This past friday I finally started my internship at Michael's Jewelry Studio, working behind the bench. I have never been so nervous waking up that morning getting prepared to go in for my first day because I feel like I know absolutely nothing about being a bench jeweler. Jan said in class the other day to start preparing for the real world outside of college. That being nervous about starting and/or encountering new things is always going to be nerve wracking, but that we should quickly learn to embrace that feeling because it is something that you can never escape, and unless you want to stay stagnant for the rest of your life, then you must push through the fear and continue moving forward.
As soon as I walked in, my heartbeat quickly slowed down. Everyone was just wonderful. Michael immediately put me to work. He had me roll some silver down from 18 gauge to 20 gauge then hammer out small discs. He then asked me to cut the discs in half and when he saw that I wasn't sawing correctly, he showed me the proper way which made things so much easier! Then he had me file the edges flat, then file 45 degree angles so the discs could be soldered together at those angles to ultimately make a pair of earrings. When he saw that my filing was wobbly and all over the place, he showed me the correct way to file which was very exciting. It was so nice to have one on one attention which is something that is very difficult to get at school when you're in a class with 20 people for only an 4 hours a week! I was so embarrassed that I wasn't doing things correctly and felt so out of place, but he reassured me that it is going to take hours and hours and hours of practice to get it right. Good thing I have 120 hours with him! :)
There are 4 bench jewelers (one kid, 2 older men and Michael) and a woman who watches the gallery and actually graduated from Towson in the jewelry and metals program with John Fix. Everyone is funny and warm and extremely talented. I felt right at home. At the end of the day I didn't even want to leave! I am just so happy and excited to have started this internship. I think it really going to help build my self confidence.
After working at the bench for a little while, I watched some of the bench jewelers and they talked me through what they were doing as they did it. It was so cool to watch. I learned a lot.
They day just kept getting better. That evening after work, I went to meet Joseph Hyde to have some of my jewelry photographed. He was absolutely wonderful, and extremely talented. I have never been proud of my work and was very embarrassed to show it to him, considering he's been photographing many great artists, for example jeweler Janet Huddie. It was so interesting to see the whole process and collaborate with him on ideas for the photographs. It was very cool that he actually wanted my input! The photographs, untouched, came out amazing. I am so happy about them. He helped me to look at my work in a new light and actually feel proud of it.
So all in all, it was a very very exciting and productive day!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Enameling II
This semester in Enameling II, we are starting off with electroforming. I have decided to go with my slime mold forms, surprise surprise. For our first project we are supposed to build our models using alternative materials - preferably something other than metal or wax, and then electroform them. I haven't decided exactly what I want to make, but I know I want it to be a wearable piece of jewelry that is based on slime mold. Most likely I will be making earrings or a pendant.
For my creative caffeine assignment, it was suggested in class that I choose a bunch of different materials that could be squeezed out of a pastry bag to create my form that would ultimately harden so it could be copper plated. I asked all of my friends on facebook which substances they recommended by asking the question on my profile page. I got a lot of great responses - hot glue, cake icing, caulk, tempered chocolate, easy cheese, cornstarch mixed with salt and water that creates playdo, elmers glue, and clay based face masks. I tried them all and only the hot glue gave me the effect I was looking for.
The playdo came close to what I was looking for, but became a little too crumbly as it dried. The icing was too thick and the chocolate was too thin. The cheese cracked when dried and the face mask was extremely messy. The elmers glue and caulk spread out and turned into big blobs after a couple of minutes. So I went with the hot glue because I was able to get clean precise veins and the glue dried very quickly so it was fast and easy to work with.
At first I tried drawing out my design in hot glue on a plastic page protector, but it stuck and wouldn't come off. Next I tried wax paper and plastic coated freezer paper, but the glue stuck to that as well. Then I tried putting a thin layer of crisco down on the 2 different types of paper and then tried a thin layer of pam after that. The glue tended to spread out and look a little messy, and still stuck a little bit to the paper. My last resort was tin foil and that did the trick. The glue peels off of it nice and easy. This wasn't the best option because at least with the wax paper it is somewhat translucent and I could put it over my sketch and trace the design with the glue gun. When using the tin foil I had to draw my design on it freehand with a sharpie and then trace that with the glue.
For my creative caffeine assignment, it was suggested in class that I choose a bunch of different materials that could be squeezed out of a pastry bag to create my form that would ultimately harden so it could be copper plated. I asked all of my friends on facebook which substances they recommended by asking the question on my profile page. I got a lot of great responses - hot glue, cake icing, caulk, tempered chocolate, easy cheese, cornstarch mixed with salt and water that creates playdo, elmers glue, and clay based face masks. I tried them all and only the hot glue gave me the effect I was looking for.
