Pictures and AI
There’s been alot of controversy about AI and art. I think AI is here to stay, and it’s up to us how we engage with it. I recently started playing around with a photo processing app - I admit it, I fell into the FB advertising, and got sucked in! Anyway, the app uses AI to cut out your object and then you can put it onto a new background. So far, it’s been great at picking up on the object and I can quickly place it on a new, interesting background. What do you think?
These were both taken just sitting on my wooden bench, and the transformation is pretty startling!
Wedding Rings
It’s so amazing when people ask me to design their wedding rings. This couple came into the studio with a pile of family jewellery, a very modern engagement ring and an assortment of old gold, along with a pretty well developed vision of what they wanted. These are the result!
14kt yellow gold incorporating some old sentimental gold allowed with new gold, and re-use of diamonds (again, from sentimental family jewellery). The quality of the stones was amazing, and the new design really highlights them, and will endure for ages!
The groom wanted a sand cast ring in sterling silver, set with this large diamond, and smaller diamonds flush set into the band, for an extra blingy (but subtle) sparkle! The silver was new, but like the bride’s rings, the stones were all re-used from sentimental family jewellery.
The joy that I feel when I get a comment like this:
“Robin we cannot thank you enough for all the incredible craftsmanship and beauty you have poured into these rings. They are so beautiful!!! You made the whole process seamless all the way across Canada!”
is indescribable!
Remodeling can be fun!
This week I’m sharing a pair of custom earrings I finshed recently. They came from a pair of old fashioned kind of cluster earrings with a centre sapphire and tiny diamonds all around. The brief was to make a new pair of earrings. The client likes an art deco kind of vibe, so I riffed off that and suggested a few different designs. We landed on these, carved in wax and cast in 14kt yellow gold, which came from the original earrings and some other miscellaneous jewellery that was languishing in her jewellery box!
They look even better in person! They’re cute little earrings, with a bit of bling.
M#
hand carved wax models for the earrings
Earrings finished, ready for stone setting.
I really enjoy bringing new life to jewellery, and it’s a great way to make the most of what you have, you get a lovely new piece of hand crafted jewellery , and you’ve upcycled bits that you already had! Have jewellery that just isn’t doing it for you anymore? Drop me a line, and let’s talk about how to do something with it that you will love again!
Cells, cells, cells
I’ve been working on making more of these teeny-tiny wax blood cell clusters- keep an eye out for the new jewellery I’m excited to make with them! Including something for myself (for once!).
Fancy something of your very own? Email me, and ask me about it!
Yellow gold brooch to White Gold Bling!
I love interesting custom re-designs of jewellery. This is one I did recently. The client brought in this sentimental brooch, with the intention of making it into two new pieces, this is one of them.
Original brooch
Now, she’s not particularly fond of yellow gold, and she’s not really what I would call very traditional, which is always fun! So, the brief was that she wanted a white gold ring, re-working the sapphire and diamond cluster. She said that she liked negative space, and I knew from previously that she liked architecture. She also liked the Diana-esque esthetic, and wanted something that would nod at the Princess Diana engagement ring. The sapphire was also particularly lovely in colour, but wasn’t very lively, partly because of the setting it was in, so I tried to do something about that as well.
trying out a wax element
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Trying out the wax some more!
Finished ring before setting
Finished Ring
Finished Ring - Side view
So, the final ring, with an exploded halo on levels, which allows some light around the stone, with a modern feel to a classic!
Have something hanging around your jewellery box that you’re not sure what to do with now? Let’s start a conversation!
Making a statement- Sapphire and Diamonds
I love remodeling old jewellery and reusing stones for clients to make something fresh and new that they love! These two rings are part of these efforts—I recycled some gold from the client, and used their diamonds/sapphires to make these two new, unique pieces in sterling silver.
I love the asymmetric look, and the chunky feel to them!
How about you? What’s your favourite style? Dig through that jewellery box and renew those pieces you used to love!
