Pendant Pencil Patterns

Beothuk Pendant progress

I made some progress on the Beothuk bone pendant reproductions.  I have the blanks finished and some of the major incised decorations carved.  I don't usually incise all the lines in one session.  Maybe its just my short attention span and the tendency of the pencil lines to smudge, but I usually incise the long outlines first and then mark out and add the short ticks and pattern details in a second and sometimes third carving session.  I use a dremel tool to carve the incised lines.

Checking them against the patterns

These are the pendants made from the caribou mandible blanks. The three pronged pendant is a new blank. Originally, I'd made a blank for that piece from the ascending ramus of a caribou mandible (the part that attaches to the skull), but it turned out to be too thin and fragile. The new blank is made from the body of the mandible, under the teeth - the same as the other two pendants.

Most of our basement look like this

The pendants aren't the only thing I'm working on - they are just the least repetitive things to blog about.  There are still dozens and dozens of points to knap and assemble into jewelry for spring wholesale orders.  That's what is filling up most of my days and nights, although Lori and I did get away to her parents cabin for a nice mother's day visit with the family, yesterday.  A highlight for me was the frequent visits from the new ravens living on an island in the middle of the pond.

A pair of ravens moved into the neighbourhood of Lori's parent' cabin.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast