Playing catch-up

So, I've taken yet another hiatus from blogging. And now I have TONS to catch up on!! I've done some traveling this summer.... I spent ten days driving around Ireland taking almost 1000 photos! (no exaggeration) I've also been in a few shows since the last post. Most noteworthy, the Steampunk Bizarre at ArtSpace Hartford last month. Here are a few photos of the work I did for that. A little bit of a departure from what I've done previously, all sculptural jewelry pieces...semi-wearable. They're sterling silver for the most part, going back to my college days of silversmithing. I think teaching jewelry and metalsmithing the past five years is starting to influence my work too! I can't seem to escape the influence of what I do at school. First the glass, now jewelry..... maybe soapstone carving will be next......Not likely though.
Getting back to the jewelry......There are found watch parts and brass filigrees included in the necklace but other than that, each piece is handmade from sterling silver wire and sheet metal. The fork and spoon rings are obviously made from a silver spoon and fork set and they have cast pieces incorporated in my attempt to balance the mechanical and the organic. What looks like water or glass in the photos is a polyester resin and these also have found watch parts. Since I've never made a belt buckle before, I said, why not try it for the steampunk show! So, here are my first two belt buckles! I'm very proud that I was able to make a functional belt buckle. It was touch and go for a while, I've found they're not as forgiving as a ring or a necklace. The one with the three glass viles is the "Alchemists Belt Buckle." Each vile is filled with resin and a collection of pieces that can be swapped out for the alchemist to have on hand whatever he/she may need for a particular situation. The belt buckle with the hoses is called the "Chemists Secret Weapon" and the sprayer in the center would be activated by the person wearing the buckle to mix the two "chemicals" to disable an unsuspecting attacker! (Can you tell I dorked out a little with the Steampunk aspect of these?) Being belt buckles I decided on nickel silver instead of sterling. There are brass and copper pieces on the Chemists buckle and both incorporate resin, glass viles and found watch parts. These are just a few of the pieces I did for the show, I added a few detail shots into the slide show at the bottom of the blog. If you want to see more of my work, or more of any of the other work in the show, check out the online gallery for the Steampunk Bizarre 2010. There's some great work by a few of the artists whose work I admire and whose blogs I follow....and you should too.
I'm also working on setting up an etsy account to sell some of the stuff I've made, so look for more about that and check back soon for some photos from my travels. It's taken me a while to whittle them down to a few favorites but I'm getting closer!