Recently I was asked to create a brooch as a retirement gift for a school administrator.  The school's mascot was a phoenix.  While I have taken several wax carving classes and carved wax before, I had never done anything quite so ornate or "precious" so to speak.  I was a bit overwhelmed, but because the school's board of directors had given me lots of time in which to complete the project, I decided to go for it.  I rationalized that if it did not turn out well, we still had plenty of time to find another brooch.  So I started with a round piece of wax and pasted an image of a phoenix on the top....and I started to carve.

The hands above are not mine!  That is my friend and mentor who talks me off the ledge on occasion and guides me when I cannot see the forest for the trees.  I am forever grateful to Raffi for his immense knowledge and willingness to share it.

Wax was removed using a variety of different tools - both power and hand. As you can see the wax slowly takes shape.  Once the paper image is removed, I marked the image with a sharpie to give guidelines of form and shape.

As more and more wax is removed, the process becomes looser and more intuitive.  The form organically takes shape based on the chosen tool and the amount of pressure applied.  

The final stages of preparing a wax for casting are the most tedious.  It is necessary to remove every scratch and nick, creating a smooth surface.  Any mark that is in the wax will show up in the metal, and it is  harder to remove inclusions from metal than from wax.  The picture on the right is very close to being ready.

I used the lost wax casting method to produce the model in 14K gold.  This traditional technique involves encompassing the wax in "investment" which cradles the wax and oozes into all its cracks and crevices.  The wax is then burned out in a special oven, leaving a cavity in the shape of the original.  Molten metal is  then poured into the cavity.  Once cooled, the investment is washed away to create a replica of the wax.

The picture above is how it looked when the casting was complete.  There was still much work to be done.  If you look closely, you will see marks and rough spots, all normal after a cast.  The metal was cleaned and polished using a variety of brushes,  compounds and tools.  The pin findings were soldered on the back, and a diamond was set in the eye.....

And the finished product....front and back!
It took more hours than I care to admit but it was gratifying and educational, and I look forward to the next project!

Hi there,
Welcome to my new website.  This launch is long overdue,  and I am finally making it happen.  I took my old website down well over a year ago and put up a "splash" page.  I had no idea what that meant until some young "techie" told me.  Anyway, I was recently rejected from a curated gallery website where artists sell their pieces.  I think it was because of my photography -more on that later.  I finally decided that I just need my own website, not a curated online store.  So here we are!  


Photographing jewelry is one of the hardest things to shoot - it is highly reflective and small.  I have all the gear, have taken online classes, have gotten lots of advice from my professional photographer friends.  It is just really difficult.  However, after years of working on this, I think I have finally achieved the status - "as good as it is going to get without hiring a professional".  The backgrounds are different even though each picture is lit identically in a light tent, and some pictures are ancient and have different backgrounds as well.  So as you look, try to ignore these annoying little details and let me know if you have any suggestions.  


Finally, please share this website with your friends and family.  You can sign up for my email blasts by using the contact page.  I rarely send things so your inbox will not blow up with Cary Calhoun Designs but you will be informed of upcoming events and trunk shows.

Thank you so much for checking this out!
Cary