Final Major Project: Hidden Pattern

For my final major project, I have decided on the theme of hidden pattern. I have decided on hidden pattern because I enjoy looking at detail and I want to create unusual patterns, not just geometric patterns and shapes. I will first look at organic patterns, like patterns in vegetables and plants, and transfer the patterns and shapes from these to jewellery I will be making. Through my work I have done so far in applied arts, I have found I tend to lean more towards small scale detailed objects and jewellery, so I would like to continue with this way of working.

 I will look at pattern created by accident, such as from a collection of objects, or pattern that has another use, such as road markings. I would also like to look into pattern created from another process, such as weaving or knitting. The fabric may have a pattern printed on, but I will be looking at the pattern that is created from making the fabric. it is not deliberate and it often unnoticed, but I would like to use this kind of pattern as a focal point in my jewellery.

 I will also look at pattern which is deliberate, but may be unnoticed, such as the patterns on banknotes, which many people will handle everyday without noticing the pattern and decoration that makes them so difficult to forge.

Ceramics: Using marbles and enamel

I wanted to use other materials with my ceramics, so I used some of my marbles to put into circles and squares of clay, so that when they were fired the marbles would melt. As the glass cools at a different rate to clay, some of the marbles had cracked inside, which I think makes a very decorative effect. I also used some of the objects I have collected to make imprints in the clay. I then used enamel to add colour to some of the imprints. I added these clay pieces to the metal and recycled squares and circles I had made, to make a small collection of each.

Ceramics: slabwork.

First, I made 6 squares of clay the same size, and used my collected objects to imprint patterns onto the surface. I tried to make each square different, as I wanted all the sides of my cube to be a surprise, which you had to ppick up and turn around to find all the patterns. I mitred all the sides at a 45 degree angle, so the joins were not visible on the outside.

I used slip to join the edges and make them look neat, and also put reinforcements on the inside of the cube to strengthen it.

I next rolled out some more clay and made cylinders, to put together to make a repeating pattern similar to how I made the triangle.

I put marbles into the bottom of the cylinders, to hopefully melt and create a decorative abstract piece in the bottom of each cylinder. I have used marbles because I have lots of marbles and would like to make something new out of them.

Glasswork: using dichroic glass

For these pendants I used a sheet of black glass, small pieces of dichroic glass, and clear glass on top. I also Put small copper loops in between the layers of glass. These then went into the glass kiln to fuse together.

Glasswork: encasing small pieces.

I have been experimenting with glass. Firstly, I used sheet glass, cut it to size and added washers, scrap metal pieces and confetti glass. I used vaseline to make sure the pieces didn't move and secured the edges with masking tape to keep them together. These then went into the glass kiln, to melt the glass and fuse the pieces together. I think this worked very weel, and I especially like the bubbles in my smaller piece. I also like the colour the copper pieces went

Repeating pattern with found objects.

For this piece, I used a pipe cutter to cut two plastic cylinders into different lengths and arranged and glued them into a triangle. I then photocopied some patterns I had drawn using circles to make them smaller, and glued these to the back, cutting them to size so they were visible through the tubes. I think this could be used as a pendant or a large ring.

 I then started looking through the objects I had found and seeing which ones I had a lot of. I found I had quite a few plastic caps that my mum brought home from work, which are usually thrown away with the rest of the packaging. They are transparent plastic, with labels around the edges. I wanted to use these properties  to make jewellery, so I wanted whatever I made let the light through, and also leave some of the labels visible, so you can tell it has been made from something that was once something else. I used wire and a little bit of glue to hold them in a repeating pattern so that there isn't anything covering the sides or ends of the pieces.

Ring pull ring

In looking at old and discarded materials, I also wanted to look at how these can be combined with new materials to create more interesting pieces. For this ring, I knew I wanted the ring pull to be visible on top of the finger, So I then just experimented fitting different pieces and materials I had collected to complete the rest of the ring. I then found a stone (cubic zirconia) that would fit in the top of the rubber piece that sticks out on top of the ring.

I think this mix of old and new has worked really well, and the ring is decorative but not overly-complicated. It is wearable, and hopefully more of this type of jewellery can be made by recycling materials in the future to make jewellery more sustainable and environmentally friendly.