NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Nov 12, 2020 13:39:33 GMT -5
Good day!
Just when I lulled everyone in to thinking that I actually had good stones (see "Sister Batch #2", hehe), it is time to return to the norm here as I post my next batch of misfits.
I am way behind in the picture posting business lately, so here goes.
P152 - Lavic Jasper Large Tooth - I really didn't care for this stone, but my wife wanted it for something that she was wearing to work the next day so I fashioned it... hastily. I wanted to see how fast I could crank out a simple one and this took under a half hour.
P154 - Large Amethystine Colossal Oval - This was the second largest stone I've wrapped (52 x 38). It won't be worn by anyone, but I think the big ones have more personality, myself.
P155 - Columbia Chrysocolla Blob - This is a funny shaped blob that has no girdle at all, which has a bit of blue in it. But I managed to mangle some wire around it.
P156 - Holt Jasper Agate Crab - Originally I thought that this was Lavic, but now that I am posting it, I know that it is Holt Canyon. The Holt from my first trip has a lot of neat Agate in it.
P157 - Dioptase Antique Eye - This piece of material has a black/brown eye in it, but if I didn't include it then I would lose a large portion of the rock. I went for kind of an Egyptian theme with it. I like it. My wife hates everything about it though. She says it scares her. Oops. I guess we won't wrap anything in this style again soon.
P159 - Malachite Long & Mottled - A plain old, poor chunk of Malachite. This is the good looking side too! But I like the color, and thought that I would see how it wrapped. It is an odd, twisty thing with only some of the sides having a girdle for wire to grab on to. But ...
P160 - Anniversary Agate Flower - A boring rock which I tried to juice up with some decorative wire and crystals. She thinks that it looks like a flower on the bottom part. I thought it looked biblical, but flower sounds nice too.
P161 - Chrysocolla Tear Teapot - I thought it looked like a chicken, but was told that the picture is of a tea pot. Pretty common rock for me, and I am running out of good Chrysocolla from the mine at this point.
Well, that is about it for now. I am off to try and create some more attempts now.
Thank you for stopping by to have a look!
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Nov 12, 2020 13:54:06 GMT -5
Your wraps are looking really good. The only pet peeve of mine is the binding wire cuts. I have not been following very close so I do not know if it has been brought up before or not but keeping all of the end cuts of binding wires facing the rear of the cabochon just looks a bit better IMO. My advice is free and you get what you pay for  Keep at it!  Chuck |
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Post by opalpyrexia on Nov 12, 2020 13:58:49 GMT -5
Beautiful work and I really like your Holt Canyon piece! Your strong wire design on that one goes beyond framing and showing off the cab. It also doesn't really compete with the cab because your prongs direct the eye to it: "Hey, see what I'm holding?!"
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Post by miket on Nov 12, 2020 14:37:55 GMT -5
Nice work, Bill! I think you have some great stones in this batch, and as someone trying to learn the art of wrapping I can appreciate the intricacy of your designs. Keep it up!  |
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Post by rockjunquie on Nov 12, 2020 18:19:02 GMT -5
I really like the Holt Canyon piece, too. Great use of prongs. I like the Amethystine wrap a lot and I am a sucker for purple rocks.
I agree with Drummond Island Rocks . Try cutting the binding wire closer to the back side so, you can't see it from the front. You don't use half round, do you? Also, do you plan to use any silver at some point? Just curious. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Nov 12, 2020 19:12:10 GMT -5
Stones, wraps, and photography skills way above par! I've gotta put my vote in for the malachite...if there really was a vote!...I like the shape of that cab and the twist in the wire! |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Nov 12, 2020 20:50:29 GMT -5
Bill, I really don't know why you think your stones are not good enough. I personally love the cabs you make out of your hounded material. They're beautiful.
Have to agree that the Holt Canyon and the Amethystine are awesome!
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Nov 20, 2020 14:23:55 GMT -5
Your wraps are looking really good. The only pet peeve of mine is the binding wire cuts. I have not been following very close so I do not know if it has been brought up before or not but keeping all of the end cuts of binding wires facing the rear of the cabochon just looks a bit better IMO. My advice is free and you get what you pay for Keep at it! Chuck Thank you Chuck! That is great advice to try to have them all facing backwards. It is really evident in this piece. Clearly I did not file down the binding wire ends in this one (on the forward facing side) as I most often do.
I am sometimes paranoid about leaving the wire ends a bit short. By short I mean that if the end of the binding wire does not cover the full 75% at least of the main frame wires, then they can occasionally pull right out at the ends during a tight wrap. Which would leave a very ugly binding wire sticking out.
It would not apply to this example though. And I could have done better here. And I will start thinking about this more in projects to follow.
Again, I really appreciate the constructive advice, and documentation you have provided here!
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Nov 20, 2020 14:33:50 GMT -5
Beautiful work and I really like your Holt Canyon piece! Your strong wire design on that one goes beyond framing and showing off the cab. It also doesn't really compete with the cab because your prongs direct the eye to it: "Hey, see what I'm holding?!" This is a really interesting comment, Gary! I never really thought about this before.
