Wire Cages for Undrilled Stones

I love how wire responds as it warm up in my hands.  All of the links and the cages in the necklace of this video are free-form. The necklace came to be by just letting the wire tell me how it wants to embrace the stones and link each element to the other.  The two big chunks of red jasper are undrilled.  Therefore the wire cages.  This work is so therapeutic.

I was going to post a video on creating wire cages or wire bundles as of Szarka of Magpie Gemstone calls them.  Szarka does such a complete job of setting the foundation of this technique that there is nothing more I can say.  In fact I can do nothing but learn from Szarka.  What I can do and what I don't see as much of, is creating a cage for a stone that hasn't be cut into one of the classic jewelry design forms or shapes.  Let me know if that is something you would to see or if you already see a lot of it on the web.

More about cage on this blog;

•  The Earth has Weight a collar I made with a 1-3/4" Green Aventurine  undrilled cabochon.
• I reposted the following video from Youtube.  The artist is creating a necklace from - sea glass.  The glass is undrilled so she uses cages to make the sea glass a part of the necklace, 

We are all Pearls...Sade...India Arie thank you for the reminder

We are all Pearls...

created by agitation for agitation...

Sade....India Arie 

. . . sing of this in the song "Pearls"

While the lyrics to this cry for women who are oppressed and have no options gives a voice to the voiceless...it also speaks of the heroism those same women...all women who can take a gran of anything and turn it into something precious...something.  I choose to use my pliers, pearls, moon stone, cooper and aluminum wire, sodalite   white jade, crystals and glass to represent the change that women...aggregated...coming together with men who care for and support them will make for themselves. . .ourselves.   

 

About the design:

features:

• Adninka motif focal Sesa Wo Suban -  "Transformation and change" - pearls, opalite,  cooper beads, sodalite , cooper and alunim wire, white jade, crystal

• Dangle focal;
• 2 -  wire wrapped glass, cobalt blue, "trade beads"
• 1- ceramic elongated drop, blue with  gold-like flakes (has a Lapis Lazuli look)
• clasp can be substituted with a a cooper "S"
• 1 - "star child" symbol (little more than 1" in any direction can be used to join necklace extenders and focal or used alone as a focal.  At the center of the symbol is a sodalite  bead and 2 Montana Blue crystals.
• 12" copper chain necklace extender with small "s" link closures a each end
• 16.5" blue suede and leather necklace or necklace extender with;
• each end of the necklace features copper coils a little more that 3/4" in length 
•  hand made cooper closure with 
•  3 dangles on the closure;
• 2 sodalite  wire wrapped beads and 1 double dangle - copper wrapped bead and sodalite  wrapped bead
• 3 sets of earrings - all sets are finished with a coil
• 1 set of "Sankofa" measure 3-3/4" from ear wire to bottom of coil.  Wire is shaped in the Adinkra symbol of "Sankofa - don't be afraid to go back and get what you forgot."  Ear ring is completed with a 1-1/4" ceramic elongated drop, blue with  gold-like flakes (has a Lapis Lazuli look) 
• 1 set white jade globes encircled by tiny moonstone with a drop of Montana Blue crystal and a tiny triangle of moonstone with a fierce blue fire inside.  (These fantastic bits of moonstone fire came from Turquoise Magpie.)
• a tiny triangle of moonstone with a fierce blue fire inside tops a Montana Blue crystal
• Ear Cuff and dangle - cuff randomly embroiders the ear with  fresh water pearls, sodalite and tiny drops of flashing moonstone.  Cuff ends at bottom of ear and has a  space for dangle to hook into a pierce ear. Dangle is shaped as a   Nsoromma, "child of the heavens  or morning star." 

KEY ELEMENTS OF THE PENDANT/FOCAL:

SESA WO SUBAN (Adninka term)

meaning - "Change or transform your character "

symbol of life transformation

This symbol combines two separate Adinkra symbols, the "Morning Star" which can mean a new start to the day, placed inside the wheel, representing rotation or independent movement.

sodalite = endurance, peace and harmony

moonstone = intuition

pearls = tear drops of the moon

KALIalkemi

I want to introduce my friend Simbi Kali...artist, photographer, writer, actress, alchemist (Qgong4life@aol.com).  She has just started a new product line "KALI alkemi" that features essential oils, bath salts and fragrances.

Over the years she has gifted me with oils and sprays (for the home) that were just what I need, when I needed my mood altered.







Simbi has been such a support to me...taking  many photos of my jewelry as well as being a patron of my work.   Back in July of 2009 I featured a ring I made for her.  I had one trying time finding Hessonite Garnets.  But it was a pleasure also.

 When Simbi began to coordinate her "looks" for promoting "KALIalkemi" she asked me if I had any pieces that might work with the image she was trying to create.  As we talked a memory was pulled out of the back of my mind of very organic vine like jewelry that I saw and tried to recreate a few years ago.  That night I began to pull out incomplete pieces; a focal of copper and brass that featured a Labradorite briolette, veining earnings and necklace that I had cut up so I could use the beads on another project.   I pick this focal because Labradorite is for me the physical manifestation of the word--alchemy.

I had some quality Critne chips I brought years back from Silver Sky in North Hollywood.  I had organized the Citrine on loops of copper wire by color.  The richest color on one loop, palest on another and all of those in-between on a third wire loop.  When Simbi saw these she automatically put the loops and focal together as if the loops were an element not just a way to organize some of the chaos in my work space.



On the vining side of the adornment I decided that my color pallet would include every copper,  green copper,  gold copper,  cream and clear bead and fresh water pearl I had in my stash.

 The other side of the adornment is hand crocheted to create a soft--yes the metal wire is soft and flexible, as many of you know who crochet or knit with wire.

While Simbi wore the adornment as a head dress it can also be worn as a necklace...as soon as I add a closing.