I was watching a cheesy sci-fi flick a few days ago and a piece worn by one of the characters struck me. There was something about the excessive bulk of the thing that made it stand out. It's lack of aesthetic perfection. If I can ever get caught up with some less expensive stuff I have displayed here and there to pay the bills, I might like to explore this idea. Maybe something like the above sketches?

Am I getting a tiny bit of excitement in regard to work stuff??? Nah, no way.

Every once in awhile, in the shop, you remember why you started making an item in the first place. Then the items imperfections and all the other constant, tiny insults life throws are of no consequence.

stalemate

Note to self:

No, it will not work.

However, it's 'not working' has been incorporated into the design, either from the beginning, or at some panicked later date -- it will probably happen with some modifications.

Modifications, or even a complete rework, might be quicker and preferred over a design stalemate.

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...

final wax stage

This is the amethyst ring as finished wax model.
Next step, make a prototype mold.
Then inject a wax model into mold.
Then cast a metal prototype from wax model.
Then a production mold made from the metal prototype.
Then another wax injected model.
Then cast an actual metal ring.

doings

So I got the outer shank for the amethyst ring 'roughed in' today. (It has a crown (bezel area) salvaged from the door pendant.)

Did not think about the difference between a ring mount and a pendant mount and the crown/shank meeting gave me fits. And I could not get the shank style right - kept making it too nice and pretty. It is finally where it will (or will not) be, it now needs some 'chaos' added and I think it will work. After that, the inside shank must be filled in, rounded and smoothed. Then a general clean-up.

The bezel area has a strange 'flared square' shape that leaves prominent corners at the base. At first this seemed too bulky. Usually when working on a piece, an oddity will either become increasingly annoying, and scrapped, or your eye will normalize the unique design. So far leaning slightly to the latter -- hard to know in this case until it gets to the point of being metal: as worn, as felt.

I get the ring finished and another creepy pod pendant and I can do a 3-month-overdue casting.

what i am doing

Until the price of silver stops spinning around and figures what it wants to do, I am going to take the opportunity to work on some long overdue wax projects. (These wax models will eventually be converted to silver.)

Things I am trying to finish up: Squash Tendril Earrings, Mindworm Pendant, Amethyst Door Ring (salvaged setting from Garnet Door Pendant), Driftwood Earrings, maybe some more stuff, not sure.

squash tendril earrings

Making a prosthetic for a simple pair or earrings and realized that I need even smaller drill bits (I was using a size 70-something.)

I preserved a squash tendril from last year and am trying to make earrings from the mold. I had to make an opposing loop on the top end as a bail for the ear hooks.

dissolve is done

Dissolve was intended to be a test study based on a favorite piece of music, however it became a victim or being born in the wrong place at the right time. This one came from a dark place - an unsustainable, frightening place.

Still not pleasant to work with this one, but if it sells, it will gradually become a part of the enhanced white noise of the shop.

eerie music propels a carousel of partially-coalesced mares -
loose reins of thought steering a flux of half-dreamt dreams

new ring

OK, so for what I am working on today, thought I would use the experience gained on the garnet door pendant and use it to make a ring. I am also going to salvage the 'bezel area' from the pendant. It will have 'wood' sides as the base of the bezel, and 'stone work' as the shank.

It will probably not have a elaborate story like the door. Probably with a faceted 4x6 rectangle cut amethyst.

between the fingers

In all my belly-aching and griping about the serpent ring, I failed to comment on it's most notable quality. Back when I used to do shows, one of the my fondest memories was that of selling a few of my pieces to those who happened to be blind. I consider this a real complement - if a piece does not feel right 'between the fingers', the piece is a failure. When judged within this criteria, the serpent ring is, in my opinion, a success. Looking at the ring, there may be some ambiguity as to it's meaning', it's function. When slid between the fingers, it is no longer a representation, the ancient serpent slides though your grasp.

I am closer to making some final products.

dissolve update

OK, so I have worked a couple of afternoons on the ring design. It is not going even close to what I expected. (Oddly enough, I have not listened to the cd while working on the ring - not sure why.) There is a strong discordant effect so far, it does not seem to belong to itself. The project was developed in a hypnagogic (un)reality - it is the coalesced substance of dreams. I am trying to avoid the impulse to 'wake it up', shifting it into an aesthetic conscientiousness.

