Platinum spin-offs

After the feedback I received, I wanted to make some simplified spin-offs of my platinum earrings. I found a few photos on Pinterest of some simple earrings I was thinking about making.

Anon. (n.d.). Sterling silver earrings.

Anon. (n.d.).Mixed Metal Earrings.

 Because I thought they were maybe a bit too simple in comparison to the competition piece, I keep putting off making them. The furthest I got was cutting out the epoxy, as seen below, but feel they are a bit too simple. I haven't come up with any other ideas so I have decided to shelve these until I have more time.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Oval epoxy discs.

Platinum - Client

 As part of the platinum competition entry, we have to write about our client, the person who inspired the piece. As part of the theme, it was suggested that our client be someone that has overcome something in their life. I wasn't sure who to talk about until after I had completed the piece. I wrote about my mother:

"The skeleton leaves look as though they are going to fall apart if they are just touched but they are stronger than they appear. This reminded me of my mother after her accident, over 10 years ago, she appeared fragile due to her limp and the scar on her knee. During and after many surgeries she still worked and raise two children. She used to wear statement pieces to hide her limp as she didn’t want to be perceived as fragile. She has always inspired me to have strength no matter what life throws at me."

Bowes, K., (2021). My mom wearing a prototype.

Platinum Feedback

 Unfortunately, I did not make it into the top 10 of the platinum competition but I did receive feedback about my piece:

• The judges loved the story of your mother and how she inspired these earrings! 
• We hope that you find someone as brave as her to buy them!
• Platinum needs to be the hero and the impact of the platinum gets a little lost in the creativity of your final form.
• Watch for wearability.
• Brave ideas that didn’t quite hit the mark for the platinum competition

Platinum Reflection

I reflected on my completed platinum piece to recognize what parts of the design were successful and what hindered me from making the top 10 of the competition according to the feedback I received from the organisers of the Angloplat design competition. I used Liz Taylor's Levels of Reflection (2017) to reflect on my platinum piece.

• What did I accomplish?

I designed and finished a pair of statement earrings that I entered into the Anglo Platinum Competition; the theme was a metamorphosis. The competition was open to students and professional jewellers, the only limit was that students were only given 20grams of platinum. I used my 20grams to make a wireframe to support my skeleton leaves embedded in epoxy.

• What is important about what I did?

In terms of self-development, I was given the opportunity to work with metal most jewellers don't get the opportunity to and I don't know if I will get a chance to enter the competition again. It was an opportunity to learn to use another material, in this case, epoxy, which gave me a way of combining my actual leaves with metal. The whole process started with making various prototypes. The skeleton leaves were the starting point for my fascination with the natural work so they are important to me.

• Where could I use this again?
• Epoxy-I could use to preserve other organic materials
• Platinum- In future client work
• Skills- I could make smaller earrings for my website or use the skills I learnt to incorporate the epoxy into other jewellery forms

• Are there patterns in my work/behaviour?

Work- Finding a way to preserve my skeleton leaves and make them durable, in high school I used wood glue and now I used epoxy to make leaves appear fragile but wearable. 

Behaviour- I struggled to find a starting point but once I had an idea I made test pieces.

• How well did I do and what could be done differently?

I personally felt like I did well because I finished the piece and submitted it even though there were external interruptions. If I had more time the earrings would have been smaller to reduce their weight, I would have been more selective in the size and shape of the leaf used. 

In terms of the competition, I did not make the top ten because of the weight of the earrings which I kind of expected, because I did not emphasise the platinum enough.

• How can I use this knowledge in my future work?

For my future work, I need to work with deadlines so I have more time to make prototypes and finish of pieces that I start. I also gained knowledge on how to taper wire and work with epoxy which I can add to my skills that could possibly use in my work in the future.

Taylor, L., (2017). Levels of Reflection

Platinum 2021

Figure 1 below shows my platinum competition submission piece, statement earrings. They are made from a leaf skeleton embedded in epoxy with a platinum frame.

Figure 1-Bowes, K., (2021). Final Platinum piece.

 

Figure 2-Bowes, K., (2021). Details.

My statement earrings, as seen in Figure 1, are what I made for the Anglo Platinum competition.The competition brief provides design hooks as a designing starting point but I didn't find these very helpful so I compiled my own design hooks from personal references. Part of the requirement was also to consider who the piece is made for, the client.

From my personal design hooks I settled on working with fibers. I found a fine aluminium mesh that was easy to manipulate to create forms similar to that of my natural skeleton leaves.I attempted to braid silver wire to make my own mesh but failed so I continued working with the aluminium mesh to prototype making leaves with silver veins. The prototype didn't  create a 'natural' looking leaf so I doubled up the mesh and also researched anodizing the aluminum mesh. The silver veins were also a struggle because as the work-hardened they snapped. 

After the lockdown levels changed I missed the competition deadline but was luckily given a limited extension. I revised my plan of what I was going to make and decided to work with my skeleton leaves and place them in epoxy to save time. The epoxy became ideal as it is easily shaped in hot water. There are different types of epoxy so I tested three different types to compare colour and flexibility. The only difficulty I was finding a way to keep the epoxy thickness even because if the epoxy is too thin it tends to crack, I ended up using a perspex frame.

