Process Pages

'I'm cross'

'Kewpie moulds'

'Farm Animals'

'Heart Memories'

I've been putting together process pages, using Picasa collage. I hope that it will help my writing about each collection and the processes and thoughts that occured during the making. It's also a nice way to collect a whole lot of images together that relate to one subject.

little people

filed up little person

wax

2010 Feb

I cast some train-set little people a while ago, now I'm trying to make my own person. The Train-set people were restrictive- to what i could get and also how the plastic cast. So I'll see how this person turns out, I used carving wax and did most of the carving with a small ball burr.

Work Bench

bench 2010

Thought I'd take a picture of my bench at DUT..it's clean for a change...it won't look like this after the roof is re-done

Red Cross

So I saw this series of cross on the Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia- Biennial Conference...it turned out to be work from Elizabeth Turrell. This is the image and context that I found on flickr...

Elizabeth Turrell • Bristol, England
Red Cross
vitreous enamel on etched copper and hand-held
2.25" x 2.25"

"This Anti-War medal uses a fragment of text from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is a reminder that this declaration is one that every government and individual need to know by heart."

This is a link that Chris sent me...Lisa Crowder I think the setting is really interesting and it makes me think about how i set my 'I'm cross' brooches, if i plan on developing the design further this is some thing to keep in mind...

Kewpie Doll Mould

getting ready to make second mould half

building clay walls to support and hold the silicone

the silicone has been poured in...waiting for it to set

I'm Cross Brooch

I'm cross
brooch (front)
silver, copper and enamel
201050x50mm

I'm cross
brooch (back)
silver, copper and enamel
2010
50x50mm

This brooch was made as a reaction to being cross; I needed to make something so to remain stagnant. I had fun making it, so my emotional state changed. I realized through making that I don't necessarily need a thought-out concept in order to made jewels. An emotional state can spark creativity and the need to make. The emotional state that I have experienced will not be accessible to the viewer of this brooch, but the process of making is documented on this blog. My next challenge is to try making that emotional experience 'viewable' or assessable to the viewer (this need not be my exact experience but one that is related)

i'm cross

test-pieces enamel (Jan 2010) colour petal p{ink

These were a series of my test pieces , the aim was to get a nice bulging shape without the enamel cracking. Eventually the one that worked had baking enamel as thick as the top enamel...

the brooch 'frame'

this is what the brooch frame looked like once made-up...its ready to clean and set.

the three brooch elements

these are the 3 elements that make up the brooch, i decided to put a petal p{ink enamel square at the back to finish it of nicely...

Heart Memories...

Flaming / Burnt-out (2008)

These are M1 moulded hearts which I have then drawn on in pencil...flaming and burnt-out...they will eventually become brooches but are a part of a series called 'heart memories'...

Thoughts on Masters writing

The two important questions to be answered through the historical and contemporary chapters of my Masters are as follows:

The historical is about what jewellery is and why it is made and worn and why figurative imagery is used...the contemporary is about why jewellers themselves employ figurative imagery in their work

Historical:
I feel it is important to understand the ‘nature of jewelery’ as Bruce Metcalf put it, before exploring why and how figurative imagery has been in historical jewellery...
Questions that might need to be answered here are:
What is meant by the ‘nature of jewellery’ and why is it important to understand this...? what is meant by figurative imagery? How is imagery employed historically in jewellery and why is it important to look at this...?

Contemporary:
Has the meaning of figurative imagery changed here...has the way in which it is used changed...How does this relate to my selected jewellers and what imagery do they employ...?

Making a silicone mould...

I'm making a room temperature silicone mould from my Kewpie doll. I'll make the other half next...

Making a silicone mould

This is the mould setting, I placed the Kewpie doll halfway into clay then built-up walls (of clay) to contain the silicone...after which I poured the silicone in to the clay structure

half the silicone mould

This is the mould once cured and the clay structure has been removed