If I Had More Time...

I'm not supposed to say negative things about my work at critiques so I'm getting it out of my system now... This is my chain project all put together. I hadn't polished it yet, HOWEVER, it doesnt look a whole lot different polished. I realized after I finished that it was terrible trying to sand the inside of this flower. I probably should have put it in the tumbler before I secured it to the chain... To be totally honest.. If I could make the flower over again I would, but I'm simply out of time. I think the two pieces would be a lot cleaner had I cut out the two flower shapes and soldered them together flat and then from there bent the petals upwards. I suppose we live and we learn though! Perhaps I'll get ambitious one day and take the necklace apart and remake it.

I ended up putting Liver of Sulfur on the flower to hide the imperfections. It actually makes for a nice contrast against the rest of the bright silver piece. Over all I am still happy with the finished project and I learned some lessons, which is in fact the purpose of school... learning.

My First Piece

Yesterday and today I've been collecting pieces for a portfolio review and couldn't help but reflect on how much I've grown as a person and a designer. When I first started college I was an Education major. I flopped around between Elementary Ed, Spanish Ed, and Art Ed. All along I knew that I wanted to be more involved with art though. At first, I took art classes for fun that were all taught by the same retired public school art teacher. While, I enjoyed every class entirely I really didn't learn too much about the actual skills behind the work. I think back to those classes and realize now that the biggest thing that I took away from them was a love for the work; Regardless of the quality of the kitchy crafts I was making.

I don't really even consider the work I did then as much of anything... In my mind the first real piece I made was this necklace here. It is... it was... by no means perfect and today I could probably remake the piece a lot better, but I'm still really proud of it. I say "was" because it was in my purse that was stolen a few years ago. This necklace was probably the saddest loss from that whole situation. Sometimes, I kind of hope that I'll see someone wearing it on the street. I know that's pretty unrealistic, but I like that thought better than the alternative of it being in a landfill somewhere.

And while I won't be able to take this piece with me to my portfolio review this week, I think it was important to recognize the piece. It was after all the first real piece of jewelry I made.

Investing

It's been a little while since I invested anything, but I am pleased to say that it went rather smoothly. I remembered all of the steps and my piece ended up casting well. I sorta just liked this picture I took for Instagram so I thought I would share it here as well. The piece I invested has been since cast in sterling silver and I have started to file and polish. Hopefully, I will have it done before the weekend!

Metal-morphosis

After spending much time trying to find organic objects to work into a piece I just wasn't coming up with a design I liked. I found that I liked the organic objects in their original forms too much to turn them into something else. So I found a somewhat tacky plastic wing and started sketching. At first I still wasn't loving these designs either, but decided to just start carving. Eventually, after a little give and take I came up with a design that I was okay with. Then a classmate commented on the design, referring to the object as if it was a skeleton figure. This new perspective brought me to my final carving with simpler and more delicate lines. Casting went well for the most part and all I have left to do is a bit of polishing and filing.

Finished Chain

Finally finished weaving my double loop and loop chain! I'm really happy with the finished product. Cannot wait to learn some new types of chain weaving! The piece is just shy of 17 inches in length... perfect for a short necklace/long choker.

I've started to fabricate a decorative clasp as well. I made a silver flower that's about the size of a dollar coin. I hammered out the ends of the petals and bent them to give them a delicate feel. I think the contrast of the delicate flower and the heavy chain will make for an interesting combination.