Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Two for Tuesday: 3x3 Square


Hello everyone! Sorry I've been absent for over a week. I got a chance to visit my grandmother right before school started, went to my first week of classes, and *sigh* took my old job back. However, I've come up with something to keep me posting at least once a week for most of the next year.

I'm going to start a series of blog posts called Two for Tuesday. (If you have a better name, please share). You will see a minimum of one sketch and one photo of the finished piece made from the sketch. Our ideas have to come from somewhere don't they?

I seem to find myself stuck somewhere in the middle when it comes to designing jewelry (or anything else). One one hand, there are people who never put pen to paper before creating a piece. They record their ideas during the creation process. On the other, there are those that plan out every single detail before even picking up a tool. I do both, or neither, or even sometimes one or the other.

For today's piece I planned out the majority of the details before hand, especially since this was my first metals assignment in 2008. We had to make a 3x3 square out of sheet metal with a minimum of three sheets of copper, nickel silver, brass, or aluminum. I did five layers with a bit of exterior decoration (mostly to hide my terrible first attempts at tube rivets). The project had to be a self portrait with a bit of personal information. I had just moved out of my sister's home at the time, which explains the keys and the door.

As in most pieces, I strive to include some beadweaving in my work. My instructor was dubious about including any, but my beaded screen doors came out fairly well. Here's a mosaic of the sketches, paper maquette, and the finished piece. What do you think?

Photo collage: www.photovisi.com

I have to say that the most important thing I've gotten out of college is to always keep a sketch book nearby. You never know when inspiration will hit and you can have a written or visual record of all your ideas, whether they be stupid, silly, phenomenal, or abstract.

I think the evolution of a piece from concept to completion should be recorded if possible.

1 comment:

  1. I have a good friend who beadweaves. She uses a computer program (a birthday gift, actually, from me) to do all her "drawing". Neither of us can draw good stick people, lol.

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