Manufacturing Practice- Techniques

This list includes the techniques I use to create a desired effect on my metal (this has a relatively small scale negative impact) but some of these may need either alternate methods to ones generally used or have to be cut out completely.

     A.  Piercing- Includes saw frame and saw blades

B.Enameling- Glass enamel, glue, which is organic based gum and a kiln. The problem with kilns is they draw a heck load of electricity. 
      Alternative- Torch firing enamels, this just means there is less room for the various techniques of                      enameling. and that the backs of the pieces will burn slightly- adds to the effect i guess.

 C.Etching- To etch silver nitric acid is used.YUK. big NO NO. So i oust that completely.  
       Alternative- Find out if there is an eco alternative to get a similar effect. 

D.Chasing and Repousse- I make my own Chasing punches out of old tool steel, using old allen keys. Im not sure if using pitch is a problem or if i need to find alternatives. Ive worked on pine scraps, but detail is a problem as the plate needs to be held still. 

 E. Fly pressing- Uses a 20 ton hydrolic jack- second hand ones are easily available.

F.Casting- common lost wax casting technique for the entire process can include the necessity for , A valconizer, silicone, Pattern wax (aka injection wax), flasks, investment(terrible stuff), a de-bubblizer/casting machine and a kiln. 
     Alternative- Sand casting, or cuttle fish casting

G. Blackening- Liver of sulphur (also terrible stuff).
       Alternative- Boiled egg, re usable airtight container. 

      Im looking for other sustainable techniques that can create detail.Not really sure how to go about this just yet. I think a good place to start would be to look into primitive and ancient techniques and tools. By default they mostly made jewellery in a "sustainable" way because they had fewer resources and no mass production abilities. I would also have to look into cutting out certain techniques, like ones that include the use of toxic chemicals, and other un-essential, negative impact methods. 


   
   This post is to continuously be edited and added to.

Egg- The Eco friendly alternative to Liver of Sulphur

So never been quite so excited about egg (other than when I've had a few too many glasses of wine the night before :)). I came across a site called ''Finishings dot com''... and through a conversations thread by jewellers found this out-
The trick here is easy peasy, hard boil an egg, break the shell and squash it a little. Then leave it for a day in an air tight container with the piece of jewellery. If the piece has not been polished it blackens in a couple of hours, if its polished it take a little longer. The areas you don't want blackened cover with tape, i used masking tape but with the moisture from the egg it just peeled off. The solder joints stayed white, but will see with my next test. This is how my test pieces turned out ;) Now to use it on actual jewellery.

the back 1 is fine silver and the front one is 925. 

I Heart Market.....

I made some 'spin off' (simple, therefore cheaper and more sell-able) farm animal things for my market stock. I think they're kinda cute and am definitely going to make extras for me to wear. <3 The response to them was positive. Just examples of some of them.

Cow Shrine finally finished.

This pendant was made as a "cow temple". I suppose quite a personal piece. I  made it as a tribute to  Gopastami (the cow holiday) that is celebrated in India. I just think its so wonderful that they have a day dedicated to cows. My little cow is standing on the alter ready to be "worshiped". The cow is rather small and therefore may seem insignificant standing there, but i like to think of it as this big fuss (the rest of the pendant) that's been created around this cow. I used as little hot work as possible (for eco vibe) and set the front into the back, so the design on the back was originally for practicality, but turned out looking way better then the plain back.(Excuse my lens in the pic, not sure how to eliminate that). I spent what felt like a gazillion hrs making a lllloonnnggg chain for the pendant, for it to hang low. It turned out to not really suit it, so for now its on a belchar chain but have started another variation of the original chain that i think will be better suited.

Original chain.

The new one.

 Now that i thought this pendant was finished I've realized its not.... The front of it needs more contrast, I've highly polished the frame and glass brushed the inside, but its still all too white, I am going to blacken the back, leaving the pierced layered mandala white and frame polished. Although jewellery blackening solution is liver of sulfur - Nasty stuff... so i will find an alternative. Will post new pic once I've done that.

Ever changing

On our Virginia bush walk this weekend i collected a couple of different pods, the cool thing is that i managed to collect the same pods, in different stages. I like the idea of using imagery in jewellery to portray a progressive life cycle, of plants or animals. Im sure its been done before.

This pod looks like a lantern, what i like most is the vein structure and the lightness and delicateness of it- I suppose if i wanted to re create something like it in metal, its those qualities i would keep in mind.

 The inside of a dry one.

These seeds are similar to Lucky beans, they make me feel happy. 

And what interesting pods.... 

Woolies.Love Cows

The new Woolworths milk labels. I Love it, it makes me want to buy their milk over another brand.effective. Going to use this idea to make "spin offs" for the market. Using various farm animals. <3

Manufacturing practice- Materials

To be able to manufacture environmentally sustainable jewellery, I need to ensure my practice is sustainable. This means working eco-consciously with awareness of the negative impact my practice may have on the environment. Creating ‘sustainable’ jewellery will therefore involve primarily identifying my practice which is broken into -Materials,- Processes/Methods and -Techniques. From there I am able to adjust my practice (where need be) to implement minimal or no environmental harm.

-Materials

 “The most important characteristic of green jewellery today is ethical material sourcing, and all sourcing issues stem from one central issue: extraction.” Craig (2009 : Pg 34).

 I mainly use silver for manufacture, other materials I may sometimes include in my work are enamels and ceramics.

A. Silver

  There are two ways in which to source silver, Through either Primary or secondary refining.

-          Primary refining

            This process is whereby first time silver is extracted from the earth (this can be environmentally devastating).  

