Monday, July 9, 2012

Post TOAE

After typing in the title for this installment of my blog a vision of a post-apocalyptic world sprang into my mind.  Myself scaling decaying glass, steel and cement structures, heading towards the nearest forest cover where my feet will eventually reach an expanse of natures most beautiful creation, grass.  I can imagine the damp cool feeling between my toes and the comfort of the slight give of the soil beneath my feet. There may or may not be zombies in the vicinity, or the threat of an unknown military attack that I will somehow miraculously survive through again, but in that moment I am happy.   

Okay, I digress greatly.  This is all coming to mind after participating in the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit for the past three days and standing on a cement square for 30 + hours.  My feet are KILLING me. STILL.  I should have mentioned before my strange tangent that you should probably just skip through to my pictures and captions for a normal post about some of my most current work. If you are one of the lucky ones you have done that already.  In all seriousness though, grass is marvelous and if you need convincing please borrow, rent or buy the Planet Earth series to watch the segment about grass. Your welcome.

I would like to thank everyone who came out to visit and support me, anyone who bought any of my work, stopped by to give me treats, or lent a helping hand during the show.  If you are stumbling across this after taking away one of my postcards please do not hesitate to contact me with questions or comments concerning my work.  After wandering through my blog a bit your will most likely notice that I love creating custom pieces so don't hesitate to get in touch for a special creation!  alexis.glaciale@gmail.com

This past weekend was a great success and I had such a blast interacting with people and talking about my work.  My sister took a break from her myriad of responsibilities to help me out and spend time with me all day on Friday (my birthday) in the blistering heat <3(love ya, sis!)<3  

"Night Owl" Double sided hand painted enamel necklace with handmade chain

Here you can get a sense of the volume.  The enamel components have been set in sterling silver bezels.

Enamel and Uvarovite ring.  Uvarovite is a type of garnet... I just love how unreal the green colour of it is.  Reminds me of grass ;oP

Here you can glimpse the sterling silver band that I fabricated for the settings on top.  The shape makes it awkward to get a good picture of.  You could always come and visit me in the studio to see it in person!

"Whoop-a-Daisy!"
Here again you can see the volume of the pendant on the necklace.

This is the reverse side of the same necklace.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Interchangeable Rings

I am super excited about my upcoming participation in the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, so I will be updating more frequently leading up to the event in July with the work I will be making.  My picture taking skills are getting better, but I hope that a glimpse at these works gets you excited to see it in person at the show!

The rings in this post have been in the making for a while.  I had the enamel components made a couple of months ago.  They were all fabricated using a copper base and copper wire for the cloisonné.  As you can see in the first image I set the enamel pieces onto sterling silver bases that have a magnet in the bottom of the form.  Just this afternoon I finished creating the two rings that are the vessels for the interchangeable enamel components.  I am giddy with excitement over their completion.  It is extremely satisfying letting the magnets snap into place - an experience that must be felt to be understood (or possibly just all in my head!)

Here you can see the magnets set in the bottom center of the enamel pieces.
The front of the Flower set.  Cloisonné Enamel on Copper and set in sterling silver.
Flower Ring, hand fabricated in sterling silver

Flower ring worn "bare."  You can see the magnet set in the center.






Food set.





Yummy... spaghetti and meatballs.



Save the best for last - chocolate cake, Mmm


Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Jenna

After concentrating my attention on creating my evil eyes (in the post below) I decided to embrace basic enamel techniques.  Focusing on the colour combinations to make a necklace for my friend Jenna's birthday.  This piece was created with vitreous enamel that I sifted onto each side of the pieces that are hand cut from copper.  You can flip the necklace and have a slightly different look.




Happy Birthday Jenna!
We never need an excuse to watch scary movies together.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Superstition

After coming back from vacation and working nonstop on my Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit application for the week leading up to the due date I didn't think that I was going to be creating any work to submit to Zilberschmuck's themed show that was due the following week.  Especially since I didn't initially have any ideas.  My mom came up with a great suggestion to make a garlic necklace and I was riding out that idea in my head before I thought about making evil eye jewellery while walking to the studio last Tuesday.  Most likely fueled by my lack of sleep (my own fault).  I am addicted to Top Chef and I "had to" watch the two episodes leading to the finale even though I have to wake up early on Tuesdays to open the studio.  Asinine, I know.  Apparently sleep deprivation leads to the impossible - attempting enameling things together that you have never done before.  The brooch was the result of painting a dapped copper circle.  Then there was the mutant eyeball. I had myself convinced that using a strong binder like A4 - which is like a glue that holds enamel in place - would also hold smaller dapped forms onto larger ones.  This is not the case.  It seemed like it was going to do the trick but after a few seconds in the kiln they slid off.  Time for a creative solution.  I decided that some well placed and carefully sized rings of cloisonne might do the trick and they did just that, phew!  The eyeballs did migrate a bit during the firing in the kiln so I kept a close watch on them and after a few attempts got the effect that I was hoping for.  I cannot overstate how much in love I am with the chartreuse colour of the mutant eyeball.  The finished product is equal parts nouveau zombie and world of goo which makes me smile.  Semi related side note: I was uber excited that Lianne was in the studio today so that I could gush and discuss the latest episode of the Walking Dead.

Back of the brooch, yay handmade pinbacks!

I see you.

Here's looking at you, kid.

It's a mutant!

Flip side

Side view awesomeness.


So, I present to you my submissions for Superstition.  Their arrival comes after two failed attempts, one melted piece, one ridiculously ass backward fabricated ring, and another ring that got close to being finished.  That is until I decided to plunk the eyeball in place to see how it would look disregarding that it was not yet polished and there was no way to remove the eye without damaging it... sigh.

The brooch and pendant ended up being made from scraps of metal that are cast-offs after punching out discs... great for creating eyelashes apparently.  And that chain that I thought I hated some how worked out just right for the final touch.  I often find that when I am scrounging for materials and trying to throw things together that I wouldn't have initially thought of while drawing out a design I end up much more satisfied about the results.