Performing Jewelry and Senior DP

So this summer was weirdly productive in the way that I successfully did nothing of real interest. I spent the summer at a retail jewelry job which was enlightening and further reminded me of why I prefer to make the pieces and not sell them. It's simply too hard to convince the general public that they need jewelry. In short: I didn't enjoy trying to sell my soul with each piece so that I could make my company a lot of money that I didn't earn.
That is not the point of this post though.
The point of this post is to get back to my blog and hopefully continue where I left off in the spring.
I have decided to name my project Vivification as I hope to imbue life into each of my pieces this semester. I shall post more on the subject tomorrow after my Project Proposal but I have attached a link to an article which scratches the surface of what I am interested in (to a certain extent).

https://artjewelryforum.org/that-weird-attractionrevulsion-thing-on-performing-art-jewelry

Until then I shall give you a teaser. I encourage you to try to decode it.

A Semester in Pictures

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 

Titles

Neck it project- Malai song chai 

Like a rolling stone- Inspiration

Digital selfie- Third Hand

Enamel brooch- Mystère

Bedfellow necklace- Petrichor

Earrings- Screeching Silence 

3 Pendants- Remains

Artist inspiration- Rain

Pre-Ice

 

Frozen Solid

The best part of working with ice is that if you don't like a part for whatever reason you can just run your hands over it for a minute or two and it melts away. 

 

All Packed

All of my projects, minus the ice necklace, fit into this box. Now all I have to do tomorrow is grab my necklace from the freezer and this box from my desk and head over to the apparel building. 

 

The Worst Smelling Tea

I brewed up a cup of Liver of sulfur, otherwise known as liquid skunk, to put the finishing touches on my enamel brooch. 

 

 

3 Pendants

Overall I'm happy with how this idea developed as the semester progressed. This started as a piece based on some rocks I found that had writing on them. The Noam said that "rocks are the best secret keepers" and then I meshed that with cuneiform tablets and finally I added in the woven elements found in a different one of my original 11 pendant sketches. 

Let's just say this project is a smoothie 

 

Fingers Crossed

I finally got to put my mold on the freezer for my final ice necklace for Tracy. If everything goes according to plan then in the afternoon I can grab it out and try it on for the first time. A lot of this project has just been making bits and pieces and having no idea if it will or will not work until after it has failed so hopefully I won't have a problem. 

Knock on wood

I have not tested this mold and I'm hoping that based off of my small scale mold it will work but anything could, and probably will, happen between now and when it's frozen. 

I can't wait to figure out how I'm transporting this on Tuesday. I can only imagine how funny that is going to be. I'll have to bring my necklace over to studio, after checking that the freezer is empty, and then gather all my other work, head over to the apparel building, set up and then run back to studio grab my necklace and store it in the apparel building freezer all before my crit begins at 10am. I just hope that it doesn't melt before we actually get to talk about it...
 
 

Give Me a Hand

Alright I'm not going to lie this is one of the weirder things I have made. I have also realized my brooch is severely top heavy. Now normally I wouldn't mind if something is larger than normal or a bit heavy but it may be working against my favor at this point. While my pin back is strong enough my problem is that I have yet to find an article of clothing that fits close enough to the body that is strong enough to withstand the weight of my brooch. I need to try this on a men's jacket or perhaps a coat and see if that is any better than the normal stretch cottons that we usually wear to studio. 

 

 

Note to Self

If your piece isn't finished cutting remember to keep it in the mold before you put it in the oven to finish curring, otherwise it will melt. I suppose this would have been obvious but it didn't occur to me this morning when I put it in. 

 

 

My Pen is Done!

It was surprisingly easy to set my stones today considering the casting changed the dimensions a little bit. The only difficultly was in the beginning when my prongs wouldn't move but a quick anneal and it was easy as pie afterwards. My only wish is that I could reach certain surfaces with sandpaper or the tumbler. Unfortunately the tumbling stones are too big to reach the inside my my pen and my sandpaper isn't flexible enough. Regardless I am pleased with how it turned out overall. 

 

 

One Down...

 

 

Happy (Semi) Accident

Because my necklace thin pieces that are hollow they can be worn as rings. While not exactly planned, I knew it would be possible since the diameter of the necklace is about an inch. Still it's always fun to see your parts have a life of their own. 

 

Clean Up and De-Spruing

 

 

 
 

 

It Takes a Village

While finals are stressful for everyone some of my class is allergic to the resins they are using. While I normally wouldn't help someone do their work, I want to see everyone finish so I helped mix and pour this flexible resin so that her reaction wouldn't get worse. I understand that my class is special in that we all care about one another and want to see everyone succeed but it's times like these when everyone can see it. Finals can bring out the best and worst in a person, hopefully we only see the best for the next few days. 
 

A Weekend in the Life of a RISD Jeweler

This weekend I'm going to post everything step by step as I finish it for finals. 

I finally got the brooch back to fit flush
 

 

The Game Plan

I've got a lot to do but I think I'll be okay 

 

Failed Mother Mold

Water kept leaking from the sides and wouldn't freeze correctly 
 

The Mother of All Molds

 

 

Master Ring

After printing out my final pieces for my ice necklace I made a mold of the largest and cast 15 of them all so that I could make the mast mold for my necklace. The pieces when together create a 9 inch diameter ring that easily slips over the head of nearly everyone. 

 

 

When in Doubt Bring Strawberries Out

Finals are coming to a culmination and the best way to deal with that is with strawberries. 

 

Still Dying

 

 

 

 

I Dye