-           Secondary refining

             The silver is sourced from an already existing product (recycling, or re-melting old silver jewellery).This process uses less resources, chemicals, and energy. One-fifth of silver mined each year, worldwide, goes into X-ray film. Craig (2009 : Pg36).

I am currently buying my silver from a secondary refiner (Virgo Metals Durban- 031 207 4290). This silver has been extracted from old X-rays. 

B. Enamel

 Enamelling is a technique that was used by most of the ancient civilizations and was continued to be used throughout history and still today. Enamel is basically ground glass. It is made from an extremely friable type of glass called frit. It is coloured using various minerals or metal oxides.- I don't see any sustainable related issues to enamel itself. Although different firing methods can be more or less sustainable (that will be touched on in my techniques section).

C.Ceramics

There are many different types of clay. I will have to find out from my supplier (Kamel Kilns) a bit more about the clay's and their origins before i can comment or judge.  

 Clay can also be primarily or secondarily sourced.
-Primary clay is found at the source where it formed. In some cases areas are deforested in order for its extraction :(.
-Secondary clay is where deposits have been moved from the original  location by erosion or water.


(Different firing methods will be looked at in the techniques section as well). 

 

Green Imagery

I use ‘Green’ imagery in my jewellery, some of it obvious and some from a personal perspective therefore  initially not obvious to the viewer. I use these to either comment on something or to create an awareness. The imagines I use or intend on using are:


- Trees, Leaves and botanical foliage
- Animals
- Spiritual symbols(?for lack of a better word)
- all things Gardening
- Words

Have thought of maybe making a mini windmill. An obvious imagine i think.

- energy? an idea?

An idea.. meat cuts?!

An idea from my journal, i want to make a brooch (i think) that says something about how cows can so easily just be seen as cuts of meat....

A HaPPY hOliDaY

We all enthusiastically left Durban at 3:45am to meet at a petrol station just outside of Umkomaas, only to bum around and talk crap for an hr before heading off. Destination- Eastern Cape, Qolora Mouth. Right next to the Kei Mouth. It was long 9hr trip travelling in a 6 car convoy-3 baby humans included= a few extra stops. The long journey was soooo worth it, Wow what a beautiful coastline. We had an  fantastic holiday and bonus, we bumped into loads of cows along the way too, how appropriate :)  

Sun rise. On the rd towards Kokstad.

View from our spot

the rest of the view

Our awesome "cottage" - slept 15 of us

Grazing just outside the garden

Love love to see cows on the beach :)

This Lady sold me these -->

super cool ever lasting soles

 mind my funny feet....

2 monkeys in the tub- They loved bathing in this bucket!

Magnificent creature

another cutie.

I HEART COWS!

After all.....

I fly pressed the back plate for my shrine, to find that I was particularly drawn to the smoothness of it, and how the simplicity the of domed shape along with the smoothness made it soooooo unbelievably nice to touch and feel...

So after all I mentioned a few days ago in a post about making the back look as beautiful and decorative as the front blah blah blah.... And after asking a few of my peers what they think, I have decided to keep the back plain... and let the beauty be in the simplicity of the shape and a feeling it gives (sort of therapeutic) rather then being in a visual way.

Autumn-hunting season for the leaf jeweller.

Row of coral Trees in Kenton. EC

On Friday we took the doggies for a stroll at the La Lucia park.  Don't know if I've mentioned before but I absolutely love Coral Trees, hi-tech name- Erythrina lysistemon. Unfortunately i didn't have my camera with me, but I picked up loads of fallen leaves from the magnificent tree. I did Look through my photo folders,and  found some reference pics I've taken in the past. 

They flower in winter from about July-October, before the new leaves appear in spring.

I am particularly fond of the way the leaves bunch together.

Although I never seem to be able to catch feeling in my terrible photographs, they really do look amazing from below.

An open pod, a really beautiful form.

 My favorite thing about the tree (other than the long, narrow, bright orange-red-coral (my best colour) flowers, or the curvy pods that look pinched between the seeds, which then split to reveal the little dark orange seeds) is the leaves,of course. Their shape is almost like an upside down heart but with a drawn out tip, they sort of remind me of the Large leafed Rock Fig (one of my other favorites,which has special memories for me). They also have a very pronounced and beautiful vein structure on the underside. The funny thing is i love all leaves mostly for that intricate vein structure, and with all the leafy jewels i make, i have never captured that in a piece.

Perfectly Beautiful.

Autumn time- Some of the leaves i picked up.

 The one problem I have with the Coral Tree is the big black hooked thorns that cover the trunk 

and branches, this means no climbing :( no seeing the view from the trees perspective... 

               

Sharp black hook thorns

What about the side we don't always see?

Looking back at this pendent i made in 3rd yr. The front is pretty, and i get loads of pleasure out of wearing it... but I made the back as an after thought - in a hurry, and this is clear. I don't mind people seeing it when its on me, because they don't ask to see the back. When people do hold it to have a look, I always find myself excusing the back. Eventually I'll remake the back of this one. Jewellery is or should be interactive and i have realized that all sides of any piece should be equally beautiful...

So slowly as my Cow Shrine comes together, and as the front of it becomes more decorative. I've realized that I have made the mistake again and not designed anything for the back of it. It is a pendant so the back lies against the chest, but it is a 3D structure and surely it would be disappointing for a viewer if the back of it was not beautiful. I suppose it could be compared to a building, not only the front of it is designed and then a back -oh whatever?! That seems ridiculous, and should so too in jewellery. How much more special would it become if an equal amount of time and effort goes into all areas.

Shrine in the making

Putting some thought into the back..... Going to try Fly pressing,. The detail?