I have a long way to go before my metalwork skills can reflect the quality of design I want, versus what I am currently capable of creating. This piece was made with ceramic mounted on a .960 Silver backplate. I would venture to say that most jewelers will mount precious and semi precious stones into their work. I didn’t want to do this. I think my favourite thing about making this piece (and more like it) is to make the ceramic pieces, experimenting with glazes. I am experiencing the full gamut of the creative process by designing the shape, size, colours and textures of each ceramic piece, and then making a silver mounting to suit it. This particular piece was fired an additional time with the application of 24k white gold!
With each piece I am learning more about myself and how I like to work. I have learned that I don’t like working with tiny parts that require a magnifier and tweezers. I like working with clay. I like opening the kiln to discover how the glazes interacted with each other. Sometimes, I find the decision whether the piece will be a ring or a pendant a little overwhelming. (So many options!) I’ve discovered that I don’t like sawing silver sheet but I do like wielding a torch to solder it. I’ve also learned that I am more a dreamer than I’d thought. I can spend hours searching online for inspiration and watching silversmithing tutorials but to actually get to working on a project, committing to a design and then making it, a bit daunting. It is a good lesson for me as an art teacher. To understand why my students sometimes are afraid to jump into a project and challenge themselves with a new method.