hand applying 23k gold leaf)

Adding full patina.

Selectively removing patina and burnishing silver.

Setting the [sun]stone.

Fin.

(Sterling silver, real bee wing imprint, sunstone, 23k gold)

Drink up all the sweetness you can find my friends,

- Umber