Getting an idea...

Just going to be cryptic right now and leave this here...

Working!

Carving some wax!

More works in progress...

Chugging along. Works in progress.

Works in progress, it's a mixture of exhibit pieces  fun stuff and commissions. I'm very excited with how the large woman enamel is turning out. It's hard to see with this cell phone pic but there is a ton of fine texture there so once it's fully fired it will give a great illusion of shading. The two men fighting will be earrings, and yes they are 4" long but made with a very light gauge of copper so they aren't heavy. The large woman is 5" tall, I'm enjoying making really large works.

In progress...

Got a whole slew of etches done, tons more to come. Just churnin' out the art these days.

Ok, maybe not quite, but trying. These aren't fantastic shots, but just quick cell phone snaps to show some progress.

More anxiety work.

Color separation test for anaglyph (3-D) enamel.  Colored pencil on tracing paper.  For a piece in the anxiety series.

More anxiety

Seriously, I've been spending a lot of time photoshopping images for this series. Here are a few more.

High Anxiety Series

Here are some images from one of two series that I'm working on. This series is tentatively titled high anxiety. It deals with issues of depression, panic disorder and anxiety, which I deal with on a daily basis.

Anxiety decal image in progress.

Anxiety back image for an etch. Still working on getting this to a point where I can print out the pnp and get the etch started.

Decal image in progress.

Etch image.

Etch image, this piece is already in progress.

Work in progress.

This will be part of the anxiety series.

Rough start

Rather rough start to the semester but at least it's going. The good thing is this semester I have pretty much everything planned, including a series dealing with relationships and heartbreak and other's dealing with anxiety and depression. Time to get to work!

Family photographs so far...

I've been busily digging through old family photos looking for images that I can use for my main glow in the dark mural. Here are few of my favorites.

Grandad, sometime in the late 30's or early 40's.

Grandad as a child, he looks to be about 6 here so this is circa 1918.

My favorite picture of Grandad,  drunk in a field, with guns. Sometime in the 30's I believe.

Grandma (I think), showing what balloons can do for a lady's figure.

Grandma as a child, circa 1924.

Grandma as a child, circa 1924.

Grandma, circa late 30's or early 40's. I never actually got to meet her, unfortunately she died when my mother was 17.

Working on my independent study for the summer.

After a brief, but much needed break I'm back to working on my summer independent study. Throughout the summer I will be studying using glow powders with enamels, furthering the basic research I've done for my small grant.

While initially the main piece I was going to work on was a large necklace it has evolved into a large mural instead. So far my explorations of forms has taken me to altar pieces and puzzles. I'm working within the frame work of memory loss and death so being able to do something that isn't meant to be worn and is more of a display piece is pretty liberating. Depending on where I take this it could be both, part wearable works that fit together like a puzzle to create a larger wall mounted artwork.

So far I've been researching inspirations and scanning in old family photographs that will be worked into the mural. Here are a few inspirations...

Ghent Altarpiece (Closed), Hubert & Jan van Eyck, circa early 15th Century, completed around 1430-1432.

Ghent Altarpiece (Open), Hubert & Jan van Eyck, circa early 15th Century, completed around 1430-1432

Verdun Altar, Nicholas of Verdun, Klosterneuburg Monastery, 1181.

Wooden Jigsaw Puzzle

Critique today....

Everything (jewelry) out for critique today.

The glow box is out to show that the necklace (center) glows in the dark. I was actually able to use the brush and dump technique to create a pattern of glow powder on there. It's promising that the technique worked as hopefully this means that I can apply glow powders in other ways such as stenciling and painting. The small champleve pin was interesting to do as that was the first time I tried to do this on a highly formed work. In the part I've used the champleve technique on slightly formed pieces or flat etches. Definitely need to get a deep etch if I'm going to use the hydraulic press to make the etches three dimensional. I couldn't build up a sufficient layer of the transparent enamels for the colors to really show through and they started to burn off after a bit. Using opaques instead would be one way to fix it, but I think for pieces that small I'll just go up a gauge the next time I do an etch.

Really excited about decals...

Bought a bunch of decal paper and a laser printer so over the summer I can start making my own custom decals for my work. Very excited! If you would like more info about printing out and using your home made decals for enameling, check out this link:

http://www.enamelworksupply.com/Resources/toner%20decals.pdf

Phew...

Glad to know we have an extension on metalsmithing until Monday morning! It will be nice to put some finishing touches on those projects. Getting really excited about the summer, bought a bunch of laser decal paper so now I can create my own decals to take my layered images to the next step. Still, think I just might sleep for a few days, just to catch up. Then back to work!

DaDa

Some further inspirations, just a few images for now.

Raoul Hausmann, "The Art Critic,"  1919-1920

Hanna Hoch, "Das schöne Mädchen," 1921.

Raoul Hausmann, "ABCD," 1923-1924

Der Dada 3, ed. Raoul Hausmann (Berlin, April 1920), cover.

One of my jewelry heroines...

http://egetal.com.au/news/post/jane-dodd-on-storytelling-workshop-6-and-outsider-art

Where have you been?

Various old flyers and adverts from my favorite record label Flying Nun*. All courtesy of www.tallyho.co.nz, an amazing site well worth checking out for any fans of the Nun or Kiwi music of a certain vintage. Just a compendium of images that are setting me down a path...

Able Tasmans & Cakekitchen Flyer - http://www.tallyho.co.nz

The Chills Flyer - http://www.tallyho.co.nz

Chris Knox & Barbara Ward Flyer - http://www.tallyho.co.nz

The Clean - Advert for "Oddities" LP - http://www.tallyho.co.nz

The Clean - Advert for "Boodle Boodle Boodle" EP - http://www.tallyho.co.nz

The Enemy Flyer - http://www.tallyho.co.nz

The Clean Flyer - http://www.tallyho.co.nz

Flying Nun Advert for "Tuatara" Compliation  - http://www.tallyho.co.nz

The Gordons - Advert for "Volume 2" LP - http://www.tallyho.co.nz

The Gordons Flyer - http://www.tallyho.co.nz

Toy Love - Advert for "Rebel" Single - http://www.tallyho.co.nz

Toy Love Flyer - http://www.tallyho.co.nz

Toy Love Flyer - http://www.tallyho.co.nz

Techtones Advert - http://www.tallyho.co.nz

*Ok, there a few non-Nun bands on here. The Enemy never recorded but went on to form Toy Love. Toy Love is mostly pre-Nun, but did get reissued on Flying Nun so that still counts. The Gordons are in the same situation, originally not part of the Flying Nun roster they were eventually reissued on Flying Nun in the late 80's. Techtones were on Propeller, CBS and Ripper Records and none of their work has been reissued as of this date.