I have kind of been mangling wire around the outsides of stones more out of necessity. And I am not really thinking about the end result having focus, flow, or a cohesive quality which results in the pendant being "artistic". If I create art, then it is by accident only.
Maybe I need to step back and look at the combination of rock and wire as an artistic sum; trying to envision something more artsy.
I admit that at this time I am only trying to build experience. I try to wrap as fast as I can. I try new things a lot. Each project I just pick up the rock and what I might do to it, and then challenge myself to be able to pull it off. So I am still a hack. My purpose is to get better by trial only. I also try not to get ideas from looking at what others have done. So I limit myself there.
I appreciate the input!
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Nov 20, 2020 14:43:22 GMT -5
Nice work, Bill! I think you have some great stones in this batch, and as someone trying to learn the art of wrapping I can appreciate the intricacy of your designs. Keep it up! Thank you for the kind words, Mike! And especially about the wire wrapping part!
I think that we both enjoy the challenge of turning rough raw materials in to a finished product which represents the best of our ability and shows off the stone better at the same time. |
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Nov 20, 2020 14:52:49 GMT -5
I really like the Holt Canyon piece, too. Great use of prongs. I like the Amethystine wrap a lot and I am a sucker for purple rocks.
I agree with Drummond Island Rocks . Try cutting the binding wire closer to the back side so, you can't see it from the front. You don't use half round, do you? Also, do you plan to use any silver at some point? Just curious. Thank you Tela.
A lot of my latest (last couple of months) wraps are getting tighter all of the time. And when making bends in the frame wire (even accent bends), occasionally it will pull out a binding wire. It's happened a half dozen times now. So I protect against it by leaving the binding wires longer (like 75% across the frame wires).
I often file down the offending piece if it is obvious, but the Holt piece looks more crude due to the oversight.
I think that I need to become more aware of the direction in which I bind the frame wires (left to right, or right to left) depending on the frame accent bends which will go in to place later. And I am not doing that currently.
I don't use half round yet. I see a lot of it on finer finished pendants though. I used Silver (hard, solid) some, mostly on earlier pendants. I did one a week or two ago, and I really like working with the Silver a lot. But it is just kind of expensive and I would spend about $7.00 or so on each wrap. So while I have a little bit left, I haven't bought any in about a year. But I like the look and feel of the Silver. The finished product is nicer also. I have been trying to get used to not marring software wire (read: Parawire), and recently bought a great deal of it in different gauges and colors.
Perhaps I am ready to buy some more Silver now. Thank you for giving me the idea!
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Nov 20, 2020 15:00:13 GMT -5
Stones, wraps, and photography skills way above par! I've gotta put my vote in for the malachite...if there really was a vote!...I like the shape of that cab and the twist in the wire! Nice of you to say so, Jason! I also like the photography compliment, as I am always trying to figure out how to represent the finished product better, and I know that this is almost half of the whole business.
In person the pendant can be held or worn around the neck to sample the look and feel. In a simple picture, if the photograph cannot show off the pendant properly then it cannot really even be seen for what it really is. A lot of RTH veterans have this skill down pat. I am still fumbling around, but you comments makes me feel better!
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Nov 20, 2020 15:07:19 GMT -5
Bill, I really don't know why you think your stones are not good enough. I personally love the cabs you make out of your hounded material. They're beautiful.
Have to agree that the Holt Canyon and the Amethystine are awesome!
Thank you for the kind words, Robin! I am kind of running hard of myself with the stones maybe? I see all of this other great stuff posted by everyone else and then I go back to my pile of homely loners. Look at them all. And say "ok, which one of you ugly ducklings wants to be on public display in my next batch? ..".
I will try to stay more positive about the material from now on. The last thing I want to do is give the pendants an inferiority complex. |
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mossyrockhound
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2011
Posts: 1,315
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Post by mossyrockhound on Nov 20, 2020 16:16:05 GMT -5
Great batch Bill! I like your creativity and sense of humor! ("Mangling wire" around stones - LOL!) I think it's neat that you find most of your own stones. That gives the pieces a more personal value.
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Post by victor1941 on Nov 20, 2020 17:02:37 GMT -5
Amethystine is my favorite. The wraps are quite nice!
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Post by jasoninsd on Nov 20, 2020 20:22:40 GMT -5
Stones, wraps, and photography skills way above par! I've gotta put my vote in for the malachite...if there really was a vote!...I like the shape of that cab and the twist in the wire! Nice of you to say so, Jason! I also like the photography compliment, as I am always trying to figure out how to represent the finished product better, and I know that this is almost half of the whole business.
In person the pendant can be held or worn around the neck to sample the look and feel. In a simple picture, if the photograph cannot show off the pendant properly then it cannot really even be seen for what it really is. A lot of RTH veterans have this skill down pat. I am still fumbling around, but you comments makes me feel better!
It was very well deserved! Your choices of backdrops for the pieces really stood out to me...and not in an overpowering way...in a very complimentary way to your stones! |
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Keep at it!
