Thanks Allan, for the opportunity to ride along with you for a bit!  
And just to remind you, Gary Dawson Designs is up for any design adventures that you may have to share!  We love our work!

Good day,  Good day!  We love all the new custom jewelry work we’ve been getting, and using the combination of traditional hand carving combined with 3D rapid prototyping, we’ve been popping out projects like crazy.  This is an example of the fun we’re having these days creating meaningful family heirlooms in the form of jewelry.
Ring commemorating a father/daughter relationship through the sport of basketball.
This ring utilizes the gemstone from a father’s older Masonic ring and the design symbolizes the strong connection of a father (a basketball coach) had with his daughter (a collegiate basketball star).  Each part of the ring is symbolic, from the arc a ball makes in a long shot swoosh to the way a player moves down the court.  From the ball itself to the coaches whistle, (on the far side of the ring in this view).  Executed in 14K white gold, designed in Rinoceros, a 3D modeling application with hand engraving accents around the gem, this ring has already become a family treasure.

Gary Dawson Designs is in Tucson!
Have to take off in a few minutes to set up for the wax carving seminar I’m giving this morning…but had a few minutes to indulge some outside time yesterday. 
“A” Mountain looms about a half mile from my sorta dumpy but very serviceable hotel here in Tucson and one way I break up my time here is to run/walk to it and climb it.
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​Don’t find those in the Cascades much.  In that I was without protection in the form of rope…and was climbing in running shoes, I found another route.

​This Masonic ring was commissioned by a lodge member with some fairly specific requirements as to the execution of the design but I was able to make some recommendations that we both feel made the ring even better.  Raising the Compass and Square off of a recessed area rather than a top surface will make it wear more durably and will preserve the detail achieved in this design.  This sort of project would simply not have been possible to execute with this precision or detail, by the way, without my B9 Creator, a 3D printer.

And one more interesting project, which will become part of our Available Now page are these Gingko earrings, done in this case in 14K yellow gold.  Since I use actual dried leaves to create this style of object, each pair (and each earring within the pair) will be unique.  These can be done in any precious metal alloy!
Thanks so much to the wonderful clients of  Gary Dawson Designs.  We like making meaningful jewelry, and you all mean the world to us!   And finally, a last reminder that we will be at the Tucson Gem and Mineral show very soon.  If there’s any gem material that you are craving, we can likely source it there for you!

For those of you that ever visited my old business in downtown Eugene or ever came out to my house, this will likely be sad news.  Kai Hasso passed away while in my arms this past Sunday.  He died of natural age-related causes, had a wonderful and full life as both the “Downtown Dog” that started the doggie-in-stores trend on Broadway, and my ever-present companion on my little property outside of Eugene.  He was healthy and alert right up to the last few days and he barked out a last “Thank You” to everybody that ever rubbed his head or gave him a treat…He is missed and always loved!
Life does go on…There’s lots of news and some very neat new stuff…will update with another post early next week.  Have to dry my eyes a bit now…

​The site was launched in June of 2011 and began 2012 with only a half year of business activity under its belt and yet made huge strides throughout 2012.  In February, National Jewelerrecognized Gary Dawson Designs with a feature article “About Retail: Selling the Store and Going Online”, and in June another publication, InStore Magazine featured GDD as “Best of the Best”!  And we went out with a bang in 2012, appearing in MJSA’s December Custom Jeweler within a feature about repurposing client jewelry.  There, in an article titled “Sensitive Side, the Emotional Aspect of Recycling Heirlooms” two very poignant stories from prior Gary Dawson projects are told.

This type of success does not happen in a vacuum and I want to express my deep and sincere gratitude to all of my new clients, family and friends that supported our efforts, and in particular, I want to say thanks to Mike, my web maven, “the one who understands!”
I’m looking forward to the New Year with the anticipation of new and exciting projects!  And we here wish all who read this a happy and prosperous 2013!!!

Happy postprandial!  Now that we are through the rigors of tryptophan exhaustion and past our “Black Friday” avoidance routine, we are solidly on production.  Thank you for thinking of Gary Dawson Designs for your memorable gifts!
And late Thanksgiving day, I found yet another thing for which to be thankful.  The long-awaited B9Creator software was released in an upgraded Beta version that inspired me to take the plunge into Rapid Prototyping.  Please look here if you are interested in the full journal of my first print success!  This new technology puts Gary Dawson Designs right on the cutting edge of jewelry design and manufacturing.  This advance in our ability to prototype right in our studio will help us to continue to take a few more special orders for the holiday season.  Call soon to insure timely delivery!

