Puffin pendant design

Although I have been concentrating on the suite of items on the Ripple theme, I do still want to try and make one piece based on the shape of the puffin's beak. I have previously shown some preliminary sketches. These sketches are my latest thoughts.

The shape still has a slight feel of the Starship Enterprise, but I think it is also puffin-like. Ideal for the sci-fi birdwatcher!

Double ripple test piece

These earrings, made from copper with the earwires in silver, are made using two ripples links with the relative sizes mentioned in this earlier post. The total drop is about 5 cm. I am happy with the way the two links hang together and will proceed to make a pair in silver.

Multiple ripples

I mentioned in an earlier post that I wanted to make some earrings with more than one ripple link. Obviously there are lots of possibilities here, but I started by deciding that the curvatures on the links would be the same, even though their overall sizes would differ. It took only a couple of sketches to decide that making the smaller link fit in the top, wide part of the larger link worked well. Some back of the envelope calculations and I now have a starting point, and will be cutting the longer wire 1.5 times the length of the shorter one.

I'm also thinking about setting a stone in one of the ripple links. These sketches helped me decide on the location, but I'll do another series to be sure of the size of stone to use. Not sure how the setting will affect the hanging of the link though. This will probably be the last variation on the ripple theme that I try, as the necklace of links and the band ring should come first.

Prototype ripples

Further to this post, I've been working on making the basic ripple link from copper wire. Have made good progress, but the bottom needs to be just a bit more pointed.

Toyed with the idea of hanging more than one link from each ear wire. They looked good laid out on the bench, but disappointing when hung. They will need to be differently sized links for this to work.

Starting to ripple

I made my first ripple! Based on one of the sketches shown in this post. It is about 4 cm long. I was reasonably pleased with it, so I've taken a few steps back and am now working out how to make them properly.

The first step was to get some copper wire to experiment with. I wanted to make a set of shapes at different sizes to decide which aspect ratio (shape size to wire thickness) I liked best. The copper wire was much softer than the silver, and I had trouble making smooth curves.

So, taking another step back I decided to work on developing a method to make the shapes reproducibly and without too many kinks. I made good progress with that. The shapes link together well too, so I'll keep going with this idea.

As I work on this, the shapes will probably move away from the original inspiration seen in this photo.

Preliminary designs from Coast theme materials

I have started to makes some preliminary sketches for jewellery designs based on the photos collected as part of my Coast theme design project. So far I have extracted some pleasing shapes from photos of ripples in the sand (left) and puffins (below).

I have already got some promising shapes, but I do need to go through the process of trying variations on the shapes, and also to think about scale.

Tree ring design: I've started to make it at last!

It seems as if I've been working on this for months, probably because I have, but I'm pleased to say that I have at last started to make my tree ring design brooch. The design has been discussed previously in 1, 2, 3 and 4.

So far I've soldered the bezel, and have bent the first of the two wire shapes, though it hasn't been soldered yet. The design was discussed with a different tutor this week, who pointed out that I'll need to join the wire rings somehow on the side without the setting.

Tree ring design: another change!

In order to get a wider silver border around the felt circle, I have decided on another change to my tree ring design (seen previously in 1, 2, 3)

I squeezed one of the felt beads through the holes in my circle template, and found that it would go through a hole of diameter 3 mm smaller than its own diameter. So the new plan is to make a little silver cylinder with a hole of that size (or perhaps a little smaller to start with) in the top. The felt will be squeezed in once all the soldering and polishing is complete.

Brief number 3: Design project, a learning journal

Patterns in the sand, Gullane, East Lothian

Brief number three is a project to be done outside college hours. Here's the start of the brief "You need to create a Learning Journal based on a theme ...".

My chosen theme is Coast

I've decided to organise my material in two parts. There will be thematic entries in this blog and I shall also build up a book of pictures and other material which, for copyright or other reasons, would be unsuitable for the blog.

Tree ring design alterations

The other day, the square wire that I ordered for making my brooch arrived. It was finer than I had thought, and this will have an effect not only on the appearance of the finished item, but also on the practical issue of fastening the brooch. The original plan had been to attach a little bit of fine tubing, on the back at the top of the brooch, and fix a wire pin through this. The pin would fasten into a loop on the back of my mounted felt cylinder. There really isn't room to attach anything on the thin wire.

Instead I shall use a separate pin. For this to work, the brooch as a whole needs a little curvature, so there is space for the pin. I was having trouble drawing this, so made a little model using a short length of wire, a head pin and a button. All three items were on my desk! I really do need to tidy.

The model was enormously helpful, and I believe I can curve the wire framework and still retain parts flat and level enough to fix it to the setting.

My tutor suggested echoing the spiral theme on the end of the pin. I need to draw a few more to decide on the correct size. The example in the drawing at the start of this post is too big. The spiral could even be rotated by 90 degrees.

Tree ring design continued

Further to my previous post, I have continued to modify my design inspired by the cut-off-tree-branch photo. The variation I liked best was one generated using the computer (rectangular to polar coordinate conversion in the Effects | Distortion | Polar coordinates menu of Paint Shop Pro). The shape is now much smoother than the original, but still has the same rings within rings format. I changed the relative sizes a bit, because the piece was getting a bit big overall. I have also simplified things for the first version by removing a decorative element associated with the setting.

Here is the design:

The spirally circle will be a slice from my felt sausage. It will be set, like a stone, in silver. The kidney-shaped rings will be made from square wire. A brooch pin will be fixed to the back, with the closing end on the back of the setting.

Starting to design

I have started to work on a new jewellery design inspired by the photo of a cut-off tree branch shown in a previous post. These scans (left and below) from my sketchbook are my first attempts to follow the suggestions in Designing and Making Jewellery by Sarah Macrae about refining a shape by making repeated drawings. These would include for example a series of increasingly fatter versions, stretched versions etc.

I have found it hard to keep to only one kind of change in each drawing (e.g. just stretching without any changes in the relative sizes and shapes of the components), but it is proving to be a useful and informative exercise.

The larger image at the start of the post shows various modifications of the original drawing made using the computer. In this case it has been easier to perform just the one kind of geometrical operation at a time.

When I come back to this I shall select the elements I like best from the drawings so far and continue to refine the drawings.