RING No. 31

Well folks, one month down, and 11 more to go!

I met Sarah Jane, Wes and Brian at PB......I had amazing tilapia!
Afterwards, we hung out at Brian's and Wes Airgood gave me a key ring to use for one of my rings. Thanks Wes!...He recommended that I tension set a stone in it....I doubted that I actually could, but sure enough, I did it! Hooray! The stone is a sky blue topaz. Well I have a busy day tomorrow! I'm hittin the hay!


Materials: Steel key ring, sky blue topaz
Dimensions: .75 x .75 x .125

RING No. 30

Recently I found some awesome neutral grey plastic tubing at All Media. It's smooth buttery hue was impossible to resist. I cut it into small lengths and hooked them together with silver wire. Due to the expansive amount of color that I am constantly surrounded by at my studio desk (I'll post images in a day or so) I have been interested in wearing and enjoying neutral and muted tones. Also, I have drawn inspirations from something I recently discovered called fleabags, which is a company that offers beautiful eco-bags that are handmade in New York. I was especially inspired by the original fleabag in "pebble" as well as "satellite". They are made with a combination of vintage, organic, and "green" materials. Right up my alley!

I love the simplicity of this ring. It fits my mood at the current time perfectly.

Materials: sterling silver and plastic
Dimensions: 1 x 1 x .1875 inches

RING No. 29

When I got to the studio after the Exsquisite Corpse show, I found some old aviator sunglasses that were broken. I cut some parts off, and located a cubic zirconia pendant that I had found months ago. I bent the frames and attached the pendant.


Materials: sunglass frame, found pendant with cubic zirconia
Dimensions: 1.875 x 1 x 1 inches

RING No. 28

Today was a good day. It did not start so well though... I overslept and got to school late. But once I started working, things got better. I worked on casting some pieces for my upcoming MFA candidacy review. Later on, I held a help session for my Intro students and I think it went well. Only about half the class showed up, but that is better than none at all. After I was done at the studio, I went to Cleveland for a opening at MOCA. It was amazing. Lori Ott's work was beautiful. I had a favorite. The first one on the wall. I wish it were on my wall!

Anyways, on the way home from the show, (I was riding with Sarah Jane and Wes Airgood), I was talking about todays ring and what it would be... Wes talked about setting stones and mentioned pop tabs.. well that got my brain turning. When I got back to the studio, I dug out these fluorite stones that I have had for almost 5 years. I found some scrap aluminum that was laying around, and a straight cotter pin(look it up if you don't know what it is).


Materials: cotter pin, aluminum, fluorite
Dimensions: 1.125 x .875 x .875 inches

RING No. 27

Danielle Stennett, a fellow grad at KSU has been saving tons of tea packages, tags, and strings for me. My favorite one was the package an Oolong tea came in. It is a beautiful soft pinky lilac with a blue violet writing and design on it. I cut a simple ring from the bag and some lines that help show definition of the tea bag form depicted on the paper. Thanks for the awesome materials Danielle!


Materials: paper tea bag package
Dimensions: 2.5 x 1 x 1.5 inches

RING No. 26

Years ago, I picked up a black walnut off the ground in South Carolina. It was already cracked open and starting to dry out. I saw the inside and thought it was beautiful. It has been stored in my drawer caddy for some time now until tonight! I took out one of the halves and began to carve/file away at it. I found a wolf first, then came the fox, next the butterfly, and lastly, the owl. Tonight's ring is an animal ring. It is lightweight and smooth.


Materials: walnut hull
Dimensions: 1.25 x 1 x .625 inches

RING No. 25

Over winter break, my sister gave me a bag full of goodies. It contained a few sponges, some random key chains, red bull tabs, milk carton tabs, and plastic containers that come out of the 50-cent "junk machines" (as she calls them) at grocery stores. The sponges were advertisement give-aways for Mahatma rice that I believe she got at a race she ran last year. They were like those condensed sponges that I saw recently at Williams and Sonoma that have all the moisture taken out so that they take up less space. I have always liked that genie on the packages of Mahatma, so I decided to cut him out along with the letter "a". I cut the sponge into the desired shape (it was formerly a rectangle) and then wet it. The depth measurement of the sponge increased by 400%!


Material: sponge
Dimensions: 1.75 x 1.375 x .5 inches

RING No. 24

Today's ring is very delicate and simple. I cut a knife, fork, and spoon out of silver, filed and sanded them, and then soldered them together. Now I have a mini utensil pinky ring!


Materials: sterling silver
Dimensions: .625 x .625 x .125 inch

RING No. 23

Tonight's ring takes me way back..... back to Winthrop University and the good old days of undergrad. One day, while in the Metals studio, my friend, Alex came in and asked if he could borrow a jewelers saw to cut something out of his zinc printmaking plate (Intaglio). I said of course! When he was done, I asked what he was going to do with the scrap piece, he was going to discard it, so I jumped at the chance to snag it for future use! It was a rather charming slightly agitated creature. I cut him out of the larger piece and tucked that little critter away.

