These earrings are part of my range “I used to be a hot water cylinder”. Turning junk into beautiful jewelry is something I love to do, and one of my favorites is cutting up pieces of hot water cylinders and turning them into wearable art. “I Used To Be A Hot Water Cylinder” Spiral Earrings by Annie Desantis
The disks were hand cut and hammered over concrete to create a rough knobbly texture, which is perfect for building up the patina process. The hot water cylinders already have some interested aged patina, but these earrings have several process (top secret!) that I use to build layers of gorgeous verdigris. I then wax the disks to protect them.
These earrings are assembled with pure silver wire, hammered copper wire (both recycled) and old Tibetan beads made from coral and turquoise chips. The ear wires are Sterling silver.
These dainty fine silver earrings are made from PMC – precious metal clay. This wondrous stuff is made from recycled or reclaimed silver ground into a clay binder. This opens up so many possibilities for creating jewelry – carved, stamped, rolled, shaped. The clay binder burns off on firing and we are left with pure silver.
Fine Silver (PMC) Earrings by Annie Desantis
The small circles are shaped and cut and stamped with a spiral pattern before firing. Threaded with a recycled red glass bead on hand made sterling silver ear wires.
The patina is added in the recesses as a final step to make the spiral pattern pop – then the earrings are polished and protected with micro crystalline wax.
Fine Silver circlespiral earrings (PMC) by Annie Desantis
These fine silver geometric earrings are made from Precious Metal Clay – fantastic stuff, that is pure recycled silver blended into a clay binder.
PMC – pure silver rectangle geometric earrings by Annie Desantis
Rolled, shaped and textured, the piece is left to dry, then fired to burn off the clay binder. And we then have a solid piece of pure silver.
I have attached good quality sterling silver wires to the earrings, added patina to define the geometric pattern, then polished.
Because these are pure silver earrings, they won’t tarnish like sterling silver will. So apart from a gentle clean in warm water, they will not need any polishing – in fact polishing will remove the patina. I have protected the pieces with micro-crystalline wax.
Pure Silver (PMC) geometric rectangle earrings by Annie Desantis
These earrings are made from pure silver precious metal clay (PMC). I have fallen in love with PMC the possibilities are endless! PMC is reclaimed silver from silver nitrate in old films. Ground into a clay binder it can then be worked like porcelain clay. So suits my recycling criteria perfectly.
Pure Silver (PMC) floral heart earrings by Annie Desantis
After shaping, carving or stamping, it is left to dry, then sanded and cleaned up before firing. Firing burns off the clay binder and we are left with pure silver.
The floral heart earrings are attached to sterling silver earwires which is a bit more robust than pure silver. I add patina, and polish to get the gorgeous pattern more defined.
Art and Jewelry created from recycled and transformed materials