No obligatory gifts and (usually) no unreasonable expectations…just the three F’s!  That’s family, friends and food…lots of food, and usually pretty good food at that.  And that is why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  And here’s a treat for you to consider as part of your T-day fare.  But of course there’s a backstory…
I live very close to King Estate, one of the largest wine producers in Oregon.  They have a hilltop castle-like winery that has a reputation for good wine, pretty nice events and pretty decent food.  OK, so I’m jaded…I’m a pretty good cook myself and a foodie to boot!  I’ve been a wine club member at King Estate for years and have always wanted to attend a club release tasting event.  Time and circumstance have alway intervened.
Finally, just last night I attended one of these events with a friend.  The wines were nice of course, and in addition to the nice company, one thing really stood out…the hot, potato-salmon croquettes, with just a dollop of tartar sauce on top, that were being passed among the guests.  There were other light snacks…the chef’s take on Croque Monsieur with duck panchetta, and chanterelle-butternut squash pastry-puffs, but for me, the croquettes were the star of the culinary evening.  They smelled and tasted like my childhood!
My Mom’s instructions for making them were pretty (again, pretty…right?) simple…see the image of the 3×5 card that I wrote while on the phone with her one nostalgic afternoon years ago.

Since then, I’ve begun using panko for most breading and the photos of this batch made recently use that instead of cracker crumbs.  There is a more complex recipe on the Saveur Magazine website here, which I am passing along, but have to admit that I’ve never tried.  I love “Saveur” but Mom trumps any other source every time!!
These little crispy-on-the-outside, creamy-on-the-inside hot delights can make a really fine meal, and my experience last evening leads me to believe that instead of rolled into logs as depicted here,they can be rolled into fairly small (25 cent piece size) balls and served as aperitifs or as part of a snacking wine or cocktail-party atmosphere.

One reason I love my job so much is the continued learning.  There’s so much to know about every aspect of making custom jewelry that I usually feel like I’ve only scratched the surface in the almost 40 years that I’ve been doing this!  And about 3 months ago I embarked on a fresh learning curve that will/has opened up a whole new era in my design process…3D CAD (That’s three dimensional Computer Aided Design)  Actually, I’ve used computer design a fair amount in prior years through a process of computer graphics and light-sensitive polymers.  That is, I could render a black and white negative image and use it to expose a polymer that is designed to be water-soluble until it is cured with UV light.  After exposure, I could simply etch the polymer with water and a toothbrush to get a neat, though somewhat flat, raised relief design.  I did a whole series of Celtic rings using that technique and used it to produce championship rings for both the U of O woman’s and Iowa State woman’s basketball teams…great projects!!!
Iowa State Woman’s Basketball Championship rings
But now, using Rhinoceros, a 3D modeling system, I can create entire objects with my computer and either mill them on a 3-5 axis milling machine or “print” them using cutting-edge rapid prototyping technology.  In fact, my new 3D printer should arrive at my studio any day now!  Wahoo!!  This is a learning curve in progress, so watch for more interesting projects down the road!
This is my very first completed 3D CAD project.
CAD rendering of new ring
Designed to client specs and milled by my friend Gary Swank of Gary Swank Jewelers in Portland Or.  The project cast and finished perfectly!  The very rough finish is by design, exactly what the client wanted, in keeping with what the ring meant to him. The symbol at that top of the ring is surrounded by a porcelain ceramic inlay which is also meant to appear rough.  But even with the rougher finish, the exacting detail achieved by utilizing CAD is evident.  This project would have been nearly impossible had I not had that technology.

I’ve heard it said that men buy jewelry for three reasons only…love, lust or guilt.  About flowers, that I might believe, but in my almost 40 years of working with people to design and make custom jewelry, I think that the shine and polish of jewelry reflects more of life than the low-hanging fruit of love, lust and guilt.  I have written about popular culture and jewelry, reflected in the recently viral nature with which the book and movie, The Hunger Games, accelerated to widespread fame.  And now, soon, The Hobbit, due for release in December of this year, will reignite popular imagination with the precioussssnesssssss of jewelry.  I’m looking forward to this movie featuring (in no particular order) Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchette, Orland Bloom, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis and Martin Freeman, among others.
And speaking of December.  It isn’t commercialism…
…it’s reality for a custom jewelry design business.
I’m the sort of person that pretty much rails against any signs of end-o-year holiday much before the Thanksgiving holiday we have here in the USA.  But the truth is, if you have any remote thoughts of getting custom jewelry work done (by Gary Dawson Designs, of course) for the end of the year, it isn’t too early to start planning.  Right now, there’s plenty of time, but time flies and we are all on that flight.  My “average” turnover for most jobs is currently 6-8 weeks.  Some go longer…sourcing difficult materials, involved designs, and budgetary (client payment plan) issues all impact the timeliness of production.  And some go much shorter…creating an efficient production schedule means that sometimes I can complete a more simple project or two while I’m waiting on another client’s response or materials.  I try to work on a FIFO schedule, that is, First In First Out, or, trying to produce jobs in the order in which they came.  But that can vary a fair amount depending on the nature of the project as mentioned above.

