due to time limit I had to work little bit faster as I had to do a chain using some jump rings and with silver. well to describe how I ended here I decided with my lecture that to create wings I can use brass or silver and the body I should use silver because the body was supposed to be hallow and have some rough texture on a viewer's side which I believe I managed to achieve that as in to show detailing.
I was now supposed to do sketch designs and draw a pendant because I had to do prototype, so it took some time also as to change the way it looks from my research, so I had to change so many things and trying to make it look different this is some design concept and element I used or considered when doing some sketches.
from my part two research I had to do more of my research I said it wasn't just a minute decision and manufactured no so I had to think of maybe doing something like a pendant and using Aurora as my reference from the artist called Abbie Marrie. i think one thing that helped for sure was to follow the artist s design concept, design elements and the way she creates some texture on pieces that's what inspired me and gave me this idea of using Aurora for my contrast project.
the step here was to now research about and design piece that have a contrast and details and what came into my mind was flyers most of flying ants or animals they have contrast and details looking mostly at the feathers and body also legs and had to write an essay about my chosen design piece getting interesting.
even though there were some challenges on how to end up concluding which one to work with I had a mind of using some plant and flowers as reference for my contrast project which it ended like these.
on this project I had to focus on contrast which I had to go through the research, and I found out that contrast is about the comparison between two things or to say the state of being different from something else in juxtaposition or close association the pictures will show how I conducted my research.
Then the pieces were now taken to the art museum at university of Witwatersrand for a display which really attracted so many people reading their comments they were looking so natural and at a high value so this made me really proud to be in a second year and experience kind of this designs looking to create more pieces from different tribes to upgrade my knowledge about how people think and relate their lives to jewelry.
To talk a little bit about casting process it was challenging it costed us to work in pairs as to save energy and help each other and it needed to be done very quickly cause my mates are also looking to cast their work. and there are measurements taken as to how much the brass or silver to be used in the project including the water and powder, so everything was done under a certain concentration.
in a jewelry department we consider a finishing as much as important than the beginning by so saying the cleaning of the piece was so challenging as the casted pieces are so hard to clean. but I had to take time to out more work on filling and bathing so that it can look brighter and ready to be washed and shown to a lecture or a client..
then this is the stage whereby I had to do some small jump rings to make it a wearable piece. I used brass to make rings and flattened them by hammering and wedging process which made the circle to become more flatter at the edges getting ready for the sea horse after being casted it took some days as there was some problems with kiln machine but at the end it worked, and I connected the pieces and tried to clean little bit as it is easily to be seen in the picture.
I also attached the chameleon on the bracelet mixed with the spirals as they are the first things I did before I did the sea horse..
At this stage I had to do my own sea horse with a wax and prepare it to be placed and some wax spiral as a reference from Ashanti people and the biggest challenge on this was to create a sea horse with wax and wrapping the tails around each other and the learning I get each and every time I use kiln machines it improves my skills.
the project went deeper now as I had to do my own research for any animal that can relate to Ashanti people culture or their religion and after I had to find a proverb about that animal. Well through my research I came across with so many ideas which I have pinned some on my Pinterest board. I then choose to work with SEA HORSE as there were some things that attracted me to this animal and the proverb that i fell in love with " Delight in a small thing be at home in the water indulge in a little horse play, stay anchored be a horse of a different color.
That reminded me of someone who was said to me " when a sea horse finds a mate, they wrap their tail around each other. so, the tide doesn't drift apart, they have that one mate for the rest of their lives when partner dies mate also dies. that conveys such a strong bond and love that exist into this kind of a present life.
this is a light rough sketch that shows a sea horse wrapping their tails around together.
At this process I had to do some spiral wax and build my own chameleon with a wax at a small measurement and place it stick it together with spirals on a wax tree to prepare them for the casting procedure. using a wax wasn't that big challenge as I did some project last year using wax before casting so it was just exploring activity that needs patience and
Ashanti gold weight. The project that was given in class was to research about Ashanti gold weight and the culture or tradition of their jewelry whereby the chameleon was used as an example, and I was instructed to find or pin more images of chameleon. or maybe a different Ashanti piece from Pinterest that is how I got into this point, and I did some extra drawing after I have conducted the research of this chameleon as it was my preparation for my own chosen design.
In a previous post I did explain that all the work is a reference of seashells which brought all these typical designs. now here it is report after they were glazed and placed in a kiln for heat purpose as a part of ceramic procedure.
fig:1 pinch pot
pendants made to resemble seashells ethereal beauty and intricate patterns are lovely pieces of jewelry. these pendants are frequently made of mimic seashells, replete with minutes features and patterned designs that mirror those of actual shells.
working clay, it gives can teach one many ways of saving the economy as it is cheaper for jewelry designers to create hard pieces for many purposes. from this project we created rings, pendants, pitch pots using a clay and the technique we used its just rolling, coiling, carving and pottery.
There are no happier people on this
planet than those who decide that they want something, define what they want,
get hold of a feeling of it even before its manifestation and then joyously
watch the as piece by piece by piece, it begins to unfold. that’s the feeling
of your hands in the clay. That was said by Esther Hicks. Overall, I was a learning
for me which I believe it build my skills on going further.
