Wire Mood

 

The wire has been brought out of the cupboard again, after several months of waiting while I attended to other projects. Always I feel as though I'm "breaking the rules" (rules? It's art!) and I guess that's why I enjoy it so much, LOL. 

Actually, I do follow a few basic rules (discovered through trial and error) to create a piece that will be beautiful for a long time. The most important: non tarnish wire! These pieces with fiber tatting wrapped in are not suitable for the usual wire jewelry finishing techniques of oxidation and/or polishing. I used to use Argentium silver sometimes, but no, no, it tarnishes to a horrible color, not the attractive dark gray of "antiqued" silver. It can be polished carefully with a cloth embedded with silver polish, but really that is no fun at all! I gave all my silver wire away. 

My basic process for my wire + tatting pendants is shown in this YouTube video I made https://youtu.be/eHRmMAvf1gU 

Each one always comes out different!