Response to Magazine readings

At the start of the semester, I subscribed to ID, Metropolis, Craft, Wired and Fast Company. I read them when I can and will read more over the break.

Bibliography of websites

http://www.skyartkarenkristin.com/
http://www.arteryuk.com/Handmade+Clocks/Sunray+Wall+Clock/
http://www.materialise-mgx.com/
http://www.siennagallery.com/artist-bio.php?artistID=34
http://www.ariklevy.fr/
www.designmuseum.org/design/assa-ashuach
http://www.within4walls.com/www.within4walls.co.uk/new/designers.php?id=JANNE+KYTTANEN
http://www.bathsheba.com/
www.mcescher.com

Karen Kristin

Karen Kristin uses sky in her art...

Tracy Steepy

Tracy Steepy is someone Jan had mentioned to investigate. Some nice brooches seen here...

My fav is the chartreuse and white one top right--interesting way to fulfill the hollow form:)

Design 3 Artist Statement

The information I obtained from Materialise led me to base my fabrication project on the idea of mulitiple images and repeating forms. Noticing the view in my daily drive home, I decided to incorporate the sunray into my design. I pulled about 10 pictures, then tracing interesting forms from those photos. My first maquette, done as a bracelet helped me solve a few design issues and from there came a second maquette. I would like to etch in silver the top band, and stick to the bracelet format. The design for the top band came from researching lattice patterns similar to that of sunrays. Importing them into photoshop and tweeking the pattern a bit, I now have a black and white image to print onto PNP. I will try a copper etch test strip of a few different patterns. I hope to get some feedback on my second maquette tomorrow, as well as attempting a copper maquette...

I changed my piece from a bracelet to a pendant. The bracelet was out of my league, for now, as far as skill level. It was bulky. It had to fit my wrist, and every time I binded it I couldn't help but pull those ends together, making it unwearable. To start my new piece, I cut a 9 inch outside band. I wanted one band, with one scored and bent line to make it easier to solder down. I shaped and scored it to my satisfaction, but as I moved it a bit more the scored line broke. I was able to line it up closely but have two small visible gaps. I ended up leaving them alone but would like some thought on maybe filling that space with wire. The pendant is scribed on both sides, as well as roll printed. I rolled wire on one side, intending to use the other side so the wire were a sort of ghost image. On the side I was to use I rolled lightly wire mesh and fabric. I like the subtle results. They mimic the cloud form. The patina is a bluish color to also mimic the cloud form. I suspended the piece with 4 chains to replicate the idea of the sunray. Overall, I am happy with the final results, but would like to finish the bracelet in the future. I had not soldered much all semester, so the bracelet was again frustrating. The pendant I ended up creating gave me alot of solder refreshers. I enjoyed this assignment.

Podcasts-Dubai

This podcast is about a writer for Fast Company magazine attending a conference in the growing Middle Eastern area of Dubai. A lot of big names in design were apparently supposed to attend this conference but ended up not showing. Their goal here in Dubai is to top everything as far as the tallest building, and largest mall. As much as they would like to take design seriously, the pace at which they are constructing their buildings and the resources they are consulting are prohibiting them from making intelligent design decisions. Mixing of styles becomes bizarre and far out. The idea of old vs. new is great but there is no attention to detail in that matter. There are some nice attractions in the historical area. One building in particular becomes an architechtural motif. The outside is elegant while the inside is abstracted. It is not typically acceptable for a male native to the area is allowed to begin a career in design. They need to work on how to shape and define human behavior through design.

Podcasts-Digital Manufacturing

Yanni Kitani is being interviewed about Rapid Protyping. He briefly describes how they work and then goes on to explain how those machines are now being used for direct maufacturing. Plastics, metals, starch, paper can all be printed. How students can get their hands on technology like this is also explained because the cheapest commercial device is still just under $20,000. It is expected for the machines to not come down in price for a few more years. Rod McCormick gave great insight on this technology last night. I really enjoyed it:)

Podcasts--Polymer Clay

This podcast interests me because I had some questions about polymer clay. I recently borrowed a book called 'Faux surfaces in Polymer Clay'. It caught my eye purely for the interesting surfaces I might mimic in some of my work, without really knowing what polymer was all about. I had a feeling that it was related to Fimo or Sculpty clay which I tend to think look cheesy but maybe something interesting can come out of it. The podcast went into detail about what tools are needed to start working at home like, a pasta maker, rolling pin, acrylic paint and smooth work surface. It ended with some silly commercial:)

NY Times article on Materialise

This article helped to sum it up for me on how the Materialise-mgx technology works and should help anyone still confused. Click on it to read it more clearly.

