Kinetic Project -Redo



After setting the previous blue dyed tiger's eyes in the pendant, I attempted to repair a broken stem on the inferior aspect of the piece.  This resulted in the dye burning out of the stones and ruining the effect I was looking for.  A critical appraisal of the pendant resulted in the decision to rebuild it using two translucent amethyst and stronger stems.  The copper elements around the stones also seemed inadequate in comparison to the rest of the neck piece and were also re-designed in brass.  I think this works better and should be able to be completed by critique.  Here's hoping.

Kinetic piece:

I worked two 10 hr. days plus class time on this project so far this week.  I can see the end in sight now.   In class yesterday I got my idea of a tiara nixed. It was worth a shot anyway.  Ideas for the clasp were discussed and a simple and elegant solution presented itself.  As the band was constructed of two strips, I split one end and bent the other to form the clasp as shown below.

Most of today was spent finishing the individual components and creating the clasp.  Tomorrow I'll try the micro torch to see if I can ball the ends of the brass wire or have to use the fine silver.  Either way, all that remains after that is to set the stones, final polish and then keep my hands off it until crit.

This piece really only took shape as it was being constructed.  So many technical issues relating to the kinetic aspect of the piece had to be resolved sequentially, each solution presenting a new complication. I stayed somewhat related to the initial design, but the mechanism changed significantly.  I knew this piece would be  delicate, but somewhere along the way it got all Elven Princess on me.

Pendant piece constructed

Top is a trial for the remainder of the neck piece.  I didn't think it was consistent with the rest of the piece and tried another idea shown below.

 That worked out better and ended up as shown below.  Copper and brass wire were solderd together at measured points to create the ellipses and then they were twisted 360 degrees. a tube was soldered at each end and the transition is seamless.

Now to class tomorrow for feedback and ideas for the clasp (or leave it as a tiara).  The connections will be made with 22 gauge brass wire balled at one end and the other closed with a ball of solder.

Kinetic project

The bail/transition has been fabricated and the scheme for the neckpiece is becoming evident.  The brass elements will be smooth and polished in contrast to the hammered copper elements.  The silver settings will also be smooth and polished to provide an eye-catching focal point. 
I will continue the helix pattern in decreasing size along the neck piece until it becomes a single wire with a clasp. 

 This is a detail of the connection point of the neckpiece and the pendant.  I have ordered some 22 gauge brass wire to use for the pins in the connections of the individual components.  The ends of the pins will be melted and balled to secure the connections. 

Kinetic Piece V 6.7

After many revisions the center pendant piece is fully assembled excepting setting the stones.  I am attempting to carry the linear elements through into the neck piece and repeat the elements in decreasing scale around the back.  The bail stone will be set in a silver bezel and the mountings for the attached pieces will be hidden in the backing of the stone setting.

Doesn't look much different, but significant effort went into the interim step.  The piece was disassembled and re-configured somewhat.  Now the outer shell pieces can swivel independently of each other as well as the inner column.  I have these two dyed Tiger's Eyes and am thinking of how I might use them on the inside for the shell to rotate around.  I envision them mounted in a staggered arrangement, or back to back, giving the effect of a bead. (!) For contrast of metals I may use silver and brass on the inner column.
The next design issue are the transitions to the neck piece.  I am thinking of repeating the rotating shell forms, scaled down somehow.  This would give three elements with free rotation about the neck and would give the sensation of rollers as the wearer moved and turned.

Kinetic project - work in progress

The idea is to have a set of concentric forms rotating around an axis.  This will  end up a neckpiece, with repetition of the central element laterally into the transition to the neckpiece bands.  It will be most likely copper, with either silver or brass as an anomalous element. 

iVote Project

 

 

This is after about 50 hrs. in the patina and a light brushing with a 220 star wheel to bring out the highlights. The edges of the eyelids were done with sandpaper.  I use Krylon for a clear coat on  most of my patina work. 

 

Welcome back Prof. Nahabetian!  Very nice to have the studio complete again.  Now on to the kinetic project, ideas and inspiration still all over the place.  I need to get a clearer picture of how I want to fulfill the project specifications.  



I Vote Project:

Having successfully ignored this project until last week, it became imperative to get moving, as it is due next Monday.  I have been kicking the concept and execution around for some time, impeded by my relative apathy to most "cause du jours", having seen so many come and go. Upon reflection, an honest answer to the question of "what do I feel strongly about", relates to unnecessary pain, suffering and loss, much of which is currently precipitated by the over and misuse of prescription narcotics.  Right now, in the United States there is a demographic whose death rates are climbing, instead of declining as is the population as a whole. This is white, middle aged woman of low educational and socio-economic background.  Half of these excess deaths are due to narcotics, the other parts include suicide, violence, and alcohol.

This piece is human eye with a blank anterior chamber consisting of a single horizontal line.  This is the appearance of a 30 mg Oxycodone.  It is also cardiac standstill on an ecg monitor.  A circle with a line through is the universal symbol for on/off as well.  The eye has a vacant, uneasy aspect, exaggerated by the non-biologic color of the patinas and convey an ill, if not bizarre effect.

This piece was constructed of textured sheet copper I had laying around on my bench.  It had gone through the rolling mill sandwiching a plastic net bag from the produce section of the grocery.  It had a nice crinkly appearance.  A disc was cut for the center and the other pieces cut, annealed, layered hammered and soldered. After shaping in the die, the final outline was drawn and sawn circumferentially.  The pin back was constructed of tube, piano wire and copper wire.   

