Last week was busy, and this week is going to be busy ,but I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel (or school year ). I have managed to keep up with my casting schedule, which is good, because I do not have room for it to slip. Here they are in wax
and now magically cast in bronze, I was just starting the cleaning process
I cleaned up the small one. I have realized that I won't have time to do all three, I will at least get the small cross done. I don't know if the larger one will get done, but we will see.
II got to make a mold for the first time, It's a interesting process. After you make the thing you are going to make a mold off (In this case the cross) you have to solder on a sprue rod, this will allow you to in the future to inject the wax.
then you mount that in a frame, here they are
One of the other women in the class filmed me going through the process, I hope to have that to show you soon.
It's a interesting process and not very hard but sounds weird when you try to describe it. So we are just going to wait for the little movie.
after the mold dries (about 24 hours) you take a scalpel and very carefully cut it, I was not super careful and ended up runeing one side of the mold, thankfully we (the teacher) were able to save most of it however i lost the smooth back on all the crosses and there was some bubbles so they require some fixing in the wax form before i can cast them - I am casting on thursday meaning i have to finish them and invest Wednesday.
Here are all the waxes almost ready
Running parallel to that i was also casting some puzzle pieces in silver, as a make-up for the failed natural castings.
I did not stop in the process of cleaning to take photos but when they came out they all had a weird texture, we think it's because the wax only make it through about half way through the investment process. However I really like the look and when I was cleaning them I tried to leave it alone, they needed something to give some interest.
Here’s a photo of the set of cufflinks and studs.
I high polished the cuff links
and gave the studs a frosted finish (I'm not sure what the name for it is, you use a special disk on the polisher)
you see this texture a lot on men’s watches. the studs are really too big so during the summer i hope to cast some smaller puzzle pieces and switch them out.
I hope to make a pair of earrings from the remaining two but I will have to get to that later this week.(they may be too heavy though)
In other news as we get closer to finals week, art starts to appear around the campus, mainly sculpture. maybe because sculpture is kind of a public viewing thing and one of their goals for it is to “work in its environment” here’s one in front of the ceramics building
Then there is this thing I don’t even know…
And finally two metal sculptures.
Then this weekend CCA opened their doors (well not really there are only three gates that can be locked on campus) to the public for an Art Fair. This happens twice a year and this one gets less people than the one right before Christmas. It was fun to walk around and see everyone else’s art; it was also really, really hot. I am finally getting some real California weather, it reached about 77 today and it's supposed to be like this all week.
Over the weekend/ Monday I managed to Finnish my chair for 3D I have not talked a lot about this project but i have been working hard on it, its a nice break to be working with wood/paper as i spend so much time dealing with metal. I bought this chair months ago for $5 at a place called urban ore (Its just like the RE store) my idea would be the modern liberty playing off the fact that i don't really read any books in print anymore it all just goes onto my nook.
here is the chair before I did anything
and here it is finished
The back is rolled up and cut news paper, and there's a book light on top so you never strain your eyes.
There is the drawer for the storage of the Nook and a hidden power cord that aloes it to charge
Here's a shot of the back.
And finaly just some shots of the paperwork
For this upcoming week I have freshman review, don’t really know what the point of this is but it means that all my core classes (2D, and 3D) are cancelled. Once I go to freshman review I will let you all know what this is. In jewelery I have to work on the crosses (see schedule) and finish both my finals for 2 and 3D. That way I will be able to pack, and work on my more traditional classes, that would be my Modern Arts class and Ethics.
On the happy non work front my grandparents are driving down over the weekend I believe the plan is to go to a baseball game in the new stadium in SF (I don’t see how this could make the game more exciting but…) and to take me out to dinner. It will be nice to have a little forced relaxation time, and see them before the last major slog before the school year is over.