The Countdown Begins...

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.

Casting Problems, Colds, and a really cool grocery store

Last week and this week were not my best ones. First off the sea urchins did not cast, or really they did but the shells were too thin to hold in metal and flaked and broke until there was nothing left but the the sprues (the wax wires).

Because the sea anemones were a complete fail I am having to repeat the assignment. So I’m doing something easy, quick and fun this time. I am casting puzzle pieces!  I hope to make a pair of earrings and a set of cufflinks and studs, but we will see what happens. They looked really cool all ready to cast like a puzzle piece tree!

On top of that project I am working on my final in casting. One of the main reason to cast is that making exact copies is easy with the use of a silicone mold. I have decided to make crosses for the confirmation class this year at my church (My sis will be one) plus a few extra to sell or whatever. I am hoping to have two final designs, one being small, which will go to the conformation class, and one larger that I made as a test, but looks really cool so I'm going to go ahead and cast it. I knew that it would be hard to make crosses because to make them look right they need to be exact. What I did not expect was that the waxes are delicate because the arms and top have to be added on to the bottom section making the middle fragile. This is causing a few problems; One) keeping them exact, and Two) I can't clean the wax and once I get the first metal copy I will have a lot of cleaning to do.  *Sigh*

This project will be more complex than my other projects because there are some extra steps. Here they are along with dates of steps and when they need to be done.

One) make wax models - last week and this weekend Two) Invest wax models - this weekend (sunday) Three) cast wax models in brass - Tuesday (along with puzzle pieces in sterling silver) Four) Clean brass crosses - Tuesday/wednesday Five) Make silicone mold - Thursday Six) Make wax crosses using mold - next weekend Seven) cast wax models in Sterling Silver - Next tuesday Eight) clean Sterling Silver crosses - Next thursday/ weekend Nine) Put on chain and put in boxes - Last week of school

There is not a lot of room for error or delay in that schedule.

Here they are - Remember the is just a rough version of what the final project will be but you get the idea.

This last weekend as you all know was Easter, I did not have a great Easter. I woke up with a really bad sore throat, which developed into a head cold. It kept me in bed until Tuesday when I struggled out of bed for casting in the evening. This is the first time I have really gotten sick down here. It did not come at a great time as the last few weeks of school are all about planning and hard work. It put me about three days behind on my master plan so right now I am trying to get all caught up.

Last time on the Blog I said I would give a few shots of the Book project that was for 3D, so here they are. The cover and the bookmark

One of seven pages - In my heart of hearts from hamlet.

Two of seven pages - the Green eyed monster from Othello

Three of seven pages - the print part of Brave new world from The Tempest

Things are getting really busy but on the good news front, I have a lead on some possible housing options. Knowing there are some options is a huge weight off my chest.

On Saturday me and a friend finally made it to the famed Berkeley Bowl! It was way cool, I regret that I did not get down there until now. Its just a really really great grocery store with a great everything. We saw some really cool things including a baby pineapple!

How cute is that!

At the end of the trip we both walked out with a full bag of food, and a good meal, as we ate at the deli. Here's a photo of everything I bought.

It includes - oranges, pears, a grapefruit, some good granola, bread, small cans of ginger ale, apple sauce, really good cinnamon, strawberries, some really good tea I have not been able to find in Seattle for the past year and some frozen buns with chicken and beef. It was a great trip.  I doubt if I will get back there before I head back to Seattle but it's a definite highlight.

