This is a bracelet that I made to honor my grandmother who recently passed away.  When I went to visit her in the hospital we had talked about me making this bracelet.  It is really her design but it fits so well with my style.  I am so happy I was able to make it and have something to wear to remember her by.  

My work at SCAD

I have been at SCAD 6 quarters now and last quarter was the first time I was able to take a major related course - Studio 1.  I still don't know how sure I am about perusing this career through SCAD but I wanted to share the projects that we did in Studio 1.

Our first project was to learn how to use the hydraulic press and make a pair of earrings using that technique.  I wasn't really excited about this project because I had learned how to use this tool in high school and I never like the way it made pieces look.  So naturally,  I put off this project until the day before it a due and then I was racing to finish.  That is a theme throughout all the pieces here.  But that is why it looks so sloppy.  I think the shape is interesting and it works well with the shape of the face when they are on, but there are plenty of errors too.

Next we were learning geometric designs and making tubes and cones and tube setting stones. So this is my three-finger geometric ring.  Again there were some problems with this ring.  When I turned it in both stones fell out of the tubing, but my professor showed me how to fix it.  It's a little bit too big for me and I don't think I could sell it, but I had a lot of fun making it.  

In the bracelet project we learned how to make hinges which I think ended up being a traumatic experience for the entire class.  It was also nearing the end of the quarter and everyone was exhausted and stressed already.  The day we had to turn the project in I was very unhappy with mine and was embarrassed to show it to the class.  I really like the silhouette of it and I think it has the potential of being a really cool bracelet.  But the craftsmanship is so bad and I know I can do so much better than this.        

This last project we had to make a hollow construction ring and a box for it.  I was not too excited about this project either.  It was the end of the quarter and I just wanted to get it over with.  The craftsmanship on this is so much better, I wanted to make up for the embarrassment of the bracelet. Other than the craftsmanship there is not much I like about this ring.  I don't even think I would try to sell this because I don't think it is a good reflection of myself.  

My First Solo Show

August 27th 2011 was the day of my first show.  I meant to use this blog to get the word out about it, write updates about how everything is going through out the summer.  But that didn't really workout so I'm doing it now.  I had it in a friends home, just set up on one table(above).  It was very low-key only about 20 or 25 people showed up, mostly family members.   It was a great day, even though I had stayed up the entire night before trying to get everything ready and was struggling to stay awake during the show.  It was three hours long and I had 35 pieces for sale.  I ended up selling a little over half of my pieces which was really exciting.   I have added some pictures of the jewelry.  I'm sorry for the bad quality of pictures I completely forgot my camera and had to use my phone.

Heart Necklace

This is a necklace that I made for a friend to give to his girlfriend.  I really like this style of necklace because there is no clasp, the smaller heart goes through the larger heart.  I'm happy with the way this piece turned out.  I know you can't really tell from these pictures but I like the texture I put on the hearts.   It is a bit more time consuming than other textures I could have done but it turned out well and I think I will use it on pieces in the future.

Texas Pride

I find myself inspired by all things Texas.  Seeing the small towns and the dirt roads as well as the big cities.  I love it all and it makes me so excited to create jewelry that expresses that.