We’re in the middle of a spell of dry, bright weather at the moment, with sunshine during the day, and clear skies by night. Because we’re quite high up, and there is very little light pollution, the night sky is really spectacular. The moon is incredibly bright, and the stars are clearly visible scattered across the deep blue of the sky. It’s difficult to capture in a photograph, and I should really make the effort to set up a tripod, but it’s very cold out there! Anyway, here are a couple of shots of the moon from last night.
I’ve had a go at making some moon-inspired jewellery before, using a hammered texture, but I was never 100% happy with the finish. I think I’ve finally cracked it using a process called reticulation. This involves heating the surface of a piece of silver with a flame until it just begins to melt. If you get it right, you end up with a very light grainy texture, similar to grains of sand. If you don’t get it right, the silver melts completely, and you end up with a mess.
For me, the results are the perfect texture to represent the pitted silvery surface of the moon. I have used the technique to create this matching earrings and necklace set, teamed with little beads of lapis lazuli. These are just the colour of the sky as it deepens towards night, and they even have slightly a starry patination within the mineral.
The necklace and earrings are on sale separately, or as a set, with a saving of €7 on the price of buying the two separately. They’d make a lovely Christmas gift, or a birthday present for anyone with a December birthday – lapis is one of the traditional birthstones for December. Visit my Etsy shop to see more.
Gorgeous pictures! And very interesting to know how you get that finish.
Thank you 🙂 it’s one of those processes where you’re not totally in control, and don’t really know what you’re going to end up with, which I quite like.
I absolutely love your jewelry, especially the Seahorse.