Having recently been unencumbered of self-imposed ideas of commitment, I noticed an upcoming window in the seemingly perpetual rain that we’re having here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, USA.  I had wanted to take a quick trip to Bend, (who wouldn’t want to go there!) about two hours from my home in Eugene for a couple of reasons.  Both of them sort of business, sort of pleasure.  The rain finally quit yesterday and it looked good for at least 24 hours…So… jump on bike and go.
After landing in bend at my friend Waylon Rhoads home, (more about Waylon later) I contacted my acquaintance and I think new friend, Jim Dailing, a designer, teacher, and goldsmith with a life that has many parallels to my own.  Our paths had crossed a dozen times over the last several decades and we had just never had much opportunity to get to know each other.  This was one of the goals of my trip so I headed out to his house and met him and his lovely new wife, Michelle.  (Hey Michelle, I remembered!)  It may be premature to say that Jim and I have a lot of things to discuss, but our conversation was animated and interesting…I look forward to exploring where this newly established connection will head.
Met Waylon and Justine and their darling daughter Emaline at Bend Brewing Company for some adult beverages and food on the patio.  I’ve heard Bend locals say that Deschutes Breweryis for the tourists, and BBC is for the locals…Jus’ so ya know!  Then after dinner Waylon and I, well, yes, had another adult beverage or two.  If you’re interested in watching talent emerge, watch this space for more about Waylon and his engraving.  He promised to shoot me some pictures of recent work, didn’t yet, so I stole this from his Facebook page…

he is becoming an incredibly accomplished hand engraver!
No matter how late I stay up I tend to wake up pretty early so I was up and going for a while with no sign of the Rhoads family stirring.  Need coffee, need nourishment, remember a breakfast from a long ago ski trip, head out!
Chow
…is a “farm to table”, sustainable breakfast and lunch restaurant located at 11thand Newport, across the river from downtown Bend.  (1110 NW Newport Dr.) When I walked in the door and spotted a bustling Jolie Miller wearing this tee shirt,

ah, now we’re talking!  Ms. Miller was spot on with her cheerful service and when she says “everybody’s doing it”, ya just gotta have more coffee, really.
I chose the Chicken Fried steak topped with caramelized onions and mushrooms, blu-cheese gravy served with two eggs and homefries…outstanding is the only word that comes to mind.

