Friday 24th October, 2014

Today I decided to make some paper machettes to play with composition and thinking of bases and attachments.

I had a go at making some basic shapes in porcelain looking at photos to reference how butterflies interact with their surroundings.

I found this image by Ren Hang that inspired me to capture that free moving form of the butterflies

Thursday 23rd October, 2014

Today we had a lecture with Dan about Innovation and reflected back on the evolution of Apple products and how innovation is a big part of being a designer coming up with products to make life easier thinking about the customer and their perceptions of an object. I found this lecture very interactive and interesting compared to my others so far as this appealed to me the most.

In the afternoon we were shown how to use the milling machine, I found it quite intimidating at first but then once I got into the idea of what I could use it for it opened up a lot of doors and I think it's one of those things I mean to play with and dedicate a few hours to play and spark my imagination.

I carried on creating samples, I have decided to keep the triangle folded form and play with size, colour and composition. I am finding it to be quite repetitive making the shapes but I find it relates to what I'm trying to achieve and believe the final results pay off and that's the part I'm enjoying about the making process so far.

Wednesday 22nd October, 2014

I am researching into a lot of designers that use reflective surfaces, movement and light taking into consideration my contextual research and what techniques I can try next such as more texturing metal in different ways.

Tuesday 21st October, 2014

Today I experimented with a few of the ideas I drawn yesterday making them in Copper and Brass

and seeing if any of them would work out.

I spoke to Julie about my ideas and research I have been looking at, we both brain stormed ideas and she suggested sticking with the triangular form.  

We spoke about what paths I could go down such as colour, form, size and surface finishes,

I liked the idea of looking into the environment and reflective surfaces, projecting scenary onto my piece bringing the element of nature back into my piece.

I spoke to her about looking into Art Nouveau and how I wanted to link it in with the Will to Flight but I didn't want to use too much decoration, Julie suggested playing around with softer shapes and how this movement was for the young and fresh at the time and how I can reflect this ideal in today's society and claim that I am the new and fresh face of design.

I feel I can keep developing this project further now and I'm excited to do some research and take some photo's!

Monday 22nd October, 2014

Sketchbook Day.                                                                                                                                                                        

Today I had some brain waves so I decided to draw them out in my sketchbook and write some notes and then have a play with painting. I feel like I need to speak to Julie about my ideas and see which one I should concentrate on!                                                                                                                                        

                                   

Saturday 18th October, 2014

Today I decided to do some doodles and get some ideas our of my head ready to make into paper and maybe metal for samples.

Friday 17th October, 2014

Today we carried on making our claw setting, I made a ring shank for the setting but found it extremely difficult to solder onto the claw but with Cerys' help I discovered the problems I was repeating during setting it up for soldering and what flux is best to use with extra easy solder. I finished it up using a barrel polisher for half an hour then set my stone which I found quite difficult and time consuming, I wanted to make sure this part I took time over since it was the last step and didn't want to rush this process. 

Thursday 16th October, 2014

This morning we had a lecture on the Bauhaus, I really enjoyed Adam speaking about the different tutors and what innovative ideas they brought to the table and how they created pieces before technology such as Photoshop.
I was intriged by their circle/timetable and it made me think about our schedules.
I thought it was interesting how they got the chance to find out who they were, working in different workshops and then picking their speciality.

Claw Setting.

Today we had a go at creating a claw setting which I found very frustrating but at the same time there wasn't as many steps to this setting, I just found soldering the claws onto the base difficult.

I will continue to make a ring for the base tomorrow and stone set my piece as I found it took a lot of concentration to get the setting it's self made in that one session.

Wednesday 14th October, 2014

Today I carried on writing technical notes up and drawing ideas into my sketchbook

Tuesday 14th October, 2014

This morning we had a seminar on Crafts interaction with Technology which I found really interesting as we spoke about integrating technology into crafts and also creating crafts/objects using technology and how skills have developed.
I enjoy researching into this subject more and speaking about QR codes has sparked an interest I would love to integrate into my work.
This afternoon we made a tube setting, this has been my favourite technique so far because or the simplicity of the technique and the satisfying outcome that happens!
I also spoke to Julie about my brief idea and how I can go forward to develop it, she suggested creating ideas and samples out of paper, making machettes instead of straight out of metal to save time and get an idea out of my system.

Monday 13th October, 2014

Writing Technical Notes.

Today I spend the day writing up technical notes reflecting on what I've done so far, these are a great part of our project as they will come in handy in the future, building up instructions for different techniques I can use again in the future.

Friday 11th October, 2014

Introduction to stone setting!

Today I was quite nervous about stone setting as I wasn't very knowledable about stones and gems.

