Solder Art Jewelry: River Rocks

Neutral colored, natural river rock stones are shaped by acts of nature and worldly circumstances....gee...sounds sort of like us, doesn't it? I've completed these four pendants so far.

Solder Art Jewelry

I’ve discovered the beauty of solder. The way the heat makes it flow into glorious patterns and shapes reminds me of life...the way it rises...the way it falls...the way it levels. Here's a few pendants I've made so far. The first three are broken china pendants. The second two are gemstone pendants.

This all began because I'm selling some china on Ebay. I came across a piece with a crack - I didn't want to sell it because of the damage, so I went looking for something else I could do with it. And alas, I found one could turn it into beautiful jewelry!
Working with the solder is quite interesting. I've seen other soldered-edge jewelry...some with plain edges...some with beading. Very *uniform*. I guess I'm not experienced enough with solder yet...but "uniform" is not even in my soldering vocabulary. So I decided to stop trying to control it, and just let it go where it wanted to go.

It's almost like a hot knife on cake icing...as you're putting icing on the cake, the hot knife melts it so fast, although it might go where you want it to, it won't hold a shape. So you add a little more...and a little more...and soon you have something that looks like a wavy, chunky mess, with peaks and valleys and swirls and curls - but not uniform.

The good thing about the wavy non-uniform application is this - it looks FABULOUS as jewelry. It kind of reminds me of the gold nugget jewelry I used to love so much when I was a kid...only this is silver color. Each time I inspect a piece, I see a new pattern or shape in the self-made silver frame. The most exciting thing is that each one is different....unique in its own right. And that is something I definitely find appealing, as I've never been one to enjoy churning out jewelry that all looks the same. After all...*we* are each unique individuals - shouldn't our jewelry be the same?