Workshop Schedule

I have been busy trying to make a list for a workshop "schedule" for Sara's day with me learning some metal work techniques. My list contained the following...

1. Saw piercing.

2. Soldering.

3. Filing & Cleaning.

4. Work with Findings.

5. Oxidising.

6. Beading.

When it occurred to me that most briefs I have followed have a physical outcome hence I have decided that to make the day more enjoyable, and rather than just follow some random tasks, I decided to set Sara the task of making a necklace. I think trying to make a piece will tie in nicely with the project as I feel Re-worked is based on acting on ideas quickly and seeing the results to then learn from them. I will produce a small rough sketch of a piece that would incorporate the above list and then talk Sara through the process of making it. I would be interested to see if Sara has any ideas to add to the design and would welcome them! I am really excited to see how Sara will find the day, especially as I often find jewellery making extremely frustrating and often lose my patience with it. Will it be as she expects?! I hope to hear her views both before and after! 

Chain Samples & Wire Mesh

This is the results of the handkerchief and paper clip chains after a period of time rusting. The photo actually doesn't show the orange tones very well - there is a lot more discolouring than is obvious in the picture. I like the results but I don't think the single chain is very effective. I like the volume produced by the small scraps of fabric and the different shades caused by the different degree of deterioration / rust on each safety pin and I think that the way to get the best result is to have a lot of chains together - perhaps all gathered together draping down maybe showing the different shades (unaffected, slightly rusted, extremely deteriorating.).

I spoke before about acting out ideas that arise from first viewing the items of Sara's parcels and this photo shows a quick experiment with one of the natural fabrics I was sent. The open weave of the fabric reminded me of mesh and I wanted to try weaving wire through the fabric to see if there would be any interesting results. I used silver as I happened to have lots of silver round wire at hand but it might be interesting to use different types of metal wire. I like the idea of silver woven through though as, again, there's a play on preciousness. The wire makes the fabric very malleable so there could be some great opportunities for shaping fabric into some interesting results. I also want to try some different destructive processes on the fabric to see changes in colour and if that will affect the strength or the ability to shape the fabric.