Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist March - April 2018

My Favorite Invisible Color IMAGINE MY SURPRISE when, after some 25 years of believing that purple was my favorite color, I was told I was wrong. Imagine my even greater surprise when I found out that I was wrong! Having specified that I loved “purple, especially on the bluish side,” and pointed out my preferred shades to a graphic designer friend, she told me my favorite color was not purple but violet (actually, gentian violet). When I looked askance at her audacity for that remark, she came back with sample Pantone colors used to spec color for printing and waved said violet in my face, which quickly turned a shade somewhere between vermilion and beet red. Flash forward another 25+ years and Pantone has finally caught up with me, naming Ultra Violet its…

Design Challenges Your Design Riffs Designs based on projects and jewelry shown in previous issues of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist. Your Settings Next Time Riff on the design of any of these or other pieces within this issue, using a design feature such as color, texture, form, value, line, space, repetition, balance, contrast, unity, or variety for your sketch. Please indicate which piece your entry is based on. DEADLINES: APRIL 30, 2018 Email digital scans at 300 DPI or send photocopies of no more than three sketches per challenge, indicating the design factor that is your starting point. Sketches will not be returned. WRITE TO US ANYTIME: What do you think about what you’ve seen and read in Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist? SEND SKETCHES & LETTERS for possible print or online publication to: Karla.Rosenbusch@fwmedia.com. Please include your name, city,…

Michael Cheatham’s Pendant and Earrings Hand-fabricated sterling silver pierced overlay with natural Morenci turquoise “Silvery Spheres,” P. 38 PHOTO: COURTESY MICHAEL CHEATHAM Janet Alexander’s Cuff Bloodstone, silver metal clay “Open and Close,” P. 22 PHOTO: COURTESY JANET ALEXANDER Kylie Jones’s Chain Maille Bracelet Sterling silver, sardonyx “Dancing Chains,” P. 46 PHOTO: KYLIE JONES Brad Nichols’s Pin Forged steel “Daylily,” P. 74 “Steelworks,” P. 68 PHOTO: RON REGAN Betsy Lehndorff’s Fetch Pendant Botryoidal chalcedony, pearl, sterling silver “Go for Gold,” P. 84 “Hep Cat,” P. 90 PHOTO: JIM LAWSON Denise Peck’s Crystal Blue Persuasion Earrings Filigree leaves, copper craft wire, bicone beads, seed beads “Inside Out,” P. 54 PHOTO: JIM LAWSON Michael Paone’s “Homage Matisse” Morgan Hill poppy jasper, fire citrine, silver “Blue Eye,” P. 30 PHOTO: COURTESY LAURATAS, INC. Become an LJJA Contributor! Contributors’ guidelines for print or online publication can be found at www.interweave.com/jewelry…

FOR JEWELRY ARTISTS WHO SELL at shows, travel expenses are one of the biggest business outlays. One way to increase profits is to decrease expenses. You can’t do much about attendance or buyers’ whims or the cost of your booth — but you can usually reduce travel expenses. Even jewelers who’ve been selling at shows for decades struggle with this because the game is constantly changing. Nebraska-based jewelry artist Sydney Lynch has been doing the show circuit since 1983 and crisscrosses the country several times a year, booth setup and inventory in tow. To cut costs on all this travel, she relies on aggregator sites. “I spend a lot of time comparing prices,” Sydney says. “But with business travel, there isn’t much schedule flexibility, so I just compare airlines and prices.” If you’re…

Large tools and equipment can take up space and cash but are very often worth the investment. I waited a decade to purchase a hydraulic press because I found no need for one in my personal work. Then I became a busy teacher and realized that having the ability to quickly die-cut 40 or 50 identical shapes for students to use in class would make that press pay for itself in just a few semesters. Same goes for my metal shear. It was costly up front and takes up valuable countertop space, but the time and energy I save making repetitive cuts in metal sheet for student kits has paid for that tool threefold. (Even small tools required to work on large projects can eat up room and may be worth…

Sponsored by Fire Mountain Gems & Beads It’s a big investment, but one that pays for itself over and over as you use it. Buy a quality rolling mill, and it will perform well and last a lifetime. What makes a mill such a valuable addition to your shop is its versatility. You can create an endless array of patterns on metal, use it in foldforming and mokumé gané, and to roll out metal into sheet and wire to recycle your scraps. If you need a piece of 22 gauge sheet and all you have is 18, a few passes through the rolling mill and you have your 22 gauge! Before using your mill, make sure it is secured to the bench. Your best bet is to bolt it down permanently, but…