I'm Published!! Thanks, Art Jewelry!!

What does Art Jewelry magazine, snakeskin and tutorials have in common?  My step by step article on how to imprint snakeskin onto silver and copper sheet to make a delicate texture for wire framed earrings. 

If you click on the link provided here you can see a short video of all the interesting projects in the November issue of Art Jewelry, including my Snake Skin Earring tutorial. 
November 2012 Art Jewelry Magazine Video Preview

So how did that come to fruition?  About five years ago a master seed bead artist encouraged me to send my wire wrapping ideas into a magazine or enter a contest.  I looked at her like she had grown a second head and placed a hand on my chest, looked around the room and said to her, "Who me?"  She told me that it would never happen if I didn't try.  I thought that the idea was overwhelming and yet her voice kept returning to me each time I would finish a project.  I would ask myself if the finished project was worthy of entering it into a juried art exhibit, a magazine or a contest.  Honestly, it is challenging to be objective about your work after finishing it, as so much tender love, resources and time goes into many of the wire wrapping pieces that I complete.  It seems that with each necklace, earring, ring or bracelet that I finish that I appreciated it more than the others.  Still, I knew that bells would ring and songs would permeate my surrounding when I had that hit.  That happened a year ago when my uncle's wife asked me to make and donate a snake head necklace (see my post banner snake head) for a fundraiser to research the Western Diamondback rattlesnake.  The necklace sold to the highest bidder in a silent auction and subsequently 1,000 dollars went towards tracking devices for our reptilian friends. 

It all started with a sketch of the snake head

After the snake head was finished and photographed I sent a photo into Art Jewelry.  They asked me to fill out a submission form and send them the snake head necklace to their office in Wisconsin.  I not only sent them the necklace, but the matching earrings that I made out of the snake skin rolled against silver in my rolling mill.  They photographed the snake head and put that photo into the Art Jewelry Gallery and asked me if I would do a step by step article for the earrings.  After I danced a small jig I wrote them back telling them that I would be glad to write a step by step article. 

Writing an article for a magazine is different from writing one for your own use.  I tend to write my step by step tutorials with nearly a hundred photos or more.  To do that for a magazine would take many pages.  It was my job to condense the ideas and photos that I had to convey the process thoroughly.  After submission to the magazine the editors proofed my completed submission and sent back some changes, including a couple of illustrations that offered even more visual enlightenment to the process.  Their assistance was gold!!  It was wonderful to work with such a professional editing staff.

So, check out the Snake Skin Earrings, as well as other projects that use interesting components in the November 2012 issue of Art Jewelry.  I have also provided links to my tutorials.  One is a free tutorial on how to use the Economy Compact rolling mill and the other is on patterning metals without a rolling mill.
Patterned Metals Without Rolling Mill

Free Rolling Mill Tutorial