YOUR SIGNALS ARE KILLING ME

so life has been pretty weird and pretty cool lately. I think I'm nearly done with the trust rating algorithm I've been working on for awhile, personal things are oddly favorable, and I possibly have a new job that will reunite me with good friends (by possibly, I have it, but the only thing that makes it better than where I work now is that I will be working with one of my good friends again) oh and lastly, I've been taking a signals test for the past week! it has had 5 different parts!!! it has been killer and taking up all of my past week. I have, however, been able to make it to the studio for a bit. these are the goods and hopefully next week it will be finished!

FLIP IT OVER

this week has really tested my dedication to balance work/school/life. this shelbenstein celebrated another year of life and spent most of it on campus either preparing for tests or finishing this project.

like most pieces, I'll have moments where I'll really love what's happening and then a wall comes up and i feel like a fool for not anticipating problem x. at 8, x=how I planned on welding all of the triangular prisms on at angles, and I also introduced another problem y=how is this going to look now that I don't have time for as many prisms as I initially wanted.

with sage advice from a peer and turning my piece over to get better welds of the tricky spots, suddenly it came together and I'm very pleased with the results. hopefully I'll get the legit portfolio pieces up soon, but until then, here are more process and critique pictures

MERGING WORLDS

What a mythical title, no? As this semester is now officially over, I am reminded that I might be crazy. I actually miss all of the crazy, stressed out and hopeful energy that every art student carries around with them as they experience studio finals. This semester, it was more of a silent stress that involved crunching numbers, analyzing statistics, and writing proofs. Although it was more a math heavy semester, I did give a presentation in my 3D tools class to exemplify the digital utilities the modern artist has access to further develop their work. I took my mobius strip globe sculpture and created it in Rhino. Now that I have skills in Rhino, I think the process of designing for me will go from sketching it, the digitally creating it, then physically making it. Here's the poster from the presentation

In other news, my partner, Shwade, and I are nearly ready to set up our metals studio. We have a location and are finalizing the funds, but I'm very excited to see it coming together. Also, a dear and very talented friend of mine, Playrat, and I have been discussing publishing a zine. 2013 is going to be amazing.

This was a doodle I made while I was holed up at the library. Maybe that reflects my sentiments on this semester...

THIS IS HOW I GET HAMMERED

These past couple days of finals frenzy have included late nights at the forge. As always, there is a lot of clean up work to be done.

So far this is the candle stick holder I'm making. I will be cleaning up the horrendous welding job even though I find it a bit endearing considering this piece took my welding virginity. I have always been so scared of welding and have pathetically let that fear stop me from making things according to my original designs so this was a big step that I'm proud I finally did. After cleaning up the welding mess, I would like to spray the piece black. I'm half joking with a couple people (including my teacher) that this piece is also satanic. 7 rods for the 7 sins. I'm a dork. To continue playing with that theme, I think I'm going to present the piece with either a red or black candle, I'm still deciding.

Finally the tongs are made! Nothing too fancy, just a reminder that handmade tools should be appreciated.

Still working on the silverware set. The clean up is as boring as one could imagine. I'm thinking of etching a pentagram on the spoon just to give it some flavor.

Once the semester is over and I lose studio space, I'm thinking of directing my attention and energy on refinishing furniture along with finally finishing a couple of books on my ever growing list, taking another programming summer school class to finally design my own website, and regaining my social life. AAAANND taking pretty pictures to add to my official portfolio.

DO WORK

Really frustrating/annoying/painful/comforting week... I think that's what intense studio time is supposed to feel like though. Anyways, on to the loot

JUST A LITTLE BREAK

Think I went a little overboard on the spring break break; however, I'm back and so excited to get some work done in the studio.

Here's a bit of what I was doing this week. Clearly, I have a lot of cleaning up work to do still....

I'm turning a eucalyptus log to use in my mobius strip piece. Sidenote: the very first thing i ever turned on a lathe was a sphere. Apparently most people don't start with that shape and I had no problem with it; however, this time, it has been such an obsessive pain.

Just some more progress in blacksmithing. The silverware set is made out of stainless steel so every cut had to be chiseled out. The picture above the silverware set would be my progress in the class assignment for tongs. 

Only a couple more weeks until summer. Time to put in extra work :)

BUSY IS GOOD, RIGHT?

Yet again another busy week. My roots/cage/basswood piece is in the long sanding phase and I went looking at different types of wood for the egg that will be encased and have fallen in love with the ebony and ivory wood. That wood is pretty expensive, but beautiful and I think it will be worth the price.

So far, this is what I have done for my silverware set. My original idea was to make a Satanic silverware set; however, with the deadline approaching, I've decided to just work with spikes and distortions. I personally am not Satanic, but the whole idea of it fascinates and humors me so I would like to imagine that this set would be something Satan, himself, would use.

Another project I'm currently working on is turning a rattle. The rattle itself is pretty basic, so I wanted to use a hard wood, like walnut, and sand it to perfection, and then put a finish on that will make it look as if it were made out of stone instead of wood... obviously this piece for me is more about craftsmanship over concept. I'm a bit in love with the wood itself and the whole process of turning. I've always found turning to be very therapeutic and this summer I will be saving up for my own lathe. Also, this wood has been so beautiful to work with, very moist and colorful.

IN PROGRESS

This week is ending and here are some updates.  Unfortunately, due to other coursework and obligations to other things, I didn't get to spend as much time in the studio as I would have liked.  

I'm bad and didn't document how it looked the last time I left the studio, but this was from the time before so it's close enough.  In more progress news, I am debating staining it with a gradient, either burning or darkening the edge and bleaching/whitening the center, or vice versa, or bleaching the entire piece and turning an egg out of zebra wood to be in the center, caged behind the branches. Either way, I'm excited and happy as to how it's turning out.

I now know how to make scrolls out of steel. I also will be making a silverware set out of steel and will be posting pictures of that next week.

CURRENT PROJECTS

For this piece, I am using basswood and as this shell progresses further, I will be adding a turned egg to be encased behind it.

These mobius strips are my first attempt at bending wood. Here I used white oak and had intended on incorporating metal into this piece (also a first for me), but I was unhappy with the metal sphere I had created.  Despite the setbacks, I really enjoy the look and feel of these strips so I'm sure I will find a way to do justice for this.