Final Take - The Pegasus Necklace

The Pegasus Necklace



In reassembling the necklace with black agate beads and brass spacers between the polymer elements, I feel it looks more dressy this way. I do the final sanding and buffing, keeping the high gloss for the Burlesque Blend accents and leaving a fairly matte surface for the black areas. The contrast between matte and shine, between flat and glitter, between dark and light, between solid and pattern pleases me.  

The beads look fairly substantial but the work in making them "hollow" keeps the necklace from being heavy, so the time and effort to assemble the beads with internal support but no solid core was worth it.

The Pegasus Necklace

The beads are done and now the final decisions involve the assembly. I've strung the beads on brass coated cable, but feel the cable looks too frail next to the overall look so I'll use softglass cord to go from the end beads to the brass hook-and-eye clasp. The decision involves the spacers. I've used leftover clay to make clay discs. I need a small black agate round bead to push the spacers away from the central bead. I'll restring the whole piece using a "slicker" alternative - brass spacers with a larger black agate bead in between - to see which one conveys the artistic "feel" I'm looking for. Here is the first alternative assembly:

The Pegasus Necklace



Designing Museum Quality Fine Art Jewelry - Part 3

The two side pieces are finished and I've laid them out beside the layered centre piece. I'll need a bead or beads between the pieces to set them apart. I ran into a problem with the curvature since these side pieces are essentially hollow beads. This is going to be a fairly substantial piece so weight will become an issue. It was so difficult to ensure the curvature of the top black pieces matched the curvature of the larger bottom pieces, especially when the bottom pieces were baked on the round form and also had that soft curve. I decided to work the bottom black pieces flat. That way I could bake the top black piece, lay it on the flat clay and trace out the curvature exactly as needed. There is a curved, textured, glittered insert on the side, set in a bit so it is not obvious - just noticeable from an angle. Adds a bit of intrigue/interest to the piece. I'll need to be exact when drilling the hole for the wire, since any change in curvature of the wire will affect the wrap of the "claws" around the central bead. I don't have a neck mandrel so I'll try using the jewelry manikin.

I like the look of the side pieces as earrings. Will have to work some more up as such.

Designing Museum Quality Fine Art Jewelry - Part 2

I lay a single sheet cut from a page protector over the final side piece designs and draw the outlines of the various pieces with a sharpie. I label the pieces (I'm blond - I tend to confuse easily)

 

These are cut out with scissors and used as templates. I used to use acetates but found that they fuse with the clay and will lift off some of the surface clay when removed so I needed to spray with water each time as a release. More work, more clean-up. These page protectors (some artists store sheets of clay in them) stick to the clay but don't bond with it so the template stays put for cutting (fine surgical scalpel, disposable) but lifts cleanly off afterward.
Now to place on the form for baking (this is an old ikea glass lampshade - perfectly round) for a soft curvature.

I ran into a bit of a problem with this. The clay is so malleable that I pushed the tails up too far when placing the thinner black pieces on the form. The curvature of the thin black pieces do not marry with the wider black pieces so I'll have to cut new thin ones and use the template to draw the outline directly onto the form with a grease pencil, then use the outline to make sure the curve conforms to the original template.

Two invaluable tools

The Creative Process - Designing Museum Quality Fine Art Jewelry

Sometimes ideas flow like a raging river. Other times you feel "dry as a stone", to quote Virginia Cobb. Some artists keep a sketchbook by their bedside, others journal their ideas. Me, well, I usually can't find what I need when the muse beckons. I start out with great intentions, but my sketchbook by my bedside is empty because the massive wave of creativity that washes over me as I drift off happens when I'm drifting off! I have about 50 sketchbooks/notebooks/journals, stuffed full of copy paper/napkins/junk mail covered with ideas, both visual and verbal, scattered throughout my environment. I pity the person trying to sort and categorize my creative thoughts/ideas after I'm "gone". There is no rhyme or reason; there is no logical order or linear time sequence. My mind works on the explosion process, images morphing into objects or wildly splattering across a canvas. Words appear and merge with color, contrasts jarring and exciting through texture or value or color. So I thought I would take you along with me on my process of creating this fall jewelry collection.

Yesterday's focal element didn't appear first. Here is the process unfolding in one sketchbook:

This is a shape that has appeared frequently in my abstract paintings. I really love this shape. This sketch led to:

and

Now I'm in full gear and thinking about the whole piece, needing a central element:

The top drawing works out the logistics of assembling the round focal element featured in yesterday's blog. Studying that piece gives me ideas for the rest of the necklace, and the color ideas and shape and size for the side pieces get finalized on the bottom.

As you can see, I'm a process artist. The act of creating leads to more creating - but the pragmatist is always there, waving a finger at me, reminding me these things have to work in real life, so now it's time to make the prototypes for the side pieces.

More about this process tomorrow.

Putting Together a Collection for Fall 2012 Fashion

I've been asked, by an exclusive clothing boutique in Montreal, to put together a Fall 2012 Jewelry Collection to sell in their store. I don't mind telling you, I'm excited! I'm thinking of changing my name - something chic - The Artist Formerly Known as Vickie????? I'll work on it.

The first color palette I'm working with is black and gold and bronze. I need to stay fairly elegant, yet arty and exclusive, so I've got a few ideas I'll show you over the next few days.

This is a focal piece for a necklace that I can already see in my mind's eye. It uses up some scraps from different techniques, which is always great, but requires a lot of hand cutting and hand shaping, so this will definitely be the centre of a very "arty piece".

Warrior Women

All through history there have been Warrior Women, women who overcame tremendous obstacles to accomplish historical feats, women such as Queen Boudicca, Queen Artemisia, The Trung Sisters and Queen Zenobia, just to mention a few. All through history down to the present we have warrior women whose names have never made recorded history, but who daily overcome tremendous obstacles or endure difficult situations or bear heavy burdens just to care for those near and dear to them. These pins are dedicated to today's warrior women and I'll introduce my favorites from time to time.

The first is Lady Bernadette. She struggles with depression and lonliness yet always presents an elegant, cheerful face to those around her, not wanting to be a burden to anyone. Every day she manages to get to work or fulfill her responsibilities she has won a battle. Some days the battle overwhelms her. My Bernadette loves the colour green and has a smile that lights up a room. The green swarovski crystals trailing down her cheek are her tears and the dark pattern on the left side suggests the emotional veil she hides behind in order not to burden others with her pain. This pin is to let her know that there are many of us who recognize her valiant struggle and love and appreciate her.

Lady Bernadette