Jewelry Inspiration

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JEWELRY INSPIRATION

ART 410: Project 2: Update

After researching enameling more in depth, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to achieve the realistic look of fruit that I desired for my previous idea. Thinking about inner/outer forms that I could put together for an interesting brooch, I began to think about stone settings and faceted gems.

I have always been intrigued by faceted stones, and am becoming more interested in geometric shapes because of this. Something about them is just so beautiful, I love the way they reflect light!

Being a commuter student, and sick for almost the past two weeks I had to improvise with the materials I had at home. I found a set of acrylic gems at Michael's Arts and Crafts by the brand Tim Holtz. 

Luckily, the plastic packaging holding the gems to the cardboard package was the perfect mold to use!

As a test run, I melted candle-making wax and poured it into the mold. I chose the shapes that most appealed to me:

Now that I had my inner pieces, I had to decide how I wanted to showcase these. I looked back through my image research and was surprisingly inspired by the architecture. Some of these would perfectly showcase the gemstone I chose for example:

the dome at the top of this cathedral-

around-

these scalloped archways-

around-

more scalloped archways-

around-

Thinking about all of these scalloped edges reminded me of the outer edge of a lace or paper doily, so I did a little more research and came up with these images

With the architecture and doilies in mind, I sketched some designs and then created patterns in Rhino

These are going to be the templates for my brooches! 

I plan on piercing these out of copper sheet, setting the electroformed "stone" in the center

I either want to enamel the entire outer piece with white or, place the pierced design over a solid blank with the same basic outer shape and only place the enamel in the pierced out portions. Another option would be to place the pierced design over a solid blank as stated before, but use white enamel on the "lace" portion and turquoise enamel in the pierced portions to emulate more stones. Whichever option I choose, I think I want to keep the electroformed stone in its copper state as an inverse of what the typical stone and setting materials would be (example: a turquoise stone and a copper setting.)

Jewelry 2: Project 2

When someone is anxious or depressed, they have an imbalance of a neurotransmitter called serotonin in the brain. I have been dealing with anxiety almost my whole life, but recently it has become a lot worse. I have tried several techniques to relieve my anxiety, but have never ventured into the realm of healing stones. I have always been curious about healing stones or crystals, wondering if they do give off any sort of comfort or relief.

I started by researching different types of stones that help with ones anxiety or stress disorders. What I found was that every type of stone can affect each person in a different way. With there being no guarantee that any of these will work for me, I decided to go with a stone that was most appealing to me and went well with my material of choice (copper). 

This is the molecular structure of serotonin, which lends itself perfectly for a collared necklace.

This is the template I created in Rhino. The healing stone will be held in the center hexagon, enclosed in a locket. With the healing stone in the center, I thought it appropriate to have one molecule of serotonin on each side as to say that the stone has corrected the imbalance. The stone would create a balance of serotonin which would result in an anxiety-free life.

This is the stone that I chose:

Amethyst

According to the website where I ordered my crystal, "The Hexagonal Sacred Geometry cut of this 2D Amethyst Star of David creates a distinct and powerful vibration, thus making this the perfect piece for any type of grid work. Many people who work with the Star of David also find it is comforting to have around during times of stress because of its special energies."

This is how the piece will lay around my neck. I think I may create addition hexagonal or pentagonal links to finish off the necklace since the design does not fully reach around my neck. I will close it off with a hexagonal shaped toggle and clasp. 

The center portion will obviously be closed off, encasing the crystal, but I cannot decide if I want to keep the other geometric shapes closed as seen below or pierce them out to be very delicate and linear.

Jewelry 2: Project 1: Notes