Elder Signs, Carved in Soapstone, Silver inlay
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It began around 1995 when I decided to make and carve a Star Stone from a dark green chunk of Soapstone I received. I spent some time carving a geometric star shape, and carving the lines to put silver wire into it. The wire part didn't work and I never found a way to finish it. It was put away for a long time. This is the box I made to display the stones. It doesn't look as old as I would like, and as of Aug 2010, it's spending a year on my roof being aged by the Florida weather. I'll update this when I'm done refinishing it. Each stone is about 5 inches across. |
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The solution to the silver inlay was found last year. A product called Precious Metal Clay is .999 silver in a polymer clay that can be worked, well, like clay. When it's fired, it hardens as the polymer gets baked out, you are left with the silver. This was perfect for embedding into the thin lines of the carving. As I finally finished the one on the right, I decided to do another one using a curved star design I had seen. |
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This is the carving I started in 1995. I drew the flaming eye design before I had seen the one that Chasosism used. I was never completely happy with the eye. Overall, it did come out pretty well, and I was very glad to finally finish this project. Carving: The shapes were rough cut with saws, finer cut with dremels, filed down with rasps, then wet-sanded with drywall sandpaper of grits from 60-120. Then they were fine sanded with grits going from 300 to 1500. More details of creation will be on a forthcoming webpage. |
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This was made in 2006, after I found the PMC solution to the silver inlay. The shape came from some curved star I came across years ago. The flaming eye is a variation of the Lin Carter Elder Sign, as seen on the "Propping up the Mythos" page. I first used it on my Lovecraft Case-mod, "The Case That Must Not Be Named". I tend to like this design better than the first. It was carved similar to the first. I also bought a dremel micro-sander that worked real well with the 1000 grit sandpaper. |
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Here are the two stones on display. I made the box just for these and tried to make it look antique, with limited success. These were displayed at the Art Show of Necronomicon, our local SF convention. Photographing these is not easy. The color is dark green, with patterns and striations across the surface. Oh, and before you write to me and ask; These two stones are NOT for sale. |
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Following the completion of the two green stones, I decided to make some more using a black soapstone. These would be sold at the art show mentioned above. This is a cardboard box from a craft store, shaped like a book. I've painted it to look like a forgotten tome of lore. The book is about 8 inches tall by about 5 1/2 wide. |
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Here is the stone carved in black. The silver shows up very well against it. I made two of these, and the other one sold at the art show. I will probably ebay this one. The stone rests in some foam shaped to hold it. On the left is a display card about the carving. If you click for the enlargement, you should be able to read it. |
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A closer look at the black Elder sign. If you enlarge it, you can see one inclusion in the stone running across it. After sanding down to the 1500 grit paper, I used a dremel with a felt pad to polish it further. Final surface finish was done by heating the stone, then rubbing beeswax over it. A soft cloth (no lint) was used to give the final polish to it.
I was working on another stone in green, when it shattered during the PMC firing process. I got discouraged and haven't returned to carving since then. |
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Here is the black Elder Sign in my hand to give you an idea of the size of it. The curved points make it very easy to hold onto. Just right for warding off those minions of the Old Ones. |