- ABOUT THE PROCESSES -


The images

After digitizing and reducing a jackalart© image, I;

[silver-framed pendants] -  print a copy onto ink-jet canvas. Then, manipulating a copy of the image with my computer graphics program, I create a kaleidoscopic version of it, which I also  print onto canvas.

[ann*ifact® pendants] - scan it into my computer graphics program and reduce it for tracing onto the porcelain pendant medallion.
 
The fine-silver pendant frames

The printed jackalart© image and its companion kaleidoscope image are placed back-to-back and sandwiched between two .03"-thick (0.9mm) panes of hand-cut, hand-ground glass and surrounded with a .999 fine-silver frame handcrafted by my husband, Louis. Louis makes these frames of bezel-strip with a device he invented for the purpose. After he frames the image "sandwich", Louis solders a sterling silver bail onto the pendant, and it's ready for me to incorporate into a necklace.
 
The ann*ifact® pendant medallions

To begin creating an ann*ifact®, I roll raw porcelain clay or pour porcelain slip and cut out a shape.

After the medallion blank has air-dried, which takes 1-4 days, depending on atmospheric conditions, I sand and smooth it, Then I apply a thin coat of clear glaze to the front of the blank. When the glaze has dried, I fire this piece to  2165º F; this firing takes 12 hours to complete.

I trace my original art image onto the front of the medallion, then paint the image with china paints and fire to 1422º F. Each china-paint firing lasts approximately 45 minutes. To obtain the interesting color nuances and degree of saturation that I prefer, it's necessary to apply multiple layers of the porcelain paint, with a firing after each layer; I try to get the painting completed in no more than 3 fires.

The final painted layer includes my signature on the front of the pendant. When the image is completed to my satisfaction, I wire-wrap the medallion with sterling silver or gold-filled wire; this wire-wrap serves as a hanging device as well as an additional decorative and protective element.
 
The ceramic beads

With the pendant medallion finished, I determine what shape, size, and color of ceramic beads I want to accompany it. Sometimes I like to match or complement the colors in the image, and sometimes I like some dissonance, depending on the general "feel" of the image.

Of earthenware clay, I roll or cut the beads I want in the shapes and sizes I've decided on for each piece. I  pierce each bead with a barbecue skewer and put it on a rack to dry. When they are dry, I sand and smooth each bead,  apply 3 coats of color-glaze, and set on racks to dry again. Before firing, I remove all traces of glaze from the holes, then fire to 1945º F. The color-glaze fire takes 9.5 hours.

Sometimes before firing the glazed beads, I paint a bit of decoration on them with ceramic underglazes; sometimes after the glaze fire, I paint designs on the beads with china-paints and fire them as I do the china-painted pendants (see above).
 
The handmade glass beads

With a propane-oxygen torch firing at roughly 1700º F, I melt glass of the colors I've decided upon for glass beads to accompany the pendant medallion. As the glass becomes molten, I wrap it around a steel mandrel to form a core bead. When the core bead is of a satisfactory size and shape, I often melt additional colors onto the core color in decorative patterns.

When the bead is what I want for this particular piece, I remove the mandrel from the flame of the torch and insert it into my kiln, which is holding at 900º F. After all beads of this "lampworking" session have been put into the kiln, I program it to rise to 960º, hold for an hour, then cool slowly to room temperature. This kiln process anneals the glass beads, giving them additional strength and shatter-resistance.

The rest

In some of the pieces, I've incorporated stones that my husband and I have collected off the ground throughout the Rocky Mountain states, and which he has cut with a diamond-bladed rock saw, drilled with a diamond bit, and tumble-polished for 3 weeks through various grits of tumbling media.

I cut disks of sterling/gold-filled sheet and hammer them into domed shapes for bead-caps; I occasionally engrave designs on the larger bead-caps with a diamond-tipped electric engraver. I also coil sterling/gold-filled wire to make bead-caps. For the silver-framed pendant necklaces, I select Swarovski® crystals to accompany the components I have made; I also occasionally use vintage glass beads or natural material beads like shell, comercially procured stone, or coral. The silver-framed pendant pieces are strung on SoftFlex beading wire, the ann*ifacts® on a 100% cotton cord crocheted by me.

I make a clasp of sterling silver/gold-filled wire, attach a sterling or gold-filled tag with our Jackalope Jewels® logo hand-stamped into it, and attach the clasp to the piece.

The display frames

A matching shadow-box frame for wall display is available for every ann*ifact®. My husband, Louis, makes beautiful wooden frames by hand, sawing, mitering, routing, staining, varnishing, inserting the masonite back and colored craft-foam background, wiring the back for hanging, and inserting the front hooks for holding the ann*ifact® in the frame.

All content of this website is copyright ©2002-2010 Jackalope Jewels LLC®.  All rights reserved.
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of the owners.