Finally finished the tattoo machine for the "Beneath the Skin" exhibition in Sheffield next month! I'm so relieved at getting this main part completed and I can now concentrate on the supplementary pieces which are also going to the show.
The missing ring from my previous post turned up - at the bottom of the ultrasonic tank. It had slipped off the hook and while I didn't remember taking it out of the tank, assumed that I had when it wasn't there. That'll teach me! Two rings for the collection are now also complete:
I've a few more pieces in the same style to work on:
I'm not really sure that I've enjoyed this process: it has been very constrained - no found objects, no corroded iron, only one type and shape of gemstone - and has taxed my ingenuity. What I have learned from it is that when I am working on one of my more usual pieces, I have a tendency to improvise on the sketches and probably rely on that improvisation to create what most people would see as my "style", even when the finished piece looks a lot like the drawings in the sketch-book.