Here's a photoshoot I did for "2nd Last Decision", these guys do rock! They won the "2009 MusicLaban" and this shoot was a promotional for Artista Magazine in Winnipeg.

Thanks guys for such a fun time.

2ct Total Weight 3 across ring-Just Product shots-I didn't create this ring.

This is just one from our inventory here at McGrath Diamonds, since sometimes clients just prefers something that is already there. A very impressive ring with a total of 2 carats in diamonds, and that 3 large diamonds.

I love products shots and this is a gorgeous ring to photograph... you just have to see it on to see how truly impressive this ring is.

The Majestic Chevron Amethyst

This is one of my personal fave for my 2009 pieces, it is quite simple yet very elegant. I love working with a client that would just let me unleash my creativity and John and Tammy have been very open to different concepts I had. We worked together to achieve what she was looking for, something quite simple yet something that would be a very good conversation piece.

This is a combination of superb craftmanship from the concept stage, involving choosing the best stone to work with such a simple design. I love working with fantasy cut gems because it is not something that people usually see.

This gorgeous fine art piece is a one piece cast in 14kt white gold, with shoulder stones in a channel setting to compliment the large 15x10mm fantasy Chevron Amethyst. The Amethyst is quite exposed with the careful choice of spots to set the stone in place.

Thanks again Tammy and John for the pleasure to create this piece for you.

Dodgie Dator's Fine Art Photographs at 2 Winnipeg Galleries

I am proud to say that my work is currently being represented by 2 Winnipeg fine art galleries, The Birchwood Art Gallery at 1170 Taylor Ave and The Wayne Arthur Gallery at 186 Provencher.

I would like to invite everyone to come visit these fine galleries to view my work. I can say that seeing an actual fine art print is way better than viewing my photographs on a computer monitor.

I am excited to be represented by both these galleries, I thank them for this wonderful opportunity.

The greatest compliment an artist can ever have is a request for another performance. In my case a repeat client, I have a quite a few regular clients that I create new custom pieces for, most of them send their family and friends over for their own Dodgie Dator designed piece.

The more a client comes back for another creation, it certainly become tougher but yet quite an honor. Tough because I want to truly blow their expectations away and the more piece I get to make for them the harder it is to create something more unique than the last one. One very good client already came for a few pieces and sent her daughters over for their own design consultation with me. It's always such fun working with her since I get to just "get loose" with my ideas... she loves really unique pieces.

This gorgeous ring is a combination of her 2 existing rings that she doesn't care for as much anymore and I added a Fantasy Trillion "Swiss" Blue Topaz as the center stone. It's always a challenge to work with various colour gems, since they may not at all "come together" that perfectly. She had Blue Sapphires and Green Amethysts and wanted to have a Trillion cut stone as the center piece. I wasn't too sure how to use these 2 different coloured gems to their best potential.

With this final concept I certainly used all the supplied gems to compliment each other, with the criss cross design with integrated half bezel settings. The 2 colours of gems were alternated to have a contrast against the white gold setting and had the Blue Topaz set slightly off centered to have that focal point. I loved how this piece display the different hues of the gems as the light hits it from different angles and the "punchy" vibrant "Swiss" Blue Topaz just makes this very different ring stand out even more.

I look forward to that next "project" that my good client might want to challenge me with.

DGZphotos.com and other developments in my photographic career.

DGZphotos.com is now fully up and running!

I am current in some initial stages of building a network of fine art galleries to represent me and my photographs. I am quite excited about all the things that is happening in my photography career. I had the honor to talked to some of Winnipeg's finnest art galleries and the great response they had on my work was just mind blowing. I was busy digging, sorting and compiling my print portfolio for the last few weeks and I am glad that some very promising development are on it's way.

I wouldn't want to disclose all the details yet until everything is finalized, I am preparing some large exhibition pieces and framing them for display and also preparing catalogues of my images custom tailored to certain galleries.

Stay tuned in all future developments!

Exquisite Hematite!

People have pre-defined opinions about certain gems, that some are just not worth investing money in to create a custom piece. This ring would sure shatter all these pre-conceived ideas regarding such inexpensive gems same as a hematite. Hematites are not exactly a very precious material but with the right design it can look stunning! The hematite used for this piece is stretching near 30mm long and in most cases long gems like these would not be suitable for a ring. It would be a very select few that can wear these extremely long gems and thankfully it suit my client's finger perfectly.

This ring is such a simple yet stunning design, the choice of materials were a bit different as well. Hematite was choosen to be the center piece to the simple fact that the client want to create something truly special using her hematite. Most people would be quite reluctant to spend a good amount of money creating a piece with such an inexpensive gem but it is not always about the cost of the center stone that makes a ring a "stunner". It is on how the designer use it to its' full potential to create a piece that's elegant and exquisite, my designs are just that they are a fine artform and not simply a pretty ring with an expensive stone. I thank my client for trusting me on this concept and together we created a ring that highlights the hematite and made it as majestic as any other precious gems. The diamond accents on the wide swirl shoulder gives it a very elegant detailing contrasted with the opposite shoulder with a cut-out to keep it quite feminine despite it's very wide structure.