…and then I took a picture of the other fellow’s tattoo…
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Recently, through a friend, I learned of a project on the Kickstarter site that piqued my interest.  It had to do with a new rapid prototyping system and Michael Joyce, the guy who was seeking funding on Kickstarter, for the B9Creator, had developed a system similar in some ways to existing technology, yet different enough, and simple enough that he was offering the complete machine for a funding pledge of something close to 1/10th the cost of the other similar machines.  My respect grew for this inventor when I learned that he was creating the project as a completely open source project such that other people could understand, and perhaps improve the system over time.  Mr. Joyce didn’t necessarily develop this system specifically for the jewelry industry, but as CAD-CAM (Computer Aided Design-Computer Aided Manufacturing)  is currently becoming more the standard rather than the exception in contemporary jewelry design, his timing couldn’t have been more spot on for the industry.  The funding for his project attests to his timliness and the interest his project has created.
Other people had already posed the question to Mr. Joyce, “Does this system produce a ‘castable’ product?”  Joyce was pretty sure he knew the answer to that but hadn’t yet acquired third-party verification…enter Gary Dawson Designs!
Here is the entire text and photos of the short research project I created and executed for him.  Note that this test casting was done with some very early test peices of resin and are not at all representative of the resolution that the B9C can now achieve.  In fact, these pieces were chosen for texture.
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Initial Assessment of the B9C System for Jewelry Prototyping   By Gary Dawson
Abstract:
Although rapid prototyping technology has become more accessible with the advances inherent in contemporary technological research, leading edge technology still represents a major investment for any manufacturer and is out of reach for some.    If the jewelry industry continues to fragment as noted by this researcher (“Paradigm shift in Jewelry Manufacturing and Market Structure:  An Examination of Contemporary Small Shop Jewelry Production-Design to Manufacture to Retail” Proceedings of the Santa Fe Symposium of Jewelry Manufacturing Technology, 2010) funding of advanced technology may continue to be problematic.  A first look at the B9Creator system of Rapid Prototyping may be indicative of a trend toward more affordable leading edge RP systems with the possible net result of a more rapid adoption of advanced RP technology by the jewelry industry as a whole.
Scope:
This project was designed as a preliminary test of burnout characteristics of the resin used in the B9C RP-DLP system.
Procedure:
Three sections of cured resin were chosen for their texture in hopes of evaluating possible ash residue and potential problems created by thermal expansion characteristics of the resin during ramp-up within the burn out cycle.  One piece of textured resin was invested in each of two flasks using Ransom & Randolph Ultra-Vest.  Instructions supplied with the investment were followed for mixing and burnout.  One section of cured resin was placed directly on the kiln floor for the purpose of direct observation of ash residue.  The kiln was observed at the end of the burnout cycle and both flasks were cast in Sterling Silver using a horizontal centrifugal.  Melt was accomplished by Hydrogen-Oxygen flame.  If the kiln floor piece had displayed any amount of ash residue, and/or the first casting showed any signs of residue contamination I had planned to use a protocol established by another researcher of using compressed air to clear the mold cavity prior to casting the second flask.  However based on my observation of the kiln floor and the first flask casting results, I felt no need to use this protocol.
Conclusions:

• Upon completion of burnout the kiln floor where the single piece of cured resin was placed was observed to have no ash residue.
• Both flasks containing cured resin cast normally and seemed to have normal resolution of cast surfaces in all cases which leads to an initial indication of no interior mold degradation due to thermal expansion of the resin during ramp-up in the burnout cycle.

Photos:
Figure 1:  Texture on sprued resin.

Figure 2:  Texture on sprued resin.
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Figure 3:  Interior of kiln prior to initiation of burnout.
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Figure 4:  Interior of kiln after burnout cycle complete.
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Figure 5:  Cast pieces after pickle, prior to magnetic pin tumbling
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Figure 6:  Cast pieces after magnetic pin tumbling.
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If getting to know interesting people and what they’re up to intrigues you, you might check out Mr. Joyce’s other projects.  .
lostinspacerobot.com
nextgiantleap.com
I’m honored to have been able to contribute in some small way to one of this fellow’s projects!!!

I don’t do yard work.  At least I avoid it.
If I hadn’t been doing yard work, I wouldn’t have destroyed it!

Hello Friends! It’s been a whirlwind of activity since the launch of Gary Dawson Designs last June.  With not quite 10 months under the belt of this business model, I think we’ve managed to attract and execute some of the most interesting projects of my 37 years of designing meaningful jewelry for my exceptional clients.  Here’s one that presented an interesting challenge; a ring with a rotating top which features the client’s initial on one side and a cross shape on the other…

And this pendant in 18K white gold was completed with birthstones for Mom in the middle, her kids on the next ring out, and her grandchildren on the outer ring.
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Well, we didn’t win the recent Mega-Millions lottery.  Mike, the fellow responsible for this awesome web site bought each of us one ticket and neither won anything.  Oh well, we agree that we’ve got too much to offer the world to languish in abject wealth! ​

