Project #4, completed

     The design for project number 4 has grown on me and I really like it. Although the pieces finished for the project need some more work to look their best, it seems like this is a design I would want to continue to work with.
     The production of these was quite time consuming, and the use of an RT die would reduce time spent quite a bit. The process went as follows:
         -Designs were transferred onto the metal with PNP paper and then etched.
         -All of the parts were sawed out, this included a base shape for each piece and 3 petal like shapes to be riveted on as well.
         -All parts were filed and sanded.
         -Tubing to hold pin material was soldered onto the backs.
         -Catches were riveted onto the backs.
         -The three "petals" were riveted onto the pin.
         -6 elements on each pin were curled up with round nose pliers.
         -Music wire was added to the catches and filed down at the ends to make the pin backs.
      

Project #4 Final Design

     After a lot of fumbling around and uncertainty, my design for project number 4 is finally finalized. The overall design is suitable for a pendant or a brooch, while components of the large design will be suitable for earrings. The materials I plan on doing the pieces in are brass and copper for the brooches, and sterling silver for the earrings and pendants.
     Etching will be done on the surface to add texture to the piece and both top and bottom components will be curved to give the jewelry some depth. A prototype has been made and now it's time to get to work on the rest of the production.

Project #3, cont.

     Project number three changed a bit from the over-all design. The diamond shape was riveted on to one side instead of in the middle because I liked the overall shape of the piece better when the plexi-glass diamond echoed the shape of the epa symbol. The pin back was made of tubing and music wire. The catch was in the same shape as the front of the pin.
     Projects can be redone if completed on time. This piece would benefit from some redoing. The list is as follows:
-The pin back catch needs to be shaped better so that it follows the straight line of the music wire.
-Some etching on the back of the pin would be nice so that it is a little more interesting than it is at the present.
-The images behind the plexi look sloppy. Samples done with super glue as an adhesive looked ok, but when just pieces of the acetate that the patterns were done on were glued down the glue became visible and the images appear sloppy. The plexi needs to be redone in layers, with a neater method of attaching the images implemented.
-The edge of the plexi needs to be beveled for a nicer look.
-Some edges of the metal part are rough or have visible saw marks, these areas need to be addressed.

                    The original pin in copper. 
                      Bas e of the reworked pin in brass. 

Project #4

     Project number 4 is a production project. 5 pieces need to be made that are either identical or very similar to each other using production methods such as hydraulic die forming, RT dies, or rubber molds and wax injection.
     The design process begins and I seem to be suffering from jewelers block. Everything that gets put on the page looks awful to me. I am plagued with indecision and cursing my aging brain that no longer works the way it used to.
     I look at African textiles for inspiration. They are beautiful but I don't seem to be able to translate anything. Finally, after lying awake for what seemed like hours one night mulling the project over, a solution came to me. It seemed perfect. Upon waking up the next morning though, I have no recollection of what that perfect solution was and I'm back to page 1.

     The one design I thought I was starting to like is beginning to look like the symbol for a fallout shelter rather than anything else it was intended to resemble or invoke. So the drawing continues.

          Finally a shovel-like shape starts appealing to me. I think I'll work with it.

Japanese Metal Inlay

     Professor Hara from Kanagawa College in Japan came to teach some students from the Buffalo State College metals class how to do metal inlay, a centuries old Japanese technique. We first practiced on a flat piece of brass secured in a bowl of pitch. We learned how to do lines, curves, circles, and dot, both flat and raised. After practicing on the flat piece we were each given a swing cup by Professor Hara on which to do a design. The cups were filled with pitch and we were also provided with a small wooden box with which to secure them as we dug channels into the sides of them to be inlaid with fine silver wire.
     Tool making was also demonstrated during the week that Professor Hara spent with us, so that we can continue on with the project once he has departed. He also showed us a patina method that will turn the brass base of our projects black and leave the silver and copper plain for better visibility of the inlay.
     The week went by quickly and we learned a great deal. It was quite an honor to be able to learn from such an accomplished metal-smith.

Project #3

     Project number three is entitled iVote and the objective is to create jewelry that persuades. The topic need not be political, but must motivate action for or against a particular topic. A sample double pin back must also be made and turned in with this project, and while the type of fastener is optional, the finished piece must be a pin or medal type of object. Symbolism must be used to persuade the audience of the point the jeweler is trying to prove.
     I started off by brainstorming three different topics, and symbols that could go along with each. The subjects were partisanship in politics, I would be trying to convince my audience that it was detrimental, conflict jewelry making materials, and humane practices in livestock production. The conflict materials seemed to have the best symbolism available for the subject, and it also fit in with my theme for the semester, even though this was not a requirement for this project. So the winning idea was to fabricate a pin that would try to make people think about where materials come from before they purchase jewelry.
     Adinkra symbols are used in West Africa to represent stories, ideas, and proverbs. I chose to use the overlapping diamonds that symbolize handcuffs called epa. The thought behind this choice was that this area has been held hostage by the raw materials their lands contain for centuries now. The term blood diamonds is well known today, but before that the countries of West Africa were led by tremendously wealthy men who have pillaged the wealth from gold and diamonds to live lives of privilege while most citizens are amongst the poorest people on the earth. The double diamond symbol would be the background of my piece with etching on the surface so that there can be darker and lighter areas for contrast.

