No Animals Were Unnecessarily Harmed Making This Post

 There is a very talented woman who lives in Iqaluit, in Canada's far north. From time to time, it is necessary to harvest a polar bear and when that happens, they make use of every possible part. She makes beautiful customized fur parka hoods and we also buy pompoms she makes using other fur.

Some time ago, we received a genuine polar bear claw.

My wife Vickie is a very accomplished polymer clay artist. She can duplicate pretty much any rock I can find and the joke is, "If I can find it, she can fake it!". So she embarked upon a quest to duplicate this claw. After she made one that passed her test, we decided to use it as a focal point in a necklace that also included some of her hand made polymer clay beads. Here's the result.

The claw focal point is spectacular.

This piece is available on line or in the shop. Hope to see you some time this summer.

DISCLAIMERS:

Note to animal rights activists. I have rescued several animals and do not hunt. This animal had to be harvested. Would you be happier if it had been left to rot?

Note to those concerned with cultural appropriation- this isn't and I will ignore any negative commentary in this regard.

The Viking Knit Chain

 A few years back my Norwegian wife taught me how to weave this beautiful Viking Knit Chain and I use it regularly to create awesome pendants with my agate cabochons.

Normally I use 24G copper wire but when I want a challenge, I'll use 22G. The wire is "woven" around a wood or metal dowel.

As you can see, at this stage it's pretty irregular and doesn't look like much. After I have a length of about 8 inches, I'll take it off the dowel. By this time I will have used over 50 feet of wire. The diameter is the same as the dowel.

I have made myself a draw plate out of oak and this is what I use to "stretch" the chain.

Starting with the largest diameter, I draw the chain through successive holes until I get to a diameter of 7/32 inch. Now the chain will look like this.

As you can see, the weave has become much tighter and the chain has a little more than doubled in length. To make sure it doesn't unravel and to enable the addition of a clasp, I have to make end caps. These can be bought but I prefer to make my own out of 16G copper wire.

I then attach sliding copper bails to the stone so it can be hung on the chain. Some I make but the filigree ones are commercial.

Then the piece is completed with a hand made copper clasp.

The chain can also be used to make bracelets.

Every once in a while I make the chain out of sterling silver wire and then I use a spectacular sterling silver sliding bail.

It takes me about 4 hours to weave the chain and another 1.5 hours to do the finishing but it's a lot of fun and the finished product is well worth it.

Making Copper Bracelets

 While cleaning out the "Lap of Lapidary, I came across a piece of copper chimney flashing that had been saved from a derelict 100+ year home. So this copper is definitely "vintage". I knew I had to make something with it and decided to make bangle bracelets.

Here's how it looked after I cut the rough forms.

It looks grungy, beat up and ugly or in my eyes, perfect!

After a lot of grinding, filing and sanding and using the metal roller to add some texture,  here's how it looked.

The next step was to shape it around my form. To do this, I heated it up and slowly wrapped it around the form. Then, when that was done, I had to work harden it by hitting it with a rubber mallet. Here's how the first one turned out.

We liked that so much that we decided to get a little more adventurous. This meant adding more (distorted) texture and then "pickling" to give it an antique sheen. This is what we got.

These have turned out so well that we have decided to make a few more and get even more adventurous. I love the idea of creating something from material that had served its purpose as a chimney flashing and giving it a totally new existence. It's not every day you get to create a brand new "antique"!

These will be available on line or in the shop for $45 CDN plus shipping. We're gonna go crazy so stay tuned to see what comes next!

The Phoenix Collection Gets Larger

Last year I decided to try working with a new material- used guitar wire. And since I have a son-in-law, grandsons and neighbours who play guitar, I had plenty of strings to experiment with. The wires have as much "memory" as any wire I've worked with so it's not the easiest job but it does open up some amazing unique opportunities.

Since the strings were being "reborn", I called it the Phoenix Collection with new jewelry pieces rising from the ashes. Guitar strings that once made beautiful music now make beautiful, unique jewelry. They sold well in the shop and on line so I have decided to expand the selection. Since I started fabricating I've made several pairs of earrings with many more to come. By spring, this display will be full.

 I also want to do about a dozen single strand and multi strand necklaces incorporating Vickie's amazing polymer clay beads. Here are some of the latest.

The first features a "faux" amber trade bead with amazing detail and the second incorporates "faux" jade and a small trade bead. But by far the most ambitious undertaking to date has been the 9 string braided piece with a beautiful local stone and carnelian beads.