the return from Spring Break

I have been back from spring break for just about a week now. I was right thinking that the last six weeks back would be hard. All classes work towards finals. Next week all my studio classes are moving onto final projects. On top of that is all the end of the year stuff; plans to get back home, registering for new classes and finding a place to live. *Sigh*In 3D we have been working on the book project.  I really have not talked about this too much but basically we are required to do something involving a book – and we are using book in the loosest sense of the word, it has to have a minimum of eight pages, and that’s about it.  One girl made a fan with eight leafs and someone else is making eight boxes – I don’t know what they will present, but since critique for this project is first thing Monday morning I am sure I will find out. I took a book of Shakespeare plays and found seven common phrases that were made up, or at least first appear in writing, in the plays. Then I did something with the phrase on the page where it appears, framing it in copper and writing about the phrase on the back of the page. I think my favorite part of the whole thing is the book mark that I made for each page. I will post a few photos of it after the critique. I like it better then the last project I did in this class (that was the found tools project).  The final in the class, which we start after Monday, is the chair project.  We are just asked to do something with a chair. I already have my chair but I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. I would also kind of  like the chair to still work as a chair when I’m done (not something that is required for the project) but something I really want it to be able to do seeing as it’s a chair… In 2D we have moved on to our final already. I don’t like my 2D teacher and he does not like me, I find him disorganized, and wish-e-washy. He has no idea what he’s doing teaching this class. He might have props at whatever else he does, but not this. So our final project which we will have six weeks (now five) to do is an imaginary self portrait. I have several problems with this, the first is that I don’t really like self portraits, they have their place but I feel that every good piece of art reveals something about the artist. My second is his definition of a self portrait. A self – portrait is about you it’s a reflection of you, not some fake you that involves making up a character. My last problem with the project is that he is assuming that we have some drawing skills – he would say he’s not but he is. I just can’t seem to get a good handle of what he wants and I have no good ideas. I have wasted a week trying to come up with a good idea because, (here’s a really really important point!!) If you start off with a bad idea it will never, no matter how much work you put into it, make up for that crappy idea. So that sucks but on a brighter note my casting class is going very well. We have a little half project between our last project (what I’m now calling the gear rings, that I really enjoyed), and our final. We are casting natural or non wax things. I was planning to cast two things – what I think are some type of sea anemone shells and plastic topographical map. However, my teacher forgot that most of us would not be on campus over spring break, and so we only have two weeks, which when casting is really not that much time. So I had to cut back and am only doing the anemone shells, but I’m keeping the map on the back burner for now.

Here are the shells all ready to cast:

I think they will cast out really cool but I just want to move onto the final. Over the weekends I have been checking out and hunting down possible places to rent. I want to stay in Rockridge or Berkley for several reasons. They seem the safest areas and they are also the closest. However I seem to be looking too early because I don’t need the place over the summer, but that’s really frustrating because I don’t want to have to come back down to find a place in the middle of the summer, and I would like to know where I’m going to be living, it’s very stressful. Last but not least, we register for classes next week. According to webadviser I am going to register next Monday, and of the classes I have drawn up I will have at least one class in SF next year. I’m exciting for that. I’m also excited that I have five weeks until I’m back in Seattle!!!

Dukno Yoon and Hether Bayless + spring break

Last week two amazing metal artist came to give guest talks and just hang around for the week. this allowed me to make some observations about the jewelry/metal community in general along with hearing some great talks and seeing some really cool jewelry. the First talk I went to was a lecture by Dukno Yoon - he's a Koran artist who did his grad work in Miami and is now a visiting professor in Kansas state university for their jewelry program. he is a really interesting artist as he really works with a balance between a movement of a device and a clean light feel. almost all his work is kinetic, it all moves. his lecture was fascinating not only in the presses he used but the way he makes them to his interest in the movements and ideas behind his pieces. I really have seen nothing like his work before and so it was very exciting to see work that shared ideas that i have been thinking about for some time. He is most well-known for his wings series they are his most resent set of works some are table top devices such as this

the pendulums swings and the wings flap like a bird (I could not get the video to upload with it moving but I will give a link late)

But what he's really known for are the multiply part and wing rings.

when bending the finger or when pressing on a spring the wings will go up and down. the movement is done thought a series of thin steel wire that bends when your finger bends or for the metal wings it's a series of springs. they really capture a light feel and I love that you can see just how they work.

my favorite things of his were not the wings but his rings. they are rings that measure a distance as you roll them on a hard surface and then display the measurements at the top. I found the whole idea very interesting and i really like the look of the gears, i have always loved the look of gears and would love to incorporate them into my work, however if i would like the pieces to function I would have to ether laser cut them or sent them out to be cast as they need to be so excite.  the outer really cool part of this smaller collection was the gallery display. he rigged up his table to float in air with the help of giant magnets and then hid motion censers around the room so when someone walked by a table the rings would start to move. I mean that is just way cool.

his website is well done and if your interested you can read more about the relationship between his work, you can also see it all in motion which makes hopping over their way worth it.

you can find that link here.

Now before jump to Heather Bayless and her talk let me tell you about some of the things I have noticed about the jewelry/metal community.