I

Arik Levy (Materialise)

Jewelry examples by Arik Levy who designs for Materialise...

within4walls

Discovered this site while doing Materialise research...alot of Materialise designers are included here as well..

http://www.within4walls.co.uk

Podcasts

New to the world of podcasts...although I do listen to audio books--they seem similar, but shorter like news briefs. The one I just listened to was about how diamonds are preferred over many other precious stones and sales show a lot more self-purchased products these days as opposed to gifts. That podcast was aired by the GIA. I just listened to one that was crap, so they aren't all winners. The music at the beginning of most of them makes me giggle.

Assa Ashauch (Materialise)

Some examples of furniture done using rapid protyping technology...

Janne Kyttanen (Materialise)

I love these lamps. The shadows and the idea of what impressions a shadow make visually is nice.

Escher...

...in comparison to Grossman...

Bathsheba Grossman (Materialise)

Grossman experiments with lighting ornaments.

Her stuff reminds me a lot of the great MC Escher--this is my favorite concept thus far...

Dennis W. Bernhardt

I have a thing for venus flytraps...
the tree sculpture reminded me of Rebecca's enameling image...

Rochelle Ford

Rochelle welds together recycled and trashed materials. I didn't really care for the masks she makes but the mixed media and garden sculptures are nice.

Materialise

I have been starting to read about the Materialise company and see a lot of really interesting patterns in the work. Repeating forms are common and the use of CADCAM programs are highly incorporated. The website was not letting me view anything about the designers so I will have to check back later tonight...

So I was able to click on some of the affiliated Materialise artists separate web addresses. I enjoy mathematics and see many equations in the Materialise art. The patterns in some of the pieces are great. MC Escher is my favorite artist for that reason. He blends architecture and geometry with the concept of infinity.

Materialise uses a machine that can be programmed to use laser to cut out highly complex plastic prototypes. Their designers have skills in making jewelry, lighting, furniture, and more.

Aftertoughts...Design Problem Uno

Critique for design problem one in metals and jewelry II began Tuesday, October 9th. We spent most of the class doing peer-evaluations. Split up into groups of 5, we rated each other's work according to the criteria layed out for us in the beginning of the semester. The object was to design a product as if you were commissioned by the Droog design team out of Amsterdam. Research for this assignment was critical since most of the class had not previously heard of the very eclectic design firm. In addition to online research about Droog, we were shown some new techniques used on metal. We had to demonstrate we could master solder inlay, lammenation inlay, rolling mill textures, and etching. I had the most trouble with solder inlay but was able to get results on one of my pieces. I am now facinated by lammenation inlay now that I fully understand it and was successful in the end. My project reflected the Droog idea of using objects in more than one way, like the plant swing designed by Droog. I made 4 barrettes that also can be used as a necklace pendant or bracelet center piece. I had the most trouble with the safety clasp on the back, but Jan helped by drawing a diagram further explaining how to be more successful with the craftsmanship of those parts. When I get my project returned to me I would like to fix that part because it will add greatly to the piece. I would also like to photograph it and post it up here. I really enjoyed everyone else's projects and interpretation of my project. I learned alot during the past 7 weeks. I understand how important it is to dig in right away and starting hashing out ideas. I jumped right in to this next project, not only because it has an earlier due date but because it just made sense. I am happy to have learned about the new techniques and look forward to pushing those even further.

GIA

I have been looking into the GIA for several years now. I actually considered moving to Carlsbad for 5 years to get my gem certification. I settled on either traveling to New York or taking a distance learning course to get my degree. They have alot to offer and I highly recommend this type of education to anyone who is interested. Getting to New York is not hard and can be fairly inexpensive. The New Jersey transit out of Trenton is my favorite:)

andrea wagner

This is an artist out of the netherlands who specializes in brooches if anyone is interested...

10 words I like...

synergist

ossicles

carnelian

ischial tuberocity

sonic

mirror

genes

tempura

hyjinx

parallelogram

Plique-a-jour

To my understanding this is a technique considered as 'miniature stained glass'. I currently am taking stained glass and like the idea of incorportating it into jewelry or other small-scale sculptures. Tell me more about this plique-a-jour......