New bits!

Now that things have quietened down at the end of this year, I've been able to give more time to my new plastic powders. 

Mixing them altogether has given me a lot of different colours and so I'm now assembling and re-assembling componants together into some smaller pieces ready for the exhibition happening in July.  Here's some photos of how they're looking at the moment, tweaking a few things as I'm still undecided about whether they'll be neck pieces or brooches, but getting there...

Sketchbook work

Something that I come to love more and more each year is my sketchbook.  After loathing it upon first coming to college for foundation, I eventually learned a way of drawing and documenting ideas that worked for me.  Exploring mark making features a lot in my sketchbooks, as does collage, layering textures and photos of my assemblages that I can then work into again. 

Here are some of my sketchbook pages from my last project which show the development of my ideas into the final pieces that I've posted on here previously

 

Projections

What I often find when I make things is that I tend to work very small scale whether I'm aware I'm doing it or not!  This term, I set myself the challenge of breaking out of this comfort zone and in order to help me with this, I started doing projection work.  I took some photos of the things that inspired me, printed them onto acetate, combined them with 3D pieces I'd made on the overhead projecter and then projected them onto myself.

I think this way of visualising pieces of work really freed me up, it allowed me to think of the form and how I would need to make something and fit it all together before I started.  It's also a lot of fun to do and because the combinations and placement of images are so instant, you walk away with loads of ideas.  Jewellers, I recommend it! 

Collaboration

During this year, I've had the chance to collaborate with a student on the fashion course.  For his final year project based on Victorian mourning wear, I cast some very old keys in ceramics to make into a neckpiece.  We had a lot of fun with it and the photos below are all the keys and the variations of surface decoration put onto them and one of the final finished neckpiece,

Flotsam and Jetsam...

... Another two of my sea wreckage inspired neck pieces.  Getting them photographed properly tomorrow morning.  They're both made from steel and iron wire, porcelain and Egyptian paste.

They're the last of my larger neck pieces, moving on to creating smaller versions now ready for the exhibition in July

Pewter Neckpiece

This is another of my neck pieces I made during this term.  It's made of fine black wire mesh with pewter cups and was also a second entry for the Pewter competition

Photography by Gina Hughes

Ceramics and Jewellery Exhibition

During the first week of July from the 4th - 7th, there will be an exhibition of ceramic and jewellery work organised by a group of us in our second year.  The exhibition will in the foyer of Carmarthen Leisure Centre at the times stated in the poster above.  Hope to see you there

Competition win

After entering a competition back in April this year - Pewter Live 2012, I was invited to the awards ceremony in London last week and awarded the City and Guilds prize for one of my entries, a table centrepiece, Very happy!

Photography by Gina Hughes

Inspiration

I love exploring new places, particularly if these places are considered 'out of bounds' and are often overlooked by most people.  I find the surface textures and forms of buildings/objects that have been left to decay of their own accord really fascinating because they tell stories about their history which, over time, will slowly crumble down around them. 
The first two photos are of a derelict farmhouse in Llandeilo and the last is a shipwreck on Llansteffan beach

Playing with plastic

 

A new process I've learned this year that has featured quite heavily in my recent work is plastic coating.  It involves creating metal assemblages/structures, heating them and then dropping them in amongst very fine plastic powders.  The above photos are some of the early test pieces I did and I'm really pleased with the overall crusty effect, especially on the sieve mesh (right) which has still managed to retain the detail of the fine weave.  

 

After a lot of experimenting with different metals, assemblages and colour mixing, I started constructing them together and eventually ended with this piece pictured above.  This is one of my main neck pieces which wraps around the neck and rests down over the shoulders.  The plastic coating process lends itself very well to this design because it still allows for flexibility without bits falling off!

The blogging begins...

 I have been meaning to do this for a while and now that I've just come to the end of my second year, now is probably a good time to start.
I'm currently studying at Carmarthen School of Creative Arts, doing a degree in Ceramics and Jewellery.  Although I really enjoy the ceramic side of things and still incorporate it into my work, contemporary jewellery is my chosen pathway.
The photo above is the work I made for this term in a small exhibition held at the college.

This current project draws inspiration from sea wreckage along the West Wales coast particularly from the changing function of the vessel from working boat to rich habitat below the water line.  Using the body as the base structure, I am able to convey this ‘journey’ taken by the vessels by creating pieces that appear to grow and envelope the wearer.