And ahh…The Hunger Games. As the people around me were absorbed into this trilogy by Suzanne Collins I stayed aloof…for a while.  I finally gave in so I could indulge in a conversation with the people closest to me besides what to have for dinner…and I’m glad I did!  The trilogy seems to start out simply enough, but as the story moves forward through the second and third books, the human emotions involved with motive, power and commitment grow into a web of increasing complexity that may challenge the audience for which the book was seemingly written.  But the thing that relates most directly to my web site, Gary Dawson Designs, and to what I’ve committed my entire adult life, is the inclusion within the story of an article of jewelry that becomes a personal talisman for the main character.
This concept is not foreign to me.  The “artist statement” that I came up with when I was compelled to generate one years ago mentions, …” Jewelry has been worn by every known past and present social group, usually somehow reflecting their relationship with their environment.”  I no longer have the reference that formed the basis for that statement at my fingertips; it came from some anthropological tome with which I was interested at the time.  My Bachelor of Arts is in Anthropology (from the University of Oregon) and I was likely still in school when I penned that.  Making jewelry already, but still in school.
I guess I’m still in school, just not enrolled in an institute of higher learning at the moment.  But there’s so much still to learn…about my craft/art, about my relationships, about myself.  And when I read things like The Hunger Games with a piece of jewelry as a close peripheral character and see it go to high status in popular culture, I’m reminded of how lucky I am to be involved with my chosen career, making items of extreme personal importance for my clients from precious metal and gemstones.
Interestingly, another fairly recent movie, The Tourist, with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie provided an opportunity for me to participate directly in a popular culture opportunity in a small way.  Click here to see that story.  One thing very different about this more recent foray into popular culture by a specific piece of jewelry is that the Mockingjay pin worn by Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games is not something that I can likely reproduce unless I can gain license to do so by whomever makes those decisions.

The Janus charm was created around a figure of ancient Greek mythology, and I was able to make my own version of the charm without violating anyone’s copyright or, more importantly, violate my own sense of ethical values.  And as I explain in the blog relating to my version of Janus, the two-faced god became important to me personally.  But not only is the Mockingjay pin concept wholly created by Suzanne Collins for her story, the bird’s species itself is a fictional creation.
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But I see that although versions of the Mockingjay pin are available in materials other than precious on Amazon.com for example, no one seems to be offering the pin in precious metals.  I think I’ll be making some phone calls on Monday early!  If you happen to see this blog before then, Ms. Collins, give me a call!  I’d love to make you a Mockingjay pin in 18K gold!  ​

I love my semi-rural life and sometimes it provides for some interesting juxtapositions; particularly since I’ve started this internet-only business!
So I went to bed early last night with the idea of getting up full of piss and vinegar and plowing through the final stages of an exciting project that I’ve been working on for some time now.  I woke up before daylight wondering why the heck it was so light outside…snow.  Not just snow, but SNOW!!!  Here in the Southern Willamette Valley of Oregon we get snow on the valley floor most years, and sometimes it actually accumulates.  And I’ve never seen a late March snow like this one.  We had 6 inches on my deck rail before I finished my first coffee and at least 8 inches by the time I was pouring my second cup.  But I’m getting ahead of myself…
Well before the coffee happened, as I was lying in bed listening to the radio for school updates to see if I had to think about getting my daughter to school today, the power went off.  No flicker, no bump back on, just dead.  OK, been here before…it’s part of the rural experience and we’re pretty much prepared for it.  Wood stove is still warm from last night’s fire,