Clean up was with a light 400 grit final sanding, making sure to leave the texture, followed by a light buff with a brush on the Foredom.  I use denatured alcohol prior to attempting a patina, rubbing the surface firmly with a rag or paper towel.  For this patina, I would like a deep blue, so I took the dry piece and rinsed it well in acetic acid  and placed it suspended in an ammonia atmosphere.

  Here it is in the ammonia atmosphere, already turning  blue after 30 minutes.

It is sitting over the stove to warm it up a bit.  After getting the right color saturation it will come out, get rinsed, dried, highlights buffed out, Krylon and done.

Here the stones are loose in place with the neck piece attached.  It is tabbed into the ends of the centerpiece and soldered. I hammered it out of 10 gauge sterling wire. 

What I have spent the afternoon doing is forming the prongs using a needle file and foredom bit.  The first step was fine tuning the seat of the stone, ensuring it lies flat, nearly flush with the gold.  Next, the prongs are trimmed to a dimension facilitating pushing over onto the stone. The inner surface of the prong needs to be undercut a bit to allow the prong to fold over on the top surface of the stone, not pushing onto the corner.

The first set of prongs and seat took me so long I thought I might have this done by Christmas.  Luckily, I eventually figured out how to speed up the process and the rest went much quicker.  Part of it was knowing what to be looking for. 

At this point I have the seats and prongs pretty much set.  A final sanding and buff with the star wheels and it's time to set the stones. 

Good to hear that Prof. Nahabetian may be on her way back.  Missy Crowell has done great keeping us on track and we have enjoyed having her in class, but we do miss our Frau N.

Rough cast with trial finish

Casting went smoothly yesterday afternoon.  Iris and I were looked on favorably by the gods of metalworking and had successful casts.  Now the finishing and prong work.

Rough cast with stones in place

I just wanted to see how it looked with the stones in place. They give it an entirely different aspect.   What is not evident in the photo is the passage of light through the piece as it moves.  I am anxious to get this finished and stones set. 

Here is the proposed choker, wax finished and stones in place.  A copper band temporarily taking the place of the eventual silver neck piece.  All that is left at this point is to place the prongs on the stone seats and sprue.   I'm hoping to cast next week and get it finished by the due date. This has been a difficult wax carving, many revisions, wax on, wax off.

Tara is still attending her mother and class has been held by Missy Crowell, keeping us on track and moving ahead. Also must give a shout out to Prof. Saracino for his assistance in the development and execution of this piece.

Our next assignment is the iVote piece, a pin making a statement.  I have no idea what I feel that strongly about, but I'll think of something.

Step one of choker production. Took an informal poll of classmates and professors and noted their reactions.  Their feedback mirrored my own on the two.  I chose this one as it is a bit different from what I have  been accustomed to doing.  As his piece is a considerable investment, I want it to be not only a successful design assignment, but also saleable.

I intend for the neck piece to be a band of hammered 12 or 14 gauge wire, left with a hammer finish.  I am as yet undecided regarding the color of the metals.  I want the cast portion to be gold, white or yellow. ( ? red)  The neck piece will be a solid band, gently twisted to allow it to lie flat around the neck but hold the centerpiece at the appropriate ankle in the suprasternal notch. Undecided whether to use white for the centerpiece and band both, or white for the stone piece and yellow for the band, or vice versa.  Going into class tomorrow will be interested in feedback.  Wish Tara was here, but hope for the best for her and her mother.  

Design Challenge #3

The instructions for this challenge were essentially similar to the prior with the exception of stipulating metal as a component and requiring a mixed media.  The real challenge came in the theme which was essentially a Valentine's Day Heart. Giving this standard design a new treatment was going to be a chore.

Luckily we had a week for the project.  I considered this design at length as well, and after several days I had decided on how I would treat the heart.  I took the standard heart  and sectioned it from top to bottom, leaving equal halves.  Three of these were then arranged in 3-D giving the effect of three separate hearts.  The glass bead provides a transition and complementary color to the burnished copper which was forged flat out of round wire. The hammer pattern and weather beaten appearance of the copper are a deliberate contrast to the perfect symmetry and finish of the bead.  

This piece developed it's theme early on in it's evolution.  The concept of three hearts entangled drove the early design process. 

Design Challenge #2 - Construction

The Egg was sectioned obliquely using a jewelers saw and miter box.  Working with a plastic of such low melting temperature was difficult due to the tendency of the plastic to re-fuse if cut too quickly.
The sections were approximated and heated under boiling water to form and then glued with cyanoacrylate.


Design Challenge #2 - Submission

This piece came together after rolling it around in my head for several days. I spent that time deciding how to treat the egg form and what technique I would use, such as piercing, sectioning, intact, mosaic etc. As I used the minimum of provided materials on my last challenge, this project was going to consist almost entirely of what was given.  Once sectioned, the pieces were trialed in various arrangements. The concavity lent itself naturally to the placement of a focal point and an illuminated stone was fabricated to place in the base of the black bowl.  The red color was carried through on the edges of the blue rings, evoking an appearance of a copper with patina.  The cord integrates the existing colors in silk. It is a dark piece literally and figuratively.

Back in DES 33 for the Fall Semester after a break building a house over the spring and summer.  First day and we get a Design Challenge to create a pendant/Pin from the above objects.  Had 3 hours to complete the task and came up with this.

Technically, it fulfills the mandate for the project in that it contains at least 50% of the given items, but may have fallen short of the intent or spirit of the assignment. It evokes the symbol of eternity (the lemniscafe) as well as the double helix of our DNA. I like the motion of the piece and it's kinetic energy. It would be a good production piece however and could easily be fabricated for the student sale coming up.  Erica suggested a rotating bail and I would definitely incorporate that into the production design as this piece is best seen in motion.