"Holmes: the Art of Deduction" Opens tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

I Assistant Costume Designed this production and am pretty damn proud of it.

Below is a picture from the scene where Holmes is disguised as a clergy man in Irene Adler's home (Adler in red) and is trying to get her to reveal the location of a secret document.

I personally designed Irene Adler, including what I'm calling her "sleeve cages" which resemble a traditional bustle cage but hers are wore outside of the coat due to the steampunk concept that Sue Williams and I came up with. 

"Holmes: The Art of Deduction"

"A new play, written by Appalachian State University Department of Theatre and Dance faculty member, Derek Davidson. Holmes: The Art of Deduction is a new twist on a "classic" favorite – Sherlock Holmes. This witty, exciting and surprising take on the adventures of Sherlock Homes is sure to be a quick favorite. Sherlock and Watson are solving mysteries with the help of some unlikely assistants. Appalachian State University students star in this fun-loving mystery at Valborg Theatre directed by faculty member, Teresa Lee." -http://theatre.appstate.edu/events/holmes-art-deduction-0

Dates and Times

Date and Time	Admission	Location
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 7:30pm	Students $9.00 Adults $16.00	Valborg Theatre
Thu, 10/02/2014 - 7:30pm	Students $9.00 Adults $16.00	Valborg Theatre
Fri, 10/03/2014 - 7:30pm	Students $9.00 Adults $16.00	Valborg Theatre
Sat, 10/04/2014 - 7:30pm	Students $9.00 Adults $16.00	Valborg Theatre
Sun, 10/05/2014 - 2:00pm	Students $9.00 Adults $16.00	Valborg Theatre

Field trip to Arthurs!

We got to see Arthur's studio space and it was pretty cool.

Arthur's homemade ventilation system

Pickling pot and torch!

Handheld dremmel, lovely and compact. I NEED one. 

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Enameling supplies!

Super fancy 3D printer... Who knows, maybe?

Giant laser printer. Most likely this will be a necessity. I like printing.. big.. things..

I LOVE drill presses. They're super fun. 

Rolling mill (very handy) and I can't remember what exactly the black plate is. 

Oddly, this Spring Hammer maker-flatter-thing is very handy. I love the one in the shop. 

Everything was so organized and lovely. Hey look! A second dremmel!

I'm in love with this toolbench. But it's a little tall for me.. #shortpersonproblems

Critique thoughts- Pewter Cast

So I'm pretty proud of how those pieces turned out, I have to say. The pin/turned wire wrapped ring wasn't my best work but it was a means to an end so there. I'm in love with the pendant and as soon as I get it back, I'm wearing it. While the earrings are a tad heavy, I'm thinking about making them into keychains! But I don't know, I worked pretty decently hard on them and I think that there are some processes that work and some that definitely don't. Also getting to know pewter was fun, because I feel like its collective weight is heavier than it actually makes itself out to be. Whatever- random thought.
Anyway, I think for my concept it was relatively succeessful and while there's things I would tweak definitely, it was a decent way of learning the majority of the processes.

Critique!

Look ma! I made a thing!

I finished the earrings! I didn't make the hooks for them but I feel like you just have to count your battles. I've been a little busy...

Intentions

I never intended to be an art major.
I never even intended to be an art minor.
I'm a theatre major through and through. But I paint and design and thought an art class would be good for me. Then I took a second art class. Then I took 3 more and applied for the department and got in. I had and still have no plans in being "a living artist". I plan on taking what skills I have learned into the theatre world and utilizing them when needed or when I have the access to materials and tools in which I could to make something needed for a show. I have no intention on making things for "shows" which seems arbitrary to me. I like making gifts for people, I don't know. I also already have people who pay good money to see the things I create, the spaces and atmospheres and people I reinvent.

My art is in improvisation of what materials I have access to or what is around me currently. I will most likely never cast anything again unless it's something I need specifically.

Just wanted to put that out there.

Ring a ding ding

Something I've gotten really good at is thinking on my feet.

After a few attempts in trying to make that "pin" a pin, it refused. I had a back on it and I ended up taking it off because it was way too heavy. Pewter is so much heavier than I thought. BUT so what I ended up doing was spending a night haphazardly wirewrapping it into a ring and I have to say, it's not bad!

The project keeps expanding...

So in my mind, a set constitutes what? A necklace and earrings. What about a pin? How about a bracelet? I'm going to kill myself with this project. So I'd really like to smack myself right about now. But I'm in the process of sculpting a rocket themed bracelet.

These are the photos I'm referencing:

This one to the right, especially. I was inspired by the edges and curves and the wonderful shape of the rocket as a whole. 

So Much Filing. Sanding. UGH.

I have to say that one thing I dislike about pewter is how it contaminates whatever tools you use. I have to clean any files I use and can only use certain tools in the metal shop. But filing and sanding metal takes a very long time. Super done with this project. Let's mooooove on, shall we?

But hey! Look at these two!

Why the Hell not...

I'm getting a little crazy with this set of pieces for my project. I took a sabbatical from my earrings and decided to try an open pour sand cast. I carved into the sand and I'm thinking of turning the piece into a pin but it might be too heavy.

  I like how it turned out and it was pretty quick to pour!

Wax Adventures...

I really wanted to make a 3D mold that I can use for the sand cast so I borrowed some of Brendon's wax (he never specified what kind of wax it is). I thought it would be fun to sculpt it so I could have a model to double cast a pair of earrings that were relatively circular.

While I was in the middle of sculpting wax, one thing I found out was to try and keep it from melting (apparently freezing wax helps but agh, it still gets a little melty).

Eh you live and learn.

pEWter

Have you ever noticed how absolutely metallic-ly pewter smells? I'm now having to go home and change anytime I have to go back to work after class. Super obnoxious.

Okay it's not my favorite metal ever. It's super soft and pliable which I like but GAH it smells so bad. Ugh. Not to mention the smell won't get off your hands and you can't use any tools it touches when you work with practically anything else for fear of cross-contamination.

DAMN IT PEWTER. WHY ARE YOU SO IRRITATING.

FIRST CASTING EVERRRRRRRR!

YAY!!! It actually came out pretty well!
Here it is cleaned up and filed and ready to be an amulet.

Carving carving carving....

Casting sand turns out to be a really fun element to carve into. The only downside is that you can't carve all that precisely and I feel like it'll have to be onesided because of the registration marks, I'm worried about carving into the sand and it not laying even. But I'm thoroughly enjoying the experimental method in which I'm trying to attack this first part of my set.

Metals II Beginning

I'm kinda apprehensive about this class... You know, new teacher, new class layout, new guidelines. It's kind of stressful because I'm not used to working with metal hardly, I only had just taken metals I with Lillith and while she's great, spring semester sucked because it snowed so much we had to eliminate 2 whole projects. I feel like there are some severe gaps in my Metals knowledge. But I'm trying to adjust. I'd like if he liked me but the vibe I get isn't all that great. I don't know, it's probably because he can sense that I'm not a metal smith. I would much rather be painting or manipulating clay or something. Eh, let's hope it gets better. I really need to like to this class so I can take enameling next semester!