… so I thought it would be fun to share another one of my passions with you and that is cutting fine gemstones and creating beautiful custom jewelry … this is something I took up 45 years ago and it has been one of the most satisfying endeavors I have engaged in … taking rough gem materials and bringing out the beauty that is hidden within and designing unique one of a kind works of art. As you can see in this creation no gold or other metals were used or required … just takes a few skill sets.
The photo above shows the final result and the photo first below shows the two stones I started with … a piece of black agate (onyx) that I had slabbed and cut pieces off of to use for some ideas I had and the second piece is of opal rough … doesn’t look like much in the photo, but in the next photo below I have tipped it on edge and you can see the color bar that looks promising.
First step with the opal rough is to see what is in it and to do this I cleaned up the top and bottom of the stone to see how the color faced … the top side proved to give me a better display than the bottom. Next I cleaned up the edges and gave the stone a shape that could work with the agate. The next photo shows the “faced” opal resting on the slab of black agate.
Then the question arose, “what shall I make?” I do most of my design work in my head and occasionally use a pencil and paper … for this it was all in my head and since I was using no gold, the design of the pendant had to include what is called a bale (what the chain goes through to wear the jewelry). The last photo shows the piece I carved out of the piece of onyx.
Finally came the task of final shaping, polishing and assembly … ready to wear and my friend picked up the finished work of gem/jewelry art this afternoon … a birthday gift for his granddaughter 🙂
Back to critters, birds, aerials and the other stuff I photograph tomorrow. Have a beautiful day and enjoy the moments you are granted … you only get them once!
Cheers,
Ted
A bird flies through the sky, and I fly with it. I am in
each pearly of moisture sparkling in the sun. I lie lazy
on the clouds. And I acknowledge my kinship with
each winged thing.
I see all as one, and nothing repels me, as this new
day climbs noiselessly out of the valley of the night.
Peace lies over the world and over the world of my soul.
excerpt from On A May Morning by Max Ehrmann
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The easiest way to reach Mr. Grussing is by email: ted@tedgrussing.com
In addition to sales of photographs already taken Ted does special shoots for patrons on request and also does air-to-air photography for those who want photographs of their airplanes in flight. All special photographic sessions are billed on an hourly basis.
Ted also does one-on-one workshops for those interested in learning the techniques he uses. By special arrangement Ted will do one-on-one aerial photography workshops which will include actual photo sessions in the air.
More about Ted Grussing …