Caterpillar Bracelet

 I am very pleased with the results of this Sterling Silver Bracelet. I call it my caterpillar bracelet because it reminded me of a caterpillar when I saw the photo that I took. 

I bought a sheet of 1ml sterling silver months ago and put off making anything for ages. One night I had a dream about this bracelet. When I woke up I did a quick sketch and then just went back to sleep. Then last week I found my sketch and started getting to work. I measured up the sheet, double checking everything, marked out the sheet and started sawing. Then I filed all my edges until they were smooth and rounded, drilled my connection holes, hammered each tile to texture them, made the jump rings and the catch and finally assembled it.   

The Photograph does not do the bracelet justice but in the end I thought I may as well post it on my blog.

It is featured at the Candlenut Gallery in Port Douglas.

Obsidian and Crystal Glass

Obsidian is natures glass. It is formed when lava cools rapidly. It is often black but transparent in thin slices. Take it out into the sun and you see green reflections. I decided to couple this beautiful natural glass with some beautiful manufactured crystals showing that nature and human kind can work together. I have used simple silver plated round beads to accentuate the obsidian and crystal beads and I finished the necklace and bracelet with silver toned toggles. The ear rings are on silver plated ear wires and are for pierced ears. If you prefer these as clip on ear rings I can change them for you. This elegant set is featured on my market stall. If you don't want the whole set then I am happy to sell the pieces separately. 

Jade and Unekite (Picture Jasper)

I bought the colorful gemstone beads as Picture Jasper but I know this as gemstone as Unekite. I have contrasted the Unekite with White Jade and accented the beads with Tibetan Silver bead caps. I have finished these pieces with silver tone toggle clasps.


These were featured on my Market stall and the necklace has been purchased as a  Christmas present for a special person. The bracelet is still available for anyone who wants it though.

Pearls

Pearls are beautiful and delicate and these have a beautiful lustre. This is a three strand bracelet featuring Akoya Cultured Pearls and Tibetan Silver spacers and finished with a silver toned three strand clasp. This is one of the pieces I feature on my market stall at the Mossman Markets in Far North Queensland. This looks and feels like a million bucks but won't cost anywhere near that amount.

Chain Mail

Chain Mailing is a very old technique. You probably identify chain mailing with suits of armor and you would be correct. Using chain mailing in jewellery is also an old technique that is very satisfying. Very tricky to do as well. This is nice simple chain mailing technique. I have wrapped the beads, in this case glass beads, in a cage made up of silver toned jump rings with great effect. The chain mailing reminded me a little of fish scales so I decided to use a Tibetan silver fish clasp to finish this piece off. This is a proto-type and when I get back from my Christmas break I'll be making up this style of bracelet in Sterling Silver. Be sure to keep your eye on my blog because I'll be posting it when it is done.


I will also be teaching Chain mailing at the Douglas Shire Community Services Association Inc beading group next next year. I am looking forward to sharing this technique with the group.

Reconstituted Turquoise with Spiral Pendent

This is a simple but eye catching piece featuring Reconstituted Turquoise and a very attractive Tibetan Silver Pendent as well as Tibetan Silver beads and leaf toggle. I can make up a piece for you using this type of pendent with any available gemstone or bead that you like. 

Lapis Lazuli and Recycled Glass

Like all Jewellery Artists, at least the ones I know, I am a bit of a hoarder. I bought the Lapis Lazuli I used in this piece years ago, about 15 of them I must confess. The Recycled Glass beads were a gift from a friend. She had done some relief work in Africa and these were a gift to her from a woman who had befriended her while she was in Ghana. They sat quietly in one of my many boxes of bits and pieces until just the other day. I lay them out in front of me and stared at them for ages. Then I went off and made myself a cup of coffee and came back and stared some more. 

Finally I cut myself a piece of wire (I use Beadalon 49 Strand Stringing Wire for this type of work) and got to it, threading the beads on. I included Tibetan Silver Spacers and beads in the design and finished off the piece with a fabulous Tibetan Silver Leaf Toggle and some chain mailing using silver toned jump rings. Once I got going, the necklace came together really quickly. I am really happy with this piece. It is unusual, nicely balanced,comfortable to wear, attractive and the recycled beads, originally from Ghana in Africa, are very special to me.

