Show Opening

"Synthesis" opened Friday night. So IP is officially over (other than taking the work down after the show).

Installation

Well, last week I din't really make anything for IP, but I did make all of the final decisions concerning my installation. I figured out colors for the wall and what shapes I wanted to paint behind my pieces, and I finished installing the work in the gallery this evening. I didn't have my DSLR with me at the install so for now I just have grainy ipod pictures. I will take better shots when the gallery lighting gets set up. The show opens Friday at 6, and I am very excited now that everything is ready!

Shelves

Last week I built the shelves and stands that will hold my pieces once they are in the gallery. I also printed and framed the three images from my last post. I painted the shelves this morning and am now working on organizing my presentation better. I have made paper cut outs to test different colors behind the stands and I am finalizing sketches of my installation. I am also working on my artist statement and the forms I need to bring the gallery. the work is due on Wednesday and with any luck I will be able to start installing it on Friday! I can't believe undergrad is so close to being over!

Also, my website is in working order, although I am still working on cutting out some images of my work as I have way more than 20. My URL is www.kaitimarek.com

Photos

this week I spent an hour and a half photographing my work, 2 hours editing the photos, 4 hours working on my website, and 4 hours sketching and making maquettes for the stands that will hold my jewelry in the gallery. This week I will begin constructing the stands and print and frame photos for the installation.

Project Done

I met my goal of finishing my bracelet this week which means I can devote the rest of the semester to wrapping up the project. This is definitely my favorite of the three pieces. I probably spent upwards of 20 hours on this last week. Goals for this week are to finish up the necklace I will wear to the opening, photograph all of the pieces, work on my website, and work on planning out my display for the show.

Almost There

Last week I started attaching coral to my large cuff. I spent three hours on that last week. Most of my time was spent casting more coral because I was running out. I also made a form that that I will turn into a necklace to wear at the show opening. I got some great feedback about presentation in critique. I'm glad that people are leaning towards a simple presentation because that is my instinct.

This week I'm hoping to get the bracelet finished although that may be an unrealistic goal.

Necklace Finished

I'm a little late posting this week. Spring break and I sort of forgot. I finished my necklace this week. I think I put about 18 hours into it. When I get back I will start covering the bracelet. I am also going to make myself a less huge necklace to wear at the show opening.

This week I have been putting a lot of thought into how I will present my work, and I was given and interesting idea to display it in a fish tank. I like the idea, and I'm currently working on visualizing different ways to set something like that up.

Necklace Underway/Postcard

This week:

10 hours painting and attaching corals to the necklace

1 hour doing finishing work on the inside of the ring

15 minutes photographing pieces

2 hours working on postcard

This week I did a lot of documenting because the postcard is due. Thank you, Peter for all of your help! The necklace is coming along, but I didn't get nearly as much done as I wanted to. I included what my postcard is looking like right now, but I am not certain if this is the final product. I still have until Monday to decide. I've also been thinking about naming the project, and I kind of want to name it "Zooxanthellae," which is the protozoa that coral depends on to grow. Death of Zooxanthellae=death of coral. The only thing about that title is that I have trouble pronouncing it, and I feel like that isn't a good sign.... anyways I've also been thinking about postcard quotes and right now I'm leaning toward "You don't drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there."- Edwin Louis Cole. So I guess those will be my major decisions for the weekend.

Finished Ring!

This week I spent a total of probably 16 hours working on my project. I don't really have a good breakdown of how much time I spent on specific things because I was doing many things at once, but what I spent my time on was using a tap and die set to peg corals onto my ring form, and painting the corals to go specifically with the composition of the ring. And there it is, the finished product. This week I am going to start covering the necklace and I'm going to make my postcard for the show, so I will need to take better pictures of the ring.

Patina

This week:

4 hours painting coral

1 hour casting

2 hours sawing metal shapes

3 hours forming/finishing metal

2 hours working on patina

5 hours writing thesis

This has been a pretty great week in terms of this project. I have completely finished forming all of my jewelry which means from now on I will be focused on casting and painting coral and attaching it to the jewelry forms. The pictures today are of the ring (which I made this week) and the bracelet (which is now soldered together and colored). I also made the necklace this week, but it is currently in a pile of ammonia soaked sawdust, slowly turning blue so I don't have a picture of it yet. I am very happy with how the patina turned out, its exactly what I was envisioning. Also, I wrote the first draft of my thesis this week. I was a bit nervous that I wouldn't have enough to say since I changed my project so recently, but once I started writing, the whole thing made a lot more sense to me. I think writing the paper helped me to organize my thoughts and feelings about my project and refreshed my inspiration.

Tiny Corals

This week:

6 hours casting corals

1 hour making more molds

2 hours working on copper base

4 hours painting corals

I got a bunch of corals made this week, but I have decided to narrow down my color scheme from what you see in this picture. I'll post pictures when I have some finished. Goals for next week are to start attaching pegs to the bracelet and continue making and painting corals. Also I want to sketch ideas for the necklace and hand piece.

New Semester, New Project

At the end of last semester I decided to completely change my project idea and start a new one. I really missed making jewelry so I have decided to make a set of jewelry that will look like the wearer is growing a coral reef on her skin. The base for the pieces will be made of copper, and the corals will be made of cast rubber (which will hopefully arrive soon). I have gotten a lot done this week:

6 hours cutting, sanding, filing, and forming copper for bracelet

1/2 soldering hinge joints

3 hours making modeling clay corals

2 hours mixing and pouring rubber to make molds

Next week I want to finish forming the bracelet and have the hinges working. If my casting rubber is delivered to me, I will also start making corals. I still want to make a few more models and make molds of them as well