Entry 021 - Jennifer Blevins - Website

"To the Sea" is a tribute necklace to my time spent at Art & Soul Asilomar, in April 2008. I constructed the soldered metal (brass and copper) "house" shape in a metalsmithing class with teacher, Stephanie Lee. When I returned home, I added the images to the background and poured in resin with a little glitter sprinkled in. Then I glued on the lovely piece of abalone to the front, using epoxy. I blackened sterling silver chain and wire wrapped some semi-precious beads, freshwater pearls, and a ceramic starfish.

This piece consists of many components designed to represent "duality" The focal is handmade from shrink plastic and colored with pencils. I hand spiraled copper wire connectors, a hook clasp and used the copper wire with fuzzy felt beads and copper bead caps. The chain is commercially supplied. The felt beads are handmade by a friend. It measures approx. 22" overall. The focal measures approx. 1 ½" x 2".

I took the Balamon Pendant class with Connie and after finishing one, of course I had to do another! The wire is brass, copper and sterling and was all hand twisted and coiled. I used oxidized copper beads and a hammered and wrapped brass washer along with a jasper triangle and some ceramic beads to enhance the color in the stone.

My piece is a mix-metal cuff I started in Connies 'Cuff' class and finished in her 'Cold Joints' class. It is made from 20g textured sterling silver sheet metal. It is 6.5" long X 2" wide. I call it Troika as it is composed of silver, copper and brass. All of the cuff is hand made except for the washers. The silver forms the base of the cuff and the sides and ends are cut out into waves. There are 10 textured discs and washers attached to the base in copper and brass. The discs and washers are attached with rivets, a staple and an eyelet in copper and brass wire. I used 18g, 20g, and 22g wire for the rivets and staple.

"This necklace represents things that you’ll find blowing in the wind (except maybe the answer, my friend…)

Starting at the butterfly and moving counterclockwise:

The butterfly is made from coiled brass wire (wings) wrapped together with copper wire (body). The flight path of the butterfly is depicted by the coiled sterling silver wire spiraling around the length of copper chain maille.

Blossoms, made from hammered and domed copper discs riveted to hammered brass teardrops with sterling silver wire, dangle from a branch made of soldered and hammered sterling silver wire.

The focal leaf is sawed out of copper sheet metal, which was then hammered and shaped into a wavy 3-dimensional shape. Brass wire was then woven in. Admittedly this was my favorite part to make.

The short length of Egyptian coil, made from sterling silver and brass wires, represents the wind (remember those old pictures of the wind depicted as a face in a cloud blowing spiraling plumes of wind?)

The circle of blue opal beads, wire wrapped with sterling silver wire around a soldered copper wire ring, represent the sky.

The rest of the necklace is made from coiled copper wire spirals linked together with brass jump rings, and finished with a copper swan clasp.

Everything was handmade by me starting from various gauges of wire or sheet metal, except for the brass teardrop and copper disc shapes (which I hammered and domed), and the opal beads."

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