New CraftArtEdu Class Up! Rendering Jewelry

You may recall some fabulous jewelry renderings popping up last year.  For example, the following necklace was Week Fifty-Two's project from 2012.

If you've ever wondered about rendering jewelry, and maybe wished you could try your hand at it, the wait is over.

I've got a new class up on CraftArtEdu called Rendering Jewelry.  It focuses on rendering with gouache and watercolors, and it's very in depth.  I cover cabochon gemstones and faceted gemstones, as well as gold and silver.  I also walk you through the bracelet above step by step, holding your hand the entire way.  If you think you might be interested, hop on over and check it out, the preview is free and the list of materials is there.

Week Thirty-Three

For Week Thirty-Three, I worked on another set of circle renderings.  I actually like this pair a lot more than the first, and I've already started making a frame for them.

So, technically speaking, these aren't done, because they will be actual wearable earrings.  But I'll post another photo of them then!  (Except I won't count it as a Thing A Week, because that would be CHEATING.)

Week Thirty-One

For Week Thirty-One, I did another variation on Week Thirty's earrings, all in gold and larger.  These were also done on a full sheet instead of tiny circles.

Week Twenty-eight

Thing a week for week Twenty-eight!  A whole school of gem fish.

It's probably viewing on your screen at about actual size, which means the finished piece is only 3.5" wide and 2.5" tall!

Week Twenty-five

Week Twenty-five.  Not quite halfway through the year, but very nearly!  My thing a week for this week was actually meant to be a piece of jewelry incorporating a rendering, and I still might do that.  But the rendering itself ended up being way cooler than I'd thought it would be, so I finished it up.  I'll probably try printing off a copy and incorporating that into a piece of jewelry this time around, mostly for fear of ruining such an awesome rendering!

I pulled a lot of inspiration from ancient Egyptian art for this one, and I feel like I definitely captured something of that, because the very first thing my boyfriend said when he saw the half finished piece was, "It looks like a idol."  And then I tried to drive myself insane with the background.  (But, as I've always said, that's usually the mark of a good idea.  No project is ambitious enough unless I stop in the middle and wonder "What in the world was I thinking?!")

Gold!

And diamonds too!

I've never been a huge fan of traditional gold and diamond jewelry, even before I knew about the art jewelry world.  I decided early on that it was tacky and ostentatious (although I'm sure I used smaller words back then) and avoided it.  It's neither of them alone, but something about them combined just always seemed to rub me the wrong way.  I put a good deal of blame on the current idea of tasteless bling, and the unimaginative qualities of the standard engagement and wedding ring sets.  And something of that feeling has stuck with me, under my otherwise rational look at jewelry.  (Also I think there's some measure of bitterness that I can't afford to work with these materials right now.  Some part of me automatically says, "Fine!  I didn't want to play with your stupid toys anyway!")

But I think I've hit a critical point where that's not so true anymore.  I got my issue of Metalsmith this afternoon.  Would you look at that cover piece?  It's by Atelier Zobel, and I am in love.  So after I read the article, and looked at the absolutely gorgeous pieces that went with it, I had to get online and find their website so I could covet some of their pieces (while quietly pouting at how I certainly can't afford them, yet.)  It took me on a journey through the internet, and made me take a closer look at some of my old prejudices against gold and diamond jewelry, in particular.  And wow.  I've been missing out on some really stunning pieces, lost amidst the mediocre.  (On a separate note, the Metalsmith/SNAG website was just renovated and looks awesome.)

This piece by Atelier Zobel has oxidized silver in it, in addition to the gold and diamonds, but it's definitely a background element.  It reminds me of stars, and wheat fields, and I love the detail in it so much.  Especially the transition from gold to silver, the stippling effect of the gold.  It's sleek and refined, which a lot of gold and diamond jewelry tries to be, but it succeeds where so many pieces fail.  I'm in the process of mentally laying out a big piece right now, and that transition is something I need to keep in my toolbox.  (Of course, I'm thinking of it in a fiber context for the coming piece, but that's just a different medium for the same tool.)

Alex Sepkus was another artist whose work I stumbled across today.  I'm showing you some images of his rings, in part because so many diamond and gold rings are done so badly.  This is what they should all be like.  Imagine for a moment, if you will, a world in which every marriage was symbolized by something as stunning as these pieces.  Maybe we'd put less emphasis on carat size and more on sharing a similar aesthetic with our spouses, maybe we'd converse a little more.  (Or maybe not.  Maybe everything would just be a little more beautiful instead.  Good enough for me!)

New Growth Earrings!

I posted a while back about having entered this year's Diva Design Competition.  I wasn't a finalist this year (maybe next!) but I'm still proud of my rendering.  And since you all only got to see a little snippet when I first mentioned it, I think it's about time you saw the whole thing!  These are my New Growth Earrings, and I had a lot of fun rendering the diamonds and gold for them.  So many diamonds.  I always forget how much I enjoy rendering.

I'm thrilled with a couple of things on this rendering.  The first is the shadows, which I think turned out wonderfully dramatic, and the second is the little bit of chain near the top.  I showed off the chain the last time I mentioned this rendering, but I can't get over exactly how small I managed to get it.

I've got a couple of pieces that are nearly done, so when I get access to a camera I'll take some photos.  Expect new work this week!

New Achievements in Rendering!

