Si Sente Come Età, Invece di Quattro Giorni

This weekend was so long I feel the week's already happened. All last week I worked like crazy trying to get all the paperwork together for my application for a scholarship to Penland. Got everything fedexed at 3AM Saturday. Today, I set up my work in the scholarship competition on campus. I don't know when they'll announce who won money, but I'm nervous. There is a LOT of good work in it this year....

Last year I had something like 12 pieces in my space, so having just 3 is unnerving, but this year they want cohesive work, whereas before it was good to be prolific. Still, I'm nervous.
Attempted to etch the inscription in the ring I've been commissioned to make. It didn't work. I'm not really sure why, but ultimately what's pictured is not what I tried to etch, so I'm okay with it. It would have looked really bad.
My light worked!!!! I had a hell of a time getting the resin back off the aluminum blank, but I think the wonkiness is going to fit in really well with the lichen patina I have in store for the metalwork.
And lastly I have soldered on the tubes for the garnet settings on my thumb rings. Then I remembered that I absolutely SUCK at setting stones. The two pictured are the only ones out of 6 I managed to "set" tonight.
This thing is ridiculously terrible. I've never set a straight stone in my life, but I've never mauled a setting quite like this before either. As a side note, you may be able to tell that the band gets thinner behind the stone- that's because I melted the whole band right there and had to hammer it back out. I'm actually pretty proud that I fixed it with a hammer. Hopefully tomorrow I can get some help from others on setting those damned garnets...

Dolce Gesù, Queste Sono Fantastiche!

Fashion design students Naim Josefi and Souzan Youssouf created the shoes using a technique calledselective laser sintering, and displayed them at the Stockholm Fashion Show. [via Make:Online]

Sweet Jesus! These are fantastic!!!

L'avanzamento del Progetto: Parte Seconda

More process/progress photos from my eye wear project for portfolio.

Geometry for the cone. I thought it was cool.
Wee cone! Formed out over a few daps to get the wonky shape. Might anneal it and work a bit to bring in the top some more.

This crazy thing was turned on the lathe in about 10 minutes (I rock so hard) and will be used as a mold for the clear resin "shade" for the bottom of the light. Oh yeah, this is for a light, by the way.

L'avanzamento del Progetto: da Una Parte

Casting process photo dump!

Waxes.

Cast pieces, they turned out remarkably well.

Chiavi di Copia e di Iniziare Presto

It's one of those odd times when I'm not really required to be in studio for the weekend, but of course I went in anyway. As a result I did some very leisurely metalsmithing and had a lovely evening.

Someone had misplaced the key to the BFA room this afternoon, so after it was located I attempted to make a copy out of this spoon handle I had lying around. Unfortunately I punched a hole through it by way of miss placed grooves. Oh well, I might try again later.
Next I started cutting out the stems for my eye wear piece.
And completed that. Yay for me!

Bioluminescenza e il Mare Cupo

First, a little tension-release exercise in the form of an ink-tastic whale.

Second, the research and sketchesfor my next project.

I've decided to do eyewear for my body of work in portfolio class. My first piece is inspired by the wonderful ridgy bits from my teapot (see previous post) which I happened upon by accident and REALLY adore, and also on the fishes and other creatures which live in the depths of the ocean.

I've always been really fascinated with bio-luminescence and how beautiful some of the creatures of the deep sea are.

This project is directly inspired by angler fishes, as I'm planning to have a drop of light hanging down from the bridge.

This guy has nothing to do with my project, however I think it's one of the most beautiful things I've seen in a very long time.

This is the initial sketch for the project, which is still the most explanatory of the final object. I really like the line-work that I got on the dangly light bit especially. The sketch below has a line of thinking on how to form the top of the light drop. The bottom part I plan to sculpt out of wax or clay, or I might even turn it on the lathe to get it perfect, and then I'll spray it with mold release and coat it in resin. Hopefully the end result will be a clear plastic drop bit for the end.
I'm really excited about the stems! I have for a long while thought that art nouveau line work looks strikingly scifi, but have never been able to incorporate it into my scifi pieces until now! The stems are intentionally too long, so they'll be formed out and in from the face instead of just straight back, to make them more organic. I might reticulate the metal as well, but I'm not sure. The casings for the lenses (also cupping the eye, see center of image) will be formed out with the ridgy bits as stated previously. I plan to flow solder over the tops of the ridges, intensionally haphazardly, so they'll have silver highlights, and then I'm going to give them a nice crusty green pack patina to so it'll look like lichen growing on ridgy silver metal. Then I'll clear powder-coat the whole thing to keep it sealed. As illustrated bottom left, I'll be turning some rings with a ledge inside to fit inside the casings; these will hold in the lenses, and also house a ring of surface-mount LEDs which will be hidden from the eyes and from the viewer, and cause the lenses (hopefully) to glow like luminescent eyes. The insides of the casing will be matte black, which will obscure the eyes.

I think that's all I have to say for now.

è Tardi e il Mio Naso è Pieno di Buio

YES! The tea pot is complete! I'm so excited about how this has turned out, I'm just going to post a whole bunch of photos of it!



Oh, and here's a sneak peak at what I'll be doing next. :)

Mal Consigliato di Saldatura

This man is awesome.

Teiera Tempo!

I've made some excellent progress on my teapot project today!

These ridgy bits were done on a whim after I realised the body of the pot was only going to be half as deep as I'd hoped it would be. I think they improved the design tenfold.
Just before going home I took a few extra shots with the lid on and the foot and handle experimentations I was doing before I quit. The top of the lid is super excellent, the handle is aaaalmost there, and the foot is crap. I think the handle needs a few more pieces swooping up from the body into a single point to give it more dimension, and I want to imply a point between it and the lid a little better. The foot may end up being a separate piece, like a stand.
UNNECESSARY EXTRA IMAGE!

La Scuola è Iniziata

Spring semester has started up again! I'm taking more studio classes than usual, so I'm cautiously optimistic that I will build many great things.

I have been reunited with my beloved and currently clean studio space in the BFA cubby-hole. I really enjoy having a wall to tape photos and ideas on. And lets face it, it's nice to lean.
Right off we were given 2 weeks in Portfolio to design and build a teapot to enter into a show in St. Lois. Mine shall be built all of nickel, possibly tinned inside to make it usable. The finished piece will be about 4 inches tall, maybe 5. I'm using an hydraulic press to get the form for the body. Unfortunately, it seems the metal has decided it's done taking volume, and it's only half as thick as I wish it would be. I might do some repoussé on the body to give it more volume, but I doubt I have the time. Deadline is next Wednesday!
This is the sketch for the tea pot. It looks to me like a combination of a spacecraft, beetle, and sundial.
Process photo! My die is (obviously) wood, so the press is pretty much destroying it. not looking forward to soldering my wonky sides together...
Lastly, this is a ring I'm building on commission for what sounds like a very interesting lady. She asked for a ring I'd already done before as a promise ring, but this is for herself. It's got the symbol for the Flash, and inside she asked to have engraved "Only a life lived for others" which is part of a longer quote from Einstein. I'm really glad that so far all of the strangers who are drawn to my work are really cool and interesting people. It makes me feel really good about the work I do.