The playdo came close to what I was looking for, but became a little too crumbly as it dried. The icing was too thick and the chocolate was too thin. The cheese cracked when dried and the face mask was extremely messy. The elmers glue and caulk spread out and turned into big blobs after a couple of minutes. So I went with the hot glue because I was able to get clean precise veins and the glue dried very quickly so it was fast and easy to work with.
At first I tried drawing out my design in hot glue on a plastic page protector, but it stuck and wouldn't come off. Next I tried wax paper and plastic coated freezer paper, but the glue stuck to that as well. Then I tried putting a thin layer of crisco down on the 2 different types of paper and then tried a thin layer of pam after that. The glue tended to spread out and look a little messy, and still stuck a little bit to the paper. My last resort was tin foil and that did the trick. The glue peels off of it nice and easy. This wasn't the best option because at least with the wax paper it is somewhat translucent and I could put it over my sketch and trace the design with the glue gun. When using the tin foil I had to draw my design on it freehand with a sharpie and then trace that with the glue.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Houseware Jewelry?!
I was going through old magazines looking for design ideas for my senior project and enameling...color schemes, forms, textures, etc. In Lucky magazine I came across this fierce porcelain bowl. It's weird to describe a porcelain bowl as fierce because typically porcelain objects are thought of as beautiful and delicate, but this bowl totally is fierce with the spikes and draped chain.
Sarah Cihat and Michael Miller are the artists who make these beautiful porcelain bowls. They also make vases and chandeliers among other things that are also dripping with chain. To me this looks like jewelry for houseware...something to make these everyday objects more interesting and exciting. I love the idea of making jewelry for objects, as opposed to humans.
http://www.sarahcihat.com/DIRT/dirtopen.html
Sarah Cihat and Michael Miller are the artists who make these beautiful porcelain bowls. They also make vases and chandeliers among other things that are also dripping with chain. To me this looks like jewelry for houseware...something to make these everyday objects more interesting and exciting. I love the idea of making jewelry for objects, as opposed to humans.
http://www.sarahcihat.com/DIRT/dirtopen.html
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Artists who use electroforming and enameling in their work
DENNIS NAHABETIAN
Dennis makes unique wire vessels and jewelry, although I wasn't able to find any pictures of his beautiful garden series brooches that I like so much. His bracelets, brooches and pendants look like smaller more delicate versions of his vessels. Jan always says that when you look at an artist's work and can't identify what processes were used in creating the piece, then the piece is successful.
When I first saw Dennis' work at the Smithsonian Craft Show, I looked around for fifteen minutes in his small space inspecting everything until I finally asked him how he made his work and what it was made from! He said he uses a metal matrix, screening, electroforms that and then uses patinas to add color.
http://web.mac.com/denahaha/Nahabetian/Home.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VICKIE HALLMARK
This artist I can't find much about, but when googling "electroformed" I came across some of her work that I thought was interesting. She primarily makes lampworked glass beads and vessels but recently started incorporating metal into her work as well.
We were talking in class about using other materials for our matrices, rather than just wax, and when I saw that Vickie electroforms glass vessels she makes, I took a closer look. I can't figure out how she got all of the copper bumps...are they nodules? Whatever they are I think they are beautiful! I also like the way that only parts of the vessels are plated, revealing some off the smooth glass through the rough copper.
www.vickiehallmark.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STANLEY LECHTZIN
"Lechtzin's 'Torque' series is an example of his work that utilizes electroforming preceding his use of the computer. He has been making these pieces since the early 70’s. Each piece consists of similar features such as the cast plastic torque body with variable electroformed ornmentation. Though many of the torque pieces are bangles as the title implies, some serve as neckpieces or brooches. (The three pieces shown here) flaunt the freedom of Lechtzin's materials and processes, they are large forms that would be too heavy if he had not used electroforming and plastics."
Lechtzin's pieces draw me in because they are so elaborate. Electroforming does not come into my head at all when I look at these pieces. In fact, no processes do, which I think make these pieces successful. My eye is too busy moving around the forms and looking at all of the detail.
http://biodigitaldesign.wikispaces.com/Stanley+Lechtzin
www.temple.edu
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MELISSA HUFF
"Huff is known for her one of a kind sculptural jewelry, based on botanical forms and made of enamel, electroformed copper and fine silver."
She says, "my current work is plant-based, often with actual seed pods or other plant material serving as a starting point for the form. Some pieces derive from cross-sections of parts of plant anatomy, such as roots and stems. In my recent hybrid series, I combine plant forms from multiple sources creating new forms which are not meant to be representational, yet are intended to look as though they could exist. The pieces are very much about growth and development, as if caught in the act of becoming something.
My materials and techniques enable me to explore the sensuousness of plant forms, their structure and patterns of growth, the processes of time and the sensory appeal of an opject's tactile qualities."
