Wednesday 27 April 2011

Cutting Resin Stones for Jewellery Showcase at Yorkshire Sculpture Park



I've been making good use of the dry weather and working outside cutting and sanding new stones. I need to make a sizeable collection of work for Yorkshire Sculpture Park by the end of June. As I've mentioned before, part of this work will come from new designs inspired by the grounds and the exhibits at YSP - which is currently Jaume Plensa

As well as writing about my YSP collection, I will document creating finished pieces from the initial stages of cutting blocks of resin into stones. For the benefit of people who are unfamiliar with my work, I've interspersed images of finished pieces throughout this post to give an idea of how the resin looks when it is polished and mounted.

Whilst juggling my baby steps blog writing and progressing my YSP work, I've been thinking about my first experience with resin back in college. Our 1st year plastics tutor Sarah Thirlwell asked us to bring in a selection of interesting organic or manmade items to use in the demonstration she was to give us all.  After a last minute lunchtime scarper to Fred Aldous and a rivel through the scarps draw, (apologies Sarah), I was good to go.

Sarah showed us the basics of mixing resin with the hardener and we all plopped our chosen artifacts into the clear resin, with varying degrees of success. Mine was one of the worst by a mile. My best efforts were two army action figures simulating a sexual act, followed by 'The Swan Lake Massacre' - feathers, sparkles and netting shoved into an ice cube tray filled with resin. Ground breaking. 

Over the following weeks I focused on experimenting with colour in my samples.  My Art & Design background is in printed textiles where colour is paramount and I noted that all the resin and plastics work I researched were (for my taste) lacking subtly of colour and mostly straight from the pot. My second goal was to introduce another element to the resin which enhanced my design, rather than becoming the focal point of the piece. I wanted to work with the material (resin), rather than relegating it to a supporting role i.e. see how lovely Aunty Vera's hair/teeth/favourite object d'art looks encapsulated in resin. This thought is the one which has continued to inspire me ever since.

After 6 weeks of 15hrs per day, I managed to produce my first resin bangles and designs which I still use today. I also required two courses of antibiotics to clear up an infection which had developed in my thumb - sanding injuries exacerbated by resin dust, sintered metals and blood, sweat and tears.


One of six designs. The shape for these came from drawings I made of
Japanese textiles.

A later incarnation of one of my early Japanese stencil designs - neutral colours,
sintered brass inclusions and for the first time, a subtle use of pattern


Throughout this 1st yr college project, we discussed our successes and failures - our samples and eventually, our finished pieces. The predominant feedback was how difficult a medium this was to work with because so many things had gone wrong for so many people, from melting plastic cups of resin through to resin that refused to set. Our course tutor had been constantly telling us that we must strive to find our own unique style, method or process. I figured that resin might be worth further investigation, because it was clearly so challenging.



Blocks of resin in the unpromising early stages


Above is a block of resin after an appointment with the belt sander removing the top layers of resin and sintered metal residue, (so that I can make out the pattern and some of the colours underneath).  Below, the same block has been sanded further and the alluminium and silver can be seen within the tree pattern. 



Tree design - this evolved from a drawing I made of the tree which is situated
outside my studio window

Bandsaw and belt sander outside in the garden.  My faithful companion, Bonny
is lying in her favourite spot, watching me work



The pictures above and below show how the blocks look after they have been further sanded.  At this stage I then decide how best to carve these up by drawing possible stone shapes on the surface.



Cutting up the larger resin blocks into manageable pieces

This is a cross section through the resin slab, showing the many different layers
within a block


After I've decided how a block is going to used, I cut around the pen marks using a bandsaw. The pendant below is similar in size to the stone cut out above.


Jane Dzisiewski 

The photographs of the Izar design to follow, were inspired by stones from the River Izar in Munich. Whilst over in Germany for Schmuck 2008 and doing the rounds seeing all the satellite exhibitions in the many galleries and ateliers there, at the JAMES exhibition (this link is to their 2011 exhibition), I gravitated towards some lovely pebbles.  It transpired that they belonged to a maker called Christine Graf.  She told me to leave my details and that she would collect some from the banks of the River Isar and send them to me. True to her word, a package arrived a few weeks later containing not only stones, but also a bag of chocolates which had been inspired by them! 



