Journal entry: Saturday, June 16, 2001

Today's summary: Introduction, precious metal clay (PMC), Denver commission.

Intro

Although you may already know, I'll introduce myself, with links.

I guess the third time's the charm when it comes to online journals. This is my third try. The first two were handwritten, just 24 pages total, and I'm keeping them for posterity online. Go read them if you want, but there's probably some broken links (maybe I'll fix them later).

The handwritten journal idea was fun... but it was also very limiting, as I found myself writing much less than I originally intended -- because I knew the more I wrote, the more work I'd have to do scanning and imagemapping and HTMLing and so on. Ugh. Too much. So instead, I'll just type my journal entries. I'll still give links to any sketches, new artwork, and so on.

Right now my primary artistic focus is biologically-inspired sculpture. I give everything a specimen number and an appropriate fake Latin name. My wire insect sculptures have blades for wings, fishhooks for stingers. I also make "fossil" fish, using recognizable tools and machine parts to make imprints in concrete slabs. I only just got started with the fossils, but I plan to diversify and make fossils of archaeopteryx, dinosaurs, trilobites, and other prehistoric or pseudohistoric goodies.

PMC (Precious Metal Clay), initial experiments

I've just discovered this very interesting stuff called PMC (Precious Metal Clay). Here's a link to the PMC Guild website. PMC is basically silver particles in an organic binder... you work it like regular clay, then toss it in a kiln. The binder burns out, leaving you with an object made of .999 pure silver (purer than sterling!). There's also a softer version that comes in a syringe that you can use to write fine lines on the surface of the work. AND, get this -- there's a paper-like sheet of the stuff, too. Origami artists are using it to make pure silver origami. Apparently PMC shrinks a bit as it is fired.

PMC comes in 24 karat gold too, but of course that's INSANELY expensive ($200ish for a lump the size of the tip of my little finger! Ouch!). As it is, a wad of the silver clay that's about the size of an oval grape costs $30. I've been wanting to try it out anyway, to use some of this in my artwork... maybe as wings on wearable sculpture insects, or maybe with fossil-type imprints.

So, I ordered some. It showed up finally and I picked the package up from the apartment office right before work... and when I got to work, excitedly showed it to all my coworkers. They must think I'm crazy... oh wait, nevermind, they already thought that. But the point is, here I was waving around syringes full of clay and cellophane-wrapped lumps. So one of my coworkers joked that it looked like heroin and I said yeah, I'm suspecting it's about that addictive. Art high all the way, baby.

I worked on some test silver slab pendants last night, fired them up today. Here's a pendant that turned out well, number 05002.

Click to zoom in

It's exactly an inch tall. I carved and stamped the design into the surface of the slab. I might get some liver of sulfur patina solution at some point, so I can make the recesses black. On the back it has my initials JDLC, 05002, and my thumbprint. Too bad the thumbprint doesn't show.

After I made it, I realized that I could use the original piece as a "stamp" for another piece. So as a result I have originals, children of the original, children of the children of the original, etc... each generation smaller than the previous one (due to clay shrinkage upon firing), each generation mirroring its parents, alternating raised or sunken in designs, etc.

And of course, this relates to biology. Here's how the standard terminology goes, for generations of animals.
F0 = Filial generation zero. The parent generation.
F1 = F0's children.
F2 = F1's children... etc...

So I could make (for example) a necklace with F0 in the center, then a F1 on either side, a F2 on either side of those etc... getting smaller and smaller as it spreads from the center, the image degrading more and more. Or I can make limited edition F1, F2, etc. "prints" of the original. I used to do a lot of print work in college and I still have a heavy interest in digital printing, limited editions... so the whole concept is just tailor made to appeal to me. Hopefully it'll appeal to other people, too.

With that in mind, I tried a couple of imprint-children of the for 05002 F0 original. So these two new pieces would be 05002 F2s. On the back I put my initials, 05002, F1, 01/10 and 02/10 (under the theory that I won't make more than ten of them). Here's what they all look like together.

Click to zoom in

Exactly how I expected... very interesting... I think the blackening effect of patina solution would emphasize the fact that the F0 is imprinted and the F1s are raised relief.

I have a thin gold rope necklace chain that my husband Orlando gave me. Usually I thread some random item on to this chain as a pendant, every day -- a bead, a tiny key, a piece of glass, an antique coin, whatever. So, I tried stringing these three pieces together on that chain, using temporary jump rings. But, they don't stay spaced apart, instead sliding together and overlapping. If I do make multi-part necklaces in the future, I'll probably use a necklace with links large enough for jump rings. That way they'd stay spaced out exactly how I wanted. I guess if I wanted to wear them together meanwhile, I'd have to put beads in between.

Denver commission

When I'm not taking a break to write in this journal, or to experiment with new materials like PMC, I've been working on wrapping up this commission for a public garden project in Denver. This landscape architect did a search online for insect art... saw my tiny dangerous sculptures... I guess he must've seen this and maybe thought to himself, "Huh, I bet she could make large scale safe sculpture for our peace park!". Which I find incredibly amusing, and also a great compliment that he would consider me flexible enough to be worth contacting about this. I'm making 3 copper wire goldfish to go underwater in a fountain, along with a grasshopper, a ladybug, and an inchworm. These're in various stages of completion... I have some photos of one goldfish as part of my explanation of the stand design. I'll take photos of the others ASAP. Probably right before I put them in boxes and ship them to Denver, at this rate.