Hand made Lampwork Beads

These stunning beads really caught my eye. They are a Hand Made Lampwork bead with Copper Foil incorporated into the green glass. They catch the light beautifully and feel very comfortable to wear. I have made this necklace up with Czech Hurricane Beads and Tibetan Silver Spacers. I used a Tibetan Silver Fish Clasp to finish the piece.

 

Spiral Bracelet

I had fun making this one. Part of my teaching myself to make Sterling Silver and other Jewellery was to buy various magazines and see what projects were available. This was one of them. More or less anyway. The first one I made I followed the instructions to the letter and then I experimented changing small design elements to see what the effect was and using the techniques I learned to make things other than the bracelet featured in the original project notes. The ear rings are really comfortable and eye catching to wear. 

The bracelet is available from the Candlenut Gallery in Port.

Simple Links of Sterling Silver

This little Sterling Silver Bracelet is simple but effective and feels great to wear. I have again used a medium gauge wire, made the links, forged them with a jewellers hammer and hand polished the finished piece. 

All my pieces are finished and polished by hand. I don't have any mains power where I live. I get all my electricity from a Solar Array, a battery bank that stores the power and an inverter that inverts the power from 24 volt to 240 volt. I haven't been able to find any energy efficient tools to help me make the finishing (filing, polishing etc) of my pieces any easier so I do it all by hand. I think being less mechanized  gives me a stronger connection and affinity with my creations. This piece is also featured at the Candlenut Gallery in Port Douglas.

Vintage Amber and Cultured Pearl Cuff

I made this cuff using 2mm Sterling Silver Wire, Akoya Salt Water Cultured Pearls and Vintage Amber that I was fortunate enough to get a hold of when I bought an amber  necklace at the local charity shop. I say local but it is a one hour drive to get there from my place. 

I Googled and found a test to see if the amber was real or not and it passed the test. The Amber pieces floated in the saline solution I made up. I am very happy with the result. This gorgeous cuff is available at the Candlenut Gallery in Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia.

About me

I live in the Daintree Rainforest in Far North Queensland Australia. Originally from Sao Paulo Brazil, I emigrated to Australia with my family when I was six years old. We lived in Melbourne (St Kilda) for a time before hopping on board the Orianna and sailing up the east Coats of Australia to settle in Brisbane. That is where I went to school and University and worked for a number years teaching life and vocational skills to adults with an intellectual disability.

Then in 1993 I decided to move to the Daintree Rainforest permanently. I had been visiting the Daintree regularly since 1984, the year of the Bloomfield Blockade, and then in 1990 a friend and I bought a block of land together and built our home. It is nestled in the heart of the Daintree Rainforest in the foothills of Thornton Peak, a very special and spiritual place.

There are many creative people living in this small, almost forgotten community of Rainforest dwellers and it is little wonder that this area boasts so many artists. Who could help but be inspired in this beautiful place. It is a paradise that features not only the oldest Rainforest in the world, the magnificent Great Barrier Reef is right at my door step as well.

I made my first piece of jewellery when I about ten years old. The family had been on holiday by the seaside and I collected some gorgeous little cone shells that had been washed up at the high tide market. I meticulously cleaned them up and my dad helped me to drill them and I made my mother a bracelet out of these shells threaded onto a piece of fishing wire. I fashioned a clasp out of wire, again with my Dad's help, and proudly gave the bracelet to my mum. Like the great mum that she is, she wore the bracelet whenever she and I went anywhere, at least for a while, until I made something else, much nicer than that first bracelet. And you know what, she still has that bracelet in her jewellery box. It is now 43 years later and I am still making jewellery. It has evolved and continues to evolve.

I work with a number of mediums, utilizing hand made lamp work beads, semi precious gemstone beads, faceted gemstones, seeds and, yes, I still use shells on occasion. I love working in Sterling Silver and my influences at the moment are from Jewellery Artists who cold connect, that is they do not fuse or solder their work. I do not cast my silver, not yet anyway, but I will. There are some ideas floating around in my mind and I know I will need to utilize a variety of techniques to achieve the result I want. I am looking forward to that process.

Some of my latest creations can be viewed at the Candlenut Gallery in Port Douglas, Queensland Australia.