January 4, 2009

Dump Glass Necklace

It all starts here .....
Glass, ceramics, metal bits from the Bisbee bottle dump, Gleeson Ghost Town adobes, or my own back yard. Here in the desert of Arizona the mining towns seem to be well littered with old broken glass and interesting other bits and pieces. Every year, after the Summer rains, more bits pop up in my back yard.









Last season I bought a rock tumbler, mainly to use with the glass. It's interesting colors and shapes, but I needed to knock off the sharp edges. No ocean here, but I end up with beach glass when I get done tumbling things.








Some of the pieces are just beautiful the way they are and I have been selecting my favorites and putting them into a straight sided vase on the window sill. Besides, they are too chunky and large to make into something wearable.






Now I've a couple of new bottles that will get broken up and tumbled. I can't believe I actually bought some wine just for the container colors. I like the idea of the mossy green glass with the deep cobalt blue.



The end result will be wearable, or at least I hope so. This necklace is a selection of tumbled ceramic pieces. I'll use adhesive copper tape around the edges, solder over that then solder jump rings to the edges. That way I can join the pieces together. This particular piece will be for a historical Archaeologist who taught me to identify broken dishes over two summers. I enjoy the fact that she will be able to wear artifacts like those that she has put on display in a museum.
I am sorting through the glass pieces that are done for other combinations that might work. The other that I think will make an outstanding piece is the great sun-purpled glass. It's such a nice soft unusual color.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:28 PM

    Judith, that looks like so much fun to do. "Old" things call to me when I see them. I feel compelled to take care of them. You must feel like a kid in a candy store when you look for the new things that pop up in the yard. I'm so jealous!

    Hugs, Libby

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  2. Where is the Bisbee Bottle Dump? Thank you

    ReplyDelete