Sketches

     I wanted the diamond symbolism on the pin to be purely symbolic. I did not want to use simulated diamonds on the pin, so a large plexi-glass diamond shape will be used with silhouettes of scenes from the Sierra Leonean conflict behind the plexi. A double pin back will be used to secure the pin, since it will be quite large and heavy.

     Some references used for the project:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/fashion/14diamonds.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www.adinkra.org/htmls/adinkra_index.htm

http://www.un.org/peace/africa/Diamond.html

Choosing a theme

     This semesters work must have a theme. Research must be done on the theme at the beginning of the semester in order to facilitate speedy design once projects are introduced. With a whole world full of themes to choose from it's a bit difficult to winnow the field down. My usual default theme when working on any project is plant life/horticulture simply because growing things is a passion of mine. After spending a few days thinking that this will be my theme, and doing some research and gathering of resources I decide that I need to shake things up a little bit and try something different. Maybe if I choose a different topic it will push my work in different direction. After a few days of constant mulling, I decide to choose West Africa as a theme. I can still fall back on my beloved plant theme if I care to since the tropics of West Africa have an abundance of beautiful flora, but it will also give me other subjects to consider. Plus, West Africa, Sierra Leone in particular, will provide me with a good topic for the first actual metal project we will be working on.
     Why did I decide to choose this theme of all possible topics? Because I spent my childhood there, and it still occupies a large chunk of me. Some of the things I would like to use as visual inspiration are the beautiful textiles from the area, the cicatrization patterns seen on many Sierra Leoneans, and of course, the fantastic plant forms growing in the tropical jungle there. I also love the bold, geographic design, and think it can push me out of my small design box a bit.

Playing on the porch in Sierra Leone with siblings and friends.

Project #2

     Project 2 for metals class is another quick project using mixed media. We get to pick baggies of materials. Many of them include lego like blocks of different colors. I picked a bag of all white ones since it would be easy to add other materials to that without being so concerned about the colors.

  
    There were several different shapes and sizes of plastic bricks, and it didn't take long to come up with some ideas for them that seemed exciting. I wanted to drill the tops out of the tiny, circular parts on the top of the bricks and have something more organic protruding from the holes to give the bricks a little more excitement. This was where I planning on adding some color as well.
     The drilling process did not go as planned, with many of the pieces cracking as the drill bit was pushed through the top of the circles. The drilling process did create some fascinating looking little white corkscrews though. With a handful of cracked bricks, and some nice little white, plastic corkscrews I decided to go in a different direction with the piece.
     There were also some corkscrews made of wood shavings laying around near the drill press and since they echoed the shape of the plastic ones I had I grabbed them too. They got a coat of white paint since the natural wood color didn't go with what I had in mind for the necklace I was planning.
     Once again, gears had to be switched, when the plastic and wood corkscrews proved to be too brittle to work with. After super gluing both together with the bricks they started breaking at the drop of a hat.

                                          Failed attempt


     In the end, the bricks were stacked in various ways, and strung together with butcher's twine. The twine also formed the "chain" of the necklace.

                                                   Finished project

Project #1

    Our first project for jewelry studio involved choosing a random envelope filled with a mystery material. The envelope I chose contained one side of the top of a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans. One of the goals of the project was to get us into working quickly, however, I spent several hours with "maker's block", not knowing what direction to proceed in. After finally coming up with some loose ideas I just started deconstructing the piece of fabric and seeing what I could do with the resulting components. There was an embroidered swan, a couple of double stitched curved sections that had once framed the pockets, white thin material, heavier light blue denim, and a couple of snap rivets.

     After a lot of false starts and making of items that held little to no appeal to me I decided to stop working with the selected material as cloth, but rather to take it apart and use the material as threads instead. This led to some appealing parts, especially the first necklace component produced, when I was still under the impression that time was not a constraint. What I did with the threads that resulted from totally fraying the fabric was to make skimpy pom-poms and then flatten them out and hold them together with cut out shapes from the white pocket lining that were stitched over the threads. I chose to use a heavy red thread for the stitching because it seemed as if the relatively quiet blue and white colors needed a little excitement. After making the first section I remembered some really fuzzy feathers I'd gathered in the chicken coop that morning that were reminiscent of the texture created by the frayed pom-pons, so those went into one of the components as well. They were set into a circular shape and stitched together with some of the lining material.

     By the time I had 3 of the circular, pom-pom like components I'd pretty much run out of material since a lot was consumed in the trial phase of my project. There was a little bit of lining material left and I remembered some orange and red tiny samples of sting ray leather that I had laying around. These were cut into triangles and "set" into 2 layers of the lining stitched together. A few more wayward odd shaped scraps were used to stitch the necklace together, and a light grey cotton ribbon that had been the handle of a shopping bag was used as the chain part of the necklace, since the feathers had a touch of the same color at their edges. To finish it off, a toggle was stitched from the red thread and some more fabric. All in all, I was pretty happy with the way the project turned out considering the materials it was produced from.