engraving/scrimshaw on Mother of Pearl (in color too, oooh!)

[KatherinePlumer]

Hi All. Since I haven't posted new stuff in AGES I thought I'd show you something REALLY new. I'm still doing lots of scrimshaw on ivory of course, but have been branching out and taking some new roads lately too. Among those things has been to do a little more work on Mother of Pearl.

This one will be shown at an art show next month.

"Cloud Runner"
7/8 by 2-1/2 inches

Years ago I did a color piece on MOP, and swore I'd never do it again. :beatup: But then I decided I'd rather figure it out than let it beat me, so I tried again:

swan pendant
1-1/4 inches diameter

Worked out rather well! It's a whole different beast than ivory, for sure, and is MUCH more difficult to work with, but hey, it can be done! :banana:

-Katherine

 

[Marrinan]

That is really cool! Really Really Cool! Fred

 

[Beathard]

Both are beautiful.

 

[golden forge]

Wow, very nice work Katherine.

 

[JJ Roberts]

Katherine, You always amaze us with your artistic talent, are you going to join us at Scotts engrave-in? Keep up the good work. J.J.

 

[silverchip]

I really like the horse on MOP, Is it for sale??

 

[oiseau metal arts]

REALLY loving the horse in pearl!!

 

[monk]

fascinating stuff you do. what sort of tool point/ geometry do you use to work your mop pieces ? i wouldn't attempt this, but am just curious.

 

[James Roettger]

The play of light from the pearl is fantastic on the horse. Great work.

 

[scott99]

I like the color of the MOP and the horse is super nice.I do a bit of carving and try and find a place for MOP when I can, it just looks like captured light to me, the Horse looks like it is floating on light. Super nice.

scott99

 

[rod]

Wonderful work, Katherine,

Can the word chatoyance be used here legitimately, to describe the effect of the MOP on the horse scrim? Whether or not, it is a lovely interaction that is very appealing.

best

Rod

 

[Chujybear]

Yeah. Mother of pearl will exhibit chatoyancy.

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Katherine, sure you are an expert on these kind of art. I don't know that much about how you are doing these but sure I like it. Always a pleasure looking at your work and seeing you exploring new methods.
thanks for showing

arnaud

 

[Sam]

Stunning work Katherine! So happy to see you posting photos :clapping:

 

[Mike Fennell]

The iridescent pastels of the mother of pearl makes a great background for your artwork. I especially like the horse.

 

[KatherinePlumer]

Thank you everyone!

JJ- unfortunately I won't make it to the Engrave In this year. It always worked out pretty well when it was right after the Blade Show (then again I didn't attend Blade Show this year either) but the timing doesn't work out for this time of year. I'll miss seeing everyone!

Silverchip- it is indeed for sale! I'll send you a message.

Monk- no particular geometry, all this was done with needle points and x-acto blades. It might work out well with a bulino point, I'll have to try that some time!

Rod- definitely some serious chatoyance going on here. These pieces look COMPLETELY different when the lighting changes. The pics posted earlier in this thread are done on a flatbed scanner, so they are capturing how the light hits the piece from that particular direction (which shows the engraving detail the best, and shows the color of my work the best, but doesn't necessarily show the color of the MOP the best). They're really much cooler when seen in person.

-Katherine

 

[mtgraver]

Katherine
I love the MOP pieces and find the horse especially intriguing.
Mark

 

[monk]

katherine: must you back up these pieces with something more durable, or is the material pretty resistant to "wear & tear" ? how thick is the mop you use for your pendants ? just curious, as i'm most fascinated with all that you do.