all about bird skulls

It's been quite difficult to work in the workshops over the past few weeks as we've had no access to gas for normal soldering operations and have been forced to work only with the PUK spark-welder and a hydrogen-oxygen micro-welder.

I decided to start playing around with some ideas for the "Global Jewellery Challenge" which is a Flickr-based project for jewellers around the world. The next challenge is to make something based on bird skulls. Loads of research and drawings later, I came up with some ideas which were arrived at largely from the fact that I can neither anneal or solder large sections of metal.

The first piece was made from found plastic:

<

This came from a pattern I made in paper and the main form is "folded" together by heating the plastic with a hairdryer and then forming it over clay. The pattern for this works so well that I also made one in silver, much smaller:



I really like both of these pieces and especially like the small silver skull, set with a very fine sapphire and a spessartine garnet.

That is all I'll be making before the first week in January as it is now holiday time!
HOORAY!!

when christmas trees go bad

Originally uploaded by rj.tempest

I found this on Flickr.
It is what I want my christmas to be like.

Really.

Honestly.

Richter and more

Went to Edinburgh today to see the Gerhard Richter exhibition. It is a fairly small show of works at the National Gallery which have been borrowed from private collections and is well worth seeing as it contains three three which I think are probably the most beautiful paintings I have ever seen, "Skull", "Skull With Candle" and "Candle".

I've been aware of Richter's work for some years and have really liked the pieces I've seen, mostly his earlier works and mostly figurative or landscape. Not so keen on the abstracts, however!

The weather has been miserable, cold and wet here, so it was a bit disappointing to find it the same in the normally dry Edinburgh.

Met up with Mark but festive happenings meant that we didn't have much time to chat.

long time waiting

What a few weeks!
Most importantly, I'm now in the new workshops and they are lovely. Not quite complete, but getting there. It's been hectic beyond belief and there are still things to be moved - the plants from the old workshop, mainly - but it is looking great. I will post some pictures soon.

Managed to break my finger by trapping it between a box and the door. Not so good. Fortunately, it is my little finger on my right hand, possibly the least important of my fingers!

As I have no means of soldering, my current project is to make a piece for the "Bird Skull Challenge" entirely from cold connections. I started cutting the materials to make a "folded" bird skull from white PVC plastic sheet I found in a sign-maker's skip years ago.