This is the first use of the new higher relief work I have been learning to master. The cherry blossom motif is a traditional design form in my work. I have always found the form to be very pleasing. There is some very good chasing in this piece, the height of the raised design is impressive and overall confirmation is good. Very little repousse work was done on this piece. It started out much more concave than the end shape. The original additional volume was chased inward toward the design elements rather than having the elements pushed up from the back through repousse. This allows me to gain significantly more separating ‘edge’ between the design and the background without having the metal get too thin. It does take more time and means more attention must be paid to the overall contour and curve of the piece. The treatment of surface reflection on the various aspects of the design pleases me and the introduction of more concave surfaces in the design form, possible due to increased height, is exciting

I find that knowing I can raise the dominate design so high above the background has set a new “standard” for my own work. This addition of height is important with work in high karat gold; too often the design gets lost in metal’s reflection. With this piece the motif stands out even when viewed from a distance of under bright light; it carries a very ‘carved’ looked.

The basic metal smithing in this piece is very good with good clean beveling over of the fine silver insert sleeve. This piece represents a significant step forward in my work.