One) everyone knows everyone else...its a small community, that makes sense. But not just locally or even country based I mean everyone knows everyone else world-wide. take Dunkon Yoon for example, when he was an undergrad (in Seoul Korea, keep in mind) he met/knew of our head of departments husband  who at the time was visiting with some of his students. He then met our department head during his grad work in Miami where she was just starting to teach, and one of his classmates was guess what, one of our outer teachers today. everyone knows everyone and everyone is connected

Two) all jeweler are married to outer jewelers - I'm not kidding. so far there is on person who i have met a great speaker from last semester who has not been married to a fellow jeweler. (and I don't know about the outer two teaches in the department so...) It's like they never leave the studio. the head of the department here - Marilyn de Silva's husband is a silversmith, the teacher I'm takeing casting from is married and has a business with her metal-smith husband. and to top it all off the two guest lectures are married to each outer.

Now onto the second guess speaker, the wife of the first guess speaker. she was very nice but way different style wise then Dukno Yoon. she is much more organic in her shapes and in her inspiration. she is also a bit more commercial then he is. her best known pieces are the look and see brooch's.

they are made of a half cast out circle. with a mirrored back. she does a bunch of veneration and as far as i can tell the line is still ongoing. what makes these impressive it she cast them with all thought holes in the piece. this may not seem impressive but trust me it is. Nature and the sturdy of nature seems to be the main inspiration for all of her work and lots of her grad work revealed around the underside of the gills of the mushrooms. I think that these may be my favorite pieces although she really did not to many but i am a fan of mushrooms and like the way her work abstracted them but you can still be identified.  she also seems to be big into contaminates for food so she made spice shakers using the mushrooms form.

Her current line is all about butterfly's. Monarch butterfly's. they are very nice using photos of the wings and silver polished to a high shine so it acts as a mirror. depending on where you are the thing you see changes because of the reflection.

  I should say i don't really like this line of work. its done really well and everything but Butterfly's and moths really freak me out as long as they are nowhere near me that's fine Moths more so than butterfly but they all creep me out. they might come in above spiders in the creep out charts (unless it's a really big spider *shutter*) this is so my problem and not her's but...

If you would like to know more please check out her website Here.

And Finally we have reached spring break!!!!! No sun for me I'm trading it for nice rainy cold Seattle!!! by the time you see this post I will be in transit or home enjoying a whole week off before I have to face the last six weeks of class which will mostly be a giant push to finals.

Shakeing awake

Don’t know if any of you heard, but we had a small earthquake very early Monday morning.  

I mean like 5:30 early… there was no damage but they did shut down BART for a bit just to check.  It is really weird to be woken up by an earthquake. This one was long enough for me to wake fully up, realize it was a earthquake and reach over and grab my phone (not sure why having my phone was so important but, at this point, since I take it everywhere, its kind of like a grown up security blanket with the ability to get e-mail). I was not scared exactly, but just felt really weird, like that the sick feeling of falling down an imaginary set of stairs. My roommate did not even wake up, she just rolled over; lucky heavy sleepers.

Over the weekend I had worked really hard to get the three rings for my casting project in photo ready shape, as I wanted to get them photographed for my portfolio. Photo ready does not mean wear ready but to the point were they will look the same even after all cleaning and shaping has been done, so here they are.

There are three rings all with the same basic shape, they move through size six to size seven. One is polished (although not well, I’m working on it) one is sand and one is brass brushed.

Like I said, these rings are not wear ready. The edges are really sharp and would cause a not great feeling if you clenched your hand. To get rid of this, I am polishing down the edges using a “rough” compound which is applied to a hard felt buffing disk and then used with a high powered polishering lathe to just take off the edge. Next step is getting a better shine on that last ring.

If you want more information on this check out this video.

http://www.riogrande.com/VideoPlayer.aspx?fn=finishing-techniques-VID-psd (sorry the linking is not working)

I took two midterms on Monday. Both went well. I was really nervous about my Modern Art midterm but it really was not too bad. I should have studied more for ethics but it went OK anyway.

In three D we have started our second out of the three projects. This one is the book project. It’s really open ended and we just have to make a book in some way and it has to have at least 8 pages. I found a really nice copy of five of Shakespeare plays so I am going to highlight the phrases that are super common now, which Shakespeare made up or at least was the first to write down, by making the pages in metal. They might not be metal but more like leafing, but whatever. It will be fun and I like it better then the last project.

Today was a great day for me.

For one I got to hear a great lecture by an amazing jeweler, (he will get his own post in a day or two when I see the other visiting jeweler who came with him).

Two, I found a great pair of heels for way cheap (don’t worry Mom, I have store credit).

