knife and Adam Whitney visit

I am slow with the blog posts. Adam Whitney came to RISD to do a demo for my metalsmithing class.  Adam is selling his work online and honestly you have to hold it in your hand to really appreciate all the time and energy that goes into making these little vessels. You should all visit his site here: https://aw-metalsmith.com/

On another note I am working on a few knives. I am actually modding a few knives first before I take the plunge into making the body components. I started by taking about a few existing knives and them remaking them in plexi using the laser cutter.  As soon as I get the template down I will get a few blanks cut and start actually make my own.  For now I thought I would post a few images of what I have so far.  

Just a quick couple of things.  First, I recently did a lecture for Joe Wood's Digi fab class. They had a Radical Jewelry Makeover exhibition that Joe worked so hard on putting up.  It looks great. Lots of great work in the show. I believe they are auctioning off the work tomorrow!   

This semester has been a but blurry. I am trying to squeeze work in here and there but it has almost been impossible. I have however been productive on the stone setting front, dramatically improved my CAD workflow and messed around with the Form1.  

We have had a million visitors.  Recently, after AdamWhitney, Zac Lopez-Ibanez from Fehlo and Vincent Pontillo-Verrastro  both came to lecture.  Their visits overlapped! I have also been dusting off the old metalsmithing arm and making a few things in class.

We only have a few days left in the semester! Eeek! I am looking forward to the break.

So many things

The last couple of weeks have been intense. Recently, we had mid-terms (along with a visiting midterm critic). This past week Adam Whitney came to lecture for the professional practices class. Along with Gabriel Craig and Amy Weiks, Adam is a co-owner of Smithshop in Detroit. He also stuck around and did demos for the metalsmithing class. Adam is such a great example of a metalsmith that is actually participating in the field in a non academic way. Smithshop does so many things. It is so great to see their success. We had a blast!  The seniors also had a great trip to Boris Bally's studio where he showed them his bench tests from when he studied to be a goldsmithing in Europe.  I was blown away! 

Tanya Crane came to town for halloween. Liz dressed up as Rosie the riveter, Tanya dressed up as Frida Kahlo and I of course wore my hotdog costume. We went out for dinner and then did karaoke.  It was a blast. I needed a little down time.  

On another note, Liz has been doing a lot of small drilling and I thought I would get her a small drill press.  We had a few Dumore drill presses at New Paltz.  I kind of thought I would never want/use one myself but I have also needed to drill holes for settings etc.  I kind of got burned on eBay.  It has been a while since that has happened. The listing said is was "missing a small part" but is other than that brand new!  Well the entire inside of drill was missing.  The motor, the cord, the switch etc. Basically it was a hollow shell. When I called Dumore to get replacement parts they said it was going to cost $600!!!!! Wha wha whaaaaaaa. I did get lucky and found a new/old one on eBay for $300. Now I have spare parts.  

The links for my bracelet came back today.  I am excited to get this show on the road.  I need to get this work out the door for the holiday.  I have not had the time to dedicate to the work that I would like and as a result it has been slow moving.  I have also started working on a few more bracelets for a show. Again, super slow. Lots of tests.