Sunday, November 28, 2010

Rapid Prototyping...you are so cool!

Let me take a minute to share what I have been up to the past two weeks and the reason I have not blogged. I have been totally consumed with my new arrivals: "white, strong and flexible" rapid prototypes from Shapeways (www.shapeways.com, Check it out if you haven't yet, it is amazing).

For anyone who has used Shapeways before, you all know this feeling well, but for those that have not that read my blog, there is an amazing feeling when you see the little white and blue box arrive on your doorstep. It is a truly child-like euphoria as you tear away the tape and dig through the small sea of shipping peanuts to fish out your little bag of wonder. Then its on to inspect! Did the tests work? Does the lid fit snug? Is the indentations deep enough? All of those measurements and visualizing you did on the computer sitting in the palm of your hand.   The feeling you get when everything went right and you hold in your hand a little piece of magic. But, I'm getting off topic.

Recently, I have been working on a line of jewelry as I stated above, and in this line I have been trying to test ways of hand finishing the models to give them some color and life. I think I have finally achieved that step in my line called "Rowe" based off an old family name. Rowe is a colorful fun approach to adornment that utilizes the latest in 3D rapid prototyping technology and the simplest of natural forms.

But enough of the talking for now! I think it is much cooler just to show the pictures of what has been going on!



White Strong and Flexible/SLS Print, Blue Acid Dye, gauche, resin


SLS Print, Scarlet Acid Dye, watercolor, resin, laquer
Model Shot <3

 Just a teaser,  a lot more being finished this week!

And, it would not be complete without a video of my new little container. It has a lovely little hinge, but what I love the most is the satisfying little pop it gives with its tension fit lid.

**video coming very soon **


Thursday, November 11, 2010

Week 12 - Recap.

First off, 100th blog post! Continuing on....

This week I got  a lot accomplished. I feel as though I am on track for the rest of the semester FINALLY!

Design and Production:
My final prototype models came in, and they were prefect. Very few changes were made and the final versions were sent out today. They will arrive next week for final assembly. I ordered the boxes, stickers, and business cards. That means I just have to design and send out the earring cards and care cards. They can probably be done right before Thanksgiving with any luck once I see the exact size of the boxes. I was happy I could even find boxes in orange and I think with my stickers it will be really nice.

Jewelry 3-
Moving right along with the injection molding. It has picked up the pace a bit and I have probably 1/3 of the pieces molded. I hope to have the rest finished by early next week so I can finish them all and dye them all before the end of the week giving me about a week to assemble them for the critique. Also, the 3D models came in that I want to integrate. They are small which I don't know if I will like the feel of them onces I see them on the piece. Originally, I was going to cast the large one in the epoxy. I think that might still be the plan, but, I will have to see with time restraints if that is still possible. I also sent out the hinged version of this model out so, I should be receiving it shortly.

As a side project, I also created a double-scale ring with moving ball bearings and floating rings that are capped off with a ball. It worked perfectly. I want to scale it down and send it out with a few other models I made with ball bearings and moving elements. They are all tests for something larger I have cooked up for over break. 
And a group shot of everything that came in this week. 


Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Week 12 - Design and Production and Jewelry 3 - Progress Check

Okay, So it's been a little bit since I got to blog, but I have been working.
Let's start with Design and Production:

My models arrived...well part one of them the rest of them will be here tomorrow and Thursday. I am really excited to see my rings arrive.

Without more ranting here they are:

 They came out pretty prefect. I am currently working on finishing them. I have tried flocking them in a red, it looks pretty nice on the earrings bases. I have also tried coloring them with a thick water color and then sealing them. I have to say of the two, I love the painted versions. They can be virtually any color and are simple to produce. I am going to work on coating them in thin colored resin next. It is a bit better for wearable rings. I don't know if the painting could hold up on the rings long enough. I am going to place earring backs on the earrings tonight so I can paint them tomorrow. 

Jewelry 3:
Working on making some injection molds. I want to work on finishing solutions tomorrow because the injection material isn't the most gorgeous looking thing in the world. Anyway, I spent today figuring out what material to go with and I think I am going to work with the medium. It is harder to inject, but I like the sound it makes when it is hit together and I feel as you walk with it on it would make that noise and I also like the coloring a bit better then the others.


Can't blog much more, pretty excited and I am about to mix up a batch of resins for my earrings and to work with injection pieces. 

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Week 11 - Jewelry 3 and Design and Production - Updates

Right now I am currently in the middle of EVERYTHING. It is kind funny how quickly things are coming together. Tomorrow I will be finishing up my mold for my next piece done in injection molding. This is a compiled mass of forms that comes together and contains you and consumes you. It is a reaction to my first project in J3. I will try to get some pictures of the mold tomorrow and see how it came out. I think it is gonna be pretty neat.

For Design and Production, we have a critique tomorrow. I am going to show my wax models and some of the 3D prints I have. A few of them got delayed due to modelling problems but, I am not freaking out yet. Everything should be coming very soon, I have 3 orders in production right now. I also have my epoxy resins coming in and I hope to be able to experiment with them this weekend or early next week.

So, not much to show today but, I hope to have a long post this weekend of what I am working on.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Week 11 - Design and Production - Responses to Your Work

Thinking about an Artist Statement again...

A. Are there any emotions you are trying to elicit? What are the formal qualities you would like people to recognize? What do you want them to say about your use of materials? Or subject matter? What would you really like for people to say about your art?

I try to elicit a sense of thinking, I think I want to create a sense of awareness about my work. I want it transcend "art" and make it more interesting as an object. The formal qualities I don't always go after, I feel like they fall into place without much thought, in the same point I think that formal qualities are ingrained in my process that I naturally make specific decisions about my work. I try to use new techniques and materials and hope to stay on the edge of technology and I try to keep my subject matter pretty current. I would really like people to not specifically talk about my work but, about the topic that the artwork is about. I like to cause discussion with my pieces.


B. I want to examine current social issues and issues that are not as apparent. I want to create work that has an interesting feel due to a deeper emotional ideal. I want to create artwork that makes people take a second look and not fully understand, I want them to question, to touch, to turn a piece in an attempt to find meaning. I want people to examine and analyze.

C. People tend to look at my work and turn it many directions. They tend to ask "what's that?" or to come up with their own definition of what it is. I enjoy this a lot. I tend to in person guide them by asking what they think of a certain part of aspect.

D.
      a. The subjects or style I choose are personal or in the moment because I feel that they are more interesting and culturally motivated.
       b. I am most inspired by things happening around me. I want to stay in the moment but, I also want to explore the past. I try to blend the two.
       c. I choose my materials because I am interested in what they can do. I like to experiment and see if I can take something farther then it currently is.
       d. I think viewers are most interested in my forms and shapes. They are not what they are normally used to seeing so it creates a dynamic response. It encourages them to twist and turn the models until they feel that they "know" what they are looking for.