Three, there was no ethics class this evening due to not having a lecture Monday cuz’ of the midterm.

And four I got to see the freshman gallery and a great senior show for one of the jewelry senior (plus all the great treats that they offer at the receptions).

I just got back from the gallery- it’s a store front right across the street from the school. Inside it’s divided into four rooms. Tonight three were for the freshman exhibition and one was for the jewelry senior (not really sure why that was). It was quite cool to see the work of my classmates especially because I often don’t really have an idea what they make or get to see a finished product. The gallery was packed, partly because of all the people in the show and partly because of all the free candy. (If you want a college kid to come to anything, give them free food). I have to say the senor who was showing is amazing. I don’t think I have ever met her because she does most of her work at night but she chases and raises metal. Her specialty is turning flat pieces of metal into parts of the body. They look real, the amount of detail she can get with a hammer is just amazing. I hope to go back and get a photo when it’s not as busy so you can see the feel the pieces have.

So all in all, everything is good, I am super ready to be home for a week and I’m counting the days until I get on that plane (its 8 by the way).

Middle of Midterms

  So we officially had mid-terms last week and my studio classes mainly kept to that. I had a project due in my two core classes and started a new one in casting. My academic classes are both having their mid-terms next Monday. My week has been quite busy leaving me no time for blogging so a nice long post is needed.

Since my last post we have got gas back in the dorms and jewelry studio. There was a big problem because the gas also fueled the jewelry studio so none of the torches would work; most work ground to a halt for about three days.  It was super crowded in the studio after it came back on as everyone was playing catch-up. In the dorms it was really not too much of a problem, we were allowed to take showers in the other dorms if needed, I just changed my schedule a bit so I could take showers at the gym. The heating was always a bit warm for me and my roommate so the only concession to that was to shut the window that we normally keep open. The lecture hall, the academic buildings and the photo building have yet to get the heat back on. They have dug two big holes in the upper part of campus.

I did fairly well on my first 3D project receiving a “B”, which I am happy with. The project was a set of tools; they could be anything and did not need to work. I did tools for the obsessive; there was a folding ruler with handle, a blade made out of soap, a table top thing with four clocks, a rosary for repetitive motion and a notebook for Post-Its with a handle. It’s not my favorite project but it was way out of my comfort zone so, over all, I’m happy.

In 2D for my color project I made a wall hanging with quotes on five panels. I don’t really like it. I feel that it could have been done better if some of the restraints of the project were not there, but I am in school so that cannot be helped.

Our next project should be fun. We are making a print and redoing the same print six times. This will be my first experience with print making and I think it may also be my last. I have great respect and love for print art and the people in that feald. I will enjoy knowing more about the process but it’s just not really my thing. I’m going to go for an abstract design as per the teachers’ wish – it has a better chance of looking good- I think I will do something with circles.

In casting I have moved on to my next project and am ready to cast as soon as my silver arrives. The project was based on the idea of sets or belonging together, we were to make three versions of something or make three of the exact same thing and treat them in different ways. I flip flopped a lot on the ideas but settled on a simple but very pleasing design.

Here are all of them as a set (It’s a nice photo because I had checked out one of the really nice SLR’s from school. Sorry about the watermark, I had to convert them from RAWS and did not have the right software)…

and here they are all ready to be cast.

I have also been working hard to find an apartment for next year. I am sooo over dorm life, if I have to make all my meals I want a kitchen I don’t have to share with 40 odd people. Apartment hunting is stressful mainly because i have never done this before and there is really no other option then to get off campus housing. My parents have stated the wish that I do not live by myself, so I am also on the hunt for roommates. The other option is to rent a room in a private home which would have some pros and cons. It would be nice to have a yard, I have really missed having a garden, especially as the weather has been getting warmer. I also would not have to go on the hunt for roommates.

As Spring break gets closer I get more and more excited to have a nice week long break when I can come back home. I fly out on the 16th and fly back on 25th. Can’t wait to see you all when I get back – Katie

Update

Ok so first off I finished dad’s cufflinks over the weekend. Here they are they are not the best nor my favorite piece I have ever done but I like them and as a first project they are nice.

Ok now a note on my ethics class. I am having some serious problems with this class. Let me say first that whall I don’t really like philosophy I know that it can be quite interesting. My bias is not coming out of hating the subject or reading martial. The problems come from the reader they made and the way they set up plus the horrible teachers that make this class a real problem. The only saving grace to the whole class is the teacher I have she is younger than the other teachers and it’s her first time teaching the class, this is a very good thing.

