Experiments in Plaster: Part 2

By Alex Kinsley

I’m back! With more adventures in the form of plaster, steel, and rust!

The material is quite interesting, I’ve been making use of it’s ability to be dyed with different pigments, and it’s work-ability after it has been cast.

I’ve experimented adding settings to the pieces.
Also some more ‘out there’ dyes!

The next project is a much bigger art necklace, though I’ve still got a ways to go before something fully realized emerges.

New art jewellery from House of Cassady

As an independent goldsmith, I make a fair number of pieces that are small batch productions, so, while they are all unique in their own way, they’re still of a similar design, and generally use similar methods.  Part of my practice, to keep exercising my creative muscles is to challenge myself to make larger pieces on a semi-regular basis.  Last year, I made this piece:

Oxidised sterling silver, 10k yellow gold, blue topaz and sapphire necklace with roller printed elements and two-tone blue needled felt. This necklace is very kinetic, and hangs about 19″ long.

If you’re familiar with some of my work, you’ll see that it incorporates a lot of different elements from other pieces that I’ve made, but puts them together in a new and more elaborate way, incorporating some gold and more precious gems than I might normally use.  (If you’re interested in more information about why I use these elements, you can read a bit more here.)

This year, I set myself a similar goal: to make a larger, statement piece, that incorporates a lot of elements that I normally use, in a larger format, and incorporating or extending my skills at the same time.  This piece presented some challenges for me, in terms of the physical construction, because I couldn’t use a lot of my normal techniques to create the individual pieces.  This made it a lot of fun (I like practical problem solving/troubleshooting), but also rather frustrating at times. 

This necklace is part of my sci/art collections, and is entitled Invaders/Defenders. Since it is more specifically an art jewellery piece, the design is associated with different symbolism for me.  The piece has two different finishes.  The oxidised/dark element represents the infectious invaders, with the mostly oval cabochon sapphires being reminiscent of a bacterial shape, and the random placement showing some of the disorder that happens in the infection process.  In contrast, the matte silver/light element represents the immune cells that defend against infection and disease, with the incorporation of texture and irregular cutouts. The more organic nature of the circular shape of the two larger elements reflect the cellular/tissue environment where these biological entities interact, and the two elements are united in a continuous loop with a steel cable, as the different sides of this process are irrevocably linked in biology.

I’m really pleased with the overall effect of the piece, what do you think?  Would you be interested in some smaller pieces in a similar style of one of the elements, perhaps as a brooch or a pendant?

You can contact me here to start a dialogue about this piece, and commission a new work.  I look forward to your comments.

Have a great Saturday!

-Robin

Beauties of the word

I want to share with you today some enlightenment about three of the most beautiful buildings in the world

Tianjin Binhai New Area Library nicknamed The Eye, is a library in Tianjin, China.

The five-level library has a total space of 33,700 square metres. It features floor-to-ceiling, terraced bookshelves able to hold 1.2 million books, and a large, luminous sphere in the center that serves as an auditorium with a capacity of 110 people. The library is nicknamed ‘The Eye’ because the sphere, which appears like an iris, can be seen from the park outside through an eye-shaped opening.
The first and second floors contain mainly lounge areas and reading rooms. The floors above have computer rooms, meeting rooms, and offices. There are also two rooftop patios. Because of a decision to complete the library quickly and a conflict with what was officially approved, the main atrium cannot be used for book storage; the rooms providing access to the upper tiers of shelving were not built and book spines were printed onto the backs of the shelf space for the opening-day photographs.

Tianjin Binhai

Louvre Abu Dhabi-Abu-Dhabi, Arab Emirates.

Fountain of light by Ai Weiwei.
The museum is designed as a “seemingly floating dome structure”; its web-patterned dome allowing the sun to filter through. The overall effect is meant to represent “rays of sunlight passing through date palm fronds in an oasis. The total area of the museum will be approximately 24,000 square metres (260,000 sq ft). The permanent collection will occupy 6,000 square metres (65,000 sq ft), and the temporary exhibitions will take place over 2,000 square metres (22,000 sq ft)

The new museum has a painting called Salvator Mundi, a figurative painting of Christ, is also an extraordinary painting for the new Abu Dhabi museum as an indication of its values of religious tolerance. “Salvator Mundi highlights the inclusive nature of Louvre Abu Dhabi’s narrative and Abu Dhabi’s mission to promote a message of acceptance, and openness,” underlines Al Mubarak. “Having spent so long undiscovered, this masterpiece is now our gift to the world and we look forward to welcoming people from near and far to witness its beauty.”

Louvre Abu Dhabi-Abu-Dhabi

Last but not least, Lacaux IV-Montignac, France

The new International Centre for Cave Art (Centre International d’Art Parietal) in Montignac, France welcomes visitors to an immersive educational experience of the prehistoric Lascaux cave paintings. Known by archaeologists as the ‘Sistine Chapel of Prehistory’ due to their spiritual and historical significance, the 20,000-year-old paintings are among the finest known examples of art from the Paleolithic period.

Lacaux IV-Montignac

Nothing can be more extraordinary than art, paintings, drawings, and sculptures but art includes many other forms of expressions. Art can be music, dance, jewelry, etc,  “something that is created with imagination and skill, and that is beautiful”

Visit us at Jewel Envy. We want to share our “art” with you. We love what we do very much and it’s meaningful because of you!

Have a nice Sunday!

Helena

Our final installment from our intern Siyu! Making a necklace from paper during COVID 19

Hello Jewel Envy Readers!

My name is Siyu and during my final semester of school, while interning at Jewel Envy we needed to stay home due to COVID 19. For our final project we were required to make something at home with limited simple materials. I choose to reuse some paper to make a paper flower necklace. The process was not hard and the results were amazing!

Process:

  • Cut four of the same size square papers and fold three times to be the shape  showed in the images.
  • Cut an angle on every paper to let them all be flower shape.
  • Then cut different parts off to be petals.
  • Use glue to glue every petal together.
  • Use a tool to roll up every petals’ edges.
  • Cut the end of every petal then glue them together.
  • A paper flower is done.
  • use a tool to roll up a long narrow paper
  • Glue the paper rolls to the back center of every flower. A commercial chain or lace ribbon can go though it to hang the flower

Another way to hang the necklace is to cut two narrow symmetrical slits to let a lace ribbon go through every flower.




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