Cast away!

The thing with wanting to make a living from your art is that at some point you are gonna have to actually make some art. These last few months have been a bit of a dry-spell for me - there just hasn't been a whole lot of making going on. Now I am back at Uni it is even worse. The thing with a formal arts education is that there is a lot of concept development stuff - which is great because it forces you to think about your work and articulate all that white noise in your head. The trouble is, just now, there is way more thinking than doing  and it is making me a little twitchy. And unmotivated. Today I decided to flick through some jewellery making books - nice ones with lots of fundamental skills and projects demonstrated - and choose a project and just DO it! For a little while now I have been toying with the idea of casting stuff - especially with pewter scraps. I have done some research on the Web - there is so much info out there it did my head in! One of my books had a nice small section on casting pewter as the cheaper and easier alternative to pewter and with a trip to the oppie for the requisite tools I was away! Finally. At last. Sheesh - let's hope this is the kick start I need! These are the results so far ...

This was my first attempt. I added some marks with my files and patinaed it for a rustic look.

I attached a chunky-ish chain and although I messed about adding other components I think it is best left in this simple format. It is weighty but not too much - I have been wearing it this arvo and it feels good.

Attempt number two - using a different kind of mould. Again I marked this one up and blackened the grooves. I wanted this one to have a bit of an industrial look so I made a jump ring from steel wire and joined it with a brass rivet. That  turned out to be the trickiest part of the whole process actually! I will probably string this on some chunky leather although I think it has definite steampunk possibilities. So yay, yay and more yay that my hands are busy again. I didn't end up making a project from my books but it was a great way to get me working again. Now I know I can do this, I am pretty keen to make some moulds and get cracking!