NEW YORK TRIP! part 2

After MOMA, we got back on the bus and went to SoHo. We went to various design stores and saw some interesting stuff, then went shopping.

I really liked some of the old looking buildings.

 Everyone was honking anyway.

 The stairs leading up to Kiosk.

 The best cupcakes ever. I sadly only got to eat three before I left the rest on the bus.

 They were so tiny!

These vintage sewing machines were stacked up on either side of a really trendy (overpriced) store.

NEW YORK TRIP!

I went to New York with the Jewelry/Object majors and had a great time. We started off at MOMA then went to SoHo and did some walking around and shopping. Here are some pictures of things that I saw at MOMA and liked:

 

Walking around, I found myself attracted to the lines of the building through different windows and openings.

 Some Andy Warhol pieces.

 View from one of the galleries.

 This Jackson Pollock piece had a key, tacks, and paint tube lids painted into the surface.

 I loved the painted frame on this piece.

 Monet's Water Lilies paintings are some of my favorites.

J2 Project 1 Concept development and Sketches

The first project for Jewelry 2 is to make 20 3x3" tiles, all with different surface designs and techniques. Here are some pictures of my brainstorming and sketches.

This is the theme that I decided on, Victorian-style elements and details.

Last semester final touches

I got my final projects back today from last semester and realized that I didn't have a chance to photograph and post them before I turned them in, so here they are! They were all printed through Shapeways in white strong and flexible.

This is the actual piece translated from the same form created in metal, found here.

the back

This is another variation of the design.

This wasn't a piece made for J3, but I liked how smoothly it printed. I will probably turn it into a pendant.

Casting Creative Caffeine #2: Line

The next creative caffeine, take 30 pictures of line, is posted on flickr here.

First Creative Caffeine of the semester!

For casting our first Creative Caffeine assignment was to photograph 30 different textures or patterns. I put all of them on flickr, which can be found here.

Rings, Rings, Rings!

After too many long nights in the studio to count and lots of insanity that ensued, my final project for Jewelry 3 is complete!

The project was to make four experimental rings that did not look like rings. We were to use wire, tube, sheet, and stock. Each ring, at its completion, had to look like something different from what it started as, while still using the characteristics of each form of metal.

The four rings took me a total of 6 days to complete, with 1 day dedicated to each ring, 1 day to make my stock, and another day to construct my first stock ring, which I was not happy with and ended up re-making.

So here they are:

Wire: This was made by soldering 3 pieces of copper wire to form a thin sheet. I then filed and beveled the corners and bent the wire to form a square. Once I soldered the form and it was secure, I drilled holes to fit the flattened, silver wire pieces. This turned out to be very tricky, and the wire did not want to do what it was supposed to do. The entire piece has a hammered texture, so the insides of the ring have a shinier finish than the outside. I liked that it seemed as if the outer copper was protecting the shiny silver.

Tube: This ring started out as many sections of brass tube, hammered closed and curved. I strategically soldered the pieces together so that they would curve and flow over the fingers. Once the form was complete, I applied a blue-green oxide dye patina and then removed some around the edges to let some of the brass show through.





Sheet: For this ring, I was inspired by paper quilling, and wanted to replicate the filigree designs in metal. I rolled strips of copper to 30 gauge and gave each one a hammered texture. I then began to curl and bend the pieces to construct the swirls. My design grew and changed as I added different pieces. Once I had a design that I was happy with, I soldered the pieces together. After this process, the thin metal strips were annealed and the piece was too fragile, so I reluctantly unrolled each swirl that I had so carefully constructed, and hammered them again. This made the metal much stronger, and I realized it was necessary. Once I fixed the design, I placed it where it would go on the hand and bent the pieces so that it would flow nicely with the curves of the hand. I then bent one of the outer swirls to form around the finger and hold it in place.





Stock: This was the form that I was the most worried to work with. I started by soldering copper sheets together, every once in a while rolling it down. Once I had a solid block of metal, I cut a thin rectangle off it. With this, I cut two lines in the center of opposite sides, not quite all the way to the end. Then, I was able to bend and open the form up, revealing this diamond shape with twisted sides. I twisted the sides a couple more times and ended up with my first iteration of the ring.

I wasn't crazy about the final product, so I started a new piece. This time I cut two rectangles off my chunk of stock and soldered them together to create a bigger form to work with. I did the same cutting and opening technique with this piece, but I quickly realized that the thicker metal was not going to act the same way as the thinner one. I got the piece partially opened and placed it on my hand. I really liked the shape that it took, and that it seemed to fit perfectly over my finger. I hammered the sides over a wooden dowel that was about the size of my finger and filed the flat ends to come to a point. I am much happier with the second ring, but I do still wish that the sides could have had some twist in them.




Overall, I am very pleased with each ring that I made. They all turned out pretty different and incorporated many different techniques, as well as different forms of metal that I was not used to working with.