Letterpress Restoration: Days 3 & 4

After running into issues with finding a way to-safely-remove the cylinder and having a bout of sickness... The cylinder is finally OFF! 

Here I am building the frame onto a media cart where the cylinder was rolled onto...

The look of excitement that it is finally happening AND the look of pure fear that it would not work out...

Annnd the look of complete relief that it WORKED! Quite the "WHEW" moment...

Last Friday (3/7), I was able to have a solid chunk of time to work on the press. As you can see below, the citristrip is working perfectly in removing the blue paint and the naval jelly is working beautifully as it removed virtually all of the rust from the two tracks on the right. 

 

PSU Studio Critique: Critique 2

As a reminder, I am presenting enough material to cover two critique courses.

Class Projects

Jewelry:

This is the first project completed with a gun blue patina.

This is the second project which is also complete (image does not show completed piece). I created the shadowbox pendant with three separate pieces of brass that were soldered together. The inside is organic pieces set in resin. The finished piece also has a gun blue patina.

This is the third project that will be a set of brass and tigers eye earrings. The brass portions will be etched to look like the previously posed image of the “Chinese Lantern.”

Toy Design:

We have jumped all the way into our final projects which includes creating 3 of the toy we design. My ‘toy’ will be a briefcase-like box that a child can tote around with them. It will be filled with materials that they can put together to create their own nature scene. They will be encouraged to take the briefcase with them to collect their own natural items to add to their scene. The purpose of the toy is to promote imagination, outdoor play, and potentially let them see that they can create and use items from nature and/or reuse household items. 

This first image shows a maquette of the briefcase and the type of fixtures that will be needed. Essentially, the box will open up so that the middle of it will lay flat to create a nice playing surface. The briefcase will be made with thin plywood.  

As for what the briefcase will come with, the second image shows a paper cut-out tree that will be made from Masonite. There will be two different sizes included. The paint chips will be used to cut out leaves to add to the trees depending on what season the child wants to display. 

The next image shows more paint chips, a square of carpet, and samples of flooring. These items along with felt and Velcro will be the other provided pieces with the briefcase. There will be several sets of felt to line the inside to create the ground for different seasons (i.e. green will be grass). The blue paint chips will be cut into shapes of bodies of water, and will have the rough side of Velcro attached so they can be moved around and secured to the felt. The carpet square may be cut into smaller pieces, dyed, and have Velcro attached to create tufts of grass, snow, dirt, etc. The floor samples will be used along the same lines. 

One component of the project is to be 3D printed; I am currently having two twigs scanned to. There are notches carved out of the ends so that the printed twigs will be able to stack and mesh like Lincoln Logs.

I am still toying around with a few more ideas to add to the provided pieces: animals painted on rocks, stuffed fabric or cardboard cone mountains, felt and wire flowers, etc.

Personal Projects

Shadow Box:

During the first critique I presented my shadow box ideas which would include a light source, more depth and larger scale than ones I have previously made, combining materials, and an extreme visual experience. The response I received from Portico and my peers was that I should not limit myself to the inside of the shadow box, but have the outside interesting. My interests in organic, natural materials were suggested to be a primary source of what the final piece is composed of. The suggestions, more specifically, were to frame it with sticks, “nature over comes everything,” “nature in a box,” mirrors to capture different parts of the inside, different opening to look through.Taking my thoughts and their advice, I have gathered many objects that I intend to develop this shadow box with. 

This image below shows a collection of organic pieces that will be used as natural, “living” parts of the project.

To further my original interests, below are additional materials that will be used. Photos, transparencies, solar plate, handmade-paper, veneer, matte boars, wood, and a few miscellaneous items.

Another suggestion for this project was to use lids to open and peer into the box, this image shows two halves of a case that could be used as panels or “lids.” Along with these wood pieces, I have included a few knobs that could also be implemented. 

Topic of Bipolar:

I received more great input on the project involving the disease of bipolar which has affected my family in an intimate way. We were in agreement on possibly doing a piece or a series that would be focused on comparisons (i.e. highs vs. lows, bipolar individual and their family vs. outsiders view). I gathered objects and materials that reminded me of my mother and what the disease has been like in my eyes. The following image shows those items coupled with many reflective things which could show the distortion of the disease. 

 

Below is a close up of my interpretation of what has been most prominent with my mom; bottle tops (spray painted) and prescription bottles. She started off as a self-medicated alcoholic and once diagnosed she became medicated on prescriptions; combining the two is extremely powerful and disturbing in my eyes.