Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Cockatoo skull casting



The upper beak of parrots is hinged while the lower one has a sliding pivot from a short arm joined to the skull. Both are connected by a complex process of the palate and the result gives these birds an incredibly dexterous beak, capable of doing a lot of damage with great co-ordination.

To do a lost wax casting like this is very painstaking - a rubber mold cannot be made of the whole thing because it couldn't be removed. So the skull is trepanned and dissected, very thin sections are built up and molds made of the components. The whole is then easily assembled from the resulting injected wax parts and investment cast.

Sterling silver cuffs


Three different versions of a hollow cast slip-on cuff. The whole thing is a refinement of a lobster's tail with diminishing segments. The one with the stone was a request -another lab ruby. The steam punk version rivets are just droplets of wax size-matched, scraped off a metal plate and welded to the wax model.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Mabe Pearl Fish

This cast silver broach incorporates a cutltured Tahitian Mabe pearl.

Beetle Necklace

At dusk these introduced South African dung beetles leave their dung pats and zoom around looking for a better one. They are lousy pilots and they are regularly seen to have impaled themselves on fence barbs. They are a scarab, black and irridescent blue. This is all in sterling silver, the beetles are hollow cast and blackened. Its very punk, dangerous to wear - for a dangerous woman who has ended at least four relationships.