Skeletons of the Final Collection

 I now have all the frontal pieces hand pierced out for the final collection, with a few backings in place...these are now ready for the backings to be made and to be polished and plated, patinated and sprayed:

The oval collection

The rectangular collection

The round collection

The whole brooch collection

The round & rectangular collection

The brooches & statement piece

I have been electroforming some new fabrics this week to see what they will turn out like and if they are suitable for gold embroidering on. These ones are prepared with acrylic sealant ready to be painted with conductive paint...We shall await their outcome. Although I am having some slight problems with the tank at the moment and trying to work out why it isn't conducting the copper properly.

This weekend will be filled up with piercing out this heap of steel sheet into ornate patterns that co-ordinate to make up a large statement piece. I was using 2mm thick steel which was really tough, but have managed to find slightly thinner sheet (1.5mm) This is strong enough to be ornately pierced yet easy enough for my blade to run through.

This week in the School of Jewellery we have been planning out our exhibition floor plan and placing 35 collections in situ, using both the glass topped atrium and exhibition hall, it is all becoming more real....ready for September's MAdness in the Method exhibition!

Backings

I am now at the stage of putting the pieces together and adding finishing touches before plating such as the backings which I believe need to be just as ornate as the front of the pieces; this creates layers within the pieces and a sense of depth and decoration

Goldplating & Steel

Time is getting short and the work load more intense for the last few weeks...I have been laboriously hand piercing out steel recently for a large neck piece which involves partial goldplating. I was very impressed with the finish of the plating on the sandblasted surface

Women's Shoulder Enhancements

This piece is the early stages of work in progress of the 'hybrid' 'statement' piece; "Women's shoulder enhancements"

At this stage I am decided what electroformed fabric looks best domed within the 'frames' and how to go about embroidering gold metal thread onto the surface as well as deciding the most suitable chain to exist with the piece designed as an exhibition art statement

Connection Resolution

In have been pondering on my connections for months now; laser welding? riveting? sewing?
And I have found one which integrates strongly with my concept, based on the tension fitting of an embroidery hoop....

Connection in progress

My Artist Statement

"I am fascinated by the nostalgia of historical interiors. This collection of work addresses themes of a lost world of decoration; the 18^thcentury, a period in history which witnessed changing attitudes in society and a time of great optimism in contrast to the rigid moral conformity.

Interiors were outrageous in their ornamentation; a reflection and testimony to the opulence and foreign influences of the time.  I look to recapture the essence of this period through ornate hand piercing, embellished textures and colours which reflect this romantic fussiness of grandeur.

This collection adorns the body with an heir of antiquity.  It looks to narrate the relationship between changes in history, the influence it had on attitudes of the time and how this in turn is witnessed through the interior domain"

Birmingham Children's Hospital

This year the MA exhibition is in aid of Birmingham Children's hospital, where we will be raising funds from donations for their Arts Programme as it is very close to our passions as a creative collective and we wanted to share our enthusiasm for this discipline. The Arts Programme within the hospital gives young patients an opportunity to be creative and works as a means of therapy to occupy and stimulate young minds, a chance to escape into an activity when under treatment, using art to aid there recovery by arranging various arts based activities over the summer that will get them out of their beds and sometimes even out of the hospital!

I think this is a fantastic cause especially due its connection with such a passionate discipline and its sense of 'community'. Certainly feel very proud that we are supporting such a worthy cause and the show isn't just about us and our work but the wider people it can benefit! Lets hope we raise alot of donations towards this programme for the sake of the Children!

Exhibition Ideas

This is another piece of furniture I fell for at the auction, a really torn apart, worn yet loved  arm chair which I thought would be another great way to exhibit my work on for the final exhibition. This bid was before the chaise longue as I thought the chaise longue was going to go for far much more than I can afford...how I was wrong. 

I went to my first live auction today at Oaklands in Shrewsbury.....and made some biddings...and WON this beautiful antique chaise longue. It needs some work on it before the exhibition in September but other than that it is just what I was looking for; opulant, elegant, grand and exquisite! It has been reupholstered with a burnt orange velvet, however, peeking underneath there is a torn and worn dark leather so I may strip back the new fabric to reveal this original and distressed leather. I shall also darken the wood. The next job though is to get it down to Birmingham.

MAdness in the Method

Working Space

This is my new, spacious working area within the School of Jewellery. I have taken up 4 desks with all my organising..lets hope this is a productive space...

RCA Show & V&A Museum

I went to London yesterday with some of the MA group, we had a tour of the Royal College of Art, guided by the lovely Rachael Colley (our current artist in residence & former RCA student)of the exhibition & heard what some of the graduates had to say about their work. The exhibition was huge, a range of different disciplines mixed in together so it was sometimes difficult to differentiate the courses. Some beautiful; presenting and some real conceptual and masterful work. Lots of inspiration.

Some of my favourites:
http://www.nakamuramakiko.com/ ...just beautiful
http://www.rca.ac.uk/Default.aspx?ContentID=512279&CategoryID=36775 ...this design took my breath away! what a master!
http://www.rca.ac.uk/Default.aspx?ContentID=512407&CategoryID=36775 ....design interactions

Two of us also visited the Victoria & Albert Museum, unfortunately the Jewellery section was closed due to strikes which was a huge shame and we ran out of time to see the current exhibition "The Cult of Beauty" so I will have to pay another trip down after my MA in a couple of months......what  a beautiful museum!