For this project, firstly, I knew I wanted to keep the underlying theme (the sea/nature) but move away from my previous collection. I looked at my references I have collected over the last year and came across this picture of a lovely orange coral. I though of how I could capture the beauty and shape of this coral and I decided fly pressing would be the best way.
I decided to make and use a fly press because it was the best way to capture the shape and form of this particular coral. I also wanted to try something new that I hadn’t used in any of my previous projects, and a technique that I could still incorporate enamelling with.
Firstly I fly pressed a few plain silver test pieces, then to get the texture of the coral I drilled different sized holes into the metal beforehand. When I fly pressed this particular piece it broke and ‘exploded’ open along the drilled holes. This was lovely in that it made the process itself organic and unpredictable, as is nature. I used this test piece in my project and I made a ring.
This project has shown me that I design as I work. I start off with a basic idea, but if something changes or happens, I am happy to adapt and alter my design if I think it will be beneficial. My theory is that if something (a ‘mistake’) happens and the mistake itself is beautiful; don’t push it aside because it doesn’t fit in. Adapt and grow, make it part of the process.
I think the customer/viewer can experience this in my piece just by looking at it. You can tell that there was an element of chance in the creation of this piece. There is no formula for creating the ‘exploded’ fly pressed element.
There are some things that need to be resolved with this piece. The setting definitely needs to be refined, and I need to figure out the best way to set odd shaped elements, and practice this.
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