And so here’s the very interesting, multi-level juxtaposition…I’m sitting here in my warm living room, starting to smell a little ripe, (no PTA bath yet today) listening to Freekradio, my favorite weird internet radio station based in Austin Texas, and building a blog for my site, (Gary Dawson Designs, duh) on a laptop that’s wirelessly connected to the world through my cellular phone which can provide a 3G mobile hotspot.  Since my laptop is charging my phone (via usb port while the laptop is plugged into the generator) I’m pondering the notion of this being the perpetual motion machine that has been eluding science since people began wondering about these things.
Based on what I saw driving (carefully, at 20 mph) into town today to deposit all the money that y’all so lovingly send to Gary Dawson Designs for making you cool jewelry, I’m thinking that we may be without power for a while.  Trees down everywhere!  More snow or freezing rain is expected tonight so you may get another blog post fairly soon.  I’m sort of dead-in-the-water as far as production goes until power is restored out here…
One thing will keep us warm for the duration is my habañero sauce made from flame roasted habaneros, lime juice and copious quantities of salt.  Will have that with the roast slow cooking on top of the wood stove.
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At some point, long after the inertial pressure of rapid acceleration has subsided and you have felt the familiar bump of wheels retracting into the fuselage below you…sometime after electronic devices everywhere around you are employed with various movies, games , novels and music, you begin to get the sense that you aren’t going to die on this particular flight.  It happens at different times on different flights, but a comfort sets in.  It’s a comfort that allows one to enter a torpor that might be called aestivation if we were all desert tortoises.  In fact, on most flights, most people do retreat into their shells so maybe that’s a good word for what happens when half the population of any particular metallic tube hurtling through the sky goes dormant…and that would be the half that had to awaken at 3:30 to board the flight on time.
Going fishing is the only reason anybody should ever have to get up at 3:30 am and all flights, domestic and international should be scheduled such that no matter how far one lives from the nearest airport, s/he can still get up at a civilized hour, have a quiet cup of coffee and read for a while, and then have a leisurely light breakfast before heading out to fly.  If that were the case, and people could begin their flying day better rested and more alert I’m sure that far fewer folks would walk out of the wrong side of the terminal at their destination.  Getting up later would actually end up saving time for these weary travelers because walking out of the wrong side of the terminal causes one to pace about frantically for quite some time looking for a Car Rental Shuttle Stop that doesn’t actually exist on that side of the terminal.  And I’m sure it would save embarrassment for those who had actually arrived at this destination many times in the past and had never walked out of the wrong side of the terminal before.  Write your congressman on this matter, please!
Fortunately, nice shuttle drivers in the passenger “drop off” area understand what must be a frequent occurrence and sometimes allow these dazed and confused travelers to ride their vehicle around the terminal to the side where shuttles actually take people to the car rental facility, some 5 miles away from the airport.
Sunshine and fresh air have a magical effect however, and even the weariest tend to respond to these stimuli; especially those from the cloudy and foggy valleys of Oregon which is a category that includes this particular traveler. After a nice hike at Picacho Peak State Park,  Gary Dawson Designs has arrived at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.
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Tucson 2012 is Coming Up Soon! – The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is more than “a” show. This year it is 31 separate venues and remains the largest annual conclave of gem and mineral dealers in the world. I wrote the book on the event… well, wrote the article anyway. Published in the January, 2003 issue of AJM Magazine (Now MJSA Journal) “The Tucson Survival Guide” is still used by industry professionals to guide them through an experience that can be overwhelming for the uninitiated. I travel to this show annually, seeking the widest selection of gems for my clients worldwide and will be in Tucson this year from February 2-6th.
The Tucson experience provides for not only the best selection, but can offer some incredible values in colored gems. It also allows me to keep my finger on the pulse of the industry. This insures that Gary Dawson Designs will be your most reliable resource for gem sourcing. From esoteric meteorite and fossil specimens to fine rubies and sapphires; it can all be found at the Tucson shows. Let me be your agent in Tucson this year! Feel free to contact me with any questions or requests.

Welcome to the New Year!  Launched in early June of 2011, Gary Dawson Designs has made some amazing friends while working on incredible projects these past months.  With only a few months active marketing of this site under our  belt we have already shipped to three continents and have developed clients in almost every state ofthe USA.  It was a leap of faith to launch this site after some 36 years of traditional brick-and-mortar retail.  Several of our friends have jewelry related internet sites but mostly offer products, with customization of their products being a smaller part of the overall business. To reverse that model and primarily offer the service of Custom Design was not unique, but to do it as an entirely on-line effort has taken the concept to new horizons.  Thank you to all the people who have supported this, and particularly my website designer, Mike!  We are very excited for the new year!
Most of the projects we’ve completed in the last 6 months have been special and a few of my clients have been articulate in expressing their pleasure and satisfaction…The following is an excerpted email story from one of those…copied here with permission, with names changed (except mine, of course!)  for security.
I gift wrapped the necklace box with the omega and extender situated beneath the pendant inside.  She opened it and, of course, smiled and all of that.  But then her geek brain took over and she kept trying to compare the pendant design to your logo on the box to see if this was maybe some kind of “signature” design of yours or some such thing.  (I don’t ask questions when she’s geeking.) Eventually, I  said:  “The designer doesn’t have a logo.” (Meaning a signature piece) She looked puzzled.  Apparently she also was confused as to whether it actually was a necklace and asked about a chain.  I told her to pull the insert out and then she started going nuts.

We had our moment, and it lasted a LOT longer than a moment.  I didn’t “know” how much that extra step would mean to her.  I also didn’t “know”, but I guessed, that she was stunned to find out how long I had  been planning this and still managed to keep it secret.  So, all in all a lot of stuff I didn’t know I knew.
She also mentioned that she was “making” my present, which makes no sense to me because she doesn’t “make” anything.  I’m trying not to imagine what it could possibly be, but it seems as if we both sort of “knew” that this anniversary was going to be special, doing things we don’t normally do for one another. And that, my new friend, is the best part of the whole experience.  I get an “A” for figuring it out, for finding you, and for making her feel the way she feels today. You get an “A” for your excellent assistance and work.   YAY, Steven.  YAY, Gary. YAY, Sally.
Color us happy!         
I am grateful every day for the work we do, for my wonderful clients and for the opportunity to participate intimately in their lives.  The items depicted in this entry were made with Platinum Enhanced Sterling Silver (Platinaire TM), for which Gary Dawson Designs has license to use.  We are one of the few custom designers that have access to this amazing metal!

