Larkin and Emile finally made it back in to the shop at Crater Rock Museum to cut some new finds into slabs! I kinda dig the (mustard) yellow jasper with the bright teal and red streaks, but Larkin isn't sure there's a market for "'70s bowling alley chic." 😅
There is, however, already a suspiciously planet-shaped outline on the red jasper with black markings...
So... February always feels like a short month, but when the first Tuesday in March is March 1-- well, let's just say market season took us a bit by surprise this year! 😅 Local folks: Larkin will be back at the Rogue Valley Growers & Crafters Market first Tuesdays at the Ashland Armory... starting tomorrow! New hours this season: 9am-1:30pm. Larkin would love to see you there!
The last few days have been a blur of re-stocking, finding findings, making space on the board for new designs, stamping bags with the Idle Talons logo and lots of other preparations.
I also included a photo of one of Larkin's recent "wind-down" projects, pictured next to that sweet tiny silver lily before it was affixed to a wrap. Meet "Crumb," a baby amigurumi octopus crocheted with a single strand separated from 6-ply embroidery floss. This craft is recommended only for the young of eyes. ;)
While the rest of the world was apparently watching some football game (or maybe it was a concert?), we spent a blissfully secluded Sunday out in the Applegate. I spotted: a rare glimpse of a teen rock gnome in their natural element, a very happy dryad cyclops, a similarly satisfied adult rockhound, and a GORGEOUS sunset. I also included a picture of the road. Why, you ask? That big rock in the middle? It's applegate jade! We left it, because... well, it was road! But it's interesting to see how innocuous and easy to overlook it is in its natural state. Larkin is pretty excited to slab up some of our new finds!
Larkin has been wanting to play with rings for a long time and has finally collected (most) of the tools to make it possible! This is a copper-banded prototype with silver vines, leaves, and stone setting. The faceted stone is a lab created garnet. The whole thing is oxidized dark, then Larkin hand-polished the silver back to bright. It's interesting-- to the naked eye the ring looks uniformly sleek and shiny, but in these full sun close-ups the color is uneven and it looks a bit like it was bested in a brawl.
Larkin loves the look of the dark copper, but so many people react to the metal it doesn't seem practical to offer copper rings. If there are any jewelers here with tips on how to treat oxidized copper so it won't react with with skin, we'd love to hear them-- we know some people recommend clear nail polish or waxes, but it's important to Larkin not to use anything that will discolor or degrade over time.
Larkin had an order for an "air" pendant and realized it was time to re-stock. Avatar: The Last Airbender has been a huge hit with our whole family, and we heartily recommend it to anyone who loves cartoons! The show inspired three years of Halloween costumes for Larkin: Katara (Larkin is 9, guest appearance by their 7-year-old brother Finn as a Minecraft pig), Toph (age 10, probably still Larkin's favorite character), and Zuko (age 14).
Larkin translated the Avatar elements beautifully into wire!
After a brief, long-awaited visit with grandparents (including our family's final Xmas celebrations 😅), Larkin is back at work! These sweet little feline companions are individually handmade and each has a unique personality. They are shaped from a single piece of wire, then fused or soldered to assure sturdiness and that they won’t snag. Available in copper (left), oxidized dark and polished, or argentium silver (right) polished and gleaming bright. Ready for adoption now!
Me, wearing my Social Media Manager hat: Larkin. Would you please just finish *something* so I can make a post?
Larkin: Hang on, I have an idea...
Artists, amiright? 😅💕
We recently had some pretty exciting news: The very first sale made by the Crooked Mile Gallery after they opened was a pair of Larkin's silver ribbon earrings! There's definitely something to be said for simple elegance and clean lines!
One of Larkin's new toys (<ahem>, I mean tools) is a flex shaft. For those of you who (like me) are new to all things jewelry making, it's kind of like a wired dremel with a smaller, pen-like body for greater control and dexterity. It's operated with a foot pedal, like a sewing machine, leaving both hands free to manipulate whatever you're working on.
Also like a dremel, it has lots of interchangeable bits for sculpting and polishing metal and stone. Larkin has been wanting to play with setting faceted stones, and here is a first try at flush setting a lab-created garnet in scrap copper.
This tool opens up a ton of new possibilities and I can't wait to see what comes next!
First things first, Larkin turned 17! Woot! And yes, the candle math works out on the birthday popsicle because we lit the popsicle stick on fire when we ran out of candles.
Then we were snowed in for a week as the result of a very uncharacteristically serious snowstorm for our area. Larkin and their younger brother, Finn, made a pretty epic sled run down our driveway and built an ice cave around a large hole so that it is (wait for it...) much bigger on the inside than it is on the outside! Snow here almost always means several days without electricity, so we drank a lot beverages heated on the wood stove and played many rounds of card and board games by solar lantern.