Regrettably, the wire doesn't photograph so well so these are even better in person so if you are coming this way, let me know and you can take a look.

Of course, I'm making other items as well, such as this large shark tooth wrapped in silver and hanging on a sterling silver chain- gorgeous.

Stay sane and healthy my friends.

What's New at The Artist's Mark

 I haven't posted for some time because we have been so busy. Lots of work to do to get ready for winter plus we celebrated our 52nd wedding anniversary few days ago. But we have had time to do some new pieces.

This is the time of year I make my Viking Chain. Here's how it looks when I weave it on the dowel (about 8 inches long)

And here's how it looks after I have drawn it through successively smaller holes in my draw plate. Now about 17 inches long. This one was done in 24 gauge copper but my next attempt will be with a thicker, 22 gauge wire.

I have also been collaborating with Vickie on some pieces. Vickie is a master of polymer clay and has developed several of her own techniques while perfecting museum quality jewelry. This time we used one of her beads, featuring a technique she calls her "Burlesque Blend" and hung it on an upcycled guitar string. Vickie also fashioned the wire work and bead work while I did the connectors at the back

I was able to use the original "eye" and attach another to make a really unique clasp.

I have also been making a lot of earrings and while I won't show them in this post, I will show you the display we made using some cool driftwood and plastic mesh. I even added some hooks at the bottom to hold three necklaces and eventually everything on it will be from the "Phoenix" collection featuring upcycled guitar wires.

 

Next time I'll feature more individual pieces.

Cheers!

What's New at The Artist's Mark?

 We are now well into fall and that means I get to start making pieces with all the beautiful stones I created through the summer. But first, I have to finish off the ones I left at the beginning of spring. here's a sample of a few.

 I even finished a few popular sea glass pendants. So a lot of the empty spaces in the shop have been filled.

The last job in the rock lab was to finish a few specimen pieces. Here's one- a gorgeous piece of local plume and fortification agate..

This one is pretty special since that sparkly quartz druzy pocket goes all the way through. So my plan is to mount this to a piece of driftwood with a tea candle right behind the druzy.I've tried it and it creates an amazing effect. Look for this in the shop next spring but I predict it won't last long.

The "Real Artist" is painting up a storm and threatening to make a few mixed media statement pieces with me so stay tuned!

Why "The Artist's Mark"?

 The Artist's Mark has now been open for 6 years now and countless visitors have asked how we got the name and/or is my name Mark. So here's the answer. 

My wife Vickie (AKA The Real Artist) is a process painter at heart and her signature is the distinct marks she includes in her work.

Vickie will literally use anything that can transport pigment to make a mark- sticks, feathers, leather, rope, fingers, wire- if it's handy, she'll use it. Over the winter, she decided to make herself some mark making brushes by upcycling things found, especially on the beach across the street. When she had finished, she showed them to some of her art friends and they all wanted one. So after filling those requests, she's made a few for the shop and here's what they look like.

We call them Artist's Mark Brushes and while they are great for making marks, they also make an amazing souvenir of your trip to Digby Neck. In the second pic up from the bottom, you can even see that she personalized it by putting the person's name in norse runic characters and others are decorated in various ways (wood burning, beadwork, leather work etc.). She loves making them so by the time we open this spring, we should have a good selection. If you would like one and can't get here, just send us an email to the address at the top of the blog and we can give you some options.

I have also taken to leaving my mark- signs of my process- on my jewelry pieces so people can see that a human being actually took the time to make what you are wearing.

So now you know why we are The Artist's Mark and we hope to see you in person. And my name is Peter.

The Value of Imperfection

 Perhaps it's been being married to an abstract artist but as I "create" more, I've come to see the value of imperfection. We live in a society where perfection is in high demand- a perfect diamond, perfect smile, perfect teeth, perfect skin- the list is endless. And while perfection may be beautiful (and expensive) imperfection intrigues me more because it's ...interesting. The stone I am currently working on is a "perfect" example.

I love working with agate but agate is never symmetrical and it's the impurities that create the amazing patterns and colour shifts. Without them it would be a bland piece of quartz. This stone is a highly imperfect local agate. If you look closely, you can see a fissure in the center where the crystals have grown together and there are areas of inclusions and impurities. But these all contribute to the structure and banding and make the stone interesting. I'd look at it a lot longer than I would a flawless gem. 

I set the stone in upcycled copper that starts off looking like this.

