The goal of this piece was to make three heishi bracelets. I chose the color scheme because I liked the light, simple colors. I wanted them to blend well with each other. I felt like the speckled black and white with light pink would compliment each other. Adding in the pearls would create some difference, instead of just using heishi beads. The biggest challenge was tying the beads at the end because they would fold over on themselves and then be uneven. I had to figure out a way to tie them up, so they wouldn’t fold over on each other. The most interesting thing about the heishi bracelets is the shape of the beads in my opinion.
Stone-Wired Jewelry
The goal of this project is to design a stone-wired pendant for my mom. I think that the stone represents my mom because it’s simple, but still has interesting designs on the stone. I think the wire design also is simple, but is interesting to look at. I think the most interesting thing about stone wired jewelry is how there are so many different designs you can make with a stone and wire. I like that the wire is able to create it’s own pattern, aside from the wire that secures the stone. I think the biggest challenge was positioning the wire in a way that would keep the stone secure, while still making a design with the wire. I had to keep trying different ways of holding and bending the wire, so the design wouldn’t unfold or the stone wouldn't fall out.
Polymer Clay Buttons
Polymer Clay Cane Plate
What did you find out about the polymer clay? I found out that you have to apply more pressure when you roll, if there's more coils. How do you think this was made? I mixed the colors, made coils, arranged them together, applied pressure and mixed into 1 coil, then cut them into 4 pieces, combined the 4 pieces, then I cut buttons, shaped them into squares, put them together, and rolled it into one flat piece. Finally, I shaped the flat piece into a plate.
Polymer Clay Cane Earrings
I chose these colors because I wanted colors that would be a mixture of light and dark colors. I wanted them to have some contrast and also complement each other. For each color I mixed, I added white to a part of the color to make a lighter version of the original mixed color. This ensured that the colors would still go together as I added more variation. For the pattern, I tried to assemble the coils, so similar colors wouldn't be together. I created a pattern that variated the colors. I chose the shape of the earrings partially based on what cut-outs were available, but also I wanted to have a pair that was connected to other pieces. The biggest challenge was connecting the buttons together, so I could roll the buttons into a flat piece. The most interesting thing about the polymer clay was how the colors connected and made a design.
Jump Ring Jewelry
The subject matter of my artwork is an earring that has a series of five big jump rings, followed by a pearl bead at the end. Connecting the big jump rings together are two smaller jump rings. I created this design to show how working together helps other aspects work out. A good part of using these materials was the ease of connecting the jump rings. However, I would’ve liked to add smaller rings to create a more intricate design. The smaller jump rings wouldn’t connect the bigger jump rings in a way that looked cohesive. I started my brainstorming process by looking at other kinds of jump ring jewelry. I saved some I liked and then used those as inspiration for my designs that I drew. I drew a few different designs, that way I was able to have options in case one design didn’t work well. While I was sketching, it was a challenge to imagine how the design would look hanging, not flat. I knew it would be a challenge to create the designs using jump rings as well as having them hang. In order to create the designs I had to practice how to connect and secure the jump rings. I also had to pay attention to the ring sizes. The practicing helped me create the final piece because it gave me a chance to see how the jump rings worked. The focal point of my final design is the bottom with the pearl. This part is emphasized because of the difference in the design, the pearl added an aspect of variety in the design. Most of the design is the same throughout, so this helps the piece look unified and brings balance to the piece. I was able to show movement because of the descending design in the earrings. I think the most successful part of the earrings was the ring with the pearl at the end. It had originally been a challenge to string the wire through the bead, but once it went through it made the earring more interesting. I think that I could improve on making my design more intricate and creating more variety with different sized jump rings. Through this project I learned how to make jump ring earrings and how to create a design using jump rings.
Metal Pendant
My pendant represents a sunset over water. The circle represents the sun and the lines are representative of water. A pro of working with the metal is it is strong, so it’s easy to work with, it doesn’t break or bend. Although, it was sometimes hard to saw and drill through. Another challenging part was buffing the metal piece, it was hard to estimate how much wax needed to be used. A major challenge I had during the process was learning how to use the saw so I could make tiny cuts and not break the blade. In order to overcome this problem, I tried different techniques to use the saw and used a lighter touch, so the blade wouldn’t break. I also had to pay attention to where I had made other cuts because I didn’t want to over cut on the others. I think the most successful part of my project was the design and how I could create it. I was worried at first because the water cuts are so small and close together. I didn’t think I would be able to cut them well, but I was able to cut them in a way that makes them distinct from the other cuts. Something that could be improved was the sanding and buffing stages. I feel like I could have made the piece look smoother if I had sanded and buffed better.