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Feb. 1st, 2006 08:05 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
ksirafai.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
zg_shadowsBecause I do as I'm bid and make Sally's new pet project popular... ;)
I’d like to commission a piece, please.
Yes, I understand you’re not…
I give you the money. You buy the gem and metals, and you’ll set it for me.
I’d like a ring, please. Diamond set in white gold. Make the gold look like a rose.
I understand your concern. I know you’re capable of doing what I want you to.
Yes. I’ll send you a photograph and the measurements.
You have a sennight from when the materials are provided.
...yes. A week.
Goodbye, Ms. Allan.
***
A week later, with nothing to work from but a bad Polaroid and his voice on the phone, I made something. White wasn’t very traditional for roses, so I went with the implication. My portfolio’s a little erratic, but one thing everyone’s said is that I improvise well on a theme, so his rose ring was more of a crown of thorns wrapping around the finger, set with a single rose in the centre and a couple of tiny buds – I didn’t think he’d begrudge me two 0.2 carats after he was prepared to shell out for the single carat and the gold. The buds could maybe have been frozen dew as well; there weren’t any leaves. Wearing it (I do that with all of my pieces, just to get a feel of them) felt heavy and ungainly, but it looked great. Like barbed wire wrapped round most of my index finger, a trail sliding up over the joints.
He actually came in to collect it – I was a bit surprised at how he looked. From the voice, I’d been expecting someone older, more frail – he walked like he owned the place, and the only time his face had any expression was when he looked at the ring and smiled.
Most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen, and I’ve met my dad.
***
Good evening, Ms. Allan.
I’d like you to make something else for me.
Yes, the first one was perfect.
Yes. This time, a tie pin. In pewter. A sceptre, surmounted by the chess symbol for a king.
No, no gems. Just the metal.
A week, then.
***
Pewter’s awful for making things like that out of. It’s too heavy, never polishes up well and you can’t make it look good. So… that sounds like someone being insulted, to me. I made it and checked the weight on a few ties, from really nice heavy silk to a cheap knockoff from Tescos. It was that nearly-perfect where it just pulls on the collar a tiny bit too much unless you fasten the tie pin to the shirt itself, which makes it far more awkward to wear comfortably. Clean lines, quite bare of ornamentation, just the chess image.
He came in again, and I almost looked forward to it – I’d forgotten, till he appeared, how twitchy he made me. But he’d given me two interesting commissions so far, and I needed to get known.
I asked him if I could use pictures of the pieces for my portfolio.
I almost wished I’d swallowed my tongue instead of speaking…
***
Good evening, Jade.
I have another commission for you.
A brooch made to look like a commedia dell’arte mask. I leave the particulars to your taste.
Gold and enamel, please.
It may take you longer, but sadly I do not have longer to give you. A week, as before.
***
To my taste? I liked that… It sounded like he was actually appreciating what I’d done so far, so I did my best. I’ve always been a little fond of Pierrot, so I made a little Columbine for him – slightly Egyptian-death-mask, but you can’t have everything when you’re working in gold and enamels. It did take far longer than the others – you have to bake enamels very carefully for each layer of colour, but the end result I was incredibly pleased with. She was perfect, absolutely stunning. It almost seemed a waste she was only a brooch instead of a proper mask or a real person.
He smiled as he paid for that one.
***
I’d had a few commissions between his, and all the while they’d got easier or more boring. It got to the point that when someone asked for something bespoke, I’d ask them to leave it with me and come back in a few days.
It’s surprisingly easy to make something people appreciate – and something that niggles at the back of their mind for no real reason. Like the girl who’s a bit on the skinny side getting given a little charm for her bracelet that looks like an apple to start with, but if you see it from the right angle, you can see the Venus of Willendorf.
***
It took me a few years to get good enough, I think. I learnt a lot about how to read the customers and how to say the right things, and even had a few little exhibitions where some people actually bought off the shelf. It was slightly odd, watching the show and trying to match up the people with the pieces.
