Opal Magic

It's always fun to create new pieces, explore new concepts. I have regular clients that just let me explore my creative side and just push the limits of my designs. Most of the time design concepts have some input from the client since after all they are the one wearing it. My clients are always very open to my ideas but there's also clients that leaves you on your own. This particular project the client's request was just to make use of all her opals and create 3 very different pieces. In her words "just go crazy and surprise me" and it was quite a very difficult task since she's one very contemporary lady...hard to surprise someone that "has seen it all". She's one of the very select clients that would have private viewing when one of my new pieces are created prior to displaying it in my showcase. She certainly didn't give me much to work on...and I have a tough month ahead to try and create a truly amazing set for her.

Opals are tricky gems to work with, trying to use pieces that would complement each other. She had 10 opals but only 9 were useable and they are in few different sizes and 1 opal has a very unique shape. During the sketching stage trying to develop the initial artworks it was by far the most challenging project. Lots of very unique ideas but I was never happy with them... I gathered up my thoughts and just rest on it for a few days until I tried to put another idea on paper. And that few days rest did pay off, I came up with an artwork that I was just so excited to create. I presented the concept to my client and she was just so excited to proceed with it.

A custom piece is always very special to me, I get to let my creative side show but sometimes when a concept get too unique the transistion from sketch to the wax model can prove very difficult. I cut waxes myslf if there's no possible way for me to put it down on paper and that's the fool proof way of achieving exactly what I want. Since trying to orchestrate 5-7 projects in March-April I had to stick to my pencils and let my goldsmith carve the wax. We explored about 3 variations of the wax model before actually deciding on the actual casting model for the pendant. The earrings were perfect and the ring was quite straight forward, the pendant was certainly the difficult one. The bale configuration was quite unique to fit a 10mm Omega or Herringbone necklace. The rib detail was just exquisite! it gave the piece a design consistency that both simple yet very elegant. The attention to detail on this piece is second to none, the fabrication quality showed impecable skills of my goldsmith, even the click back closure on the earring was hand made.

This project is one that would always be truly special to me not only because of the gorgeous pieces created. But also the reaction of my client when they finally get to try on the finished pieces. I always get compliments from my clients but not in the way that they described how truly "blown away" they were... "you certainly blew my expectations away...". That made all the confusions and mind blowing conceptualizing stages all worth it... the few wax re-cuttings and other behind the scene HARD WORK that made this project a success.

The Canyons! Mystically Beautiful.

Our summer trip all over the US was fun...but sadly too short. We hit a lot of spots but only for a day or in some cases only for hours... The Grand Canyon was one of our shortest stops...3 hrs.

Having 3 hours mostly spent trekking and rock climbing there wasn't much of photo taking time left. I have literally spent hours climbing rocks since I tried avoiding areas with a lot of tourist(viewing decks and the skywalk). I went to spots that might have been a little too scary for some...hoping to take some photographs that will be a little bit more unique. The Grand Canyon is one of the most photographed landscape in the world and for me I have to create images that will incorporate my creativity in.

I ended up with about 80 images and ended up with 55 photographs that you can view in my Flickr display. Going back to this photograph I separated the sky and edited it to bring out the washed out details and combined it with the original foreground/subject to create a "HDR" photograph. Nothing too sophisticated since I hate being in the computer for hours(that's why I went back shooting film lately...or print my digital photos as-is), I love this photo no matter what others might say. The visit was worth it even though 3 hrs is not nearly enough to plan any real creative shots with hours dedicated on climbing rocks to get a good perspective. Limited time is certainly a poor excuse people might say but I did the best I can to capture the beauty of this famous landscape. If only I get to take weeks at a time and camp out there to capture "the perfect light" then maybe I can certainly do so much more.

If only I can spend at least 2 weeks in the Grand Canyon and actually be there for a photographic visit... and maybe it would have helped if it was in the original plan too. . Climbing rocks with my Nikon F5 and 2 Olympus E330's on my neck with my gear bag with my lenses...it was too heavy, cumbersome and way too scary. I could have climbed rocks with my Nikon FE and maybe have my digital equipment limited to my Olympus C-series. The right equipment does help to create gorgeous images but having the right gear for a task do help...and climbing rocks with 10lbs of equipment is really horrible. It would have fine if I have assistants to lug around my cameras... if only eh!

On my next visit to The Grand Canyons I will be with my Panasonic LX3 and my Nikon FE with 28mm lens. Fingers crossed it will be soon!

2008 OVERALL WINNER!

My photograph "Downtown Icons" is the overall winner for 2008 Destination Winnipeg's "Picture Winnipeg" photo contest.

WOW!

I was so happy with this honor... I won last year too but not as the overall winner with my photograph "Ex's Outline". This year is truly special with all the gorgeous images submitted by over a hundred local photographers I won! WOW!

Thanks Destination Winnipeg!!! I love joining contest because I love to showcase my photographs and see if I can "stack-up" against other artist...well since 2006 my first year in photography I had one of my photographs recognized as a runner-up. Last year I had a winning photograph and a few runner ups. This year winning the top honors is just really COOL!

Thanks!!!

Smooth Contours

Wax carving is a skill that I learned in a pinch but yet became one of my truly treasured creative outlet. Sketching is still my main form of presenting my concepts but there's pieces that can be very tricky to simply draw or present in a computer rendering. In wax I can play with subtle details, the fluid lines and the smooth contours that can be challenging in a sketch.

I don't cut waxes that often since I can usually just sketch something out to have my wax cutter carve it for me. These pieces I carve waxes for are always quite special since they can be really complex and sophisticated or really simple yet filled with really subtle detailing.

One of my clients came in with her own gem to be set in a mount, we searched for quite awhile in various supplier books. She came to a conclusion that there's really nothing that she wants from the 5 or more books we went through. I offered to create a concept wax for her to look at and maybe it will be something that she might like. I carved a wax model with her gem bezel set in a very simple yet very detailed ring mount, the shank is fully tubular and continues on to a very smooth rounded shaped sides. SHE LOVED THE CONCEPT! and we created it in two-tone for her, predominantly yellow gold with a very small hint of white gold in the bezel.

In less than 2 weeks the client came and viewed her piece for the first time...and she loved the finished piece way better than my concept wax.

Celtic Elegance

Custom designing is such a journey for me everytime. I get to meet new clients and each new client is a new inpiration to create that truly unique piece.



I was called in into an existing project to find a Celtic loveknot matching wedding bands. The clients seems not too thrilled with the pieces we found for them and the best route to take was to create something from a sketch. I wasn't too sure if I can create the exact ring they were dreaming of, since they seem to be very decided on what they want. I started sketching and presenting them with my initial concepts they became really excited that I drew their existing idea.



Celtic loveknot pieces are readily available from a few of our suppliers but they wanted something truly unique, but they didn't know how to explain their concept. A good relationship with a client can be truly rewarding since it would be lot easier to understand their needs.



The concept was perfect and the clients were very excited on the project, we started out to source out a supplier to create our shoulder panels. I opted to buy the panels from one of my suppliers since it would be too precise to carve out on a wax and or hand make it. It was a long 6weeks wait since these pieces where casted overseas but it would be totally worth it when they crossed my bench. The pieces were perfect for our rings, next item on the list were the diamonds and nothing was compromised with 2 matching VS/GH diamonds used in these rings. The diamonds where gorgeous and just PERFECT.



With the 8 weeks wait from concept to finish piece I can proudly say that the rings turned out GORGEOUS! The sparkle on my clients eyes when they saw their rings are nothing short of breath taking..

THE TRIP WAS TOO SHORT!

I am back and I will be posting some of my photos soon enough.... hang tight!