"A Handful of Memories" - New Project

A sneak peek at the most recent project by Danielle Kathleen! This week we're looking at creating a line of silhouette pieces, including hair pins, brooches and pendants. You can see above the first internal collection of the "Handful of Memories" series, the "Magic Mirrors," which are in their brooch form. They will be black and white acrylic when completed! Watch this space for the photos of the completed pieces. Only a couple of weeks away! 

In the mean time, tell us what you think about the designs and ideas so far! Would you like a "Memory" of your very own?

Crowned & Bound Video

The fashion show that Danielle Kathleen was recently in has created a short sneak peek video for all of the Crowned & Bound fans! Why don't you go have a look and see if you can catch a look at the "Wind in the Reeds" series. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg-J74kDQ5k

The art piece featured is by my good friend Sarah Carlson, who based her designs on umbrellas and incense coils. 

"Rose Bud" Rings- Current Projects 2

The final look of the "Rose Bud" rings! I've added a patina to the inside of the buds, colouring them red and black (you can't see the black very well here). I'm thinking of changing the name to either "the Queen of Hearts Told Me To" or "Painting the Roses". 

Cast Away Magic

After a long and terrifying day we cast some of my latest wax creations in silver! Terrifying because, for the first time, we did it without the help of our head of workshop, Johannes Kuhnen, a highly successful, fantastic metalsmith. After a collaborative effort from several of my peers, I now feel confident in doing two of the three steps entirely flying solo. 

This first piece is the garden rods piece, not entirely successful as one of the buds detached during investment (and floated to the top) and another broke off after the successful cast and needs to be soldered back on. 

The second piece is the entirely successful cast of the splayed rods! (In the sketch i've called it "rayed"). I need to make some ring bases to attach these beautiful pieces to!  

Buried in Concrete

Bad news! Arched rods died a terrible, investment related death... 

It was very sad, but the good news is that the splayed rods (in the photo at top) was made to replace it. 

"Organic Half-Round" Rings - Current Projects

The "Organic Half-Round" Rings were a project idea I had that followed on from the lost wax cast project and tied into the vulcanized rubber project differently to the "Rose Bud" rings. These rings are made both in wax as a head to the ring, which is then altered before rubber moulding it, and entirely formed in metal. 

Seen below are the wax heads, soon to be silver (so watch this space!) 

"Vessel" - Current Projects

The "Vessel" vessels are designed to be used as product bottles- either perfume or some other substance- that sit in a small rack, rather like test tubes. Called "vessels" because I wanted their open end to look something like blood vessel, carrying precious cargo. These were a sand cast project, meaning that the middle object you can see here was turned on a lathe in wood, which I then packed an investment of sand around to form a vessel shaped hollow. Then I poured molten brass into the cavity to form the final object. On the left is a failed cast, the right is the beautiful final result.  

"Rose Bud" Rings- Current Projects

Currently in the workshop we've been looking at casting as a technique. The "Rose Bud" Ring series are three rings that use the lost wax casting procedure. 

Beginning with a cut off from a long wax ring blank, I cut the three ring bases, sanding and polishing them into shape. Then, spinning a wax bud onto a length of copper rod from a melted pool, I created the rose buds that are fused into the "stone" position. 

After investing the pieces into a plaster cast, the wax was then melted out forming a perfect ring-shaped cavity. Molten silver poured into this cavity and presto! Three fantastic, unique rings. 

This is what they looked like after I removed all the sprues. They still needed cleaning up, and I'm thinking of casting them again in vulcanized rubber so make multiples. Also, I want to patina the buds so that they look as red as they do in the wax. Pretty, no?

Banner/Business Card

What do you think of the new business card idea?

The aim was to find a feminine, organic, simple design that attracted the eyes. All design and graphics are completed by Danielle Kathleen. 

"Tension/Suspension" Series

"Tension/Suspension" speaks in the Danielle Kathleen aesthetic perfectly, featuring long, sweeping lines and sudden, balancing shapes. 

Made using washi and steel rods, the pieces echo what was begun in the "Wind in the Reeds" series into a more commercially wearable product. 

"Sakura" Series

The "Sakura" hairpins are a series of twenty hairpins that compliment the "Wind in the Reeds" series. 