Mainly because I got it right far too often, as time went on.
***
I’d like to commission a piece, please.
Yes, I understand you’re not…
I give you the money. You buy the gem and metals, and you’ll set it for me.
I’d like a ring, please. Diamond set in white gold. Make the gold look like a rose.
I understand your concern. I know you’re capable of doing what I want you to.
Yes. I’ll send you a photograph and the measurements.
You have a sennight from when the materials are provided.
...yes. A week.
Goodbye, Ms. Allan.
***
A week later, with nothing to work from but a bad Polaroid and his voice on the phone, I made something. White wasn’t very traditional for roses, so I went with the implication. My portfolio’s a little erratic, but one thing everyone’s said is that I improvise well on a theme, so his rose ring was more of a crown of thorns wrapping around the finger, set with a single rose in the centre and a couple of tiny buds – I didn’t think he’d begrudge me two 0.2 carats after he was prepared to shell out for the single carat and the gold. The buds could maybe have been frozen dew as well; there weren’t any leaves. Wearing it (I do that with all of my pieces, just to get a feel of them) felt heavy and ungainly, but it looked great. Like barbed wire wrapped round most of my index finger, a trail sliding up over the joints.
He actually came in to collect it – I was a bit surprised at how he looked. From the voice, I’d been expecting someone older, more frail – he walked like he owned the place, and the only time his face had any expression was when he looked at the ring and smiled.
Most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen, and I’ve met my dad.
***
Good evening, Ms. Allan.
I’d like you to make something else for me.
Yes, the first one was perfect.
Yes. This time, a tie pin. In pewter. A sceptre, surmounted by the chess symbol for a king.
No, no gems. Just the metal.
A week, then.
***
Pewter’s awful for making things like that out of. It’s too heavy, never polishes up well and you can’t make it look good. So… that sounds like someone being insulted, to me. I made it and checked the weight on a few ties, from really nice heavy silk to a cheap knockoff from Tescos. It was that nearly-perfect where it just pulls on the collar a tiny bit too much unless you fasten the tie pin to the shirt itself, which makes it far more awkward to wear comfortably. Clean lines, quite bare of ornamentation, just the chess image.
He came in again, and I almost looked forward to it – I’d forgotten, till he appeared, how twitchy he made me. But he’d given me two interesting commissions so far, and I needed to get known.
I asked him if I could use pictures of the pieces for my portfolio.
I almost wished I’d swallowed my tongue instead of speaking…
***
Good evening, Jade.
I have another commission for you.
A brooch made to look like a commedia dell’arte mask. I leave the particulars to your taste.
Gold and enamel, please.
It may take you longer, but sadly I do not have longer to give you. A week, as before.
***
To my taste? I liked that… It sounded like he was actually appreciating what I’d done so far, so I did my best. I’ve always been a little fond of Pierrot, so I made a little Columbine for him – slightly Egyptian-death-mask, but you can’t have everything when you’re working in gold and enamels. It did take far longer than the others – you have to bake enamels very carefully for each layer of colour, but the end result I was incredibly pleased with. She was perfect, absolutely stunning. It almost seemed a waste she was only a brooch instead of a proper mask or a real person.
He smiled as he paid for that one.
***
I’d had a few commissions between his, and all the while they’d got easier or more boring. It got to the point that when someone asked for something bespoke, I’d ask them to leave it with me and come back in a few days.
It’s surprisingly easy to make something people appreciate – and something that niggles at the back of their mind for no real reason. Like the girl who’s a bit on the skinny side getting given a little charm for her bracelet that looks like an apple to start with, but if you see it from the right angle, you can see the Venus of Willendorf.
***
It took me a few years to get good enough, I think. I learnt a lot about how to read the customers and how to say the right things, and even had a few little exhibitions where some people actually bought off the shelf. It was slightly odd, watching the show and trying to match up the people with the pieces.
Mainly because I got it right far too often, as time went on.
***
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