LIFE'S RECORD, In Progress, Part 2.

Last time we sat down together I was ready to create a wooden body for the inside of the fork's 'bowl.'

Getting roughed out.

A large hole is marked and two points where I will recess the wood so the fork will 'set' some dichroic glass beads I'd like to use.

After that is prepped, I mark out where I'll be able to peek through the fork tines.

Now turning back to the fork, I create lateral piercings to accommodate two more of Mira's teeth.

These teeth are set in place as well as the glass beads.

The wood is now painted a deep brown.

My hope here is to build a chamber that will contain several more of my daughter's teeth, while having an active rear view. This lens with plated brass housing is almost pitched back in the pile when I spot an uncanny fit that keeps it in play:

This small pocket watch face slots inside the lens assembly as if it were made for it.

Now the fitting is ground down save for three small tabs which will prong into the wood body.

The lens fitting is sealed to make it watertight, and a beautiful 1860's color lithograph becomes the face of the face, as it were.

A nest of teeth are affixed in place with resin. They will next be completely encased in the resin once all elements are together and ready.

One of my resin lenses is made for the hole in the fork, and sea urchin spines are arrayed around it. These spines will share the resin bath with the teeth.

A last minute decision is made - as the resin is setting in the lens fitting, I apply pressure the center of the crystal, shattering it, but the lens remains in place.

Next an engraving is selected that will peer out from the fork's tines.

The hands, holding a mask, become the image surrounding the watch face on the back of the piece.

 

An inscription is made and tiny opal set...

 

...and keys are riveted to some beautiful antique green elastic cord.

 

My wild-card choice is to use waxed linen thread between the pendant and cord. This last shot of color and texture finishes the piece out.

To view the finished piece and to see Mira enjoying it:

http://www.lobue-art.com/lifes_record.html


See you next week for a piece that, even by my standards, is over the top!

Keith



 

CANTO I. In-Progress - Part 3.

Here we go - I'm taking this through to completion...

I'd like to mount a tiny gemstone into the body of the mirror - this small steel pocket watch gear will become the bezel, and so is annealed in preparation.

  
The hole is drilled...

...and the gear riveted into place with a tiny amethyst on either end.

Now a sharp left turn here as I develop a hanging mechanism for the left side of the pendant. The old glass and brass pin is netted in waxed linen thread and two 'selvagee straps' are created. These are tiny cousins to the sailors' rope rings used for various tasks aboard a vessel. I like the visual shock of a softer material harnessing all the metal and glass.

   
A recent find of a trove of very old glass costume drop beads comes into play here, as I crimp them into the long lengths of 1940's elastic cord that will act as the hanging material.

The other end will have a clasp of sorts (a feature certainly not needed, due to the long cord, but one I like to incorporate when feasible).

The cords are riveted into the keys.

Final connections are made. The key and waxed linen talk to each other, each speaking their own language.

The last of the glass beads are affixed, and the piece is complete.

This has closed out my 2013 and set the stage for more exploration in the coming months.

For CANTO I purchasing information:

http://www.keithlobue.com/product/neckpiece-canto-i 

For the complete set of images of CANTO I:

http://www.lobue-art.com/canto_1.html

 

Thank you for coming along for the ride!

 

CANTO I. In-Progress - Part 2.

Welcome back! Work continues on this unusual structure, which as you can see, now sports a name...

To mount an attachment to the left side of my scissor handle, I need to anneal the steel first, as it is quite hardened tool steel.

 This beautiful and very old glass-topped pin is chosen as my attachment. I've owned this little object for twenty-five years. Feels nice to bring it to bear now.

Drilled through and inserted into the scissor. I love the angle.
 

The pin is curled around very slowly and is now a useable connection to the pendant.
 

 To make tiny eye-pins to attach chains to my mirror structure, I carve little 'hand-wrought' style nails.

Chains are added and the general form works for me. It has a great movement.
Attention turns now to the wooden mirror itself.

The silvered backing is selectively removed to allow my imagery to be framed by the mirror surface.

The 'paddle' end is pierced to allow a two-sided visual. 

  

I select as a facial image an engraving of 19th-century British philosopher Jeremy Bentham. A fascinating man in his own right, but memorable for many years to me for his request that his body be dissected and then presented as an 'Auto-Icon', where it sits today. You can read all about him here and see an interactive 360˚ view of the Auto-Icon here.
 

If I've been able to lure you back from your macabre detour, the mirror is prepped.
 

The title for the piece is now chosen, as I've got a pretty rounded-out vision of what is coming together. 'CANTO I.'

 

Preparing the back of the mirror 'stack', here choosing an early 19th-century patent-application engraving and adding my signature to be seen from the back of the piece.

Mica is cut as the back window of the stack.

 

As the stack of glass, image and mica come together, I make one of those wild-card decisions that make me trust my intuition.

 

 The mirror is lightly scored and cracked in two places. To my delight, the tiny fragments of silver dot the area under the eye like tears.

Time to drop the mirror structure into the bezel of brass.

The tabs are delicately pushed over the wood, with a thick pad of felt underneath to protect the glass elements as well as the wood, which is quite brittle with age.

The pendant portion of the piece is now, except for one detail I'm about to add, complete.

Join me one more time as I work out a typically unorthodox method for hanging the pendant. Thanks for joining me!

CANTO I. In-Progress, Part 1

Hello and glad to be back in the step-by-step mode of bringing you with me into a new piece.

The kick-off is this miniscule Victorian wooden hand mirror, most likely made as a doll's accessory. I've been nurturing this object for a long time and its time has finally come.

I love the upside-down orientation, so that's where my instinct starts me.

Time to remove the mirror.

 Now I'm setting about cutting a small hole in the bottom of the handle and making a glass lens to fit.

This glass was melted in my kiln and will now be used as the lens.

 Cut down, tapered...

...and polished.

My next major element is brought in - a 1940's brass coaster with the glass center removed. I cut the ring to enable me to shape it.

After deciding to form-fit the coaster brass to the mirror, I set to work.

So far, so good. Slow work.

 

The forming finished and soldered together, I can now turn to working out how to further modify and join them.

I'm going to make tabs that will fold around the wooden mirror, which will also serve to greatly reduce the depth of the piece.

 

Roughed out and ready to be finessed. At this point I'm thinking about hanging possibilities, while it's still in a rough state.

 

This fantastic steel-and-brass scissor handle is cut down and will make a perfect asymmetrical top to the pendant.

 

The right side chain is anchored to the brass body. The form is really taking discernable shape.

Join me next week to see where I'll take it. Comments are welcome!

Ciao!

Keith