B-tech project proposal

my research question for btech is bringing back decadence from the past  to every day items in the present. what that means is that i am trying bring beauty and durability into everyday around the house things such as scissors, razors, cigarette cases, lighters, combs and jewellery boxes .
also i will be incorporating makumay gane and mixed materials such leather and wood.
i wanted to research this as my topic because i have always appreciated everyday products from times such as art decco. i do appreciate its beauty but mainly i am astounded that these things last so long in perfect condition and that's were the durability factor comes in.  

Platinum project

Ancient Irish Stories and Art

I started off by researching the Irish folktales and traditional patterns and weaves as seen below. 

This mood board is a culmination of my initial referencing.

   

test pieces for weave patterning

embossing weave exploration

constructed prototype utilizing roll milled weave.

final prototype using tight weaving over a flared inner sleeve.
sterling silver.

Clay element patterns



original pattern element

I enjoyed this combination purely because of its simplicity and easy to follow line work, I think it represents infinite fluidity.



I chose this combination for my 2D elements because it gave the objects a flow for surface area distribution, kind of like the previous image it has a natural balance I like.  



I chose this element combination because looking at this pattern from above I can actually visualise the layering of line work without drawing it in. In other words it allowed me to incorporate to elements to observe one design.   



Patterns in the market

Walking through the markets in CBD Durban, looking for pattern wherever it may lie is quite interesting because it forces you to look through the facade of an urban environment. This observing mindset allowed me to see the diversity in the city, with culture, produce or product, infrastructure or architecture, and language, had all that been the only things i had viewed i would have called it paradise.  Sadly the overwhelming sites of inefficiency, poverty, bad living conditions and an abundance of pollution were all very clear all over the city.
So if there is anything I have learnt on that tripe besides the selective purchasing of fabric for this design project it is that we have to be conscious about how our society treats people in  an environment that is completely unsustainable for life and lifestyle.

 

The Perception that all Jewellery must be made from precious materials

I have chosen this perception as my topic because I have generally only been exposed to mainly lavish and precious material jewellery, and so i was curious to see what ells was out there.

Erica Skadsen

There are many people that challenge this perception , one of them is Erica Skadsen who uses  hardwoods in her jewellery. She creates pieces such as earrings made from Ebony, Olive wood and Granadillo.

Ebony Tunnel earrings 

Chakte huge ear spirals.
organicjewelry

I chose Erica Skadsen because I myself have been working with hardwoods for a number of years in my woodwork classes at school and home, so naturally I took an interest in her work because I enjoy the use of these beautiful and exotic woods.       

Circus Jewellery piece 

To design my jewellery piece I based it mainly on circus animal, tigers in particular. Here are a few references showing how i used the tigers as a design aspect. I used the tiger as my main design aspect because I have always appreciated the raw power of nature in a tigers face.

majestic tiger baring its teeth 

http://www.it-tiger.co.uk/

I also used the stripe pattern of a zebra because of how well the combination of tiger and zebra stripes go together. 

Circus Zebra 

stopcircussufferingalls

Final piece

"The Jewelers Tiger Heart"
made from silver, brass and leather.

 


Through the construction of this piece i found many challenges along the way but non more so than the open Filigree, because of the minimal contact it has with the main piece and the difficulty in keeping an even heat the Filigree did not solder. Until I used small pallions of solder instead of the solder paste, this aloud for more precise solder adhesion. The things I enjoyed the most was the texturing, the backed Filigree and the layering even though it was fairly challenging since I had to balance each one on the other before soldering.  

Design Development 

In my design development i have taken the facial lines of a tiger and the stripe pattern of a zebra, I then played around with each image to come up with some design features witch you can observe bellow.  

I then went on to use those design features in my final design rendering, but not befor adding some of my own ideas such as the circular patterns and original feature augmentations.  

Before i rendered my final detailed design I made a paper prototype showing the sequence of layers, you can see this on the top left below.

finally i went on to design the final filligri placements as well as the back plate and top layer plates. 

Eric Provminski's helmet. 

The facial mouth apparatus helps the air filtration. 

