Silver in the Blood: Joshua Murray - Sculptor\Wax\Silver\Custom Jewelry

Here's the story: One day I was looking for photos of silver skull rings on deviantart, I'm a huge fan of Custom made silver.. skulls, eagles, anchors, lightning bolts, sugar skulls, saints, virgin marys, etc.
It's ART you can wear. Anyway, I'm thankful for stumbling upon the work of Joshua Murray. Since then, I've coveted pretty much everything his mind has imagined to create. His jewelry is sick and I can't wait to adorn one his quality custom pieces. I know little to zero about how one would make such fine things. i mean, from idea, to sculpted wax, to finished silver work of art. I wanted to know more about the art and the artist. So from Los Angeles.. im happy to present - JOSH MURRAY


Good Winter: How did you get into making silver jewelery? Did you go to art school? where did you learn to sculpt wax?
Josh Murray: I do not have any formal training, I started working as a freelance sculptor when I was a teenager and have been at it for the last 15 years. I got into the silver racket about 6 years ago, partly because I started using wax as a sculpting medium and wax and metal casting go together hand and hand.


GW: Do you remember your first attempt at carving wax to mold to silver? what was it and how did it go?
JM: It was a ring with a pirate skull carved into it. Either the investment plaster was mixed poorly or the centrifugal casing machine was wound too tight but the liquid metal shot right through the mold and almost took my face off. It was awesome. I still have the casting, you can see a photo of it here [link]

GW: 4 favorite places?
JM: Madora North Dakota, Tokyo Japan, Clearwater Beach Florida, The Yangtze river in China.

GW: What is currently on your music playlist?
JM: The Didjits, Alice Cooper, Nina Samone, The Violent Femmes, Tom Waits, The Supersuckers.

GW: most prized possession?
JM: I guess if my studio was on fire and i could only take one thing with me, it would be my Grandfathers dog tags.

GW: what are some of your past Halloween costumes?
JM: Batman, C3PO, and a shit load of zombies.

GW: 4 things that you collect?
JM: Tools, Artwork, music, jackalopes.

GW: whats your secret?
JM: A little music, some math, a bit of whiskey, and an ass load of patience.

flintlocksilver.com - flintlockprivateer(deviantart)

Then and

Now: - Replaced a 10 year old dirt and dog haired filled carpet with a new cherry wood laminate flooring, coats of fresh paint (Baer antique white, Belgian sweet chocolate), replaced 80's looking lighted cases with Wood (cherry) leaning ladder shelves. I was needing something warm, medium dark cherry wood and paint tones did the trick. I know flat screen is total chaos but Im addicted to movies and football and Food Channel. Still, its more natural with the wood and feels more like home.

Raise the sails

she likes the act of movement and the word movement. she was wrists and shinbones and unbalmed lips.

Big things you cant control or ever hold down. a little thing that often flys away. oh my god, girl, i have feelings that hurt and feel good all in the same breath. you.

she can take a touch of pain. a drop of honey in her tea. a sweetheart and lover and slut undying.

my world is small and smells like me

It's been a long and strange reconnection. I pray to saints and stars. I climb out on that skinny limb with you, almost broken, almost falling. All we had hoped for was some kind of proof in each other. proof we have made mistakes. That everything was real, everything was really .... real.

I've taken to listening to audio books while driving, books I've previously read silently to myself, now read aloud by the author. I do it for the story retold, to hear tempo and voice inflection. This is how she might have wanted me to hear it and it makes me happy to know. Words lessen the silence and madness between traffic lights, between gasoline fumes and pretty girls talking on cell phones, a lady in curlers, a man shaving, couples kissing, kids screaming, a singing woman, a young girl crying, someone taking a deep breath. Things we do in cars.

This week Miranda July keeps me company, she knows how to use her voice and im afraid i may have read everything wrong. last week it was Sedaris, he makes me laugh and i wonder if people stopped next to me, see me laughing at seemingly nothing. I have the Zen of Motorcycle Maintenance and a biography on Saint Theresa lined up. Whatever the library has to offer for 14 to 28 day loan. Though it doesn't take me nearly that long. I'm prone to smaller stories and traffic jams.

How come that blood

The sun hangs up there and it doesn't want to fall. days seem longer, they drag and wilt awaiting our kiss dizzy summer. I have trouble getting to sleep. my mood sharpens or fades depending on the music i play, the books i read, the photos my eyes show me. maybe it all depends on if she loves or not - misses me or not - or.. at all.

shadows appear on walls and familiar faces loving and lying and twice in between, not enough. I'm fixing us something to eat, I'm using a grill because where there's smoke there's fire. drinking wine and waiting for midnight as if something will change. but, no pumpkin, no white horse, no death. not yet.

i think of how much I'm hating the word "sustainable" lately.

I breath in ,,,, one, two, three, and out............ four, five, six.

driving home past road kill and garbage trucks. idling slow at red lights next to pretty girls on cell phones text fucking their lovers. I care about the earth and our sustainability. I do. I drink water from taps, I apply even pressure to cuts and scraps. I kiss bruises. I just don't use the word "sustainable" as it applies to food or textiles or the rubber garden hose coiled up like a snake.