different cameras...

So, Sal was in town this past weekend. And I decided to try out his digi camera. It's still about 2 years old... but it has a Leica Lens on it. So, I decided what the hell, can't be any worse than the ones I already took!

Well... it worked pretty damn well! It's still not fully professional quality... but it's not too shabby! It it gives me a little more time to keep saving for that Nikon I want!


Compare these pix to the last entry... and you can see such a difference!!! Thanks Sal!

done!

Okay... the photos are completely horrible! I know, I know... I need a new camera!

But these give you the the slightest idea of the final piece.

VLA fundraiser

So... every state has a VLA, the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, which helps poor artists (such as myself) with legal matters. They are wonderful!!! And the Massachusetts chapter is having the annual fundraiser Jazz Night and Silent Auction. And because they have been sooooo helpful to me, I am donating a pair of sterling silver and purple sapphire cufflinks.

Delightful, huh?

the life of wieners...

as i run through my days... stressed, to the point where my left eye is twitching... i stop and see my little men, the wheens. the complete satisfaction of just laying in a window in the sun... truly content. and it helps to remind me of how simple happiness can be.




but what i cannot figure is how scooter can be sooo comfortable when he stinks like whatever the hell it was that he rolled in today in the yard. he smells like manure. lovely.

do as i say, not as i do...

I tell my students 2 things all the time...

1. Know when to stop... you can over work a piece.

2. Know when to start over... sometimes it takes less time to start an entire project over than to try to correct one in progress.

Apparently I am better at giving out the information than taking it.

Basically... after I slept on it, I realized everything I had to do. Sometimes, walking away from a piece really makes it clear...

1. Start Over

2. Make all 3 heads at once. I kept trying to make the 3 heads separately at the industry standard 70 degree angle... then connect the 3 heads and try to adjust the angles to make it work... blah blah blah. THAT WAS TOTALLY WRONG! In remaking them over, I started with a block of wax, traced 3 squares and started carving. IT WORKED SOOO MUCH BETTER!

3. I had to rearrange the hights of the stones. The 1 carat is still the highest, but now the 1/3 carat is the middle and the 1/4 carat is the lowest. By switching these hights, it creates a more varied size of the 2 smaller stones so I can have them closer together. If you can't follow this reasoning, all you need to know is it helps that bottom one look less lost.

NOW... all I have to do is clean these up a little more. AND I need to take a little bit of the bulk off of the 1/3 carat bezel (the lowest one.)

DO-OVER!

I remember as a child going to a cookout with my family. We were playing wiffelball, and I was up at bat. I was a chubby little thing, and not very athletic at that time, so I wasn't very skilled at bat. With all of the adults feeling badly for me (of just finding humor in seeing a chubby little me attempting to hit whatever ball came into my general vicinity) they kept saying that I 'tipped' the ball and could have another pitch... but they just kept yelling DO-OVER!

Well... I feel I deserve a do-over with that last design.

I obsessed over that ring all night... and when I looked at it in the morning, I'm not thrilled with it. It's the placement of the 3rd stone. I believe if I adjust the hights of the 2 smaller side stones, I can fit them in better and stay true to my orig design.

Back to the bench!

asymm ring wax

Okay... still plugging along on this ring. Honestly, it looks sooo simple, but this has taken me the longest out of all of my engagement rings!!!

I SHOULD LEARN CAD (I have Rhino... but haven't even touched it yet!!! UGHHH!)

Anywhoo... Here is the wax. Just waiting for approval. Waiting to be cast!

After I had finished making the 3 stone head, I remembered a few things...

1. A square stone is the hardest stone to set (well, there is also extra ugly super fancy cut stones with even more points, but I don't even like including that into the equation!) The reason being is the points (corners.) Even though it is a diamond and super hard, you still have to worry about breakage. And you need enough materials around to protect the points of the stone by creating pockets around the points in the metal.

2. With needing to get the levels of the stones properly, all parallel, etc, I decided to contact a master stone setter about requirements for it. And the main thing he had to say was to leave 1-1.5mm of metal all the way around the stones. Ugh. So, I had to add material ALL THE WAY AROUND WHAT I HAD ALREADY BUILT!

Soooooo... You can only work with wax so much, before it starts to get wonkie (that's a technical term.) And because of that... after I built out the walls I cleaned it up as much as possible and now I'm going to get it cast. All of the edges, angled and corners sharpened best in the metal.

Also... the stone setter will set all of the stones as close to the center as possible, so then I can remove any extra material around it to lighten the overall look.



It's coming along... but try to look past all the different colors of the wax. It's going to look sooo sweet in the gold!