The biggest Idle Talons news came in the form of an *amazing* offer by a neighbor in our local Buy Nothing group! This ginormous, 3-piece, just because it's in 3 pieces doesn't make it any lighter, BEAUTIFUL (have I mentioned heavy?) desk is well on its way to being converted to the jeweler's bench Larkin has been dreaming of!
Moving that sucker upstairs, then reorganizing Larkin's workspace almost entirely into it has been an enormous job, but obviously worth it as Larkin kept being distracted by having so many tools easily to hand and pausing set-up to try out new ideas.
A new wrap is in the works, as well as lots of fun new experiments that will expand Larkin's repertoire considerably. Stay tuned!
Larkin's top favorite bowling alley employee is an amazing guy. He takes donated equipment from more experienced bowlers and passes them on to kids-- it is *amazing* to see kids improve when they have their own custom-fit bowling balls and shoes! He knows *everyone's* names, loves the game, and wants everyone to succeed. He's not a jewelry guy, but Larkin found out his wife has a soft spot for hummingbirds and designed this sweet little pendant especially for her. Cheers to Ken!
Larkin cut this cabochon from a piece of applegate jade found by our family in southern Oregon. Some of the stone’s crust is included at the bottom of the cab and we keep seeing a frog-like face: a creature from the green lagoon!
The main frame is sculpted, wrapped and soldered from copper wire, and the back plate is fused and wrapped in argentium silver wire. I can't decide whether the back looks more like kelp or a Tolkien-esque tree! Plus, the stone glows brilliantly when backlit— this is a gorgeous piece from any angle!
This piece and much more will be featured this evening at Larkin's trunk show with Dancing Beads! Tune in at 7 to see what's new :)
Today we made a special trip to Crater Rock Museum between bowling practices just to pick up real, paper copies of the December issue of Rock & Gem Magazine. Why, you ask? Because there's a four page article on Larkin's work!!! So much gratitude to Jim Landon who reached out to us about writing an article after finding Larkin's work on-line! (Also thanks to Larkin who gamely let me set up the young Einstein jeweler photo 🤣)
Our family attended the Crooked Mile Gallery opening last night in Phoenix, Oregon. The wine was flowing (Larkin had special permission to attend the 21+ invite-only event as a featured artist), the snacks were tasty, the art was spectacular, and there's something surreal about seeing Larkin's work just casually hanging out with all the big kid art!
If you're local, we highly recommend checking out this fun new artistic addition to our community!
Happy Halloween from your friendly neighborhood jewelry gnome!
When I was a wee bairn of probably 3-4, my dad brought me a loop of paper and asked me to color one side red and the other side blue. I noticed it was twisted and pointed this out to him before getting down to work, but he said he didn't mind. I started on the blue side and had almost completely colored the whole thing before I realized I had, yet again, fallen victim to a mathematical practical joke.
Larkin made Möbius rings! That's right: rings that, through the awesome powers of mathematics, have only one face and one edge. The one on the left is a thinner comfort band ring, and the one on the right is a slightly thicker, squarer wire where Larkin polished the twist at the edge. These are copper prototypes (the final product will be in silver) and our family is split on which we prefer-- what do you think?
Side note: Larkin's mathematician grandpa is angling for Klein bottle earrings to go with these. ;)
Larkin is licensed to drive! Life as a young entrepreneur just got a little less complicated. 😁
Another trip to the coast to get out of the wildfire smoke! Not a bad office view, eh?
Larkin is working on a design for a repeat customer at the Rogue Valley Growers & Crafters Market who likes to get something special for his daughter every month. He was hoping for an owl next. What do you think, cute caricature on the left or essence-capturing line work on the right?
Alternative title: Larkin Doesn't Like Doing The Same Thing Twice
This first photo is Larkin's proof of concept piece, the very first Idle Talons mermaid tail on blue aventurine made in April of 2019 (for those keeping track, this was when Larkin was 14).
Next came a silver tail on seraphinite, a very similar style as the first because Larkin was not yet ready to jump into new designs in spendier silver wire.
Then another blue aventurine piece, this time wrapped in silver with a different tail position.
Next came a copper tail on fossilized coral, again with similar design elements tweaked in new ways.
Finally the brecciated jasper tail Larkin finished yesterday.
Each piece has so many similar elements, yet is totally unique as Larkin made changes to suit the stone and cab shape. This makes me want to collect other styles for a side-by-side comparison! Maybe trees next...
... and the sort-of-companion earrings to yesterday's pendants are up on the website for the first time, too! It's so fun seeing the different colors jump out in oxidized silver.
On a slightly different note: Larkin has a book-themed bazaar coming up and is looking for ideas! Are decorative sheet metal bookmarks a thing? Are there specific fandoms you think might translate well into Larkin's style? A product we haven't thought of that might particularly suit readers and/or authors? The fun thing about throwing lots of ideas at Larkin is seeing the results for the ones that stick! ;)