Cerys explained a lot to us in a short amount of time and I felt it was so important to keep record of everything through photos and notes.

We created a bezel ring with a stone and shoulders, I felt this session was very fiddly but with more practice I believe I will progress in this technique and the finished pieces will become much more satisfying. I tried my best to keep it neat but piercing something so small was very difficult to me even though I took my time.

Stone setting has triggered my imagination for my project as I've been looking into butterflies and the interesting sections of their bodied before, after and during their transitions I believe stone setting would be a brilliant decoration technique.

I'm looking forward to experimenting with the other ways of stone setting next week!

I'm really interested in Art nouveau (1890s+) and the 'Will to flight' theory and taking a modern spin on this manifesto within my work development. 

I have being researching into designers such as Rene Lalique popular for his jewellery at the time.

"Art Nouveau jewellery by Rene Lalique"

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/98234835592042181/

This is also a wonderful piece by Lucien Gaillard, I love the symmetry and attention to detail, although these pieces seem outdated they're very interesting forms and concepts that I would like to apply to my own work.

"Moth Pendant, ca. 1900 Lucien Gaillard - Gold, enamel, citrine, and horn."

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/273804852318063483/

Thursday 9th October, 2014

This morning we had a lecture on Design Thinking and watched some videos about the founders of the comany IDEO http://www.ideo.com/uk/ I found this part of the lecture really interesting hearing these successful people speaking about how their companies work and why. 

This afternoon we discussed precious metals, what the difference between fine silver and sterling silver were and hallmarking!

I loved this part of the day as we got to make a silver wire ring and I was shown a  better way of soldering than I have learnt in the past.

I loved working in sterling silver and hope to use it again in the future.

Tuesday 7th October, 2014

This morning we had a seminar as a group seaking about our 'favourite things'
and selected work we found interesting and inspirational to speak about together as a group.
I found this task daunting at first but enjoyed finding out about some new designers and techniques they've used. I wish I prepared more research for the seminar but it was great finding out what others found inspiration in and why; whether it be the concept or the techniques used for the overall appearance.

In the afternoon I prepped samples for etching which I left in for 2 hours so see how effective it would be, I really like the results and look forward to oxidising them and finishing them up to see what effects I can achieve.

I also worked on my raising Sample and worked out a quicker way to add shape to the bowl shape. I started further up, banding the vessel with a mallet instead of a cross pean hammer then going in and making regular marks to shape the piece evenly and effectively 

I was shown how to get the pleates/wobby edges out of the metal with blocking which I think is a faster process for jobs that have limited time.

I found this technique difficult to find a rhythm too and control the metal but through practice and keeping track of the changes I have found the progress I have achieved and an appreciation for the technique.

Monday 6th October, 2014

Ideas and Development!

Today I spent my time writing initial ideas down in my sketchbook sprouting from the words; 'Sections' and 'Transitions'. I began developing the first ideas further into a spider diagram.

I've also been collecting research on techniques I would like to try and experiment with which I may begin drawing sample ideas to try out ready for the workshop.

Friday 3rd October, 2014

Raising!

Back in the workshop again today, Cerys shown us how to create a metal raised vessel using forming stakes and Cross pein hammer, this was a very difficult task for me!

I was getting the hang of this technique nearer the end of the session but the hardest part is controlling the metal and getting into the rhythm of hitting the metal.

 Here are some expampled of vessels made from various metals; guilding metal, copper and nickel

Here's my piece after my session today, it was a difficult task but I think it's very satisfying seeing the progress from this technique! 

Thursday 2nd October, 2014

This morning we had a lecture and were given our first brief for Contextual Studies by Adam.
I was initially confused about the brief but wanted to go away and figure out my next move. I understood I had to write an introduction to this module in a blog style or negotiate another way if needed. I decided to think about how I was going to approach this module before starting!

Etching!

Being back in the workshop was the highlight of my week!

We had a etching demonstration today, I have etched before but I wanted to refresh my mind!

Turns out I was missing a few steps last time, for best results we had to clean the copper before doing anything, so we used wire wool and a steam cleaner for metal and wearing gloves so we didn't put anymore chemicals onto the copper. 

 We learnt about the various ways of masking out the acid from the surface of the copper to create the etching effect.

We could paint it on with black stop out paint, parcel tape, nail varnish and black sharpie markers.

I discovered the parcel tape didn't work very well, this piece was in for about 40 minutes and the tape  drifted away from the copper in the acid but it left a very interesting effect on the surface, like a satin finish.

Then if we used black polish we could clean it off with paint remover but this is very difficult if your design was precise because you can't check fully how it will appear without the polish until you remove it. 

We also we shown how you could finish an etched piece, buy using liver or sulphur which I have used before but I would like to experiment more with various solutions.