Project Ideas

Now that I'm back in school I feel like I have so much to post about--from projects I'm working on to the research and ideas I'm coming up with.  I'll spare you some of the research as I have lists and lists of information that could potentially form into ideas, but I wanted to share a few things.

Here is a quick sketch of something I've been wanting to make--it's not a rendering but something I did to keep in my notebook. When I don't do that, I tend to forget ideas--so bad!  It's a passion flower, or passiflora incarnata.  What I'd like to do with this is a mixture of metal and wood, but I'm not sure which parts I want to carve out of wood or cast/fabricate in metal.  The only thing I am CERTAIN about is the spikes in the picture would be sterling, and very sharp.  I actually love making my work sharp, but tend to sand back it's sharpness so it can be worn.  I think it would be interesting to alternate what is wood and metal, something like having the spikes and the top stamen (the one with only three) in metal, and then have the petals and the stamen with five offshoots be carved from wood. Oh decisions!

My next idea which I think I will fabricate first is based on the idea of death and the ferryman.  Many different cultures believed the ferryman would take the souls of the dead to heaven or hell, but for a price.  Because of this, many buried their dead with money or riches to pay the ferryman and/or to use in the afterlife.  I think the imagery of placing coins on the eyes or in the mouths of the dead is very interesting.  I want to carve a face with the mouth slightly open, and then fabricate a coin that will go inside the mouth.  It would be very subtle, in such that you would only see a glimpse of the polished metal and would have to look much closer to see that it is a coin.


Lastly, something I found really intriguing was the Indonisean belief on the creation of death:

The creator of life would give gifts from heaven to it's people on earth.  One day the creator presented a man and a woman a stone, but they refused to take it and demanded for something else.  Then, the creator presented the two with a banana, which they desired greatly.  They were told that, because they chose the banana, their life would, from then on, resemble that of the banana's: they would have offspring, live their life, and eventually die.  The creator then told them if they had chosen the stone they would live their life like the stone, unchanging and immortal.  This was the creation of death and mortality on earth.

http://www.answers.com/topic/stone-and-the-banana

Textures

I wanted to add a few photos of my work that I made last semester that I didn't have decent photos of until now.  As I was going through the batches of pictures, I realized something I haven't totally realized before--I'm obsessed with mixing textures.

You can see this in my post about the seed/bulb type thing I posted about a few days ago, and in these two pieces as well:

[Weight of the Heart, Boxwood, Steel, Lye and Leather Dye, 2011]

[Calotropis Gigantea, Boxwood, Oxidized Sterling Silver, Leather Dye, 2011]

[close up of underside]

I am always drawn to contrasting textures, in the work of my own and others, as well as in nature in general.  It's very natural to get these different textures in wood, and I have a secret project that will be posted upon it's completion that will take these textures and translate them into metal. I haven't done very much direct metal carving (with the flexshaft that is) but I'm excited to try it out! 

Spiculum

We learned to make spiculum in class on Friday, and I have always been very timid when it comes to these.  I've seen dread come into the eyes of my classmates when talking of these, but I'm really glad to say that I didn't find it too bad. When I searched online to find the correct spelling of the word--my spelling is quite atrocious actually and I really put my spell-checker to work--I found some interesting info on the history.  Apparently spiculum are Roman spears, coming into existence around 250 AD, and were used as a throwing weapon.  It could potentially be a cross between an older Roman spear called the plium and a German spear, either the angon or bebra.  I'll have to look more into those later on.

I'm really fascinated with weaponry, specially that of the pre-gun times.  One of my favorite places I have ever been is the weaponry room in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Definitely check it out, the halberds are to die for. HA!

Anyways, these are made very differently than I thought, but it makes total sense.  You take a sheet of metal and taper the thickness at the ends (where the "spear" comes to a point).  Then you cut it out with the edges tapered, and form it into a circle.  The tricky part is making the edges come together without messing up the circle--its very easy to hit them too far in and have a dented circle, almost like a very chubby heart.  We haven't begun to solder them yet, but I'm excited for that.

[very spear like]

Right now they look like beans which I really like, but I can see them being twisty roots, vines, or spikes that would go along with my work and thesis ideas really well.  I have a few visions in my head that I have to sketch later on.

Bluby, Seed-Poddy Type Thing

I just want to start out saying that it has been so nice to sit in my own apartment, watching How to Train Your Dragon, and carving in your pajamas.  I cannot express enough how much I love having my own flex shaft not five feet from my bed.

Right before the break I was doing some drawings, and I started to carve one of them.  I'm not 100% sure I'm going to finish it the way the drawing was done, but more on that later.  Here are the stages!

[First detail being added after roughing out shape]

[A little more detail]

[This is my carving stance.  Normal face masks make me a little claustrophobic because I can't breath at all in them, so this scarf is my go to.  Also, new glasses for when I work! They have a slight magnification =]  ]

[Starting to get smooth]

[Finished!]

Home Studio in the Making

Here are some updated pics of how I've set up my workspace at home.  I spent all day on Saturday re-arranging the furniture in my apartment (which happens to be a tiny studio I'm sharing with my boyfriend) and I'm really, really glad with the way it has turned out.  I have probably about twice as much space around my desk now and about four times as much space in general--such a better situation.  I got my wonderful flex shaft hanging up next to my drill press, all on the right side of my desk.  The left side is dedicated to my other school work, holding all my books, magazines, 100s of craft-show business cards, and all my random trinkets, knick-knacks and such.

[overall desk view]

[bench pin]

[burr holder that came with my flex shaft, carving section. Top: sanders, Middle: carving burrs in various shapes, Bottom: ceramcut burrs for finishing wood, blue and white]

[Random section of burr holder, mosting polishing type things]

[cutest freaking anvil ever, solid steel too!]