Metals: Doctor Who

Wow, this project took me all semester to finish.... well not really..... anyways....

This isn't really a complicated piece to explain. For the first project in metals we were given the the assignment to create a contemporary coin. I was thinking about Time Lord  money. Did they have money? If they did, would it actually tarnish it over time? Would the Doctor carry change in his pockets like the rest of us?

The design was based on Gallifreyian writing, which is a language from the sci fi show, Doctor Who. I wanted one side to say LORD, and then the other side to say TIME, which it did. I also kind of wanted the idea of the Tardis translating it to be kind of apparent.

* 3 sheets of 18 gauge copper, liver sulfured for the pierced out pieces

(I thought I'd be the only one to be this nerdy.... but there was a Star Wars coin, a steampunk inspired coin, and a Lord of the Rings coin at the critique so it was nice not being alone.)

I also made a tardis ring this semester, which is a design I'm hoping to sell one day:

Pressure Fit Box: Portable Urn.

For my last metals project of the semester we had to make pressure fit boxes. She really stressed the idea of concept for this last project. What the box looks like has to reflect what it would be used for, sort of thing. For the first thing I original thought of was Pandora's Box and while researching I discovered that Pandora's Box wasn't actually a box, it was one of those things that had gotten lost in translation. It was during this I discovered these Greek Funeral vases. I was fascinated by the imagery and patterns:

Obviously I would have to make one on a much smaller scale. While working on sketching I was reminded of the small fertilely dolls that we would carrying with us when we were still a hunter/gathering society. We had moved around so much that we could build monuments and instead we carried them in our pockets. So my urn became a portable memorial. One can carry it with them and in a more symbolic way store their memories of things that have come to past. 

front

back

inside

* copper, pierced pieces sweat soldered on, & oxidized with liver sulfur to age it

Game Piece Rings

We all love board games.

Although I was usually the one complaining about how boring they were, most people have fond childhood memories of family game nights. For my second metals project this semester we had to bezel set three rings with the theme metamorphism. At first I couldn't think of a single object to bezel set which seems silly because I am the queen of objects. All my bookcases at home are covered in objects, heirlooms, action figures, souvenirs, things I take a liking to and refuse to part with... I was grabbing random things until I noticed the monopoly pieces I had sitting on my shelves.

My idea of metamorphism at first was very literal.

The Evolution of Travel:
Shoe (walking) -> man on horse ->  cars.

Yet, I noticed as I was working on the pieces I became more interested in the idea of memory within the piece themselves. Not only of those who have used them before, but also how the physical pieces changed and got worn as I worked with them. These rings also have the ability to change as time goes on and as one wears them in their day-to-day life. The metamorphism changed.

Other pieces I've made for friends: