The Wheels Are Turning......

Greetings Everyone! 

I have not blogged since I finished my thesis work and graduated! I figured it was time to post an update! Below are some images of what I have been doing over the past year. Enjoy!

Mourning Necklace

(Special Commission/Trade)

Sterling Silver, Etched Brass, Found beads, wood, and Paint

"Darrow" Charms

(Special Commission)

Handcut Sterling Silver

Floral Bracelet

Sterling Silver 

Necklace

Repurposed Plastic Lenses, Found Chain

Key Bracelet

Repurposed Vintage Keys, Repurposed Chain

I found 4 identical pieces of brass in the scrap bin. (one of which is pictured above) I found them to be very interesting and beautiful. They had previously belonged to Cameron Lyden while he was here for a BFA in Jewelry/Metals. I rescued the pieces and turn them into "friendship cuffs"! See image below!

(I later gave one to Cameron and kept one for myself!)

Friendship Cuffs

Brass

Futuristic Sweater Brooch

Sterling Silver, Plastic, and Repurposed Aluminum

Reversible Hand-Beaded Collar

(Front and Back)

Felt, Assorted found beads, Thread

Bracelet

Special Commission

Sterling Silver and found objects

Double Brooch

Sterling Silver, Plastic, and Aluminum

The above image is a rendering I did for a commissioned sweater brooch.

The image below is the completed brooch (sans polishing).

Sweater Brooch

Sterling Silver, Black Onyx

Since graduation (in August 2012) I have been teaching classes at KSU in the Jewelry/Metals department of the School of Art. In the Fall I taught Intro to Jewelry/Metals and Advanced Studio. This semester (Spring) I am currently teaching Intro to Jewelry/Metals and Design & Production.

So what does the future hold? I am currently applying for artist residencies in various places along with looking for jobs. I am excited to start a new chapter in my life!

-Tabitha

THESIS WORK

Good News! I passed my Thesis Review!

So what now? you may ask....
Well I will have my show/reception this Friday and then next week I will be displaying all 365 rings! After that I will be working on my Thesis paper which is due at the end of July. I plan to graduate in August. Wish me luck!

Thesis

I installed my thesis work in the gallery today! My review is tomorrow morning at 9am with three faculty members (K. Browne, J. Lessman-Moss, and M. Loderstedt) I am very excited! Wish me luck!

PS: Remember this Friday is the reception for the show! 5-8pm. To see detailes, refer to the post (a week or so ago) that has the information about when and where.

I will post images of all the finished pieces (7 total) as soon as I can, along with video of the pieces in action.

Have a great day!

THESIS WORK

Domino Necklace

Sterling Silver, Plastic, Enamel Paint, and Black Spinel

Exhibitions

Good Morning!

Below you will find digital copies of the front and back of the postcards I just finished designing for my upcoming shows. If you are planning to attend, all the information you need is below. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask! I hope to see you there! 

Click the images to see them larger! :)

THESIS WORK

YoYo Necklace

Sterling Silver, Found Materials, and Plastic

UPDATE

Hello everyone! It has been a month since my last post and I thought it would be a good time to update you on what is going on. I definitely miss Ring-A-Day, but I do have more time all together to work on more pressing matters.

This semester I have a lot going on. I am continuing my thesis work, curating/organizing a show for GAR Foundation, and teaching a CAD for Jewelry class. I just recently finished selecting the works for the show and now I just have to get some of them framed, install all works at the Foundation's office, and attend the reception. I am so glad I got this opportunity!

I will be having my Thesis review on Tuesday, March 27th at 9:00am. My work will be displayed in the School of Art Gallery in the Art building on Kent State Campus. There are three other grad students that will be showing in this large gallery that same week. Originally I did not want to be part of a group exhibition, but I am definitely seeing the benefits now. The exhibition reception will be Friday, March 30 from 5:00pm to 8:00pm. Please feel free to come! All are welcome!

The Ring-A-Day series will be displayed in the Sculpture gallery the following week. The exhibition reception will be Friday, April 6. I have not decided what time, so please stay tuned! Don't miss this chance to see all 365 rings in one place! :)

I am planning to have postcards made for each show. If you would like to have one mailed to you as a reminder for the show or just to have, please send me your mailing address. My email is tott2@kent.edu

Below are some photos of Thesis Piece #1 (yoyo Necklace)....IN PROGRESS!

Thank you for Reading!!!

RING No. 365

Well Folks, its finally here, the LAST RING!.....I want to thank all the people who gave me interesting objects, the people who encouraged me along the way, and all of the "readers", and "viewers"!

I stayed in the studio all day working on this baby. While here, I activated my iPhone!!! I have waited years to get one and now I finally have it! Hooray!