I'm not showing you the whole of this rendering yet.  But I can't possibly resist showing you part of it.  It took me a while to work out all of the details, but I'm quite pleased with the results.  I'm also completely thrilled with the bit of chain in the rendering.  What you can't tell from this image is that in the actually rendering, that chain is exactly one millimeter wide.  One!  If you don't have a ruler handy, this is very tiny, and also thinner than a spaghetti noodle.  Why is it this small?  Because I am absolutely insane, and kind of obsessed with making things tiny.  One day I will break down completely, buy a microscope, and spend the rest of my life creating paintings on the heads of pins.  Anyway, this rendering was created for the 2010 Diva Design Competition.  I solemnly swear to show you all the full rendering when the results are announced in June, but for now you can admire my tiny chain links.

Artisan Guild Tour Preparation Begins in Earnest

So I have a little over a month until the Artisan's Guild Tour, and I need things to sell and display, and new business cards, and this other little thing. So I've got plenty to do. I got myself into the spirit of things last night by making some quick earrings. The price point for these is incredibly low, around $17, so they're just simple little things, twists of beads and wire, but I got sixteen pairs made. I'm hoping that people who can't afford or don't want to spend the money for my art jewelry will decide to buy these at the tour.

Speaking of the tour, I should probably explain. Every year, on the weekend after Thanksgiving (that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), the entire Eastern Shore of Virginia is part of the Open Studio & Vineyard Tour. From the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to the Maryland state line, there are twelve studios (or workshops, or galleries) with artists and two vineyards (with, of course, wine) open and ready to tell you all about themselves and their art. At those twelve studios, there are over 30 artists, all members of the Artisans Guild. I am one of them, and I'm sharing a studio space with my mother, a quilter, and a friend of hers, Deb Finnegan, a basket maker. The Artisans Guild has printed up a number of things, brochures, rack cards, and postcards, all advertising the tour. Below is the ad for our stop on the tour, at the old Onancock High School.



I'll have all sorts of things on display and for sale, so if you're in the area, you should definitely stop by.

In other news, I've also finished a brand new rendering. This is the bracelet I mentioned in the last post, and I remembered to scan in every step. This is the end result!

Now, if you'd like to see the step by step process, click the link below.  (I've put it behind the link so that it won't take forever to load the full blog.) My incredibly wonderful boyfriend, who has awesome computer skills, put together this little thing for me. In fact, it was his idea, and pretty much insisted that I go along with it and scan every step of my rendering, even if it meant trudging up the stairs to scanner and then fiddling around with the cropping of the scans in Photoshop. But behold! It was all worth it in the end. So click the link, or you'll be missing out on the products of all our hard work!

Sapphires and Other Developments

Not real sapphires, mind you, but painted ones. This is my newest rendering.


I've also been making good progress on my tea infuser. It ought to have been finished last week, but the deadline passed so I took a break for a few days. I'll have it finished before too long, but I need to order thicker silver for hinge. I've only got the mechanisms and some final assembly to do before it's finished, but I will post progress photos soon.

Renderings and Other Bits

I've been gearing up to get some serious work done lately. Finally got almost everything I need together to start enameling in the new (way bigger) kiln, just need to get a table and get it set up. That's obviously pretty exciting.

One of the major things that's been going on lately is that my laptop bowed out and decided to stop working. So instead of getting a new fancy laptop, I got a netbook. It's an MSI Wind U100, and it's so tiny! It arrived yesterday and I'm still tweaking all the settings to perfection, but so far I'm totally loving it.

For the actual productiveness bit of this update, I present you with a new rendering. Lately I've been working on some ring designs, because I don't do them nearly enough and I figured it'd be a nice challenge. So here's the first of them!

Nearing the Finish Line

My senior show has been put up and taken down. I have only one critique remaining, tomorrow morning at 9am. I graduate in slightly over a week.

This is terrifying, and exhilarating.

In other news, I scanned some of the renderings that I hadn't been posting. They've been shown, and now that the show is down, the rest of the world can see them.

Without further ado:
Emergence


Pollination


and some earrings.

More renderings! And a progress report...

So my actual pieces are coming along, but I don't have any progress shots at the moment. The base coats of enamel are down on both the squid and the seahorse, and I'm maybe a third of the way through laying down the silver foil on the seahorse. So far, the silver foil alone on the seahorse is about...four hours worth of work. I'm using stupidly small slivers of foil in order to keep the detail of the chasing. But it seems to be working out, even if it is taking forever. Right now it kind of glitters, which should be awesome after I've laid down color on top. I've also started working on the skeleton for the seahorse.

As for photos, I present you with my renderings from last week. These were both responses to "Go home and render a cabochon stone set brooch."





In other news, I'm also about to start making the chain for an absolutely fabulous charm necklace that our senior class is raffling off to raise money for the senior show. Tickets will be $5 each and 5 for $20. The charms are pretty amazing, and if any of us gets famous...

Return of the Seahorse(s)

So I scanned in and uploaded my seahorse rendering. Copyright belongs to me, Casey Sharpe, of course. This is without a doubt my favorite rendering so far.



I'm also working on a piece that is similar to this, although not in gold, sadly. Instead, it's in enamels and silver. Should be pretty awesome anyway.

Photos, finally!

I've now finished all my finals and have time to post pictures of the things I've been working on fairly frantically for the last week or so.

First, let me present the bee bowl. This piece has 23k gold foil enameled into it.






When I get back from my winter break, I'll be making a stand for the bee bowl. Meanwhile, I mentioned last week that I was working on three frog brooches. Here they are, finished.