Although I have only been able to find two pictures of Huff's work online, I absolutely love her artist's statement. My creative mind works in a very similar way. A lot of the forms I end up crafting are branch like or based on forms such as seed pods found in nature. I like my work to also look very literal, not changing much from the original form I get my inspiration from. I love all of the qualities of objects found in nature and want replicate these beautiful forms in metal.
http://japanhouse.typepad.com/japanhouse/2007/10/index.html
http://www.40north.org/who/Melissa-Huff.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JAMIE BENNETT
Bennett is a metalsmith that makes enameled brooches and pendants. There's a nice hand drawn quality to his work. Jan mentioned in class that if you look along the edges of some of his pieces you can see a bumpy dashed line indicative of nodules that might have formed there and have been taken off, so I think some of her pieces might be electroformed.
http://www.fullercraft.org/Travelling.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MARIA PHILLIPS
"'I am interested in capturing both the beauty and inelegance of objects as they proceed through decay and regeneration,' Phillips has said. The resulting collection looks as if it might have been gathered from a forest floor, but is, in fact, created out of a combination of enamel, string, steel, silver and electroformed copper."
What I love about Maria's work, as Jan already said in class, is that she didn't take the traditional enameling route. A lot of the enameled work I see is very detailed and perfect, and that is not really my style. In fact it kind of turns me off to enameling. However looking at artists like Maria who use enamel the way she does, I start to get excited about working with it!
http://www.newpaltz.edu/artsnews/news.cfm?id=2792
www.artjewelryforum.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JUNE SCHWARCZ
Schwarz uses enameling and copper electroplating in her work. She is most well known for her sculptural vessels. I love the imperfectness of her work. It's like she wasn't forcing the metal, just allowing it to do it's own thing as she formed her vessels. I also like the subtle hints of color she added in with the enamel. It's not overpowering her work, and allows the forms to be the main focus which is a direction I think I want to head in.
americanart2.si.edu
www.velvetdavinci.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KATE FOWLE MELENEY
In her biotech series, Meleney is making glass forms inspired by nature and encasing them in an electroformed skin to add contrast to the glass surface. These pendants are lampworked glass with enamel and electroformed copper with liver of sulfur patina.
http://www.katefowle.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HARLAN BUTT
Harlan Butt is a metalsmith who makes enameled copper vessels inspired by nature. I love that there is so much going on in each vessel. Lots of color, texture, design and interesting form. What I like the most about his vessels is the way it looks like each is covered in scales. I can not figure out how he uses the enamel to create this pattern, but I'd love to find out!
www.unt.edu
http://harlanbutt.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BARBARA SEIDENATH
Form and design are the of focus in Seidenath's work. She uses enamel to enhance her forms and add colorful designs. In her artist's statement she says that she has been recently examining the dimensional possibilities of transparent enamels. In Enameling I, I did not like to work much with transparent enamels. I stuck to the opaque because I liked the brightly saturated colors I could get. I love this idea of layering transparent enamels not only to give a piece more depth and dimension, but maybe also to explore new color possibilities which I hadn't thought of before.
www.klimt02.net
www.risd.edu
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JIVAN ASTFALCK
Astfalck is an artist I found on google who uses some enameling and elctroforming in her work among many other processes. Atflack uses a lot of mixed media and this got me thinking about some other materials I could incorpate into my matrices before electroforming them.
paper, silver, enamel, pearls, fossilied Shark-teeth:
silver electroformed on plastics, silk, organic materials and raffia:
silver electroformed on oak twigs, fabricated copper leaves
www.klimt02.net
Dennis makes unique wire vessels and jewelry, although I wasn't able to find any pictures of his beautiful garden series brooches that I like so much. His bracelets, brooches and pendants look like smaller more delicate versions of his vessels. Jan always says that when you look at an artist's work and can't identify what processes were used in creating the piece, then the piece is successful.
When I first saw Dennis' work at the Smithsonian Craft Show, I looked around for fifteen minutes in his small space inspecting everything until I finally asked him how he made his work and what it was made from! He said he uses a metal matrix, screening, electroforms that and then uses patinas to add color.
http://web.mac.com/denahaha/Nahabetian/Home.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VICKIE HALLMARK
This artist I can't find much about, but when googling "electroformed" I came across some of her work that I thought was interesting. She primarily makes lampworked glass beads and vessels but recently started incorporating metal into her work as well.
We were talking in class about using other materials for our matrices, rather than just wax, and when I saw that Vickie electroforms glass vessels she makes, I took a closer look. I can't figure out how she got all of the copper bumps...are they nodules? Whatever they are I think they are beautiful! I also like the way that only parts of the vessels are plated, revealing some off the smooth glass through the rough copper.
www.vickiehallmark.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STANLEY LECHTZIN
"Lechtzin's 'Torque' series is an example of his work that utilizes electroforming preceding his use of the computer. He has been making these pieces since the early 70’s. Each piece consists of similar features such as the cast plastic torque body with variable electroformed ornmentation. Though many of the torque pieces are bangles as the title implies, some serve as neckpieces or brooches. (The three pieces shown here) flaunt the freedom of Lechtzin's materials and processes, they are large forms that would be too heavy if he had not used electroforming and plastics."
