THERE SHALL BE FIRE

METAL AGED BOOKS

INTERMEDIATE 3-D ART

copper, brass, aluminum sheets and wires, metal tools, propane torch

I save this metal unit until the end of the year.

It's complex and a bit dangerous,

and requires lots of expensive tools .

And there is a huge take out and clean up issue.

So by the end of the year my students are well trained in safety and critical thinking,

and not as likely to waste the supplies or get hurt.

I start with several exercises in cutting, aging, stamping piercing, and etching the metal.

We also experiment with various patinas.

The students are required to turn in 6 preliminary pieces that show all these exercises 

before being allowed to get started on their books.

Here we are seeing senior Bianca Tolentino's prelims. above and her book below. 

She has done a beautiful job of etching designs into her front and back covers.

I also see stamping and a torched patina.

The pages inside her book vary in color and edge treatment,

making it very interesting to the eye.

Next we have the prelims from senior Daphne Chiang,

and her booklet below.

Daphne was able to achieve an amazing rainbow patina with the propane torch.

She has also used stamping

 and a technique I call frog butt which makes wonderful bumpy textures.

She has filled her book with various neutral papers with lots of fun edge treatments.

And I love her pierced window opening on the bottom corner of her backside

with the word "good-bye".

So clever.

And lastly we have senior Kaili Hamada.

Kaili loved this unit and did way more then the required 6 pieces for her prelims.

She's built in an organic pierced window on the front side of her book,

and has also achieved an amazing torched patina.

She's got a lot of great frog butt going on along with some cute rivets.

And when you look thru her window you see this great piece of paper she has decorated.

Have you noticed that all three girls have made a metal bookmark?

Kaili has etched words into her tab.

And the backside is just as cool as her front.

Fantastic etched images and words.

When Bianca finished her book she had a bit of extra time 

so she played around with some thinner copper sheeting I bought.

Notice those cute little copper melted beads on the ends of the center wires.

They are so fun to make.

I'm not sure if she torched this flower piece by piece,

 or if she torched it after the flower was complete.

I also think those are staples holding the flower together.

Clever girl!

Preliminary Metal Unit - Student Work

These were the final assignment of the year for my Intermediate 3-D kids last school year.  In this unit they learned all about the properties of metal and they were able to test them out.  Ageing, patinas, forging, piercing, etc.  and these were the results.

Senior Amy Hsu made these clever pieces above.  

And below we have the inspiring work s of senior Tiffany Lee.

Senior Julia Faith Chanco made these cool earrings and ring, above.  

And I adore the etched sunglasses and bug below by senior Ashley Chowdhury.

These lovely silver earrings were the work of senior Sheila San Agustin.

And below senior Lauren De Belen is really into the ammonia dip to patina her metals.

The neat dream catcher as well as all 3 pieces below were made by senior Angela Wan.  You can see the sawdust/vinegar patina on her leaf below. 

This was a really fun unit to end the year with.

Mixed Metals - Student Work

Senior Rita Labib made me the most gorgeous necklace to match hers.  We will be connected forever thru these and in our hearts.  Knock them out at Santa Monica kiddo!!  Show them what you've got up your sleeves.  :)

Metal Jewelry Unit - Part I

Every year I do a unit with my Intermediate 3-D kids to introduce them to metal jewelry and what you can do with copper, brass and a small bit of silver.  Techniques that are covered are stamping/embossing, cutting, acid etching, various patinas, setting eyelets, drilling holes, annealing, and a few other cool things.  Then I have the kids make 6 pieces in which they show me they've tried them all.

Above and below are the pieces that were done by senior Noel Kim.  You can see all the creative ways...

she thought up to design her pieces with.

These next six above are the work of senior Ingrid Huang, and as you can see in the two pix below she also came up with some really cool ideas.

This next one above was done by senior Andrea De Leon.  Love how she heated up the ends of the copper wires until they melted and formed balls on the ends.

This next group of six was the hard work of junior Nida Fatima.  Just look at her go with all these crazy, wonderful designs!  And i really like how she turned many of them into key chains.

A few close-ups.

And the ones in this last series are the incredible work that is senior Elsie Aguilar.  She went all out on her samples, dedicating her metal book to her older sister Heide.

And her stamped mica pieces to her mom and dad.

And my favorite, her feather below.

Metal Jewelry - Part Two

Senior Johanna Paz made her six into clever dangle earrings.

And junior Rita Labib created this gorgeous ring above and below. 

Also by Rita, yes good old Rita  LOL, this fabulous neckpiece.  She can't help it, she's just a super star  :)

Close-ups

And now we have junior Kevin Tang, no slouch either in the design department, with this cool necklace. 

Rings by Kevin too.

And more, yes, more.  Earrings by Kevin as well!  Ya think he enjoyed this unit or what??  :)

This incredible leaf is the work of one of my favorite students, junior Joyce Le.  The patina that she was able to achieve with the torch is exquisite.  

And below another extremely wonderful design by senior Erica Roderos.  She used a sawdust/vinegar patina on this work.  Pretty cool, huh?  :)