Ring by Sam Patania
Some of my work is influenced by ancient metal work I see in books or museums. A few years ago my kids and I went to LACOMA to see the Egyptian exhibit, it was the second Tut exhibit. I saw the first one too in San Francisco which I toured think the US in the 1970’s. I try to look at all the metal work I can find, in books, magazines, museums, online and for sale in galleries. I am always looking for jewelry or metal sculpture.
The second Tut exhibit was really rich in metal objects. I also love Roman work and the two bracelets I wear all the time are simple forged pieces, very plain. I left the hammer marks on my bracelets and did very little finishing. I’ll post pictures in the future of these bracelets. I call them friendship bracelets after the bracelets I saw in Mexico which were woven and very simple and inexpensive. I wanted to make a friendship bracelet in metal. Some of the work I love the most is very simple.
These two rings are very simple, the one at the top of the post is an 18K gold band I stamped and file formed. I wanted it to have a Roman feel. A friend of mine bought this ring for his wedding band, I have known him since grade school. I loved the simplicity of it which also had some style, not plain and not over done.
This, as most of my work is, is fabricated giving it more of a nice feel. I have always felt that fabricated pieces feel better than cast. Wax carving can be a high art but 95% of all jewelry sold is cast very thin and cheap. In fact Walmart has been the leading seller of jewelry for many years world wide. As a matter of history I can only assume that the work sold in venues like Walmart reflect our times where there are few people willing to stand out. Price certainly has much to do with sales at Walmart but, the work doesn’t have to be boring just to be inexpensive. Boring is easy to manufacture so price is held down. Boring is a new common classic. Anyone brave enough to come to a studio artist is breaking a mold just by walking in. My clients are looking for value in uniqueness.
Ring by Sam Patania
This is a forged ring in which I set a Jeff Graham cut tourmaline ( www.faceters.com) . It is a very simple ring where I wanted the gold to have some personality but, when I set one of Jeff’s stones, it is the center piece. The design is off center and flows around the finger of the wearer as well as the stone itself. This ring was also fabricated, that is made of sheet gold.
I hope when they dig up some of my family’s work in two thousand years it is not mistaken for Walmart! I don’t think so.
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