I'd love to leave it looking like this but people don't like copper oxide rubbing off on their clothes! So I do the next best thing- I leave imperfections. Look closely at the copper setting above and you can see some scratches and areas where I haven't removed all the patina and the forms are not identical. I have the equipment and materials to make it flawless but I choose to leave it slightly imperfect because it makes it more interesting.

My shop is called The Artist's Mark NOT because my name is Mark (a question I get regularly from visitors) but because I want people to see the mark of the artist in the finished product.

Don't get me wrong, I am not denigrating those who set perfect gems in perfect settings. They have their place and require patience and expertise I admire but don't possess. But think of it- we remember imperfection- the crooked smile, freckled skin, unruly hair. So I'll stick with my style and, hopefully you will find the pieces...interesting!

Solveig's Song

 Solveig was a unique and amazing woman whom I was fortunate to meet through my wife's family. She, like they, was Norwegian and lived in Montreal, where she had a beautiful apartment downtown and a rural chalet in St. Sauveur that was straight out of the mountains of her home country. She was an impressive woman in many ways, having married five times and standing at least 6 feet tall with a truly striking appearance- in other words, she looked like a modern Viking.

But Solveig had another side. While very wealthy, she valued and enjoyed simple things and she especially admired intelligence and determination- two traits she had in spades.

In Montreal, there was an entity known as the Norwegian Seamans' Church and while ostensibly a church, it became the hub for all things Norwegian in Montreal, including the many Norwegian sailors who visited the port. At that time, many Norwegians were emigrating to Canada and my father-in-law, Thorleif, was one of them. He arrived in Montreal with little besides a dream, having left his wife and small daughter, Wencke behind until he could afford to bring them over. And that's where Solveig came into their life. She was an active benefactor of the church and tried to help get people established. She helped Thorleif and when his family arrived, showed them much kindness as well. 

She took great interest in Wencke and even helped pay for her McGill tuition. She and her husband Larry shared Wencke's love of reading and especially science. And Solveig and Wencke both loved art and became accomplished artists. They shared another thing. Both had Norwegian names that Canadians found hard to pronounce so Wencke became (my wife) Vickie and Solveig became Silvia.

Solveig was an extremely accomplished artist and sculptor and it's a shame she didn't get to see Vickie's talent or this piece I created but I just know she would have loved it- both for its beauty and the fact that someone she knew had acquired the skills to make it. So I give you Solveig's Song.

 The necklace is made from a copper Viking Chain that I wove from 24 gauge copper wire and drew through a series of draw plates until it was 3 times as long. Then, in honour of this modern Viking, I hung a Viking axe charm framed by copper beads and spacers.

Finally, I finished it by adding lengths of metallic copper, premium leather cord (for comfort) and finished it with a hand made clasp. I can actually see Solveig wearing this and treasuring it as much as her diamonds and jewels because that is who she was.

An Exciting Announcement

 In the five years we have had our shop open on Digby Neck, literally thousands of people have come through the door and many have left with one or more of our pieces. Often, they or their friends contact us later about purchasing items online.

Although there have been no cases of the Covid virus in our area, we were unable to open this summer because of government restrictions and we really missed greeting new guests.

                     Introducing The Seawall Emporium

Our daughter Lisa, has established herself as a world class hand dyer of premium yarns which are sold through her company, Seawall Fibres. We sold thousands of skeins through our shop and since she already had an on-line presence, we decided to piggyback on it.

At the Seawall Emporium, you will find four small shops belonging to artists and craftsmen driven by quality and uniqueness.

At Lisa's store-Seawall Fibres, you will find an extensive and beautiful selection of hand dyed yarn in all weights.

If you are a knitter or know a knitter, you owe it to yourself to check it out!

Then there is Mitchell Brook where Sandra Mitchell offers her selection of premium goods geared to travel and leisure. She often creates what she can't find so you will be sure to find something truly unique such as these beautiful key chains containing gemstones from the Seawall on Digby Neck.

Next, you come to Seawall Art. Vickie Turner is a mixed media abstract artist recognized as a signature member of the Federation of Canadian Artist but she literally creates everything! Since she is also an acclaimed teacher in the field of polymer clay, you will find gorgeous, museum quality jewelry along with fine art, whimsy and, from time to time, the artist's own "secret stash"!

And finally, there's The Lap of Lapidary, where retired geologist Peter Turner turns gemstones into rock jewelry and unique and beautiful stone guitar picks.

So take a step back in time and visit the Seawall Emporium- where there is no need to wear a mask or practice social distancing. Grab a cup of your favourite beverage and visit four unique shops, all from the comfort of your own home.