The two optical devices aid in night vision and data display 

air coolant tubes are found under the optical aides.  

the nodes on the left and right of the helmet are long range communications as well as atmospheric readers. 

On the helmets left is a radiation meter (geiger counter).  

Eric’s Journey through the new world

In the year 2025, in a little town in Minsk an 18-year-old boy by the name of Eric Provminski was getting ready for bed, but little did he know that tomorrow his life and the lives of countless others would be changed forever.

Eric’s father Jova Provminski was an inventor, he created the most useful and miraculous inventions, he even patented and soled a few.

One day Eric’s father realized that because of all the fighting between his country and others over depleting resources with the exception of atomic, it was not long before something bad would happen. So thinking about his child’s safety he sought to create his best invention yet!

 He worked for years leading up to the unforgettable day in 2025. That night as Eric lay in bed his father had completed the invention that would protect his son’s life. Mr. Provminski dizzy with excitement ran to his son’s room to show him his work, but in his hurry he was completely unaware that the moment has come. Just outside Minsk one of many other atomic bombs had just gone off!, weather it was an accident or a sinister attack nobody knows. The initial shockwave struck Mr. Provminski’s already unstable house and so a beam was loosened in his path and crushed half his body. Hearing this Eric ran out to find his father barley holding onto life calling out to him. Eric in a state of emotion tried to lift the great oak beam, but his father insisted he stop and listen to him. The boy fear stricken fell to his knees and lent over his father so as to hear his last words. He said “Eric I can no longer protect you from the world that you are about to come into, so I made this to keep you alive and perhaps remind you of me when I’m gone”. Eric looked over and saw that his father was holding some sort of suit with a peculiar looking helmet. Jova said it will protect you from the radiation, harmful gasses and hopefully anything ells. He died soon after those last words and his son realizing the oncoming cataclysm put on the suit and held on for dear life.

For hours he was bashed and hammered until he emerged from the rubble he surveyed the devastation that was his new world. As he assessed himself Eric noticed something on the sleeve of his suit, it was a placard which said.

“My dearest son Eric, I love you and if in my absence you are may this suite guide you through the darkness and protect you from danger.

My light shines through you now”.

Final Exhibition pictures

Final Piece

 Multi Textured Ring 

drawing of my final piece.

Design and Technique Progression

these are some of the sketches i did so as to show what tools are for which textures, to illustrate the textures more closely, to play with textures and incorporate them all into some jewellery designs.

drawings of textures with the tools to make them.

some drawings of textures to try out.

completely blackened ring.

a bracelet with textured links. 

Texture and color development  

Looking at possible designs to create, I realized that  I needed to play more with the colours and textures of the metals Brass and Silver, so I made two square bars, one Brass and the other Silver. On each of the four sides of each bar I created a texture, a frosted or gritty side made with a broken drill bit, a plain polished side, a round hammer textured side, a straight hammer textured side, a blackened side and an etched side done using Nitric acid.

etched silver

round hammered brass

straight hammered brass

drill bit textured (frosted) silver

round hammered silver

polished silver

blackened silver

drill bit textured (frosted) brass

polished brass

texture and color combination

round hammered brass & blackened silver.

blackened silver & round hammered brass.

blackened silver & polished brass.

polished brass & blackened silver.

frosted brass & blackened silver.

frosted silver & etched silver.

polished brass & etched silver.

blackened silver, etched silver & polished brass.

blackened silver, round hammered silver & frosted silver.

round hammered silver, blackened silver & frosted silver.

blackened silver & polished silver.

polished silver & blackened silver.

blackened silver & round hammered silver.

round hammered silver & blackened silver.

blackened silver & frosted silver.

frosted silver & blackened silver.

straight hammered brass, etched silver & frosted silver.

straight hammered brass & etched silver.

blackened silver , etched silver & frosted brass.

frosted brass & etched silver.

blackened silver, round hammered silver, round hammered brass, straight hammered brass, polished brass, polished silver, polished silver & frosted silver.

blackened silver and polished brass.

blackened silver, round hammered silver, polished brass, blackened silver, polished brass, round hammered brass, straight hammered brass.

frosted silver & polished brass.