In this series I looked at jewelery as ornament and function both. The brooch, for instance, can be used to secure parts of the garment as well as adorn the body. Similarly, the hairpin can be used to both fix the hair into a style as well as garnish the body in a unique way. 

Following the Japanese garden inspiration of the "Wind in the Reeds," the hair pins reflect Geisha hair ornaments, as well as being designed to work in pairs, having one shape be the "flower" coupled with a "leaf".

The pins come in five different colours- red, blue, green, purple and black-

as well as five different shapes -leaf, spear, arch, circle and half circle. Each pin then has a unique pattern of washi on the face. Made from anodised aluminium, I had the basic pin laser cut from Ponoko (http://www.ponoko.com/home), as well as the transparent acrylic faces. After anodising I riveted the faces on with sterling silver (925) wire. 

The series was shown publicly in the Eleventimestwenty exhibition at the Out of Hand Gallery, Gold and Silversmithing Workshop, Australian National University School of Art from the 27th of August to September 

1st, 2009.  

"Wind in the Reeds" Series

The pieces from "Crowned and Bound", which I called the "Wind in the Reeds" series featured long, gently curving wires and a feeling of light weight, movement and sweeping beauty. I tried to incorporate natural curves and tension, following the line of the body or the wire in a way that emulates the nature inspiration I had. 

The series, based on the "High Tea with Mrs Woo" fashion label, encapsulates the imagery of a Japanese-esque water garden. Featuring long reeds, lotus flowers and origami layering, the organic beauty is most apparent as the model walks, allowing the bob and sway of the piece to bring it to life. 

My materials included Japanese paper, called washi, long rods and wires of steel, some stainless steel, copper and plastic sheet and tubes, glue and spray paint. Although the

connection to the body was static, I aimed to have the reeds connect and hold simply via tension. Thus, a sense of precarious fragility was formed when the wires pierced the paper to hold it there, or the rods shot through a link to secure them without permanency. Highly wearable and adjustable, these large fashion pieces flare about the body of the model to distinct visual and tactile effect.  

Crowned and Bound Fashion Collaboration

On September 1st the Gold and Silversmithing students from ANU School of Art conducted a fashion show that featured a fantastic array of individually designed body ornaments. 

In collaboration with a local boutique fashion store, the "Department of the Exterior," the students researched and drew on several high-end Australian fashion labels, such as Dogstar, High Tea With Mrs Woo, Ess Hoshika, Mild Red, Skin and Thread, Material By Product and more. 

Showcasing the new Spring/Summer 09 season from the fashion labels, paired shrewdly with the best of the designed pieces, the Crowned and Bound fashion show brought a piece of the international fashion sphere into the heart of Canberra. 

The turn out was amazing, with over 500 attendees, dining on the happily donated food and sponsored refreshments from China Plate Seafood Restaurant and ...., both local Canberra businesses that generously gave to support the event. 

Danielle Kathleen featured five pieces in total, following an design of then, flowing lines and natural leaf and flower-like shapes. Titled the "Wind in the Reeds" series, the pieces included a bangle, collar, headpiece and two rings. Inspiration for the series came from the label "High Tea with Mrs Woo," and the image of a Japanese lotus garden that the label recalled to Danielle Kathleen, herself. 

Following is a link to several images from the show, as well as a review of the exhibition. 

Out In Canberra.com.au 

http://www.outincanberra.com.au/articles/canberrasmetalsmithingstudentsshowgold 

Metal Work

Silver, copper, gold and stainless-

Metal is a forever substance, a precious commodity. When you wear metal you're asking the piece to last- not just to be worn once and discarded like so much refuse and mass productive flotsam- but to really be there, accentuating, defining, identifying. Something you place on yourself as a signature. You must love it if you're to accept the piece as a symbol of your soul. 

Does it speak to you? What does it say? 

When you take metal and shape it, giving it meaning and moment and space to occupy, do you change something more than its shape? And, if you pair it with other materials, what do they then mean, and do they ascribe other connotations to the metal itself? 

Danielle Kathleen explores the dichotomy of shape and materials, of the beauty of the product to the raw strength and durability of the material. Contrast and refined, organic shapes, coupled with tension and balance define the Danielle Kathleen aesthetic.