Monday, September 28, 2009

The Heron Pendant



It was during a walk down the Twenty Mile bay beach at Harrison lake . With a friend on a late summer trip up the back roads outside of Vancouver .
 That I was surprised by a heavy wing beat overhead .
A magnificent Heron!
Camera already in hand , I set off in hot pursuit of my new subject . Whom was making a lazy flight up a dried-out stream bed . Not far along the heron alighted on the gravel and began to walk , exploring small pools . I followed in a stealthy run to catch up . With carefully placed footsteps so as not to disturb , snapping pictures all the way. The heron , seemingly unperturbed by my presence continued up the streambed from pool to pool until -
jackpot! the next pool , this one larger than the rest was teeming with small fish landlocked within with the days of spring runoff long since past .
A glorious feast for a hungry heron !
Taking my cue , I made the most of the opportunity by inching in for some
ultra close ups . My presence , now perhaps too close for
comfort was cause enough for the heron to momentarily
pause its dinner . And after a moment of thought , the
heron took to the air again and made a short flight to
the next pool .
Satisfied with my bounty of photos and not wanting to
interrupt any further ,
I bid my new friend farewell.
Later at my workbench , being inspired by this
experience I decided I would recreate the heron
in gold and platinum .In order to represent the scene in
the way I remembered it , I needed to produce a number of new effects . Most importantly a gravel effect . As other methods had proven unsatisfactory , I had to developed several new chasing tools . These I used to place one by one each stone in the gravel bed .
Also I wanted a new background pattern  , this I was able to produce from another new chasing tool .
Combining these elements together with the developments and
techniques learned from previous pieces ,
 and many of hours of work later .

The Heron Pendant was Born!

14 K Rose , White , Green , & Yellow Gold . with 90/10 IR Platinum . 52 mm x 34 mm
13.3 gr. Total Wt.

1 comment:

  1. It is beautiful how you make it look so effortless...inspired to recreate the heron in gold and platinum! An ibis in the Nile of ancient days would be so lucky to have you portray their graceful steps in the light. Excellent work, as always.

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