Casting Mushrooms

Well, I started working on my next piece.


This piece was greatly inspired by many influences that I took notice of during my trip to Texas for the SNAG conference. One of the most influencial presentations that I saw was Kathleen Browne's presentation on Hyperpractice.



So this piece, to fill the assignment of sound ornamentation, is a piece for self medication. It is an Arabian-style veil that will have hundreds of individual strands of beads. Around the crown of the veil will be many many many little bunches of cast brass mushrooms, all different from eachother.


Here's some pictures of the work in progress. I have included some rather uninteresting images purely for the fact that I've had several people ask me to explain the process of lost wax casting, and figured that I'd include a little more images than normal.



Five of the mushrooms sprewed.



Five of the mushrooms sprewed.




All of the lovely math to convert the weight of the wax over to bronze.




The mushrooms in the flask.





See you space cowboy......

Me in Houston

Well, I just arrived home safely from my trip to the annual SNAG conference which was in Houston, TX this year. I have to say that this year was far more inspiring and educational for me than last. That's not to say that Philadelphia wasn't great, but I was far more open to to the information being presented to me. I spent some good time with Rickson Salkeld, had some great talked with Brigitte Martin, and experienced some great parties. Really, I have to thank Ryan, Heather, Phrog, Heather, and Erika for probably one of the funnest nights that I've had ina long time. I plan on bringing the massive amounts of notes and information that I picked up home and applying it to my work.

Mask of the Beast

More work has been done on the mask. The form is well-developed, and the concept is evolving (thanks to some long talks with Vince Pontillo on the topic). Refinement of my sculpting is finally becoming apparent in the piece.

See you space cowboy....

Mask: Re-Imagined

Now that I'm switching up my approach to my current series, I started working on the latest mask.


This mask is (or is going to be) the Contemporary Shaman Mask of the Beast. It is a piece, like many of mine, that makes a comment about the sociological, moral, and political stances and issues within Western culture. Specifically, this piece is influenced by the hypocritical standards held by some radical animal activists. An article about an ice skater named Johnny Weir (in which Weir's life was threatened several times because of his inclusion of fox fur on a costume) became a large influence for the piece, though many other articles and issues have also influenced it. The hypocritical standard that started as a movement of animal equality eventually lead into the value of animals superceding that of humans, which largely speaks toward the bipartisan mentallity within Western culture.



So here's some process shots so far.


Sketch of the mask. The design has already changed since that, though.





Mask on production board. These are the initial steps int he carving process.



Within a few hours of the first process shot, the animal form is starting to appear. After limiting the mold, the mask is on its way to completion.


I guess I should decide what color it will be.....







See you space cowboy.......

Masks for Masks' Sake

I decided to start over on my series of masks for this semester.

Originally I had applied the theme of Insanity to my projected masks for this series, but with the application of the same theme to my other jewelery pieces for the semester, I am removing this theme from my masks.

Why?

Well, I feel that I need to treat my mask making as an introduction. I have limited experience making masks, and I'm not yet comfortable enough to apply such an interpretive and expansive theme to techniques that I have yet to gain decent control over. Just as a student of jewelry design sticks with basic concepts in intro (simple pendants and rings), I will do the same with my masks for now. I need to learn proper techniques and concepts before attempting to interpret and adjust them into less literal pieces. This is a decision based not on concept, but on technical skill.

So I plan on doing some more masks like my Contemporary Shaman Mask of the Healer which are more literal adaptations of masks, and more conceptual in the depth of meaning.

So onward I will push using traditional designs with contemporary interpretations and concepts. I will also be using different mediums to attempt very traditional techniques, including the hopeful application of a full alabaster mask.


See you space cowboy.....

Hallway 7: On the Band Waggon

Well, I had to jump into the real world with everyone else. SOOOOO I started a Twitter. I became quite confortable using it with Thrown to the Wolves, so I decided to do it for Hallway 7.

So here's the address:
twitter.com/hw7online

So follow me or whatever you do to other people on Twitter. I'm sure you'll be so very entertained.



See you space cowboy.....

Featured Artist on Crafthaus!

Well, I woke up this morning and did my normal routine. Just much later than usual since I slept in. I checked my email, and the first thing I saw was that I had a comment from Steve on Crafthaus. I read it and he was congratulating me on being a Crafthaus Featured Artist this week. Then I actually read the Crafthaus email congratulating me.



The featured my pipe Ruachuliu Layer 1: Fire and Stone!


See you space cowboy.......