Polar Pin
circa 2009
This pin is really fun to touch, and was even more rewarding to make. I was looking to continue with many of the stylistic choices I'd made in my other white pieces, going for something simple and sleek.
I started with a line drawing of the three main structural elements, and the outer pieces were formed through handmade dies adapted from the drawing. The right side features a surface made from a customized texture sheet (also made from polymer clay). Backfilled dots complete the design. The form on the left is my favourite. I can't tell you how good it felt, after many years immersed in polymer's infinite world of colour, pattern, and texture, to make this form in smooth simple white. My feeling was, with all the visual complexity polymer is capable of, sometimes it makes a bigger statement to choose simplicity. Both of these two outer forms have the same 'racing stripe' edges as the beads in my White Necklace: in the necklace, the orange piping surrounding every bead is the same, bringing unity to the assorted forms and surfaces; in this piece, the cross sections of the two backing layers differ slightly from each other, to complement the edges in the same way the surfaces complement each other.
The central cylinder was made by wrapping contrasting layers concentrically around a tube. I had to be very precise with the thickness of the clay layers so that the final diameter fit snugly within the space created by the two interlocking forms. The orange bowl in the centre began as a slab with a grid of 'Lines' that I peeled to create a thin veneer. I used a circular template to cut the veneer into a circle, and then I draped that circle upside down over a dome support for baking. Turning a flat circle into a three-dimensional dome will reduce the diameter of the original veneer. To ensure that the final dome fit tightly into the cylinder as I needed it to here, I had to start with a circle that was slightly larger than the cylinder's opening. I determined this size through trial and error. A very thin interior rim lines the inside of the cylinder, flush with the front. Once baked, the dome was inserted from behind and it rests against this rim. It was important to me that the edges of the dome not be visible.
The little white ball in the centre of the piece was rolled by hand and baked separately. Then I used a pin vise and tiny drill bit to drill holes in both the white ball and the orange bowl, so I could securely connect them with a small wire rod. I put a drop of cyanoacrylate glue on one end of the rod and pushed it into the pre-drilled hole in the ball. I put more glue on the other end of the rod and then pushed that into the hole in the bowl. The little white ball is very secure within the piece.
I used a similar system of holes and rods to put the pin together. The three structural parts are attached with three metal rods imbedded into the edges of the forms. One of them (the first one I did), connects the centre cylinder with the textured form on the right. Once those were joined, I connected the two outer forms where they meet at the top and bottom. For the pin back, two metal tie tack posts were baked into the back of the pin. The connecting clutches attach to the posts for wearing.
The Polar Pin has been featured in Polymer Arts Magazine, and is currently part of the permanent collection at Woman Creative Art & Jewelry Design Center Gallery in Buford, GA.
Polar Pin
circa 2009
This pin is really fun to touch, and was even more rewarding to make. I was looking to continue with many of the stylistic choices I'd made in my other white pieces, going for something simple and sleek.
I started with a line drawing of the three main structural elements, and the outer pieces were formed through handmade dies adapted from the drawing. The right side features a surface made from a customized texture sheet (also made from polymer clay). Backfilled dots complete the design. The form on the left is my favourite. I can't tell you how good it felt, after many years immersed in polymer's infinite world of colour, pattern, and texture, to make this form in smooth simple white. My feeling was, with all the visual complexity polymer is capable of, sometimes it makes a bigger statement to choose simplicity. Both of these two outer forms have the same 'racing stripe' edges as the beads in my White Necklace: in the necklace, the orange piping surrounding every bead is the same, bringing unity to the assorted forms and surfaces; in this piece, the cross sections of the two backing layers differ slightly from each other, to complement the edges in the same way the surfaces complement each other.
The central cylinder was made by wrapping contrasting layers concentrically around a tube. I had to be very precise with the thickness of the clay layers so that the final diameter fit snugly within the space created by the two interlocking forms. The orange bowl in the centre began as a slab with a grid of 'Lines' that I peeled to create a thin veneer. I used a circular template to cut the veneer into a circle, and then I draped that circle upside down over a dome support for baking. Turning a flat circle into a three-dimensional dome will reduce the diameter of the original veneer. To ensure that the final dome fit tightly into the cylinder as I needed it to here, I had to start with a circle that was slightly larger than the cylinder's opening. I determined this size through trial and error. A very thin interior rim lines the inside of the cylinder, flush with the front. Once baked, the dome was inserted from behind and it rests against this rim. It was important to me that the edges of the dome not be visible.
The little white ball in the centre of the piece was rolled by hand and baked separately. Then I used a pin vise and tiny drill bit to drill holes in both the white ball and the orange bowl, so I could securely connect them with a small wire rod. I put a drop of cyanoacrylate glue on one end of the rod and pushed it into the pre-drilled hole in the ball. I put more glue on the other end of the rod and then pushed that into the hole in the bowl. The little white ball is very secure within the piece.
I used a similar system of holes and rods to put the pin together. The three structural parts are attached with three metal rods imbedded into the edges of the forms. One of them (the first one I did), connects the centre cylinder with the textured form on the right. Once those were joined, I connected the two outer forms where they meet at the top and bottom. For the pin back, two metal tie tack posts were baked into the back of the pin. The connecting clutches attach to the posts for wearing.
The Polar Pin has been featured in Polymer Arts Magazine, and is currently part of the permanent collection at Woman Creative Art & Jewelry Design Center Gallery in Buford, GA.