Something Blue in Realistic Drawings

by Toni Tensen
(Seattle, Washington)

Tucked inside a mahogany linen press realistic drawings of jewelry sit in neat stacks. Welcome to my atelier. From this nook I am alternately creator, technician, and director of a one-of-a-kind costume jewelry micro-business. At the outset of World War I, an "idle capital" tax was threatened on precious jewelry. French women, ever resourceful, turned to exotic jewelry as it was made from heavy glass beads from China, and would be tax exempt.

The image on this page is a sketch for a necklace inspired by Lalique, a nineteenth century French jeweler. He is known for using enamel, glass, hard and precious stones to create pieces that resembled works of art rather than pieces to be worn.

You can see in the picture that I'm considering using a blue as well as black enamel for highlights in the flower. It can take a few months just to get the design before I start a detailed rendering. As I am the technician on each piece, I don't feel the need to create a computer generated rendering.

If you're not familiar with enameling it's applying powdered glass and then firing it to melt the glass. Thin metal wires can be used to contain the glass powder for firing. Look closely and you will see them in the preliminary drawing at top. My kiln is a tabletop model that weighs 24 pounds (10.8862 kgs).

Visiting a museum, walking around outside, looking at plants and animals are endless sources of inspiration for my work.