Angel Cats Pendant...

Even though I've been making jewelry for many years now, my jeweler's saw has been sorely neglected.  That is until recently.  I've been having fun cutting things out and soldering them.  It's something that I've thought about for a long time, but just needed to work up to to really get going.

This pendant captures my love of cats!  In hindsight, I realize that it sort of looks more wolfish and canine than feline, but I was working off a sketch of my cat, Barnaby, and he has a longer snout and bigger nose than a lot of cats.  Therefore, when translated to cut-out metal, it has a more dog look than cat, but I can still see it.

This is probably one of the most ambitious mixed metal pieces that I've made.  Up until now I've really just focused on sterling silver and integrating copper.  This piece has sterling silver, copper, AND bronze.  I definitely had to think about how to construct the piece so that all the pieces adhered properly.  Sometimes if you're not careful and you layer the pieces out of order, as you're heating up the solder for one element, it can melt other pieces or cause them to move.  This is particularly challenging with tiny pieces that seem to have a mind of their own and migrate.

On the back of the piece, I stamped part of a Jules Verne quote.  It reads, "I believe cats to be spirits come to earth."  The full quote goes on to say, "A cat, I am sure, could walk on a cloud without coming through."  I like this sentiment.  I think about this book called "Angel Cats" and how my cats have seemed to know just what I'm thinking and provided comfort in the hardest of hours.