Wraps 7/24/21 - Thundereggs

Putting than the "sin" of covering up the best part of the rock with too much wire (something you don't do), I guess it is largely a matter of taste.  Here's how I look at it... 

There are a very small percentage of cabochons that are so special, anything but a groove wrap or an extremely minimalist wire wrap is an unnecessary distraction.  I am talking about the 1 in a 1000 type of cabs where the rough is amazing and the cab turns out perfect.  If the cab is as beautiful as a gemstone, it deserves a gemstone treatment.  No one puts a huge bezel around a large, sparkling diamond unless they have a good reason for doing so.  It is not the default treatment of a large gemstone.  

Then, there are the good cabs that benefit from a nice frame.  Just as a tasteful frame adds something to the aesthetic value of a piece of artwork, a tasteful wire wrap makes a good cab look better.  But if what you notice first or remember most about a piece of artwork is the frame, then, well, you know... 

Finally, there is amazing jewelry that has mediocre rock elements, but the the rocks aren't the point, and the jewelry is amazing nonetheless.  I don't see a lot of this type of jewelry on RTH since most of us are rock lovers first, and jewelry artisans second, if at all.  That's not to say there are't some highly skilled jewelry makers here -- there are, absolutely.  But most, if not all of them, are also highly skilled at the lapidary part as well, and want the rock to command at least as much attention as any other jewelry elements.  

Here's a tip that I picked up when trying to become a better photographer, but it also works for artwork and wire-wrapped cabs, I think. 

Look at a photo of a wire wrapped cab for the first time, and allow your eyes to move to whatever draws your attention.  But at the same time, sort of make a mental note of where your eyes move.  In your first photo, my eyes go immediately to the center of the cab, to that little red-orange spot that contrasts nicely with the moss around it.  Then, my eyes move around the whole center of the cab, because it has some good moss throughout.  Next, my eyes go briefly to the little wire loops on the middle edges, which are a nice element.  Then, my eyes follow up the outside wires from the middle to the top of the cab, at which point I notice, and briefly admire, the moderately-ornate but not overdone wire elements at the top.  After about two seconds of looking at the wire wrapping, my attention is drawn back to the cab, this time spending more time looking at the fine details, the high shine, etc.  I am not tempted to look back at the wire wrap until I have really gotten a good look at every part of the cab.   Finally, my vision sort of zooms out, I see the cab + wire wrap in its entirety, and I like the whole thing.

The way my eyes naturally moved around the first photo confirms that you have a good balance between the cab and the rock.  If the wrap were overdone, I would probably look briefly at the cab, then my eyes would jump to the wrap, and my attention would continue jumping back and forth between the two.  It would be as if I wanted to appreciate the cab, but my eyes just keep tripping over the wire wrap as I try to walk my attention back to the cab. 

We tend to not like having our eyes jump around too much.  Instead, we like our attention to be led around naturally from one element to another.  This is one way to think about design -- how you want to direct and guide someone's focus and attention.  Lines help in this regard, as our eyes naturally follow them.   Criss-crossed lines tend to momentarily stop our eyes and focus our attention, whereas parallel lines tend to move our eyes and attention even more quickly towards in a certain direction.  

You can find a ton of information about this by searching google for something like "photography lines composition."  These ideas apply not only to the wire wrap, but also to drawing a preform on a slab of rough.