I might be getting this one right.

dissolve

In 1998 Robert Rich released a collection of tracks entitled 'Seven Veils'. Here is a sample of the cd - the entire cd is this good - if you like it, do yourself a favor and purchase it. It ages very well. This cd is, in my opinion, one of the most profound and innovative collections in popular 'ethereal' music. I have to admit to not having heard all of R. Rich's music and collaborations, but compared to the other work I have heard, this cd has a different energy and sound - unique from anything I have ever heard. This cd is on a shortlist of medicines that can pull me in a creating space when all else fails. I have always wanted to do a work specifically themed to this soundtrack. As with all my favorite influences, I have yet to feel up to the project. I now think that I am ready to do a 'project-sketch' of the music. The attempt will be a ring entitled dissolve. Hopefully, a test for a more ambitious project in the future. Either that, or another lesson in the dangers of poking inspiration with a stick. We will see...

Spending the better part of this evening wallowing in the slightly cool, wet puddle of Nearly Done - nearly done with a way-too-big list of assignments. With over half of the items designed, cast, photoed and listed: all horrifying, cannot-work-out-in-my-head glitches passed. It all seems to fit, and does not need me or my paranoia anymore.

Just going to wallow in the funky, post-terror head-rushes a bit. Maybe longer. Before the yet-to-be-fixed infected egg pendant, mindworm pendant and sand creature ring problems resurface fully.

moon ring

102:45:25 Aldrin: 4 forward. 4 forward. Drifting to the right a little. 20 feet, down a half.
102:45:31 Duke: 30 seconds (until the 'Bingo' call).
102:45:32 Aldrin: Drifting forward just a little bit; that's good.
102:45:40 Aldrin: Contact Light.
102:45:43 Armstrong (on-board): Shutdown
102:45:44 Aldrin: Okay. Engine Stop.
102:45:45 Aldrin: ACA out of Detent.
102:45:46 Armstrong: Out of Detent. Auto.
102:45:47 Aldrin: Mode Control, both Auto. Descent Engine Command Override, Off. Engine Arm, Off. 413 is in.
102:45:57 Duke: We copy you down, Eagle.
102:45:58 Armstrong (on-board): Engine arm is off. (Pause) Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.

the soul of a windmill

The ancient serpent adjusted his bulk on the rocky cave floor, wincing as a broken sword fragment shifted in the tender flesh beneath his scale armor. The dragon's hard scales scraped across the equally hard floor, leaving a thin trail of blood and rancid water as he searched for a more comfortable position. Looking out, beyond the fierce waves crashing against his stony home, he muttered a prayer into the wind - a wish that the mettle of all valiant knights had finally been tested. Head sinking onto the hard gravel floor, and with a heavy sigh, the battle-weary dragon first slipped into an uneasy slumber.

Briefly, somewhere between the first and the second, the gravel softened and yielded under the weight of his tired body. The sound of the ocean waves came closer and closer to his sleeping form. As the wave's watery form crashed against the sleeping dragon, he could see the virtuous faces belonging to each of his opponents reflecting off his wet, glistening armor. The dragon became each opponent in turn -- experiencing the searing pain of a serpent's fiery breath tearing at exposed flesh, tasting the swallowed fear of likely death.

Gradually, the dragon's body stopped resisting the waves, they poured into and through his tired flesh. The dragon's pain and weariness dissolved in the salty water and washed from his armored body. At peace, he fell into a very deep sleep - that sleep which is a gift of all creatures. The waves brought deeper and deeper revelations, each carrying the dragon closer to understanding. He became smaller and smaller beneath an infinitely great purpose. He saw all that is, all that was, and all that might ever be.

serpent ring

What an unbelievable pain in the rump! This carving is a test and learning experience for sand creature ring.

I have carved, re-carved, made too perfect, re-carved, over-detailed, under-detailed made too thin, made too thick...

I know I have not been my finest the last week, but carving this ring was way too hard for the results - so far - I say this, but I really do not know. I look at the wax model between my fingers and cannot decide if it is the best ring I have ever carved, or whether it would better serve as fuel for my wax burning lamp - nor can I decide whether I spent too little time, or way too much time carving this beast (metaphorically and literally speaking), I do lean toward the latter opinion.

For better or worse, I am now doing final detail clean-up, then making a prototype cold mold, then storing the model in a place far from grasp and thoughts. My only hope is that I have done an Edvard-Munchian multi-layered, gouged, paint-over disaster until something usable percolates up and out of the mess. Come to think of it, that is all I ever do, so it should fit comfortably into the surrounding mediocrity.

veggiescape ring

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-In Balance Act, an owl cooed.
-And the Moon blinked it's Eye in the aether.
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from:
Rumors of Spring by Richard Grant
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