CASTING!!!! This class is the BEST. I am working on a mason jar drop light chandelier installation piece for my final and these larva will be inside of the mason jars along with cast moths and beetles. I hand made 4 larva from dark brown wax and then made RTV molds of them that way I could use the wax injector and make a ton of them. Sadly, one of my flasks last night wasn't able to vacuum so I wasn't able to cast it but it's not a big deal since I have mold of these so making another tree to cast didn't take too long.
This weekend my Ceramics 1 class went to our school's foundry to do a process called Raku. I used specific glazes for this geode that work with Raku and then placed my piece (along with the classes) in an outside propane gassed kiln and let it sit in there for an hour and a half, then pulled it out wear this gorgeous outfit! I also have 30 small crystal forms I made for that go inside of this geode bowl but I will fire those normally using normal glazes.
I love owls. Plain and simple. This piece I made for Sculpture 1. I used Soldate 60 clay to model this owl and the ancient bone it sits on. The piece was fired and then I painted it with acrylic paint doing a dry brush technique.
For my Sculpture 1 class last semester I made a sky pirate ship (inspired from The Edge Chronicles) for my wax to bronze assignment. I hand dyed the sails, put a hot patina of cupric nitrate on the ocean base (then added resin over it so it looks wet), and the main ship body has a liver of sulfur patina.
I am making this piece for my Ceramics 1 class. This is the slab assignment and it works great for building house or room structures. I decided to make a cottage that is the home mice live in before a magician pulls them from his top hat.... kinda out there, but super fun to make ;)
My friend Diane Lieu asked me to model for one of her photography classes and was nice enough to use my octopus eye necklace as the inspiration for her shoot.
I made this octopus inspired necklace last semester for my Jewelry 2 class. The main piece is a hollow-form octopus eye and I made suckers to go on the hand made chain (yes, I made every one of those dang jump rings). Lastly, I created a tentacle toggle out of wax and had it cast in bronze. I sponged on enamel paint in turquoise and purple over a black patina to get the color. This necklace made it into my school's Spring Show and is now on display at one of the main campus buildings.
One of my friends asked me to make her my mouse skull bracelet along with small badger claw studs. Always fun to make things that don't relate to school, gives my brain a little break ;)
I finally finished my curved bezel sample. I decided to break up some crystal forms I had and epoxy them into the bezel. Setting stones is not my favorite thing so I sneaky-snaked my way around it and did the assignment of making a curved bezel buuuut not setting a stone and instead using resin to "set" another object.
So excited that my vintage radio light bulbs were delivered this morning! I'm going to be using these with the mason jars I got a few days ago for my casting final.
Wowza, today was a bitch and a half.... I'm working on my midterm for Fashion Jewelry as well as samples. Today we did the tube clasp which isn't rocket science, but I'm going to use it in my midterm so I was taking my time with it. But what really gave me trouble was finishing my curved bezel sample. Curved bezels are difficult but are so beautiful when done right. Took me three tries but I finally made one that was the right size, filed it correctly, and soldered it down fully. It's still a work in process but after 6 hours of class and 4 extra hours of jewelry work following that, I was a bit spent. Carrying on with it all tomorrow, but I think I'll work on my casting final; I need to make some wax larva and moths.
A little sneak peak of the mason jar drop light fixture I will make for my casting class (cast objects will be inside the jars). I'm hoping my never-before-explored-electrician-skills work out....
I then filed the inside of the python rib ring so it was perfectly comfortable, dipped it in patina, and brought up the highlights with sandpaper and the buffing machine. This is a size 6 ring.
This is a close up of one of the python rib and carved ring band ring I made. This is it straight off of the tree, only sandblasted.
In my small vacuum casting class we did our first "pour" last night. I made a mold of a python rib, and then added the wax injected piece to a wax ring band that I carved with a lot of texture and indents on the side so it would fit comfortably on my middle finger. This tree also has some small mouse skulls I had a mold made for last year, before I learned how to make them self.
This is the package I sent off to London this morning carrying the small cast badger claw studs. I want the whole experience of ordering from Curio Oracle Jewelry to be special, thoughtful, and beautiful.
I made these small cast badger claws yesterday for my first commission! I'm so excited! The small set are $25, the medium are $30, and the large are $40, feel free to message me and order a pair.
I'm sorry I can't find the artist of this magnificent piece, but needed to post it anyway. I find this so striking and I love all of the hidden things amongst the whole.
My final outcome for the 2-week etched bracelet project I had for Fashion Jewelry earlier this semester.
My first etching assignment was to coat my piece of copper in asphaltum, then scrape away my design, and make the copper sheet into a bracelet. I opted for a caterpillar design with small butterflies that I planned on piercing out the wings of and then partially bending them up.
We had an assignment about 3 weeks ago in my Fashion Jewelry class to work with P n' P (Press and Peel) etching. It's really easy, in theory haha. Just print on this special P n' P paper, iron on to your metal, use contact paper or paint pen to protect the metal you don't want etched, then submerge your metal in an acid bath. I use motherboard etching solution from Radio Shack. Wait about 3 hours, then wala! Your metal should be etched, now you can use it to make whatever you want. This was just a simple two finger ring I came up with after seeing this 1930's illustration of kids playing tug of war.
A little look into things that inspire me....
I also made a ring with the large bronze badger claw and some extra sterling silver wire I had. I decided to go for a very hammered texture on the ring band to keep a rustic and native look to the piece.
Medium bronze cast badger claw studs.
Here are some large bronze cast badger claw studs I made this week. I went to Paxton's Gate in the Mission a few months ago and just knew I needed a range of small, medium, and large badger claws to make molds of and then cast from.
