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.