Heishi Bracelets
Artist Statement
To me, the most interesting thing about heishi bracelets is how the beads are natural, plastic beads are very popular and widely produced but they contribute to plastic waste, so heishi beads are a eco-friendly alternative. The biggest challenge for me was creating a theme throughout all three bracelets so they went together. I liked a lot of the colors and it was difficult to narrow down which ones I wanted to use because they wouldn't all look good together. The colors I ended up choosing were light purple, pale pink, and black. I really liked this purple color but wasn't sure what else to pair it with so I originally decided on white and black because I wanted to make the purple stand out, however I didn't see white when I was looking. I thought the two colors, purple and light pink, went together well and the black made them stand out a little more. I also ended up using pearls because I love wearing them and the design was a little boring so I wanted to add to it.
To me, the most interesting thing about heishi bracelets is how the beads are natural, plastic beads are very popular and widely produced but they contribute to plastic waste, so heishi beads are a eco-friendly alternative. The biggest challenge for me was creating a theme throughout all three bracelets so they went together. I liked a lot of the colors and it was difficult to narrow down which ones I wanted to use because they wouldn't all look good together. The colors I ended up choosing were light purple, pale pink, and black. I really liked this purple color but wasn't sure what else to pair it with so I originally decided on white and black because I wanted to make the purple stand out, however I didn't see white when I was looking. I thought the two colors, purple and light pink, went together well and the black made them stand out a little more. I also ended up using pearls because I love wearing them and the design was a little boring so I wanted to add to it.
Stone Wire Jewelry
The goal of this project is to design a stone-wired pendant for my mom. I think the earthy natural look of the stone represents my mom and her love for nature and stones. I used gold wire because my mom usually wears gold jewelry, and then I used a simple but nice-looking design so the focus is still on the stone. I wrapped wire around the stone and then twisted it in the middle to keep the stone secure and then I added a design in the empty space. The most interesting thing about stone-wired jewelry is how different the results can be and how even though the end result may vary from your original design it still ends up looking good. The biggest challenge was trying to make the stone secure while also having a design I liked, I overcame this by using pliers to make the wire tight and twist the wire together on both sides.
Polymer Clay Practice
Polymer Clay Earrings
When choosing colors for my earring, I wanted it to be more natural colors with a lot of earth tones. I wanted to do a different design than my buttons and practice so I decided to do this and just kept wrapping the coil in different colors. My biggest challenge when I was making my earrings was when I was combining the pieces I had cut, I had some struggle making them all connected with no gaps, but I made the pieces more square and put clay into where there were gaps and it worked. I thought the most interesting thing about polymer clay is how malleable and versatile it is.
Jump Ring Earrings |
The goal of this project was to create earrings out of metal jump rings. During my practice, sometimes it was difficult to open and close the jump rings, especially the small ones. When I was designing my earrings, I wasn't sure how I wanted them to look but I wanted to use gold and pearls because I thought they went well together and it matches other jewelry I wear. After I chose the gold ones, I realized they were more malleable and easier to open and close. When I was making them, sometimes it was difficult to add jump rings when they were stacked because they wouldn't go through all the rings they were supposed to loop through. I wanted to add a bit more width to my earrings, so I added the four rings in the middle and to the keep the balance, I added a single jump ring on either side. Now, I think I would change the design a little bit and add more beads.
Metal Pendant
My pendant represents a shining sun. Cons to working with this material was the impreciseness of the cutting and how time consuming the whole process was to cut it. A pro to using the metal was how nicely it came out after it was buffed, it had a professional clean look to it. The major challenge to this process was cutting it, I had a lot of trouble with cutting the spiky parts, but after doing one side I got the hang of it and it was a lot easier. The most successful part of the process for me was buffing it, I was struggling at first but it was really satisfying to see how shiny it got. Something that could have been improved was the cutting, my piece is not as symmetrical as I wanted it because I messed up a couple times when cutting the sun rays.
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Final Reflection
My favorite assignment was probably the polymer clay earrings. I really liked picking out colors that I thought would go best together and creating a design with the clay. Even though it never really turned out how I planned, I really enjoyed the process and seeing the outcome. The polymer clay was a little more messy than other mediums we worked with and it had a different look because we used a lot of metal with our other projects, but I liked that it was different and I felt like I could be more creative with it. I also did enjoy working with metal though, I liked the metal pendant even though it was a little frustrating because it took me a while to get the hang of it. I also really liked the stone wire jewelry because it allowed me to make more personal things, I was able to incorporate stones I found and I still wear the necklace that I made. Overall, I really liked all the projects we made, and felt like there were aspects to all of them that I enjoyed.