I thought, what better time to make use of him than now! I created a sterling silver setting with a hammered ovular disc shape that could be viewed as a planet in the background. I had several classes with Alex (mostly foundations), so I knew him since I came to Winthrop. He was a really cool guy with a sense of humor and I always admired his work. I actually have a piece in my room on a shelf, I believe he called them "Luddites". It is an alien like creature with an eye patch (and formerly a cigarette in its mouth, which has sense vanished) in a pod form that has legs and arms. I bought it at his senior show that was held in the McLaurin 3rd Floor Galleries.

Now I can remember my buddy and his awesome work every time I see this ring!


Materials: engraved zinc, sterling silver
Dimensions: 1.25 x 1.375 x .75 inches

RING No. 22

It is a shame that styrofoam is not recyclable in most cities and counties. I usually try to reuse it by having it function as packaging when shipping something. I have saved some of the interesting pieces though, and tonight one particular piece makes its debut! This ring makes me think of ice or the foam at the edge of the sea...


Materials: found styrofoam cast into resin, (cut, carved, sanded, and lightly polished)
Dimensions: 1.25 x 1.25 x .3125 inches

RING No. 21

Tonight's ring is simple and fun! It is made of sterling silver (formed, soldered, filed, sanded, and polished) and naturally shed macaw feathers. The band has a light hammered texture. Hope you enjoy it!


Materials: Macaw feathers, Sterling silver, adhesive
Dimensions: 2.75 x 1.25 x .5 inches

RING No. 20

Today's ring is GREEN and BIODEGRADABLE....

Among the many discarded things that i collect, are the tags and strings from tea bags. Ever since I lived with the Muellers, I have loved drinking hot tea. So, with every cup I (and my friends) drink, the collection builds. My favorite tea is STASH blueberry. It is caffeine free and delicious! It is naturally sweet and does not even need sugar or honey! Try it sometime, it comes in a vivid blue box.

I cut, sewed, curled, and strung each tag. I used the tea string as thread to sew them together.


Materials: 11 tea bag tags and string
Dimensions: 2 x 2 x .75 inches

RING No. 19

Well, today's original ring was going just fine, and something went wrong at the last minute in the studio.... so I came home and made something else. I call tonight's ring "Mr. T and the Sea"....

Hopefully I can rework the other ring and it will make its debut in a day or so....

The coral came from one of my trips to a South Carolina beach ( I have a large collection of coral). The chain, I am pretty sure was from my sister Sarah about 2 years ago. (small portion of a larger chain), The wire was from a bottle of Coppola Black Label Claret, and the gold paint is the same one that I mentioned in the post about Ring No. 13.


Materials: Found coral, gold paint, found gold chain, and brass wire
Dimensions: 1.5 x 1.25 x .75 inches

RING No. 18

Years ago, while I was doing my undergraduate studies at Winthrop University, I found a chunk of unclaimed plastic. I asked around and no one knew whose it was, so I tucked it away for future use. It stayed packed away with all my other plastic scraps until I moved to Kent, Ohio for grad school. I rekindled my love for plastics and took them all out and started thinking... It sat on my desk for a while until one day someone said, "Tabitha, there is something glowing on your desk! I saw it last night when I turned out the lights in the studio". I was baffled! I am fascinated by glow-in-the-dark stuff, but I certainly didn't have anything like that in the studio.....or did I? Come to find out, this beautiful piece of discarded plastic also glows!

While I was in South Carolina for Christmas break, I got a chance to meet up with Mike Gentry (fellow Winthrop Alum) to see his new work and awesome studio. When I was leaving his studio, I found a plastic light bulb casing outside on the ground. It must have come from some of the lights that are draped all over downtown (which is where Mike's studio is). It was chipped on the open end and there was paint on it, but I saw potential.

This brings me to my idea for the ring. I filed away at the block of plastic until I had enough to fill the bulb. I poured a new batch of resin and mixed it with the glow shavings. I poured it into the bulb and let it set. Meanwhile, I made a silver ring to set the bulb in. I formed, soldered, filed, sanded, and polished the ring before pouring a light layer of resin inside to set the bulb in. I am really excited about this ring! I want to wear it everywhere!


Materials: Sterling silver, found plastic, plastic glow shavings, and resin
Dimensions: 2.125 x .875 x .875 inches

RING No. 17

About a year ago, I found a piece of wood with a knot in it... I found the shape to be particularly interesting, so I kept it. When rummaging through my collection of wood pieces, I came upon it and thought the circumference of the knot would be the perfect size for a ring! I drilled through the knot and sawed the rest out. After I filed and sanded it, I waxed it for a smooth finish. The result is a simple wooden ring that fits my pinky finger.

Materials: found wood
Dimensions: 2.75 x .75 x .5 inches

RING No. 16

Good evening! Tonight's ring is made from a "Little Slipper Shell" also called a "Boat Shell". Every since I was a small child, I have collected shells from east coast beaches (Mostly South Carolina). I have saved every single one! Perhaps in hopes of creating something with them one day and partially because I am just a collector by nature (like my father). This shell was partially damaged with a gaping hole in it. I saw potential and decided to hollow the hole out further and make it smooth and inviting. I have listed a photo below of what the shell looks like when it is in perfect condition (top and bottom).  I filed the inside edge and then sanded it lightly. I have gathered that most shells can be very delicate, depending on the stage of decomposition they are in. This particular one was quite calcified. The sanding was easy and the edges became smooth quickly.


Materials: Found shell
Dimensions: 1.625 x 1.125 x .4375 inches