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@amfedor
It's all packed up for the BFA Show submission! My 2 mannequins, 2 framed pictures and 2 pieces in the box have all been dropped off and ready for installation in what will be the final show I am a part of while being a student here at UWM.
Along with that excitement came my business cards that I got from Moo.com and I couldn't be happier with them!
KENILWORTH OPEN STUDIOS!!!
On April 19th was the annual Kenilworth Open Studios from 11 till 2. This is when all 7 of the floors open up to the public and allow for them to come into our space and see what we do. Object ran a pewter keychain workshop and a student work mini-sale. It was the first year for both of them and it actually turned out to be really successful. I'm proud to be one of the leaders for the group planning and running them. And I really hope this is something I'll be able to come back in a few years and see it still running and hopefully growing!
Along side of the open studios was the Metals!14 Annual Juried Student Exhibition and a Senior Showcase. This was also the first time the Senior Showcase coincided with the juried metals show. There was a sneak peak of my two pieces going into the BFA show in the Senior Showcase! Also, I was finally able to get my wine decanter silver plated and able to be submitted. I was kind of bummed to find out it didn't win anything this year after seeing the pieces that did win. But that's all a part of the game and the taste of the person who was invited to jury the show.
AND THEN THERE WAS PIECE #2!!!
This week I have been in all out go mode in efforts to get all three of my pieces done by Thursday when I have my photo documentation appointment. The second piece is focusing on the spine and brain stem area.
Some last adjustments had to be made for the first piece so that it fit the body better plus a collar structure was added. These details give the piece more of a life on the model and allow for more of a skin relation in appearance.
One thing that I am still working on figuring out are the silver components that are going into the silicone structures. I had tried a couple different ways with Michael Dale Bernard to get different textures on the silver casts. The one that worked the best is something that he wouldn't normally tell students to do...at least i think. I melted the silver down and while it was still liquid, poured it onto a flat fire brick while keeping the torch on it. And in one motion I would take another fire brick that had texture on it from previous use it the studio and sandwich the molten silver between the two to get the textures and different depths from the top brick. I am cutting down the silver casts into smaller sections so that I can make the most of the silver I have left. Once the cut edges are hit with a file they are coated in flux and a bushy torch is taken to them till the silver is blushing. While they are still hot they all go into the pickle to clean them for a while. Once most of the flux and dirt has been removed in the pickle I put them into the tumbler with the shiny shot so they will have a shiny/polished finish to contrast with the silicone.
In order to crank out two more pieces in the same time it took to make the first, I needed more molds. So I made more molds! Then I began to crank out the silicone bark pieces. I had problems getting the same colors as the first piece, they kept coming out in different hues of purple. At this point I've gotta roll with it. After trimming the flange off of the silicone casts I had to wash them to get the plaster bits off of them. I know I have enough to get a good start on my second and third piece this weekend. The only thing that still has me hung up is how I'm going to incorporate silver into these pieces. I have some ideas I'm going to try out this weekend and hope to have that solved by Monday as well. Time to have a productive weekend cause Heidi Lowe is coming this week and we will be having individual critiques with her! I hope she likes me!
After thinking over break and the critique of sketches and models I have decided to redo how I am taking on the next projects. They are going to be focused in the same area of the body as the first piece while still highlighting the heart and spine with silver casted pieces.
This is how the piece stood for critique on the first finished project. From the feedback I got there are something's that need to be edited and added on. There will be more length to the front side with more of the gradation happening. Also I am going to redo the silver pieces to better highlight the lungs with a more webbed structure.
I’d say this is pretty good progress in 2 days! #seniorproject #barkbliss
Week 7: It's starting to take shape!
I've begun to stitch together the neckline of the first part of the chest piece. I'm using fishing line to stitch them all together this way you don't see the connections. This also makes it look like it is just one large piece of the bark silicone.
The staging of the gradation in preparation for stitching
Week 6
These are the initial silicone pigment tests to figure out what colors I want to make with it. I'm thinking there will be a gradation from skin tone to a mud colors at the base of them. This will further the nature growth affect which will also bring us back to our roots. And sort of make you feel like a kid again when you were playing in the backyard in the mud.
March 2: Mold Making
So a few plaster molds have been poured, the bark was pressed into them when they were at a leather hard stage to get the best impression. These will be used to pour silicone into to make up my sculptural structures.
Shagbark Hickory on Flickr.
The Shagbark Hickory Tree!
A great example of how the bark layers and grows.
Before I can even make the molds of the bark I have to flatten and seal them. This type of bark has a natural curl to it from how it grows on the trees which is problematic to make an open-face mold from.
After I picked out some of the hickory pieces which I harvested from trees that were already cut down, they were soaked in water. I made sure to get bark pieces from trees that were already cut down and put into the firewood piles at my parents. It is important to me to not take bark from trees that are still living, which makes it super handy to have a brother who is a certified arborist and is able to bring firewood back from some of his jobs.
Once the bark has been soaked, I sandwich it in newspaper to absorb the moisture back out. Then some heavy books, in this case old rio-grande catalogs are placed on top to add pressure to keep them flat and some old bench legs that were in the studio from remodeling. Once they dry out I seal them with a sprayable shellac to slightly protect them when pressed into the plaster. By sealing them I am also preventing the plaster from being absorbed into the bark making it more difficult to pull them back out.
Tomorrow in class I am hoping to begin pouring the plaster molds and pressing the bark into them. I'm a bit nervous to see how they will turn out but am very glad and fortunate that my professor Stephanie Voegele has made large plaster molds before in her work to help guide me through the first round of this.
The Smooth-on came the day after I ordered it which was awesome!
I am going to be primarily using Dragon Skin which is a silicone product, to cast into the plaster molds I am making off of the bark pieces. There will be a base structure made out of the Soma Foama which is a silicone based foam that is semi-flexible to build on top of with the silicone pieces. I am hoping by using this as a base structure to cut down on the weight of the silicone.
Week 5: February 23rd
The sketches and models for the project were due this week on Wednesday after the presentations were wrapped up on Monday. I've been playing around with where I want these wearable sculptures to lay on the body. The areas that I'm going to be focusing on for protection are the places that house our 'life sources'. Those areas are the chest for the heart and lungs, the back up into the neck and head for the spine and the hips/stomach area for protection of the ovaries which all life comes from. I will them be placing casted bark elements to focus on the specific locations which are being covered.
The whole idea of using bark as the original form came from the bark being the protection of the life source of trees. As you've probably noticed, I am always inspired by nature and the natural beauty that occurs all around us. My goal is to bring us back to our roots by using the natural elements to create these wearable forms. The natural layering that happens as the shagbark hickory grows and the bark grows over itself is where I got the inspiration for these forms.
