Wednesday, November 25, 2009

One Ring

I am trying to split my time now between production work and new designs. I know, I know, at this point in the year with Black Friday and Cyber Monday approaching I should probably just be working toward that end but admittedly I get buggy making a bunch of one thing with no break.

So I continue working on ring designs. This is where things stand with the carved band.

They're a bit too wide although make no mistake, I am going for bold here. And the insides are too unfinished as pointed out by my daughter with a polite "mom...you can do better than this." (This is a household of artists - we taught the children to critique from birth.) Love the carving! Will be doing more of that for sure!

I am wearing one of the rings daily to test its limitations. The biggest issue here for me is strength and durability. Any material has its limitations and certainly there are varying degrees of sturdiness. Sterling wire can bend. A stone can be lost if prongs wear thin or are bent. So where does a polymer ring fall ? What is it reasonable to expect out of a polymer ring?

Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for reading my ramblings!

5 comments:

  1. Hi Genevieve,

    I love your new ring, and I know what you mean about the strength and durability. PC can be fickle, there are so many variables, if your oven is off, conditioning enough, type of clay and now that there are new formulations that makes it even more of a crap shoot!. I have a ring I made about 6 years ago which is fairly thick but has held up, no cracks etc. I wear it on my pinky so it's on the end out there where it can get bumped and knocked about. It was made with Premo! but the old formula of course. I have acquired some of the new Pardo and will be experimenting with that soon, I understand the flexibility and the strength is supposed to be superior to other brands.

    Best thing to do because no matter what kind of tests you put it through you can't predict what the buyer will do with it. Write a care sheet to go with it and explain it isn't for everyday wear, but for occasions where your hands won't be taking rough abuse.

    Hey, have I ever told you that my botanicals I use in my Organic Odysseys and StudioARTBEAD work come from Kutztown? :)

    Remember you do best when you do what makes you happy, not following and being dictated to like commercial enterprises and Happy Thanksgiving. :)

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  2. happy thanksgiving to you! the ring looks terrific and i am anxious to see what your discoveries are about its limitations... because i am a ring girl for sure! :0)

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  3. I really like that design! Could you obtain a thick band quite cheaply and mould the clay around it to give it some extra stability?

    I am just looking at Pardo now as I'd never heard of it. The colours are beautiful....I bet I can't get it in England :P

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  4. Beautiful ring - the carving really complements your style! I've chosen your blog for the Dream Blog award and featured you on my blog!

    Visit my blog for more about the award: http://treewingsstudio.blogspot.com/.

    Have a wonderful weekend! :-)

    Rebekah

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  5. Gen,

    I love the new ring! I wish you were wearing it when you visited so I could have seen it!... and maybe *tested* it a bit for you. ;^)

    Love the rustic hewn quality.

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