Dye forming

To attempt to ease the process of chase and repousse, I have created a dye. This is the basic form I am making. I made two copper pieces from this dye. The two copper peices will be soldered together to create a hollow form.

Chain making again.

My piece is going to be a necklace, so while I was waiting for my copper to pickle, I started working on my chain. It is a single loop in loop chain. It is my third time making a chain like this, so the process is not taking as long as it used to.

Chase and Repousse

For our project, we had to make five tools for chase and repousse. I finally finished mine! I also started my sample piece.

Lining Tool

We learned how to make a lining tool for chase and repousse. We had to anneal it and then forge it out on an anvil. It was fun! Now all five of my tools are made. I just need to polish them!

It's that time of the semester...

where we choose our theme. I was really interested in my theme last semester, which was sideshow freaks. I read so many fascinating articles about the people that were in different circus freak acts. The images were phenomenal also. This semester, I would like to stay on that path. I am thinking of working with ailments.


ail·ment   [eyl-muhnt] Show IPA
noun
a physical disorder or illness, especially of a minor or chronic nature.


I figured this was a broad characterization for what I want to work with. This first project is chase and repousse. I am still waiting on supplies to come in the mail, and I am finishing my tools, but I would like to work with ideas in regards to different plagues. I enjoy reading about the different plagues that have hit different areas of the world, but I am also interested in the techniques they used to "heal" or "treat" people with the plague. The attire that plague doctors wore was so creepy looking. They wore this huge black cloak like jackets that were black and had a wax coating on them. They wore these masks that looked like bird beaks and had glass coverings over the eyes. I was interested most in the mask. The mask looked like a beak. It was shaped that way because the doctors held different scents in there such as myrrh, rose petals, incense, and other fragrances. The doctors believed in you breathed in pleasant scents such as those, it would help you to stay safe and healthy and not be overcome by the plague. I would like to create a piece that portrays this idea. I want to make some sort of armor piece, maybe for the shoulders or arm. This would not help with the breathing aspect, but it is another way to arm yourself.