I designed a one-of-a-kind crow pendant for Lancaster County's "Something to Crow About" Festival. First, I did some research on crows to get an idea of what their distinguishing features look like, especially their feet and beaks.
I laid out the pendant in Rhino, and spent a lot of time nudging around the feathers to get them to lay and overlap properly to resemble a crow's feathers. Then I milled the pendant in two parts: the body, and the head. That way I could get more detail on the head.
Once the head and body were milled, I used a ball burr and my flex shaft to carve the shoulders so the head would nestle into the shoulders perfectly. Finally, I attached the two parts with a wax pen and blended the seam with my wax working tools.
Above you can see the finalized rendering. It was cast in sterling silver, and I decided to highlight the elaborate feather details with an oxidized finish. This piece was exhibited at the Manheim Township Public Library to kick off Lancaster County's 2018 "Something To Crow About" festival. You can read more about the festival here.
xo,
Christine