I digitally designed how I can use the epoxy leaf to create an earring. My first prototype I assembled using a tapered silver wire but the epoxy wasn't secure so I experimented with adding side wires, 'veins', to add stability. For my second prototype I used the side wires to 'set' the epoxy leaf. From all that I had learnt I made a final prototype using a clearer epoxy and made the leaves white so they stood out. From the new white leaves in the clear epoxy I chose my leaves for the final piece and made the frame out of the platinum, as seen in Figure 2, I received from the competition.

I unfortunately did not make it to the top 10 in the competition but I did receive feedback. Reflecting on that feedback the biggest concern was the weight of the finished earrings. I really wanted to make smaller and simpler earrings using the epoxy but completely ran out of time to make them this year.

White leaf prototype

I took apart my silver prototype to test bending an extra SP 115 epoxy skeleton leaf.

Bowes, K., (2021). Redone prototype.

Platinum progres

The progress of making my platinum earrings. the image includes the tapered main vein, the placement of the side wires and the assembling just before adding the epoxy.

Bowes, K., (2021). Platinum assembling.

Chosen leaves

These are the leaves I chose to use for my final platinum piece. They are not as wide as the ones I used in my prototypes and the white leaves in the clear epoxy look really clean and detailed.

Bowes, K., (2021). Chosen leaves.

Bowes, K., (2021). Leaf comparisions.

SP 115 -Epoxy

 SP 115 is the epoxy I settled on for my platinum piece as it is the clearest epoxy we found. AMT didn't have a data sheet but it did have some information in the description of the product.

Anon, (n.d.). AMT description.

Bowes, K.,(2021).Sp 115- epoxy bottles.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Clar and expired SP 115.

AMPREG 30- Epoxy

 AMPREG 30 is the second epoxy I tried and the first epoxy I tried the white leaves in. The epoxy cured yellow and the white leaves disappeared. The epoxy was also very brittle and snapped easily.

Anon. (n.d.). AMT data sheet.

Bowes, K., (2021). AMPREG- epoxy bottles

Bowes, K., (2021). AMPREG- example

EPOLAM 2022- Epoxy

 EPOLAM 2022 is the epoxy I used for my prototypes.  It was flexible but not completely clear.

AMT has a data sheet for each epoxy which I probably should have checked before going through three different epoxies. The data sheet gives colour, specific gravity and other information that is useful.

Anon, (n.d.). AMT data sheet

Bowes, K.,(2021). EPOLAM 2022- Epoxy bottles.

Bowes, K.,(2021). EPOLAN 2022 example.

Different epoxies

I tested three different types of epoxy before I decided on one for my platinum piece because I wanted to find the clearest epoxy that will allow for the skeleton leaf to be viewed in focus while still being flexible. 

The three epoxies I tested are, as seen in the photos below: EPLOAM 2022, AMPREG 30 and SP 115. SP115 cured the clearest and was still flexible once heated to be shaped for my earrings. The SP 115 in image 1 was expired but in image 2 it is fresh and a proper example of the cured epoxy.

Bowes, K., (2021). Image 1- Three different epoxies.

Bowes, K., (2021). Image 2- Three different epoxies.

White leaves

To prevent the colour of the leaves from bleeding into the epoxy I decided to bleach the leaves. The leaf skeletons sit in a solution of bleach and water overnight.

Bowes, K., (2021). Skeletons in bleach.

Bowes, K., (2021). Bleach gradients.

Second Epoxy Prototype

I completed my second prototype and it is exactly what I had in mind. 

Bowes, K., (2021). Second Prototype.

I added side wires as a setting almost to stabilize the leaf on the wire(see image below). The only small detail that I want to change is the clarity of the epoxy. The epoxy was slightly yellow and the green from the veins bled into the epoxy making it look murky.

Bowes, K., (2021). Three-quarter view.

Stabilizing the Epoxy

The bottom two side wires I drilled and weaved into the epoxy and looked very messy. The top two wires I forged the end and in a way set the epoxy to stabilize it to the hoop.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Testing 'setting' methods.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Stabilization.

Steel Block

I spent some time sanding and polishing my steel block so that when I forge my platinum there are no marks transferred to the platinum.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Polished steel block.

Added veins

The leaf had a tendency to sill shift on the wire so I added wires, like the side veins, to stabilize the epoxy leaf to the silver wire.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Prototype 2.

Silver prototype

The aluminium was time-consuming and fragile. I wanted the appearance of fragility but not for the piece to fall apart. Instead, I placed my actual skeleton leaves in epoxy and used a forged tapered wire as the structure of my epoxy earring. 

I forged the thicker end of the tapered wire to stop the leaf from sliding off and to make the forging look purposeful I used it to add a catch for the earring. The catch will also help keep the shape of the wire changing from the weight of the epoxy leaf but the leaf is still unsteady on a single wireframe.

Bowes, K., (2021). Front view. 

Bowes, K., (2021). Prototype. 

Assembling

I wasn't sure how I was going to attach the epoxy leaf to the silver wire. The flexibility of the epoxy really helped with assembling my prototype.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Silver wire and Epoxy leaf.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Attaching one side.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Forming the epoxy.

Tapered wire

My first attempt I rolled the taper into the bar and forged it round. The forging took a long time as the wire kept wanting to stay on the flat edges.

I tried again but I used the draw plate to get a taper that is already round, thus reducing the amount of forging required. I still need to forge the wire to blend out the steps created by the draw plate. 

Bowes, K., (2021). Tapered wire.