World Jade Symposium – Mercy Flows – Bronze Award!

Posted on Nov 25, 2014

$395| Getting Started | The Tools | Pendant Creation | Finished Pendant | Sculpture Creation | Finished Sculpture Finally!  It’s finished!  I’m happy to announce that this entry won a Bronze Award at the 2014 World Jade Symposium! MERCY FLOWS by Kerry Jo Montoya, © 2014 My sin was paid With mighty throes Encased in jade His mercy flows Cross Pendant with .925 Sterling Silver Wrap & 16” Chain Wyoming Nephrite Jade, 72mm x 47 mm Lightning Ridge Black Opal 1.5 ct A few years ago I had a batch of potch & color from Lightning Ridge Australia.  While cutting into the parcel I discovered a very unique streak of opal that you see here in this piece.  I immediate knew what I wanted to do but did not yet have the skills to properly set it.  So I tuck away the gemstone for a later date. Happily the World Jade Symposium presented me with the perfect opportunity to create a very unique & beautiful setting creating a perfect duo of excellence. Price: $395.00 USD More Views     Click below on Sculpture Creation to continue. Getting Started | The Tools | Pendant Creation | Finished Pendant | Sculpture Creation | Finished Sculpture...

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Sweet Story about Jade

Posted on Nov 20, 2014

I was at my local Gemstone & Mineral Society meeting tonight and because of the my carving entries into the World Jade Symposium I had a lot of people talking to me about jade. One woman showed me a beautiful two sided flat carving of white nephrite jade. When she was a young woman she would cool it and would let her babies teeth on it. She carries it everywhere as now in her later years both of her adult children have passed.  It has become her token memento to keep their memories close at hand. Later in life she had the piece appraised and found out that it was from the Han Dynasty!  And yet, despite its financial value, the discovery only brings a keen twist of interest.  To her, it’s value as a memento makes it priceless.  Simply a beautiful touching...

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World Jade Symposium – Getting Started

Posted on Nov 1, 2014

Getting Started | The Tools | Pendant Creation | Finished Pendant | Sculpture Creation | Finished Sculpture Vancouver, BC Nov 21-23. This is my journey.  It was a LOT harder than I expected and I spent WAY too many hours and too much $$ on this.  LOL  But I am a artistically driven fool so…  😉 I ran by my local lapidary shop and found a nice supply of some old nephrite jade from Wyoming, US.  The owners father collected these a long time ago.  Even the stickers were yellow with age.  I lost track of time browsing through the treasure trove there but luckily I was able to find a few pieces that I deemed worthy before they kicked me out.  😀 The next day I grabbed a few of the smaller pieces, started up my Dremel flexshaft and got to work testing out the material. Let me tell you, I really like working in jade!  I’m a very tactile and jade fills my senses.  It’s visually beautiful. It has a luxurious feel to it.  AND it has a very delightful chime sound when clicked.  I was hooked. Then I set them and posted them to Etsy.   Next I wanted to try my hand at carving so I made this wing.  (Also on Etsy) I love my wing.  It worked great and let me know that I really COULD do this!  BUT, once I pushed my attempts further I run into the limitations of my tools.  The problems I ran into was that the Dremel creates a lot of chatter on the stone making it difficult.  It also has less torque than is recommended for lapidary work creating unrealistic time requirements for me.  But most importantly was that it seriously limited me on size.  I mean, think about it.  The largest cutting disk I could find was 2″.  That means I’ve only one an inch before my cut is stopped by the mandrel.   It just wasn’t going to work. So I began my search for tools.  Click below on The Tools to continue. Getting Started | The Tools | Pendant Creation | Finished Pendant | Sculpture Creation | Finished...

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