Arts Metals--Project 3

Our next Arts Metals project was an assignment to use our newly learned soldering skills to create a piece that exhibited design, craftsmanship, and metal forming. 

Almost immediately I focused in on wanting to make a hair comb.  I sketched out my ideas:

And ended up focusing in on a dragonfly design.

This project was extremely challenging for me and a lot of my classmates.  My professor attributed a lot of the challenge being created by too ambitious projects.  Guilty.

Once again I made several mistakes, like soldering my textured metal on the wrong direction so that it wouldn't end up showing once it was twisted.  I also struggled with getting pieces to solder, and in the end had to come up with different solutions.

I ended up wiring the dragonfly's body to a piece of brass and then riveting the piece of brass to the dragonfly wings.

I also decided in the end that the piece was just to big and heavy to be a hair comb.  So I discarded my comb and put legs on my dragonfly instead.

This project pushed me to limits, but once again taught me.  I learned how to texture metal using a press.  That was really cool.  And I learned  a lot about the importance of the steps to construction and soldering.  

And I really like my end project--although once again I turned it in less polished than I wanted it to be.  I also have gotten over my fear of critiques.  This time I volunteered to go first and wasn't nervous at all about.  Hurray for overcoming fears!

Next project:  Box Rings.  My goal is to create a simple enough design that I can finish it before the only detail I care about is actually finishing it and turning it in.