Weekly Progress - Thought Process
- S.Dickinson
- Feb 9, 2021
- 2 min read
I started off this week by asking myself the question, "What story am I telling?" Eventually I came up with these four points:
Jewellery defined by organic forms
Playful color arrangements
Creating habitats
Appreciation for nature and contemporary adornment
..........but how am I going to implement this into my work?
I started off with some small experiments. I wondered how I could push my design development as well as material development. I casted a few rubber components and pondered how these could be successfully altered. I decided to start to cut the pieces into small parts, not in a uniformed way.
Below (Left to Right):
Picture 1: Casted piece cut in half, added fishing line
This was just to see what combining materials would look like, out of curiosity.
Picture 2 & 3- Combination of casted rubber pieces after cutting.
From these samples/experiments, I came across a different approach to colouring my pieces. Each section would be able to have its own defined colour if I cast them individually and put them together after.
This gave me an idea and I decided that I would start to sketch.
My sketches led me to this ring concept.
After sketching I decided to arrange some of my rubber casted pieces - this particular combination really created a sense of an underwater habitat.
But how could I push this further?
I've been spending a lot of my time researching barnacles and growths of that nature.
Here are some of the words that came to mind when thinking about barnacles.
I feel as though this aligns to the story I am trying to tell with my pieces.
I decided to then push more for the feel of an under water habitat. What elements can be added to this piece?
I added candle wax and then chipped away at some of it to expose the casted rubber elements.
In my opinion that element was successful.
- The first image portrays the rubber casted piece with candle wax.
- The second image was my attempt to spray flex seal on my object to conceal it- however I wasn't paying attention and mistakenly used BLACK flex seal. :(
- The third image is the result of me attempting to make a mould for my object so that I can recreate it in different ways. However the mould didn't cure correctly.
So far I like the track that i'm on, I need to figure out what sealant I can use that will keep my object together and allow me to make moulds.
I agree that the cutting and piecing of the elements of your cast forms is really engaging-there is something about 3D printed forms (or sometimes Laser-cut forms) that viewers see, and they quickly make the assumption, "oh- a computer made that". We as jewelers know that-it is not that easy, and there is much work on our part, and oftentimes a fair amount of handwork to create the things we do, with lasers or 3D printers as our tools. But your cut and barnacled together pieces are much more mysterious- and I think a viewer (myself included) would experience wonder/and mystery about how they came to be. I also appreciate you documenting the things that did not work, or mistakes-…
Great job taking us through your thought process and experimentation from this week. I quite like how you have cast separate pieces and put them together and pushing it farther to the development of the idea of barnacles and the underwater habitat and what elements you can add. I am excited to see more!