Now the problems

Problem One) the structure of the class. -  On Monday we have a large grope lecture in our only lecture hall on campus, there is always an essay due at the start of this class. This really bugs a lot of my classmates they say “why do I have to write the essay before I hear the lecture” I however know there are advantages in the teacher’s eyes to this so I am not going to go into that. Then depending on your schedule you will have an independent meeting with about 20 students and one of the four teachers. I believe this format makes since in a larger schools, it’s a great way to give a bunch of students the needed information and then really let it set and be able to answer questions. We are a small school. If the teachers are already on campus twice a week (and they all come to the lectures) why do we not just meet in the small groups as opposed to a large group?

Problem two) the large lecture achieves nothing besides boring us out of our minds. It also means that depending on the teacher the lecture will be structured differently. If we are trying to grasp difficult concepts, having to get used to a new lecture just adds to the stress.

Problem Three) there is one teacher I really hate, He’s not even my prime teacher but it’s like every time he talks he’s looking down on everyone. I have heard that in this small study groups he targets people to pick on every class. He is the head of the whole class, apparently he is somewhat well known. I don’t like his lectures they are confusing, highhanded and he insets little things like “In my option she does not know the text as well as she clams but I won’t mention that now” Ummm… hello you just told the whole class (100+) over the speakers. He also made the reader

Problem Four) the reader. I don’t really like readers they are unwieldy as all the text is scanned in and therefore sideways- making the thing hard to read. I understand that it does keep cost down so I live with that. But this reader is the worst one I have seen. For one thing there is a color photos on the cover of a painting…not a painting that is in anyway reverent to the class but is instead of the afor mentioned teacher… really you put yourself on the cover. I don’t really care that he is so big headed he thought that was a good move but the fact that putting the COLOR print on the cover jacks up the price, by ten dollars. I don’t need the decal for a extra ten dollars, the point was to keep the price down, right? A second gripe is that there is no index. I get that it’s a book put together from a bunch of different places but someone went through and numbered all the pages they could have noted where the parts end It’s a huge book its more than 1 ½ inches thick! And the last thing, the most anointing thing. He copy and pasted the strait Wikipedia articles on all the philosophy and added them to the back of the book. -_- I mean do you think we cannot get to Wikipedia on our own. I don’t need Wikipedia articles in print I can just find them on line. In fact I don’t even need my computer. I have an app for that. I have asked around, no one uses these they just add weight, kill more trees and add more cost to the printing.

Well that was a great rant I feel lots better after putting that out there. On a completely different note, I have no internet again I am posting this over a school computer; both the wifi and Ethernet are out.

Bigger news – there is a gas leak in the ceramics building so they had to turn off all the gas to fix the leak so none of the buildings have hot water or heat – Including my dorm, not the other dorm as they are off campus. There is no news of when they will turn it back on but I’m not completing yet. It is motive to get to the gym in the Moring, they have hot water. We are having a hall meeting later so I will find out more then.

Midterms are next week. Spring break is in four weeks.

Update on the Update: we are going to be going without heat and hot water for the next three days so they can fix the leak. They offered us a space heater but if we were to plug that in we would have to unplug everything else. I would rather put on a extra sweater then unplug my computer.

observations on casting and outher stuff...

  The Cuff Links have been cast!!! Casting is fun but quite scary. There’s a huge torch that is used to heat the metal, it’s about three times the size of the normal ones, it has a huge tip and you have to light it in a vent so the flame does not go anywhere. The most alarming thing is when you light it, it makes this large pop. Luckily, I did not have to handle the torch, the teacher did and did most of it as this was our first time, we just handed her stuff.

 So these are the wax models. The wax wires are called spurs and they help the hot metal flow to every point.

You then wax them onto the hard rubber base. The metal cylinder then goes over the mold like this…

So at this point you pour in investment, it’s like way more toxic plaster. It sets up in ten minutes but to fully dry it takes a bit longer so up until this point I did all this last Thursday.  They set up over the weekend and then this morning they were put in the kiln (by Tony the studio manager) after a bit he removed the base. I’m not quite sure where the wax has gone but by now it’s gone. When we got into class they were in there cooling down (but still bloody hot). I was using my fine silver scraps, but for various reasons I wanted them to be sterling silver. Dad does not need fine silver cuff links and on the more practical side fine silver is very soft and not the best for something you wear on your wrists. This all meant that I had to mix in some copper.  For that you have to melt it all together and then pickle it to get rid of all the oxidation.Here it’s all ready to melt. When it melts if forms a lovely bit of metal.

this is after its out of the pickle. Then you place the cylinder in the casting drum. The metal is in the front part and the black thing is the cylinder.

