Progress

Here is the drawing I have decided to go with:


The chased piece near completion

 Soldered wire onto a thin piece of copper to act as the bezel. It soldered very successfully. I'm very happy with the craftsmanship of this part.

Eye-Wear

My inspiration for this project is eagles. Here are some of the photographs I have been looking at:

I am most interested in the very strong line of their brow. they look really fierce and intimidating. I want to capture those elements in my piece. I am learning toward a monocle. I was also toying with a mascarade mask and a more typical glasses shape but I keep coming back to the monocle.

Clasp As Focal Point Finished Piece

Here it is:

I really enjoyed making the chain and I love how it looks, the only thing is holding the small coils and cutting them with the jewelers saw really hurt my fingers after a while. Now they're all calloused. I want to continue to explore coloring metal with Prisma colors, i think I might incorporate it somewhere on my next project as well. The clasp isn't shown in the picture but its a sister clasp. Its a small one so its hidden. I really like the look, feel and ease of that kind of clasp. Its a bit more complex but still relatively easy to make and super versatile.

Alas for Problems

sooo like in every project, you always run into some issues. I planned on making the "idiots delight" chain with 18 guage wire. Well what I didn't know is that finding a 5/32 dowel is close to impossible. I checked several hardware and craft stores. Once I couldn't find it in the store, I decided to modify a bigger dowel to the right size but sanding it down was waaaay too difficult to keep the width consistent. I ended up deciding to order new wire in a different guage that I already had the correct dowel size for. I couldn't find the color I wanted in 16 guage so I went for 20. Who knew I had to buy the dowel, then the wire. I'm glad I could make it work and didn't have to settle for a less tight chain or change what type of chain i was making.

Project one sketches

Here are my final sketches for project one: 

The bottom sketch is the one I have chose to go with. It is based on the tail and body of a parrot. I am going to use color pencil on the bottom piece to incorporate the coloring of the parrot.

Etruscan Chain- double loop in loop

I absolutely loved making this chain. I found fusing really fun and I want to try making other kinds of chains. My first project doesn't call for an etruscan chain so I'm waiting for a use to arise for it. I am going to make a byzantine chain also called idiots delight chain for my project. It is going to use silver and blue colored wire. After completing a six inch double loop in loop Etruscan Chain I made a single loop in loop with the extra links. I still have to draw the single loop in loop through the draw plate. I'm hoping that will help it look more uniform. If it doesn't then I definitely prefer the double loop in loop. I tried to take some pictures but my camera cant see the detail in the chain.

Spring 2012 Theme

I've decided to use birds as my theme for this semester. I plan on focusing on one specific bird for each piece. I am thinking that I want to use an eagle for the second project and focus on their impeccably good vision by setting a magnifying glass. I'm not sure whether I want to go off from the idea of binoculars or a monocle. I keep think of designs for a monocle but I'm not sure how that relates to an eagle. I am still toying with what bird to use for the first project. The shape of the body and the delicate detail in their wings is really interesting to me. Here are a couple pictures i've been looking at. 

Also the repetition of their flight patterns might be a good design element to etch or play with when designing.