seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from France
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from Singapore
seen from China
seen from China
Stainless steel captive rivoli gleaming in the sun today. It’s been a while since I’ve worked with stainless, and my hands are letting me know as much! Still, it was fun. This design is ‘Entrapment’ by HyperLynks.
Photos (c) Raufnirsramblings. Do not use, edit, or repost.
My contribution to the ‘art v artist’ thing going around on Instagram and other platforms, featuring mail making, engraving, carving and inlay (WIP), and sculpting and painting. And a weirdo with a half-finished knife in the middle...
Today’s make! A slinky, continuous roundmaille bracelet.
My latest: rustic, fused argentium silver (no solder) pentagram.
I’ve been in the workshop today, doing some more carving on my ginkgo leaf tsuba. This was a piece I started with my teacher a while ago, and now working on alone for a while. It’s a mild steel base with pure iron leaves inlaid into it, which are then carved by hand with small chisels which I also made myself. The nakago-ana, the bottle shaped hole in the middle, is shaped and filed, and is for the tang of the sword to pass through. The other hole is for the kozuka, the handle of a short utility knife. The pitch, matsu yani, that it’s sitting in is set rock hard, and is made of pine rosin and ground fire clay among other things.
The tsuba is the sword guard and serves as more than just a functional piece of sword furniture. It represents a microcosm; a moment in time. Historic examples express the individuality of the the person by whom it was commissioned, and also of the artist or workshop who carved it. Many of them were made intentionally never to be mounted on a sword and were artworks in their own right. They can be made in ferrous metal, in copper or copper-based alloys like shakudo and shibuichi, and can have any number of things inlaid into them, from gold and silver to copper, brass, and even mother of pearl.
I’m at the very beginning of my journey through traditional Japanese metalwork, but I love learning how the metal moves and how the play of light dictates the form as much as the original idea in my head.
(c) Do not use, repost, edit, reupload etc.
Using Gladio's tattoo as inspiration for this engraving today!!
Today's projects: a length of 4-in-1 mail that's going to become some bracelets (it's easier to make a length of it and divide it up later), and a chocobo keyring I made for myself.
How I make my micro-mail. I wish it went this quickly in real life.
