Larry and I are busy creating pieces for the upcoming craft shows in the area.
Our first stop, this coming Saturday, is the Holiday Spirit Craft Show at the Rebekah Hall in Bear River. (See poster below).
Each pendant has a different look on each side.
Sometimes even a different colour!
There will be lots of wonderful crafts for sale as well as home made soups and bread and more!
Copper enamelled pendant
The back of the pendant above.
On December 3rd, we'll be at the Annapolis Royal Farmer's and Trader's Christmas Craft Market on December 3, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Annapolis West Education Centre.
Please drop by and say hello, we'd love to see you!
Larry joined the Metal Arts Guild of Nova Scotia after moving here from Ontario 4 years ago. It is the only Metal Guild in the province and the majority of its members live in the Halifax/ Dartmouth area, a 3 hour drive from our studio. Like all things Nova Scotian, the members are friendly and welcoming. At the first meeting we attended, we were invited to stay overnight at the guild President's house - and he'd only met us once for 15 minutes at a gem and mineral show in Parrsboro!
This month the Guild celebrated their 60th Anniversary with a show called "The Journey"and Larry entered a few pieces including this ceremonial plate inspired by the Tara Broach, found in an Irish bog.
Ancestral memory by Larry Knox material: Brass and Lapis Lazuli. techniques: sinking, chasing and repouse.
Larry was thrilled to win the Ellis Roulston Memorial Award for his Brass plate in the non- jewelry category, reserved for non-wearable functional items.
His second award was for this gorgeous copper vessel, part of a series he's been working on for the past year. He takes recycled drainage pipes on a journey to a new beginning as sculptural pieces that are shaped and twisted and then torched to create a patina.
New Adventure by Larry Knox material: Copper. techniques: sinking, raising, planishing and patina.
The title New Adventure is a nod and a wink to our blog Our Bear River Adventure that chronicles our personal journey settling into rural life in Bear River, Nova Scotia. The move made it possible for us to devote most of our time to our creative adventures.
New Adventure by Larry Knoxdetail: Mouth of the vessel.
The show presented an opportunity to enter the competition in the production category. Although Larry didn't win, his necklaces are featured in the poster advertising the show at the Hydrostone Gallery in Halifax which was another delightful surprise:
The necklaces were inspired by the inuksuk, stone markers built by Arctic peoples and possibly used for navigational purposes.
Here is a closer look at Larry's necklaces.
The Wanderer by Larry Knoxmaterials: Copper and Enamel with hand-formed Silver findings. Leather necklace. techniques: planishing and enamelling.
The Wanderer by Larry Knoxmaterials: Copper and Enamel with hand-formed Silver findings. Leather necklace. techniques: planishing and enamelling.
The Wanderer by Larry KnoxHand-formed Silver findings. Leather necklace. techniques: wire-wrapping
The Wanderer by Larry Knoxmaterials: Copper and Enamel with hand-formed Silver findings. Leather necklace. techniques: planishing and enamelling.
The show and sale continues in Halifax until October 30. After that it will journey to the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design where it will stay until November 17th.
Hello I'm Larry Knox. I spend part of my time faceting gemstones and then I design and make custom settings for them. I want to show and tell you about the ring I made with this round brilliant green gemstone that I faceted.
Diopside gemstone faceted by Larry Knox.
I enjoyed the entire process of making a ring but the most exciting part is to cut the gemstone. The thrill is cutting the stone in such a way to bring the light in and to make it go back out again so that the stone sparkles. It's like performing magic.
Like all round brilliant cuts this gemstone has 57 facets. The finished stone is 22 carats which is a weight measurement reserved for gems.
I wanted to design a setting that would look elegant and show us much of the gemstone as possible. I introduced more curves into my initial drawings. I drew inspiration for my final drawing from the arts and crafts movement and their organic shapes.
Next, I made a model of the ring setting which I carved into wax.
Sizing up the wax ring.
The trick in making a wax model is to design it as closely to the finished product as possible because the cast silver will include every mark, and every finishing touch that is on your wax model.
Carved wax ring setting.
This is silver casting grain that will be used in the lost wax method of casting. The wax will be destroyed in the process of make in the ring so the setting is truly one-of-a-kind.
Silver grains will become rings.
After the casting process is complete, the setting comes out looking dull.
There is still work to be done!
The next step is to saw off the extra silver called 'the sprue'.
A lot of time is spent cutting, and filing.
The piece must be resized because the casting process reduces the ring size ever so slightly.
Here is a video with some of the steps taken to make this ring:
While I finish the details for the ring, Flora paints and we listen to music and podcasts on our iPod.
Green Willow Studio, Bear River, Nova Scotia.
Measuring the setting for the gemstone.
The next step is to fasten the prongs around the gem stone.
Setting the stone.
But we're not quite finished yet! Because of the weight of the gemstone, I soldered a flexible gold band inside the silver band to help prevent the ring from 'flipping'.
Finally, I polished the ring and off it went to her new owner.
Round brilliant green diopside gemstone in a silver and gold band by Larry Knox, 2011.
And now it's back to the drawing board for me. Thanks for visiting!
