Half Sunflower Pendant

 Below is half a sunflower made up from pieces of the brooch sunflower and pendant sunflower that were joined in wax and cast in sterling silver.

Bowes, K., (2021). Half sunflower pendant.

Having moulds of my large and medium sunflowers meant that I could break down the sunflower into smaller elements. I layered the parts of the flower in wax, cast them and once again made a mould of the half sunflower so I can always use it again. My 2019 platinum pendant sparked the idea of using the half sunflower as a pendant, as seen below.

Sunflower brooch

Below is an image of a sunflower brooch that was cast in sterling silver.

Bowes, K., (2021). Sunflower brooch.

In my quest to find the right size sunflower for my earpiece, I experimented with moulding a sunflower out of wax. I doubled up the petals so that the sunflower looks full like my reference. For the centre of the sunflower, I researched the Fibonacci spiral and tried transferring the spiral onto the wax. Unfortunately, the pattern didn't translate once the sunflower was cast. I used a bur to drill divots so that the spiral changed from a pattern into a texture. The cast sunflower was far too large for the earpiece so I used it for a brooch, as seen above.

Sunflower pendants

Figure 1 is a sunflower cast in sterling silver on a beaded helix chain and figure 2 is a sunflower cast in sterling silver on a chain.

Figure 2- Bowes, K.,(2021). Pendant on a chain.

Figure 1- Bowes, K., (2021). Sunflower pendant.

With the brooch sunflower being too large I tried again hoping to make the right size sunflower. I left the centre of the flower blank so that after I made my mould I could try to texture it in wax. I stippled the centre of one sunflower in wax (as seen in Figure 1) and textured a second sunflower after casting with a tiny ball bur(as seen in Figure2).

My second attempt was still too large so I decided to use the medium size sunflowers as pendants. I wanted to bring in some colour so I used the same beading technique for my wearable pendant. Except I used back and yellow-orange to try to match the colours of a sunflower(Figure 1). The second sunflower I chose to add onto a chain to keep it simple(Figure 2).

Sunflower cuff

Figure 1 shows an ear cuff made that was moulded in wax and cast in sterling silver.

Figure 2- Bowes, K., (2021). Wearing the cuff.

Figure 1- Bowes, K.,(2021). Finished cuff.

The sunflower collection was inspired by a set of detailed ceramic tiles. I used these tiles to digitally design an earpiece, to personalise the design I edited it to incorporate a sunflower as at the time I was growing sunflowers in my garden.

I spent a lot of time moulding different sized sunflowers in soft wax, cast them and used them to make moulds. On my third attempt, I managed to make a sunflower small enough for the cuff, as seen in Figure 2. The earpiece only got as far as the cuff, as seen in Figure 1. I spent so much time trying to get the sunflower right and would like to spend some time getting the buds and leaves proportionate to the sunflower.

 The other sunflowers I kept and used to make spin-off pieces. Thus going against  Michelle Pujol's advice to complete the original design first because all the sunflowers were already cast and I did not want them to go unused.

Half sunflower- pendant

 While working on my platinum I reminisced about my past platinum pieces. My platinum piece from 2019 made me think of my half sunflower casting. I found a large dark stone to resemble the centre of a sunflower and started putting together a pendant. 

Bowes, K (2021). Pendant progress.

Sunflower studs

Figure 1 shows my smallest sunflower that was cast in sterling silver and figure 2 shows another set of the same sunflowers but they are attached to teardrop links from my organic chain.

Figure 2- Bowes, K.,(2021), Sunflowers on teardrops.

Figure 1 -Bowes, K.,(2021), Sunflower studs.

Knowing that I have a mould of my smallest cast sunflower, I thought they would be the perfect size to make small studs for the I heart market and my website.

The studs are small, as seen in Figure 1, but they take up most of the lobe when worn. Therefore it is difficult for people with multiple lobe piercings to wear another pair of earrings next to the sunflowers.  I attached the sunflower to a teardrop link, as seen in figure 2, which should allow for a second earring to be worn.

Sunflower moulds

Whilst I made the mould of my chain links I also made mould of my sunflower elements.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Flower in mould.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Half flower in mould.

Sunflower Reflection

I need to finish cleaning up the castings because I still need to work on the other element of the earpieces such as the buds, leaves and vines. I also need to figure out how I am going to put all the pieces together. I am definitely going to be making a mould of the tiny sunflower and element as they can be used for spin-offs. the larger flowers that won't be used in the earpiece can be incorporated into spin-offs as well. I am so glad that the original piece led to possible spin-offs so I am not working on only one design with my sunflowers.

Bowes, K., (2021). Dried sunflower.

Sunflower Summary

 I was inspired by a set of floral bathroom tiles to design an earpiece. Since I first laid eyes on the tiles I saw it as an earpiece and couldn't unsee it so I had to illustrate it.  The illustration used a flower charm I found at Phil Bear jewellers. I had no connection to the generic flower, so I redrew the design using a photograph of a sunflower that I had grown myself. 

I tried my hand at making the sunflower out of wax. I used the Fibonacci spiral for the centre of the flower as I knew that is how actual sunflower’s seeds are ordered. I attempted to copy the spiral pattern onto the wax but it did not work out. while working in wax I came to some realisations about things like the weight and the number of petals I added. 

