FMP Choosing the Materials 12th March

Choosing the Materials   12th March

After designing and my making my mood boards, I had find out what sort of materials that are on offer in the workshop. It's important for me to have all the materials their before I start so that I'm not held up waiting. I don't have time to be waiting round for things to arrive.

So with Matt's help, we had a discussion of what techniques I could use to make my locket. First of all I had to figure out how to make the green part of the locket. I talked to Marriyah and she liked the idea of having glass, or something similar to that, instead of emerald, seeing as I cant really get a hold of it.

We talked about different ways I could melt down the green glass to get the shape I wanted and what effects they will have on the glass itself. One of the techniques we talked about was glass casting. Using chunks of green glass, placing them in a mould and putting them in the kiln to take the shape of the mould. This would be an accurate way to get the shape I wanted, but I have to make sure the mould is exactly right and I have to be able to carefully remove it from the mould.

There was two different moulds I could use. The only problem with the 50% plaster mould is that once in the kiln, the mould cracks and I could only use it once. This means it gives me no room for mistakes. The other mould is a wooden one. This I could use again, but it's a lot harder to get the glass out of the mould once it is heated, but I could put a clay slip to act as a barrier to help, but it still would be difficult.


Another material I could use is resin. I haven't used this material yet, so I'll have to do some sampling of it first, but it does have a smooth consistency and there is a lot of jewellery out there that is made of resin. The other plus side is that I'm able to set small glass pieces in the resin. They have the effect of looking like small gems. Of course I'd have to polish the glass up to look like gems, but it's another option for me to explore.

 Finally, there is acrylic. Although this is an option, it's not really what I'm looking for. I want a shine and slightly clear look to the green part of my locket. The acrylic would be more of a dull shine, and the depth of the acrylic would be a problem as it might make my locket bulky. I'm not ruling it out all together, but I want to explore other materials first.







As far as metals go, there is a range available to me, but the ones I'm most interested in are copper, aluminium, and steel. Aluminium is my first chose as it's not only easy to work with and cut, but is also has a nice shine to it and looks the closest to silver. As for copper, it can be heated into many beautiful colours, one of which is green, and that might be something that Maria might like. It is also easy to cut and mould, which will be good for my design. I have never worked with steel and I'm not sure if it will be any good in my design right now. It's a strong and difficult metal to work with and as my design calls for smaller more intricate cutting, I'm not sure if steel would be ideal for that job in the time frame I have.

Next week will be a busy week of testing and sampling. I'll also have to remember to take measurements of Maria.