Fire is applied! we have to wear dark tinted glasses so we can see the metal heating...

After the machine is finished you take out the flask and let it cool for anywhere between 10-20 minutes, then you submerge it in a bucket of water full of the used investment (you can’t dump the stuff in the sink). Here they are yes they are black, its just the oxidation.

this is after they are out of the pickle and I have sawed one off I now start the long process of clean up. I will keep you all updated... now on to other subjects...

Over all my academic classes are not so much bad as just boring. There is one thing I really like about them both though, I sit to one side in history and a few rows back in ethics and once I get bored of the topic or taking notes I watch people sketch. That sounds a bit creepy but I swear it’s not really. At CCA EVERYONE sketches, because you have to for a class (me) or because sketching is something you do whenever someone hands you any kind of writing utensil. There seems to be three methods for class sketching. One; the unabashed sketcher, these are the people who don’t even try to hide the fact that they are drawing and were planning to draw in the class, they often have large sketch books and several different pencils and pens with the nice erasers. If you questioned these people they will probably tell you that drawing helps them pay attention, I’m not going to refute that but it seems a bit iffy.  Two: the timid doodler. These people are the ones who bring notebooks with lined paper and will really start off taking notes however before long the margins will be filled and the drawing is infringing on the notes and soon there are no more notes. These people would most likely apologize if someone asked them about it, and look up often to see if they have been caught. Three: the most common, I’m going to kind of pretend to be taking notes but not really. (Although we all do this sooo…) they say they are going to take notes in their sketch book, its normally a lot smaller book then the unabashed sketchers have; notes on one page, drawing on the opposite, so they are flipping back and forth. They will look a bit guilty but not really deny anything. So what are the top subjects for theses drawing? Well, of cores it all varies, but manly its manga style people, after that tattoo designs and faces- in classical style.

This is the sketch the girl next to me did in my small ethics lecture (so an hour and a half) this was one of two she seemed pleased to let me take a photo and it gave me an idea for some cool metal hair piece.

I will post again if anything exciting happens but if not I will post when the cuff links are in there final stages of clean up and done (about a week).

Review of the last two weeks

Hi all So we have been in school three weeks (almost) and I now know a bit more about my classes. I have mixed feelings about my 3D class it all is based (or mostly) on found objects which I don't really like working with. however I have found the teacher who I first thought was a little  bit stuck up and a bit slapdash in his work. however he has turned out to be very nice and approachable. He is quite good at woodworking and just not very good with metal some of the things he demonstrated about annealing metal and riveting made me a bit nervous, but this could be down to the fact that I am used to working a bit different and that in itself was enough to rattle me.  we are working on a project about making tools out of found objects they don't have to work but they must have an intended porpoises and theme. I'm going with tools for the obsessive. Rulers, watches, and things like that are featuring heavily in my set of five tools.

My 2D class is going downhill. I'm not sure why if it's the lack of an overall plan for the class, if it's the fact that he has never taught the class before or the fact that he is just not good at communicating. everyone including the teacher seems to be a bit confused, right now we are working on a five planned painting using various sets of colors. I fail at painting and drawing in compared to most of the people in the class so I am spinning off a drawing I did in my drawing class, involving a quote.

My ethics class  is really mixed - the lectures are long and boring, they also moves really fast for something that takes some real effort to understand. The distinction groups are better thought i often find them more informative than the lectures or the readings. This class also gave me an excuse to revisit some very funny videos that were shown to me as a tenth grader in AP Euro. Be warned then are not for young kids as they can be a bit crude and dirty, they are not very politically correct. however they are funny and surprising informative.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm0Uq08xXhY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwOCmJevigw

I'm hoping everyone we learn about has one of these...