I made a medium size flower which I made a mould of with the large sunflower. The wax injections from the moulds weren’t coming out as whole flowers in the beginning, but I liked the broken pieces of wax. I started playing with the wax and layered some pieces which created a new element. I cast a smaller sunflower, that I made, alongside the new element.

Bowes, K., (2021). Dried closed sunflower.

Smaller sunflower

 The smaller flower I originally made was still too large for the earpiece hence why I redesigned it with the element rather than the whole flower. I still wanted to attempt making a very small flower that can be used for earrings, I managed but it was difficult not to squash it while working. 

The half sunflower cast exactly how I thought it would and I am very happy with how it came out. The small flower needs more cleaning up than I thought it would but at least it wasn't a complete disaster. I will definitely be making moulds of these two pieces as they could easily be used to make multiple pieces for the market.

Bowes, K., (2021). Elements for casting.

Bowes, K., (2021). Cast half flower and small flower

Layering Elements

Playing with the elements of the two sunflowers I ended up layering the petals so the piece has depth. I realized the layered piece would fit well with the curve of the top of the ear so I drew the piece and inserted it into the original design.

Bowes, K., (2021). Layered Elements

Bowes, K., (2021). Redesigned earpiece

Flower elements

I made a mould of my large and medium flowers and started injecting wax into them. Not all the flowers came out as a full flower but that is normal with a new mould. Instead of wasting the large flower that can't be used in my original design, I started to see the flower as an element that can be broken into smaller elements instead of used as a whole. 

Bowes, K., (2021). Mould making

 

Bowes, K.,(2021). Sunflower element.

Cast Sunflowers

I cast the large sunflower but once the petals were attached. Unfortunately the Fibonacci pattern was lost. I was sceptical about the size of the first flower as I thought it would be far too large for my original earpiece design therefore I made a smaller flower which I also cast but left the centre blank. I want to make a mould of both the flowers so I can work with them in wax again to find the best pattern or texture for the centre of the flowers. 

Bowes, K., (2021). Wax sunflower.

Bowes, K., (2021). Cast flowers.

Wax Realisations

 When looking at my wax and my reference I came to some realisations that influenced my work. 

For the petals, I needed to have more than just a single layer of petals as sunflowers have lots of petals closely packed. The petals on a sunflower also don't appear to be attached to the center when viewed from the front so when I attached the petals I did it from the back. The blue wax was quite stringy so I will need to clean up the back once it is cast. 

The center needed to be hollowed out to reduce weight for casting. I am unsure about the stipple texture that I might add more dots or add a texture over the stippling as there is so much space between the dots but I want to see how it will look in metal before deciding.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Incomplete wax flower.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Back of flower.

Sunflower Center

 For the center of my sunflower, I didn't want to leave it blank. I also didn't want to just texture it either as I know that sunflowers do actually follow the Fibonacci sequence. 

I wanted a stipple texture on the center of my wax flower so I printed a Fibonacci Spiral (Fig. 1) to scale and used the transfer method I came up with while working with Cortney to mark the dots on the wax. 

Bowes, K.,(2021). Stipple Pattern

Figure1- Fibonacci Spiral

At first glance, the dots look randomly placed but they do follow the Fibonacci spiral, I drew over my photo to make sure as it can be difficult for the eye to pick it up.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Illustration on photo

Fibonacci Spiral

The Fibonacci sequence is a mathematical series of numbers that is also known as the Golden Ratio:0,1,1,2,3,5,8 (Fn = Fn-1 + Fn-2). The sequence creates a spiral(the golden angle) that occurs frequently in nature and can be seen in pineapples, waves, shells, etc. 

 Fibonacci numbers/spiral in nature

 

The Fibonacci Spiral is also found in the seeds of sunflowers as the spiral allows for the maximum amount of seeds while still having the seeds spaced evenly.

Sunflowers' Spiral Secret

 

Experimenting in Wax

 Using my drawing and photos for reference, I attempted to make my first sunflower out of wax. I used the blue carving wax for stability and the black modeling wax so that I could sculpt each petal individually.

Bowes, K., (2021). Wax experiment.

Bowes, K., (2021). Sculpted Petals.

Sunflower earring design

My original design was inspired by a set of detailed ceramic tiles. I originally designed an earpiece using the tiles as a reference but I used a generic flower. I redesigned the earpiece using the image of a sunflower I grew as a reference.

Bowes, K., (2021). Sunflower

Bowes, K., (2021). Sunflower Illustration

Bowes, K., (2021). Sunflower earpiece

Earring illustration

I have been helping at Phil Bear Jewellers with building wax trees and cleaning up castings. While working I came across these small flower castings that inspired me to illustrate the earring/earpiece that I observed within the floral tiles. The illustration was done on a tablet using ArtFlow.

Bowes, K., (2021). Flower casting

Bowes, K., (2021). Illustration

Floral Tiles

Bathroom tiles that I keep saying look like an earring/earpiece. I also love how the floral image looks almost like a watercolour painting with a pen used for detailing.

Bowes.K., (2021). Bathroom tiles grid image

Bowes.K., (2021). Single tile