We're getting close to the end of the semester now. Well four or five weeks away at least. Things are kind of moving along. I think I've fully figured out what I plan to do with my free choice project making the neck piece. Robin said she would help me incorporate fiber optics into the piece and I think that will give a great contrast to the patinaed(?) bronze I plan on using for the cones. I've also done some sketches where I've off set what used to the be the center piece and removed a few of the cones from one side getting rid of the symmetry to make the piece far more dynamic.
I've also been cutting out dyes from acrylic I bought last week for the earring trio project so I should be moving along with that. I just need to get some of them shapes smoothed out so the pieces dye form better. I did a sample with one of the dyes and it's not doming out as far as I would like so I need to either keep annealing the metal and continue to dye form it or rework the dye a little bit. Only a few more weeks until the student sale but hopefully the earrings should be done by then. I'm pretty sure the dyes will be the longest part of the process so once I get those cut out it should be smooth sailing.
The mermaid is almost done. I just need to smooth out one more spot on her upper body and then I can cut out the pieces and attach them. I'm still not entirely happy with the way the piece is going to turn out but I like the look of the tail. Like I've said before ideally I would have been able to chase a design onto a vessel but that can probably happen next semester in metalsmithing. Who know if I'll want to do the same design though. I am still leaning towards turning the mermaid into some sort of broach because I feel like it would be easier than worrying about how to clasp it as a bracelet while I'm still working on the other projects. Speaking of that I wonder if the alternative materials project is still going to be a thing and if so hopefully I can just count the fiber optics as my alternative material.