My casting class is going well and I'm very happy I'm taking the class. I am investing (where you put it in the mold) my first project on Thursday and should cast over the weekend or on Tuesday. I am making cuff links for my dad. you start by making them out of wax, wax is kind of weird medium to work in.  it's very messy and it kind of reminds me of carving soup. some of the people in the class have trouble with the wax. because it's very soft (compared to metal ) it can also be carved away and added to, normal you are caring away from a block of wax as opposed to metal were you are adding or forming (not taking away or adding just changing)  I don't have a lot of trouble in this regard and find it kind of fun however i don't have a perticturl talent either. here are a few photos so far

that small block of blue wax is what will form one of the cuff links - since i am only making two i am making one individually. please note the blade on the saw, its much thicker then the ones we normally use, its spriled and looks a lot like barbed wire for ease of cutting in the wax. this is after the first shaping see how the sides are sloped there not done yet but starting to take shape.

here they are finished - ugly I know they will look a lot better in silver I promise. the red is where i made mistakes in the wax and had to fill it in using a softer melting wax.

One more thing before I go - after this week I decided that my work load was too much for six classes this semester. It made me very sad to drop interaction design after only two classes however it was the right thing to do, and with the encouragement of the teacher I will try to take it next semester, after the summer !

So sorry i have been out of toutch for about a week, the internet was down on my desktop for the past few days and depending on the time of day the wifi can be really really slow so i just let it go untill i was fully back on line. I have gone through all of my classes (except one) and I have decided that even though it will be tough I am going to taking six classes. It’s going to be really busy but I think I can do it and I would rather be busy then bored – Like the old saying goes if you want something done give it to someone who is busy!

I am taking four studio classes – 2D color translations, 3D Form vs. Function, Casting, and Intro to interaction Design

Then I have two academic classes – Intro to modern Art, and critical studies: Ethics & Justice (its intro to philosophy)

My week starts out in my 8AM morning class for 3D form vs. Function- i have only been to the class twice and im not sure how much i will like it however i don't think there will be much work outside of class so that's nice...the teacher is a older guy who went to CCA and then went and worked independent before coming back to teach. he's teaching philosophy is to give them and outline and then leave them allow to see what they come up with this class deals with a lot of Found objects witch i never like its a bit weird but i never have very good luck with turning things i largely consider junk into art its not really my thing but I will just suffer thought as its a core class and i have to pass it.

then i have a bit of a break before heading to my second class of the day witch is Intro to the Modern arts, I should say this right from the start I am not a huge fan of post-modern art, I find lots of it laughable I'm not doubting the artist talent when I scoff at the in dept analice of a canvice pained one color is not art its a background for the real painting, I mean please.  however just about everything before that period I do genuinely like or at least respect one of my favrout painters is going to be covered in this which is Monet, I'm quite looking forward to that. the class this time is not going to be as easy as my last history class its being taught by  a visiting perfuser who is actually speclices in cultural study's so lots of the class will be coming from that perspective. he has given us two textbooks to buy (already one more then last semester) and quizzes every two weeks.

after that class lets out if its a Monday I get a small break before heading off to Ethics. this class is structure a bit weird for CCA although from what i hear its a normal arrangement in larger university (such as the Udub) on Monday's there is a large lecture section (for CCA that means we meet in the only lecuter hall on campus and there are about 100 students) there are four teachers who all lecture trading off then depending who you have been assignment to you meet on a different day in a different place to have a discussion class. I have not been to one of thought yet. Its going to be a really mixed class and more then ethics it is basic pholospy starting with Aristotle. I have a feeling that how good the class is depends on who is lecturing I already know that one of the women who is going to be teaching is supper dull she managed to make Greek tragity so dull I wanted to cry she speaks in a complete monotone the whole time...uggg however this class is kind of cool because 1/4 of the freshman population is in it so we all kind of know each outer. Last Wednesday leaving the lecture hall (they desired to hold a lecture as it was the first day) a few of us spotted a new water art piece on a wall (I have talked about these before it's where to dump water on the ground to form a image) so we decide to grab a photo with it. sorry its a bit blurry

after That im done for the day! then for Tuesday and Thursday my day does not start until noon witch is sooo nice I have 2D witch is going to be easy and boring then a hour break before Casting! Yes i stitched out of Glass I think it was a good choice, It looked really interesting but they wanted a huge time commitment to something that was not advancing my major i would like to take it sometime but not this year so i moved to Casting witch is at the same time I will go talk more about the class later on but I think it will be very fun and good to know later on down the line, its a really complex process to explain so i thought i would post a very nice video i found its not quite how we do it but its very close this is how almost all commercial jewelry is made although on a bigger scale. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwbyOJrWCHs&feature=related]

then we come to my last class witch is interaction Design all day Friday but i think i will cover that in a different post as i have only been to the first class.