We’ve been as busy as the late summer bees at Gary Dawson Designs.  Responding to all of your inquiries, processing orders and then settling down into my studio, with the fireplace roaring in the ever colder days is such a pleasure, and it has allowed little time to keep up with this blog. However, the best stories, like the best projects, have happy endings and I want to share this one with you.
In a post I wrote a few months ago, (The Best Projects Have Stories) I outlined the initiation and progress to date on a pendant, commissioned by a single mother, to eventually give her son.  The pendant was to tell part of the child’s story and I elaborated on that in the post linked above.  Sometimes time is an essential ingredient in a project… Partly because there was no real hurry, (the child is now 8 years old and won’t really receive the pendant to keep for quite a while) and partly because both the mother and I wanted this to really be perfect to its

purpose, that project didn’t get finished until recently.  We took our time in exploring options for the final details and I’m happy to say that it did, indeed, work out…perfectly.
This incredible Mom and I remain close friends and she is so delighted with the result of our collaboration that she has created a stylized image of the pendant in its final form and is having another family friend silkscreen a sweatshirt with her image of the pendant!

Good stuff, this!
I feel blessed to have the continuing opportunity to work on such meaningful things with such great people!

Boys need their toys.
I’m sure girls do to, but since I’m a boy and have worked with my hands (and my head and heart) for my entire adult life, I must grin at the old saying about boys.  This post will highlight three interesting tools in the Gary Dawson Designs studio.
Laser Welder:
I bought my first laser welder (which stayed with my old company when I sold it) quite a few years ago.  It was manufactured by Rofin whose logo is represented with a small r.  Being the prankster, and with the opportunity allowed by individual stick-on letters, I inverted the r vertically and extended the base a bit such that it then said… Lofin’.  I may have been the only one in my shop that got a kick out of that pun but it helped me drive home the point to my employees at that time that I felt it too easy to get sucked into the vortex of new technology and over-rely on the laser in the manufacturing process.
Honestly, I still feel that way about it though I can’t imagine going back to not having a laser in my shop.  Laser welds are, by nature of the micro-structure left by the rapid melting and cooling of the weld puddle, brittle.  I’ve seen the micrographs from a presentation at the Santa Fe Symposium addressing this specific issue.  Not so good for welding earring posts, for example.  One can compensate for the brittleness of the initial weld in at least a couple of ways, but both add
precious time to the manufacturing process and many small manufactures either do not understand the metallurgy well enough, or take the time to remedy this potentially large problem.  The results are too many returns of broken welded parts.  Fortunately, we don’t have that problem at Gary Dawson Designs!

And I love, really love my newest laser welder.
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It’s not much bigger than several gray squirrels in a bag and at least as much fun…oh, and USEFUL!  (When used properly)  When assembling components in a traditional fashion a lot of time is normally spent jigging (aligning and holding objects) prior to soldering.  With the laser, one can simply hold the objects together, pop them with the laser and then go solder assemble traditionally for the quickest and most reliable assemblage!
So we need a name for this baby!  Since it’s an Nd:YAG (neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet) laser we’re toying with both Neo or Dopey.  Hyperion has also been suggested.  Any votes?  Other ideas welcome!
Inside Ring Engraver:

This great tool is essentially a vertical pantograph machine.  It allows me to precision engrave words, dates or phrases on the inside of the rings I make for you.  There is no charge for this additional service if I’m making the ring!
Electronic Wax Pen:
Actually my newest toy, er, tool, this little powerhouse built by Foredom and sold to me by Otto Frei has made my wax carving life much easier than before it arrived.  Small footprint, infinite heat control and a large array of modifiable tips make this my new favorite!

Florence, Oregon isn’t necessarily thought of as a culinary hotspot, at least among the folks I hang with.  Not that you can’t get a decent meal there and one has to get the obligatory bowl of Mo’s chowder at least a couple of times a year.  But there is a relatively new place in town that may prove to change that perception over time.
I first encountered Feast at the event, previously mentioned in this blog, called Greatest of the Grape.  They won a People’s Choice award for best food and wine pairing and the tuna tartar that was their contribution was perhaps the best flavor treat at the event.  A friend and I dined at Feast earlier this year putting it firmly on my mental map.