Lechtzin's pieces draw me in because they are so elaborate. Electroforming does not come into my head at all when I look at these pieces. In fact, no processes do, which I think make these pieces successful. My eye is too busy moving around the forms and looking at all of the detail.
http://biodigitaldesign.wikispaces.com/Stanley+Lechtzin
www.temple.edu
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MELISSA HUFF
"Huff is known for her one of a kind sculptural jewelry, based on botanical forms and made of enamel, electroformed copper and fine silver."
She says, "my current work is plant-based, often with actual seed pods or other plant material serving as a starting point for the form. Some pieces derive from cross-sections of parts of plant anatomy, such as roots and stems. In my recent hybrid series, I combine plant forms from multiple sources creating new forms which are not meant to be representational, yet are intended to look as though they could exist. The pieces are very much about growth and development, as if caught in the act of becoming something.
My materials and techniques enable me to explore the sensuousness of plant forms, their structure and patterns of growth, the processes of time and the sensory appeal of an opject's tactile qualities."
Although I have only been able to find two pictures of Huff's work online, I absolutely love her artist's statement. My creative mind works in a very similar way. A lot of the forms I end up crafting are branch like or based on forms such as seed pods found in nature. I like my work to also look very literal, not changing much from the original form I get my inspiration from. I love all of the qualities of objects found in nature and want replicate these beautiful forms in metal.
http://japanhouse.typepad.com/japanhouse/2007/10/index.html
http://www.40north.org/who/Melissa-Huff.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JAMIE BENNETT
Bennett is a metalsmith that makes enameled brooches and pendants. There's a nice hand drawn quality to his work. Jan mentioned in class that if you look along the edges of some of his pieces you can see a bumpy dashed line indicative of nodules that might have formed there and have been taken off, so I think some of her pieces might be electroformed.
http://www.fullercraft.org/Travelling.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MARIA PHILLIPS
"'I am interested in capturing both the beauty and inelegance of objects as they proceed through decay and regeneration,' Phillips has said. The resulting collection looks as if it might have been gathered from a forest floor, but is, in fact, created out of a combination of enamel, string, steel, silver and electroformed copper."
What I love about Maria's work, as Jan already said in class, is that she didn't take the traditional enameling route. A lot of the enameled work I see is very detailed and perfect, and that is not really my style. In fact it kind of turns me off to enameling. However looking at artists like Maria who use enamel the way she does, I start to get excited about working with it!
http://www.newpaltz.edu/artsnews/news.cfm?id=2792
www.artjewelryforum.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JUNE SCHWARCZ
Schwarz uses enameling and copper electroplating in her work. She is most well known for her sculptural vessels. I love the imperfectness of her work. It's like she wasn't forcing the metal, just allowing it to do it's own thing as she formed her vessels. I also like the subtle hints of color she added in with the enamel. It's not overpowering her work, and allows the forms to be the main focus which is a direction I think I want to head in.
americanart2.si.eduwww.velvetdavinci.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KATE FOWLE MELENEY
In her biotech series, Meleney is making glass forms inspired by nature and encasing them in an electroformed skin to add contrast to the glass surface. These pendants are lampworked glass with enamel and electroformed copper with liver of sulfur patina.
http://www.katefowle.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HARLAN BUTT
Harlan Butt is a metalsmith who makes enameled copper vessels inspired by nature. I love that there is so much going on in each vessel. Lots of color, texture, design and interesting form. What I like the most about his vessels is the way it looks like each is covered in scales. I can not figure out how he uses the enamel to create this pattern, but I'd love to find out!
www.unt.edu
http://harlanbutt.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BARBARA SEIDENATH
Form and design are the of focus in Seidenath's work. She uses enamel to enhance her forms and add colorful designs. In her artist's statement she says that she has been recently examining the dimensional possibilities of transparent enamels. In Enameling I, I did not like to work much with transparent enamels. I stuck to the opaque because I liked the brightly saturated colors I could get. I love this idea of layering transparent enamels not only to give a piece more depth and dimension, but maybe also to explore new color possibilities which I hadn't thought of before.
www.klimt02.net
www.risd.edu
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JIVAN ASTFALCK
Astfalck is an artist I found on google who uses some enameling and elctroforming in her work among many other processes. Atflack uses a lot of mixed media and this got me thinking about some other materials I could incorpate into my matrices before electroforming them.
paper, silver, enamel, pearls, fossilied Shark-teeth:
silver electroformed on plastics, silk, organic materials and raffia:
silver electroformed on oak twigs, fabricated copper leaves
www.klimt02.net
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