Paper Vessels Installation

So I am in this gender studies class, and one of the projects is an Exquisite Corpse.  Equisite Corpse is a method of collaboration used commonly in classroom settings to provoke and encourage outside the box thinking.  In this case we are starting with an empty room and each student in the class gets the room for an entire week to create anything they want on the theme of gender/sex/sexuality.  I chose to go first which means a blank slate (save for a few words written on the walls from our professor during the first class.

I thought about this for a few days and the recurring thing for me was the notion of women as vessels.  I'm more of a tomboy than anything and experiencing pregnancy over the summer was a strange thing.  Dresses and makeup have not been a part of my definition of womanhood or being female, but pregnancy and giving birth is.  A lot of people mentioned to me "women having been giving birth for thousands of years..." and it made me think about the birthright of being female.  I decided to make a bunch of paper forms.  The forms are reminiscent of cups or bowls, flowers, and the female body.  Each one is a little different in shape, size, and color.  I stacked them in the room given to us to work with, and drew lines on the floor leading to them.  The lines are alluding to sperm and men in general, as they are a part of this "woman becoming vessel" process.

New sculpture

 I made these copper grass pieces and this morning ran out at dawn to install them and take photos.  This is a piece of private property right on Rt. 66, that only ever gets used for the sale of Christmas trees in the winter.

The idea was to make industrial grass, and have it growing in an industrial environment.  It's kind of a joke to me... real grass can't grow here so lets grow fake grass.  I think my next move is to do this again in a place that has no plant life whatsoever.  I'm also thinking of painting the grass so hideous industrial color like neon green.  I want to do everything I can before painting, because once the paints on, it's not coming off.

New Designs...

So I made these flower rings and one pendant, but can't seem to come up with a name for the design.  I'm pretty happy with it, though I did try putting stones in the center.  I thought they looked too busy.  The last photo is the pendant.  Would love some comments...

Sylas Studios featured on Indie Junction

Indie Junction is an online "guild" of DIY crafters who sell their wares.  I joined IJ a few months ago when I found out about them on the etsy forums.  They do a weekly "artist of the week" feature which is awesome, and showcases a few members every week.  I was lucky enough to be included in this weeks feature.  Check it out here: http://indiejunction.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/indie-junction-featured-artisans-for-the-week-of-august-1st/

Trunk Show happening July 23rd, this friday

I will be doing my first ever trunk show at Garden of Beaden!  Come chat with me, and see some of my work up close and personal.  Sign up for my metalsmithing classes which will be held at the store.  The trunk show runs 11am-7pm on Friday July 23rd, 2010.

Big shiny citrines

     So a frequent client contacted me recently about having a slide pendant made with a big sparkly citrine.  She wanted a square cushion cut that was 13mm, but haven't quite found it, then I was talking to her about other possibilities and mentioned a rather dark citrine I already had.

      She is looking to have the pendant in silver and gold, but the setting to be silver to contrast with the stone.  I got to go shopping at my favorite stone dealer's today and picked up a few potential rocks.  For the record, taking pictures of small shiny detailed things is hard to do.  I had six lights on these and I still had to photoshop them to be light enough to see. Here they are:

These are half on white paper and half on sheet silver, so you can see any color difference if any.  All stones are natural and untreated citrine (quartz).

This is the biggest of the stones. 35.74 carats.  It is rather light, but exceptionaly clear.  It is very deep below the girdle, and the flat top allows you to see the facets on the bottom of the stone quite well.  22mm x 17mm.

This round stone looks like its machine cut, with more facets than usual for a round stone.  (Probably because of its size.)  it is 15mm, and as you can see, not quite as big as a dime.  This stone also has a deep cut. 13.68 carats.

I loved the cut of this stone.  Its an elongated marquis and it really shows off the stone's color.  8.80 carats, and 22mm x 10 mm.

This is another unusual cut.  A little darker in color than the previous stones, and almost a marigold rather than yellow.  6.45 carats and 10mm x 14 mm.

This is my darkest and smallest citrine.  A classic oval cut (traditional proportions) with deep marigold hues. About 5 carats (forgot to weigh it before writing this).  10mm x 12mm

The other thing to think about when planning to wear a larger stone is how big the setting will have to be to get around the stone.  For instance, the deeper cut stones above will have to have metal supporting the sides to protect the stone and to hold it up off the skin.  The points can be sharp and you risk damaging the stone if the point is not kept off the skin.  A trend that is happening in the art-jewelry world right now is to take these stones and set them upside down.  There are more facets on the bottom anyway, so it can be more sparkly. And in the case of these stones, it would mean less metal, so less heavy to wear, and less expensive.  Just a thought.

the force of gravity on bananas

     So I had a fitting with the client on this gold banana ring.  The band fits perfect, but there was some concern that the peel was a little fluffy and flowery.  So I went back and made this peel more subject to gravity, with the peel appear more floppy, and dare I say droopy (in a good way).