The hour plus ride over included a blustery headwind as the front carried across the coastline and inland.  What started out as a very warm ride got a bit chilly as I crossed the coast range on Hwy. 126 but the worn, wood plank floors in the entry to Feast let me to their small (7 seat) bar and a friendly greeting.  Somehow, arriving on a bike invites conversation and it didn’t take long to feel right at home, chatting with the bartender and various servers.
After the killer Barolo I had tasted with a friend the previous night at Provisions’ Friday tasting event I was almost afraid to try another red wine this soon.  I often drink white wine simply because I can’t always afford my taste in reds <rueful grin>.  But the ‘tender understood my dilemma and poured me a taste of Cayalla RTW which exceeded my expectations and went well with the beet salad with warm chèvre, roasted shallot vinaigrette, greens and toasted hazelnuts, and a conversation about expatriating to regions south.  (Which I did not initiate…this time!)
Home again to cook a pan-seared steak with a red wine reduction with my
kids.
Heckofa nice afternoon.
Oh yeah, this is a jewelry blog, right?
Gary Dawson Designs would like to announce our new consignment page with three nice pieces.  I currently have two pre-owned platinum and diamond rings available at great price points and one lovely, solid 18K yellow gold cup, crafted by Tiffany!  Please check these items out and remember, unlike the items that we design and manufacture, we do solicit offers on consignment items.  Step right up!

It didn’t take me long to realize that the fuel attendant was clueless, but after a couple of minutes of prodding I was able to gain the sense that I was, indeed, on the right track.  And sure enough, at the highpoint of the overpass he mentioned as  he directed me to another restaurant, I looked over my right shoulder and there it was, almost as I had remembered.  The clam strips weren’t super, a lot of breading, but not soggy at all and quite flavorful.  And the Fat Tire Ale went down smooth as it slowly lent even more character to this old place.  The Depot, in Albany, Oregon may be one of the few little restaurants with character left…without a web site.  This I discover as I look to place a link here on the blog.
I had pulled off I-5 southbound at Albany to fuel and more specifically, to see if I could still find the place…apparently my memory is still pretty reliable.  When I used to commute from my home in Eugene to the Portland Saturday Market and back at the end of the weekend I would stop there occasionally because, like my friend Joe, the powder metallurgist from upstate New York, I like divey little restaurants.  Don’t get me wrong, I like fine dining too, but sometimes there’s not much more fun than dropping into a little local character.
This trip, btw, helped me to finish logging in over 1,000 miles in the first week of ownership of my first brand-new motorcycle.  The flight down to Sacramento, where I found this demo bike with both the price and color that I wanted, provided a unique view of Crater Lake.  Riding it home that day provided a jump-start to my first week of mileage!

I’ve been riding most of my life but usually older, less comfortable bikes and this baby is a dream to me.  Smooth as silk and as responsive to my touch as any lover.  Here’s a pic on the day I picked it up!  I’d like to thank Ciara of Elk Grove Powersports for helping me to to make this purchase.
But the underlying reason for this short road trip was to attend the Grand Re-opening of my friends’ studio in Lake Oswego, Oregon.  The woman of Trios Studio, Mary, Deborah and Kathe, are very close friends and since I had 

attended their original opening 5 years ago, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to help inaugurate their new, expanded space a few doors down from the original spot.  Mary and I particularly, go way back as she was my very first employee back in the beginning days of my own business.  I am honored to know these successful women!
The ride down Hwy. 99 from Albany to my home just outside of Eugene was absolutely perfect.  The large golden-orange orb that we see too little of here in Oregon was settling on the western horizon, directly off my right shoulder as the very nearly full, silver moon was rising up over the eastern horizon, directly off my left shoulder.  I wish I could share an image of that moment but my phone camera just couldn’t handle all that beauty, all at once.  As my bike hummed down a long straight stretch and I slowly passed a freight train, the engineer must have sensed my joy as he honked and waved as I went by.  People just know when you’re having a peak moment, I guess!

Dave put the risotto together while I tended the lamb with thyme and lemon marinade and lots of hickory smoke. But that evening is a whole other story!
I developed this other piece, the grape cluster, in my association with the Umpqua Valley Winegrower’s Association and their event, The Greatest of the Grape. An annual event to which I am usually invited as an artist.
Sterling Silver Grape Cluster with chain...$123 includes shipping!
I am proud to offer both of these new production pieces at what I think are very reasonable prices in both Sterling silver and any gold alloy of your choosing. And I am enormously grateful for the full history of my evolution and the bright future that stands before me as we evolve this site into fruition.