Playing with Spoons

Not sure what will come of these, but I've been playing with some old antique spoons lately. Lots more to play with...

Hand Me Down Pearls

I finished a new piece yesterday...

It is titled, "Hand Me Down Pearls".

Materials are found antique silver platters, copper, silk thread, and pearls.

Flora

This is a wall piece I finished a couple of weeks ago (for the Intercollegiate Metals Exhibition). It was mostly an experiment just with trying new things on the found platter pieces. This platter was pewter and really beat up. It had some really nice tarnish and history so I decided to leave its finish as is and not alter it. I embroidered a floral pattern and then tore out and ripped the thread to appear aged and worn. I'm still thinking about this piece and other directions it may lead me in, so I don't have a whole lot to say about it, but here are some images. The images aren't great...I had a really hard time capturing the details. Just use your imagination:) Oh, and it actually placed 2nd in the Holloware category at the Intercollegiate Metals Exhibition so that was exciting! Go here to see what else got awards!
Lots of little holes drilled...I am totally going to have arthritis by the time I am 30!
Embroidery before being torn.

And after the tearing...

Dad's Old Gloves

There is something to be said for deadlines. As much as I have been cursing them lately (I have had SO many SO close together) I am actually pretty grateful for them. This semester I have just been so slammed and have been working too many 16 hour days at the studio. But because of that, I have been pretty productive lately...which will be good when I have my review in less than a month (eek!). I finished this piece at 4am on Thursday night (or Friday morning if we are being technical). I had critique on Friday morning. The motivation for this piece actually came from a paper I had to write in my "History of the Decorative Arts in Interiors" class this semester. We had to design a container to hold something of significance.

Something of significance to me is the gloves that my dad used to wear when he worked in our yard. My dad taught me from a young age how to work with my hands. We raised livestock and had pigs, sheep, chickens, dogs, and rabbits. I was a member of the 4-H club and raised these animals to show at the county fair (my favorite week out of the whole year as a kid was that week I got to spend out at the fair with my dad!). Each morning before school , and every night before I went to bed I had a lot of work to do to take care of these animals. My dad was always there helping me, showing me what to do and assisting me with what I couldn't do alone. I feel like I really learned a lot during these times spent working with my dad. This is where I learned what good work ethic is, and it has translated into all other aspects of my life. When I think of these times spent with my dad, I remember the smell of his leather work gloves. These gloves had the smell of leather, sweat and dirt. They were worn, tattered, and stained. Each mark on the gloves tells a story, they are the history of these times we spent together. When I think of my dad, I think of a man who worked hard. He was a good teacher and taught me what is important. When I smell the scent of the old, worn and weathered gloves, it reminds me of the days spent out in the sun working with my dad. I remember how much we sweat to get our chores done. I remember the smell of the lanolin in the wool when we sheared our sheep. I remember the smell of WD40 that we used to oil the shears so they would run smoothly. I remember the smell of the sunscreen we rubbed on our pigs so that they wouldn’t get sun burnt. I remember the smell of dirt as we planted new trees that are now full grown. I remember the smell of alfalfa hay that we fed the animals. I am reminded of all these things when I smell those old leather gloves. I love my dad a lot and am grateful for all the good memories I have of spending time with him. This piece is about those memories.

I couldn't find a good picture of me and my dad with our animals, but I guess this works (I was in high school when these pictures were taken, no laughing!). Yes, my hair is big, but not as big as this pig:)

The piece is made of copper, an altered silver plated platter, embroidery, glass pearls, glass lens, and leather from old work gloves. The leather is set under the glass lens in the center of the piece. The back plate measures about 12" across by 7" wide and about 1.5" tall (I'm guessing on all the measurements) In this piece I was also experimenting with the addition of other elements with the found platter, and using the shadow (back plate) as a frame for the piece. I am still having a really hard time photographing these wall pieces, but I think you can at least get the idea of the piece. I am pretty happy with how this one turned out and am looking forward to making more along these lines.

Slipping Away

I finished this piece today. Its a two part wall piece made of altered silver platters and embroidery. I really need to learn how to take photos of wall pieces. My pictures are terrible but I don't know how to do it! Help anyone? Its really annoying because the platters have a mirror like polish, and everything reflects in them!

Anyway, I am happy with how the piece turned out. Its very technically simple, but I think it really has a lot to say to the viewer. What do you see in it?

Work in Progress

Here are some in progress shots of a wall piece I am working on at the moment. The black "chain" links are just drawn in sharpie. They will eventually be embroidered, but I haven't decided what stitch or colors to use. The top platter is about 8" tall, and the bottom one is about 6" wide. Right now, the only thing embroidered on them is hands. The top platter has a hand, letting the chain fall, and the bottom platter has two cupped hands ready to catch it. I also have not decided yet if I will do a border on these. So, they sit unfinished until I make up my mind or just start drilling. Usually I just start drilling because it seems like I can never make up my mind.