Make a statement-- How I helped to bring vision to reality in earring form
I love doing custom pieces. It can be so rewarding bringing something new to life in collaboration with a client. I recently finished a spectacular pair of earrings. Some pieces are quick, and some are not so quick. These were the latter. This story starts about six months ago….. A lovely lady wandered into the studio with a fist full of stones removed from jewellery and a bunch of other jewellery that still needed to have the stones taken out of, and some quick sketches on a piece of paper. She had a clarity of vision that was spectacular! I did some sketches, and then we had a meeting. One of the first things she said to me was “I have big hair, I need big earrings”. Well, she got her wish!
The brief was for broken and run down wheels, incorporating as many stones as possible. These guys are massive- about 3.5 inches long! With some pretty big stones. The challenge was to incorporate lots of stones, but still keep them wearable. In the end, I suggested extending the wheels a bit, to incorporate a cluster of stones on a post, this allowed me to make them so that the stick and wheel units could be taken off the clusters, making the earrings more versatile. So, the client can wear the clusters as much as desired (because they’re a reasonable weight), and put on the dangling wheel on special occasions when she really wants that wow! factor.
Next, I prepped the waxes, and cast them (you can see them here with the stones placed. Each setting was done, and then I played a bit with the wax weight to try and keep the overall weight down. I didn’t worry so much about the finishing at this point, as I knew that I was going to have to modify them alot in the metal.
The stick units, ready for setting with their stones! I added posts and omega clips, as well as jump rings to the different units, and ate away at the metal to give it a distressed or aged look. Then it was time to have the stones set! Once that was done, I did some more work on eating away at the metal, and the oxidised them to give them an aged look. And voila! Finished earrings.
Mission Accomplished! These were so much fun to make, and the client was delighted with them. Diamonds and garnets and sapphires and topaz, oh my!
Do you have jewellery lurking in your box that you used to love, but don’t anymore? I can help you love it again! Drop me a line, let’s have a conversation.
Inspiring Artists- Wendy Ramshaw
I find inspiration from so many places, but today, I thought I’d talk a bit about a UK Goldsmith that I particularly admire, and was a huge inspiration to me early in my goldsmithing journey. Wendy Ramshaw (who, sadly, passed away in 2018) was a successful, female goldsmith, whose work you can find all over the world.
There are a lot of things that I like and admire about her work, including the huge breadth in scale-from jewellery to large-scale ironwork pieces. What I remember the most are her iconic stacking ring sets that she made to be stored or displayed on unique, lathe-turned pillars. Here are a few examples: (photos from: https://benchpeg.com/qanda/wendy-ramshaw ; https://benchpeg.com/qanda/wendy-ramshaw ; and http://www.artnet.com/artists/wendy-ramshaw/2 )
Aren’t they amazing? I love the geometric lines, and the contrasts in shapes. If you can see them in person, I guarantee you will love them! Stacking rings are perennially in fashion. . They’re so great, because they offer a wide variety of combinations, and whenever I see them, I am reminded of Wendy Ramshaw.
My version of the ring stack- hammer-textured band, offset gemstone bands and a textured L form ring.
The possibilities for custom design jewellery are endless. Looking for some cool and new rings for yourself? Let’s have a conversation!
Old jewellery, new jewellery
I’ve been hard at work doing a number of custom pieces, which I can’t really share at the moment, as they’re not completed yet, but I did complete a couple of pieces recently that I wanted to share with you. It’s fun when a client brings me their old jewellery that they want to reimagine into new pieces.
Re-imaging jewellery you have is a good way to retain materials, but give them a new lease on life! I feel so happy to be involved in helping to remodel so many meaningful pieces!
I removed the central stone from the ring, and made it into a new bezel set floating pendant in 14k white gold. It looks stunning! The rest of the stones will go to be used in other pieces, and the gold was recycled in another piece as well!
Here, I removed the side stones (so the central stone can be used somewhere else!), and remade them into these sweet, delicate earrings, also in 14k white gold. The gold from the ring was reclaimed.
So, do you have any jewellery lurking around that you want to give a new lease on life ? Get in contact and let’s start a dialogue about remodeling your jewellery—all quotes are no-obligation and free!
Happy Sunday!
-Robin.