2020-05-01_Lapidary_Journal_Jewelry_Artist

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HIS BEAUTIFUL MOOKAITE

stone was part of the fi rst

purchase I ever made at

the annual Tucson shows. I got this

stone — and a second mookaite

that was more asymmetrical —

from Barlow’s Gems at the Arizona

Mineral & Fossil Show several years

ago. I happened to be with Lapidary

Journal Jewelry Artist Editor-in-

Chief Merle White when I made this

purchase.

I’ll never quite forget that fi rst day

at the shows. Not only was it the

fi rst time I met Merle in person (after

working together for two years), but

we did 13 shows in total together.

(She thinks it was “only” eight, but

who’s counting!) It was also the fi rst

time I met Managing Editor Karla

Rosenbusch and we did the Tucson

strip together. It’s now a tradition for

us to visit this mile of the I-10 service

drive with its terrifi c shows at motel,

courtyard, and tent venues strung

along its length. When I pitched the

idea of crafting a project for this

magazine, I knew I wanted to use

this stone because it holds a lot of

sentimental memory for myself and

the staff who work behind the scenes

on each issue of this magazine.

Everything that could go wrong

with this pendant did. This includes

cutting the bezel wire too short, fi ling

the bezel down so it was crooked,

multiple tries soldering since it didn’t

fl ow, and having my bezel wire fold

since it was somehow too tall.

When I called Merle and told her

about all the silly beginner mistakes

I was making, I asked her what I had

been asking myself in the furthest

reaches of my mind during the whole

process. How could I compare to

many of the artists you see in the

pages of the magazine — the Lexi

Ericksons, Bill Fretzes, and John

Heuslers?

Merle reminded me of an important

rule in metalsmithing that day: all

the artists you see in the pages of

this magazine were beginners once.

All metalsmiths, no matter how

advanced into their career, start from

the beginning as beginners. With a

lot of practice and time, they grow

their skills. So can you, so am I. Don’t

ever be afraid to show your work to

the world because of mistakes. Those

mistakes help you grow as an artist

and advance your craft.

BEZEL AND PLATE

1

Start by forming your bezel

wire to fi t your stone. One tip I

learned, after cutting my wire too

short the fi rst time, was to measure

just a bit extra initially. Then, anneal

your wire, measure again, and trim

to the correct size to fi t the stone.

The extra step will ensure a proper

fi t every time. File the ends of

your wire to ensure a tight fi t for

soldering

2

Solder the bezel together using

hard solder.

An open-backed design for a colorful mookaite

cabochon with a colorful personal history

By Ashley Lauwereins

First Tucson

Pendant

1 2

82 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST

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