Izar design


Obviously the colours seen here are nothing like those of the original stones (although I have done several blocks in their more neutral colours). When I'm making blocks, I might use bits of fabric, paintings or photographs to inspire the choice of colours used on any given day.



Izar design

Izar design

Izar design

Izar design

Izar design

Izar design

Izar design

Izar design

Izar design

Jane Dzisiewski: Izar design - pendant and ball chain

A selection of stones after first sand

Jane Dzisiewski: Tree and Japanese Stencil design

A selection of stones after first sand (belt sander)

Crochet design

Crochet design


Jane Dzisiewski: Crochet design - Brooch


Tree design

Tree design


Jane Dzisiewski: Tree design - Pendant & handmade chain


After second sand using Dremel

After second sand using Dremel


The design for the brooch below, evolved from the piece of crocheted silver set within the resin. I made a drawing of this, which I then used to create the decorative silver back as well as the block of resin, from which I cut the tear drop stone. 


Jane Dzisiewski: Crocheted Stone design - brooch


For the next two weeks I will be sanding and polishing the stones I've cut, as well as producing work for an exhibition at Manchester Craft & Design Centre called Constructions. This is a unique show highlighting the different methods, techniques and processes used by some of Manchester's designer/makers. Contributors are Eve Redmond, Lucy Harvey, Sadie Blythin , Janet Worrall and Deborah Zeldin O'Neill.



Saturday 16 April 2011

Jaume Plensa Exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

I went to Yorkshire Sculpture Park again yesterday.  It's half term, so it was a great opportunity to immerse my son Freddy in a bit of culture.  Also, when I went last week the Jaume Plensa exhibit wasn't fully open to the public, so this was my first chance to see the work inside the Underground Gallery.


50 metre curtain of poetry made of suspended steel letters

Jaume Plensa - Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2011


These are breathtaking - and the pictures do not show their ethereal quality

There are pulsating lights above these sculptures, which has the effect of making the carved
stone pieces look like holographic images

Jaume Plensa - Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2011


Jaume Plensa - Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2011


Jaume Plensa - Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2011


Jaume Plensa - Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2011


Jaume Plensa - Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2011


Jaume Plensa - Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2011


Jaume Plensa - Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2011


Jaume Plensa - Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2011


Jaume Plensa - Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2011


Jaume Plensa - Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2011

Three trips to Yorkshire Sculpture Park in the past month is more than sufficient to gather ample research and ideas for a new collection of work. No more avoidance tactics - head down.


Tuesday 12 April 2011

Yorkshire Sculpture Park - Jewellery Showcase

Last Thursday I took a trip to Yorkshire Sculpture Park, to gather research for new work I am doing as part of my Jewellery Showcase there in July/August. Since my previous visit, the David Nash exhibition has come down, and finishing touches were being made to the Jaume Plensa exhibit, which promises to be as equally amazing as its predecessor. The full exhibition only opened to the public on Saturday, but I managed to take a few shots of the outside exhibits I had access to..


YSP staff member unwittingly giving a sense of scale
It was very surreal seeing these forms within the Yorkshire landscape

The Underground Gallery

On top of the roof of the Underground Gallery

The Gardens

The Gardens - detail

The Gardens

From these photographs, my initial response will be to create two new resin designs to use in approximately half of the work I supply for my YSP Showcase. The rest will come from existing designs in my portfolio.

A few weeks ago I showed a fellow maker Lucy Harvey some of the processes behind making the resin blocks. She suggested that I record selected parts of the journey from the design stage through to the finished pieces, as she had not realised how much work was involved in making my resin stones and bangles. I like to challenge people's perceptions about what is valuable and evidencing my design process and work development in this way seems a good place to start.