Catch up.

It is not my intention to present as a website inadequate, but it`s dereliction shows it to be so.
This prolonged hiatus had many causes, not least being the later life awakening of a hitherto dormant yearning to have a new bathroom and kitchen fitted. The stramash in the household galvanised me into revamping my two discrete working areas, one for woodturning and silverwork and the other for stone cutting, shaping and polishing.
Although I have an excellent venerable diamond blade slabbing saw, I have long hankered for a good quality trim saw. Sadly, no such equipment of home manufacture is readily available and, reluctantly, I have had to import one from America.
My lapidary set up complete, I have been exploring methods and techniques of working which, as usual was devoid of Googling input. This has been beneficial while still being true to the ethos of hand crafting, which is paramount.
For decades I have enjoyed making pendants. These mainly with silver alone, and some with added cabochon stones. These were always for gifting, but it has been so fulfilling revisiting all the production stages of making that I am continuing with them, hopefully as a complement to box making. To that end I have just completed 9 pendants, with cabochon stones. These are now in the Atholl Gallery in Dunkeld.
PENDANTS; Each pendant comprises a transparent, coloured, cabochon stone set in an enclosed, hallmarked, sterling silver mount. They are deliberately simple in form and designed to be tactile.
Regular handling results in the setting achieving a lustrous glow with no polishing required.
STONES; This is where my work may differ somewhat from the mainstream. The stone which is seen and can be touched is a synthetic hardstone; either Nanosital or hydrothermal quartz. These have a hardness of around 7 on Mohs scale, similar to agate and, therefore are scratch resistant.
Nanosital is produced in Thailand and simulates virtually all the colours of natural precious and semi precious stones. Outwith that there is an extensive range of shades either rare or unknown in nature. I source this in rough uncut form directly from Thailand.
Hydrothermal quartz is a recrystallised silica material which comes mainly from the Baltic region.
This is also received in rough form.
The stone seen in the setting will have a uniform homogeneous appearance. However, there are colours and effects which can only be achieved by creating a stone doublet. These are created with an outer layer of crystal clear Nanosital topaz with a bonded bottom layer of coloured glass or similar. The coloured layer is typically 1.8mm thick and always within the setting.
I like to relate this to the artistic motivation prevalent in the Art Nouveau period, when the intrinsic value of materials used was secondary to what they could contribute aesthetically.
One particularly relevant example is the glorious colour of Bristol blue glass, which has no hardstone equivalent. This was the first pendant made.
All items are backed with a bonded 0.3 mm sheet of highly polished silver for reflectance which, because it is sealed, cannot tarnish.

If you should go to the gallery, all I ask is that you have a look. I would appreciate any comments you may have.