treetops

have the stars changed?
spread slightly farther apart?
can i close the gap with my fingertips?

there is a lavender

it first came in a jigsaw puzzle
and followed me in dreams,
intertwining itself in
melancholy and nostalgia

squash earring prototype molds

A mold was made of the 'raw' squash tendril as it was picked out of the garden (mold not shown).



Wax was injected into first mold. A prosthetic loop was attached to the top of the wax model that will serve as a bail for the earring. (Item to left in 2nd pic).

A secondary prototype mold was made of the wax model with loop on top. (Right part of 2nd pic).

Once the mold is made, the model is cut out and molten wax is injected into the cavity. (The all red model sitting on mold is an injected wax model.) This gives you a near-perfect representation of the model.

The injected wax model will now be transformed into metal. The metal piece will be cleaned up (especially where the loop was attached). This piece will become the metal 'master'.

A production mold will be made from this metal piece.

My sincere hope is that the earring will be 'reversible', so that by flipping one earring over, there will be an opposing, yet matching 'pair' of earrings. If it does not work, I will just shoot myself.

Because of advances in casting, the final product will be a near exact representation of the original squash tendril (with loop attached and about 7% smaller than original tendril).

driftwood earring molds

Two prototype molds are made of a pair of driftwood earrings similar in style to the driftwood ring.
Eerily looking like bacon at this stage.
We'll see...