Many people have expressed an interest in purchasing a ring or rings for their collection. Upon much contemplation, I have decided to sell them! At first I wanted to keep them all together and perhaps sell them as one collection, or not at all, but I think that it will be much better if many people can have a piece of this achievement. I plan to make a book in the near future that has an image of each ring.

The rings will be part of my thesis and can be viewed by the public in April at my exhibition reception. They are for sale now, but will not be available for pick up until after the show. If you have an interest in a particular ring, please email me.

As far as price goes, they all vary....for instance, there is a ring that is Free, one that is $10, a few in the hundreds, and everything in between! It all depends on the time invested and value of the materials. I am planning to keep a few for my personal collection, but all the rest are up for grabs. Each ring will come with a hand numbered and signed certificate of authenticity and a special box.

Now, I plan to catch up on the rest of my thesis work, and start writing! I have learned so much from this challenge and I will miss it, but it will be nice to concentrate on the other things I need to accomplish before I graduate.

I will update my blog from time to time with images and info on the progress of my thesis work. "Follow" the blog to get detailed information on when my show will be and the other events I will be hosting in conjunction.....

Also, stay tuned for a highly likely RING A DAY 2.0....after I graduate, I hope to continue this fun and interesting challenge!!!!!

Materials: Sterling Silver, Sapphires, and Blue Topaz
Dimensions: 1.25 x .75 x .625 inches

RING No. 364

I spent the entire day in the studio working on today's ring. I have given the ring the name "Ogretta" in memory of my late grandmother, Ogretta Till. The flowers are reminiscent of the arrangement that was at her memorial service (there wasn't a funeral). The floral arrangement was done by Brenda Harley, my former employer and dear friend. She did a wonderful job!!! In the arrangement, there were various shades of pink flowers in several sizes. It represented my grandmother perfectly. There are four flowers in the ring to represent the four roles I saw her in throughout her life: Wife, Mother, Grandmother, and Great-Grandmother. She excelled in all four! The past seven months have been very rough as I went through the grieving process. (as I have said before, this was the first real loss I have ever had)

I am still not out of the woods yet, but it is definitely much better now.

The flowers are made of fine silver, the bands/stems are made of sterling silver, and there are Pink Tourmalines (the larger stones) and Rubies (the smaller stones) set in the center of each flower. One flower has tiny granules of sterling silver around the set stone.

I vowed to make my grandmother a ring twice (see Ring No. 144 and  Ring No. 264), but fear of not making one that was "good enough" by my standards and lack of time most days prevented me from doing so until now. I am  very happy with the ring and I think she would love it if she saw it.

Thanks for reading, Goodnight!

Materials: Fine Silver, sterling silver, Pink Tourmalines, and Rubies
Dimensions: 1.75 x 1.75 x 1.75 inches

The Making Process: 

I drew floral designs on Tracing paper....

..pasted the tracing paper to the metal and cut the flowers out....

then came the soldering....

RING No. 363

Wow! I just woke up from the best (and longest) nap ever!.....I only got a few hours of sleep last night and not much on the plane. April picked me up from the airport and we went to the Cleveland Museum of Art, MOCA, and then to Little Italy for dinner and dessert! It was a great day! When I returned I was just so tired that I laid down for a bit and the next thing I knew, I was waking up and it was 12:15!...I really needed the rest.....Tonight's ring is simple because I am still a bit tired, but do not fret! Tomorrow and the next day will be way more awesome since I will have most of the day to complete them.

Tonight's ring is made from a little painted wooden cat that came in a big bag of assorted things that Dr. Havice gave me. I found some tacky ribbon and made tonight's ring! I call it "Tacky bow with Cool Cat".

Thanks for reading! Goodnight!

Materials: ribbon, sterling silver, painted wooden cat
Dimensions: 3.75 x 2.5 x 2.75 inches

RING No. 362

I spent most of today helping my sister clean and organize her house. We went out for a quick trip....while out we went to the store for organizing containers, exchanged a Christmas gift, and got some yummy frozen yogurt!

Yesterday, Braelynn gave me a purple dolphin. She told me I should make a ring out of if, so today I did! A while back I had an idea about a ring where a dolphin jumps through a hoop and now I finally get to do it! I love serendipity!......I still had a huge bundle of telephone wire, so I used some of it to make the ring and the hoop along with its attachments....I have already packed up all my stuff (my sister is taking me to the airport in less than 3 hrs. so I only had limited tools to work with....I have a photo below that shows them,...

Thanks for reading! Goodnight!

Materials: Rubber dolphin, telephone wire
Dimensions: 2.25 x 3.25 x 1.75 inches