A Gem of an Idea

I've written a column with this title for the quarterly newsletter of the Chicago Metal Arts Guild for about 6 or 7 years now. I'm expanding that idea into a blog by the same title, and you can see my first post (and subsequent ones, I trust) at http://noel.ganoksin.com/blogs/

I plan to share a lot of the same kind of information that makes me popular, if I may say so, as a teacher. I expect to offer tips and tricks, tool reviews, and tidbits about life, from basic to advanced. I hope you'll check it out.

New Piece that is PART of a Piece

Here is a set of three pins that interlock. They can be worn individually, or in any combination. The mechanism that links them together folds to the back when not needed.

They are sterling silver, 14k gold, copper, and anodized titanium.

They are PART of a piece because, though I have not finished the next phase, the pins will form the center of a teapot entitled "House in the Woods". They will fold into a triangle, hinged at the corners, and sit under a dome of pierced silver trees (the woods) with a handle and spout of white fossil coral that look like tree limbs.

I began this piece at an artist's residency at Ragdale Foundation, which permitted me the kind of uninterrupted work time it takes for me to create complex work. I'm not sure when I'll manage to finish, but meanwhile, I want to share this triptych of fully-functional pins.

Note the teapot next to the chair in the living room, and the cat looking out the window of the dining room (bedroom?)