Self- evlauation

For the total cost of 141.66, I am pleased with the overall look of my model as the use of brass metal shows that the item is a piece of jewelry, without the image of the original on show. I believe that brass sheets were effective and layer up well, though I knew there would be areas where the viewer cannot see the metal's surface underneath the feathers and overlapping plates. For a highly polished finish, I would like to use gold solder and wire if I were to make the object again. Perhaps an overall cheaper option for this project would be to make another Kingfisher hair piece with Silver backing. By cutting aluminium by hand and using regular solder, the project would have become less focused on the finish of the metal work, and more about the feather enamelling. I feel that making a smaller piece would have allowed me to try the technique of laying individual feather filaments alongside each other, to fill a much smaller area. However, by simply chopping all the feathers into square shapes and laying them out in diagonals across the plates, the mosaic effect in the original is achieved. This is evident in some places in my model, though I was inconsistent by laying the larger feathers in swirling patterns to the shape of the plate. I believe that the use of real Kingfisher feathers was appropriate to the function of the object by accurately representing the colour and sheen of the original. Though I have found sources discouraging the use of Kingfisher feathers in Jewelery, I believe that this was the most accurate method to convey the issue discussed in my back board and therefore, should be suitable for use in educational models. After all, if it is legal to buy Kingfisher feathers for Fly fishing and craft purposes, many people can easily get hold of them without considering where the Kingfishers have come from and if they are endangered.

Cleaning up

Once my backboard was printed and fitted to the foam board, I decided that the gold foam surrounding my object would not fit neatly within the cut out square, leaving a bumpy, unprofesional finish. For a more clean cut display, I made the decision to remove the foam completely from the backing, leaving a black painted space surrounding the object. This ties the board together as black is used to back the image of another Kingfisher hair piece I chose to use. The space for the object was masked off using a cut out that I drew slightly larger and simpler than the laser cut tests for the backplate. While this area was to remain gold, I sprayed the surrounding boarder with black, matt paint. Once this had dried, I secured the object in position with strong, double sided tape to make sure that it is secure but removable without damage to the object.

Prior to attaching the replica to the backboard, I noticed how some areas had attracted dust or dirt into the glue. To get rid off some of this excess, I brushed on boiling water to re-melt the glue where it had been applied too thickly. I could then use another brush to bring some of the glue off, finishing with paper towel to absorb the excess moisture. The effect of doing this meant that the colouring in the kingfisher feathers could be brought out to a greater intensity while areas of clumped glue where removed completely.

Presentation and backboard

My backboard has been simplified from my original plans so as to fit around the A4 object and it's foam casing. I will be printing the Illustrator document as a PDF on a large format printer in the visual communication department of the University. The paper to be used has a slight gloss finish, ideal for bringing out the intensity of the colour ink. Once I have secured my print to the foam bard, I may wish to reinforce the back of my board with MDF as there are gaps between the brass sheet and foam board. I will also decide whether to use acrylic on top of my graphics to protect my display board and object.

Finished model

Assembling

Once the process of layering feathers and twisted wire detailing had set, I could start to bring all the plates together. Removing the shapes from my brass sheets took a while as each piece had to be cleaned up and sanded to remove the tabs. Once I had all my plates, I could begin to assemble them in my decided order, allowing certain areas to overlap. When I was attaching the feathers, I tried to make sure that the real Kingfisher sections would be placed in the most vi sable areas once the plates overlapped. I am allowing plenty of time for the assembling process as areas can fall off and move while the glue is setting. I have also incorporated small strips of foam tape as explained in my diagram.

Costings

Using realistic materials and processes has proven this to be quite an expensive project so far.
Here is a summary of what I have spent:
Brass etchings, (3*A4 at 0.3mm thick, + tooling + postage) = £105.00
Duck feathers dyed kingfisher blue * 28 = £2.56
Kingfisher wing covert feathers * 10 = £7.80
Kingfisher wing feathers * 20 = 17.00, (+ 10 free)
Glue: had
Braso: had
Tools: had
There are currently more feathers in the post at a cost of £9.30.

Still, compared to an original piece this is extremely cheap ! Surviving hairpieces can be found on ebay in varying conditions for hundreds of pounds. A piece as big as my hairclip would cost thousands today.

Drawing to PPD's guidelines

As I have been editing the colours to my drawings, I have been in contact with PPD to ensure they are correct before committing to them being brass etched. Their company proved very helpful as they provided guidelines and sample files for me to follow. Firstly, I had to adjust all my illustrator files onto two layers to include tabs and a boarder to hold them to the sheet once they were cut. After emailing this I was then instructed to draw a boarder round each piece so that the minimum of brass would be wasted. This process took much longer than I expected as all the shapes are fairly close together with their boarders overlapping. The way I drew the lines meant that they did not always join up completely, making the fill process fill in black where it shouldn't. To get around this, Will showed me how to selectively fill sections once I had brought the layers together on one layer. During this time I also realised the pitfalls to my tabs being one mm thick. PPD suggested that these areas could be half etched, but I decided on the slightly cheaper option of making the whole brass sheet thinner. Will showed me what 0.3 thickness brass looks like, and I decided that this would give a better flex to my plates as well as speed up the etching process.

Laser cutting and mid-way crit

To make my drawings suitable for sending to the brass etching company, I have traced the scanned in line drawings used in my sketch model using Adobie Illustrator. Once I had drawn these to comply with the university's laser cutting requirements, I could test these across three A4 sheets of 1mm thick card. Looking at the result, I could see where some of my computer drawings had distorted to be cut bigger than they should be, and I adjusted these accordingly. This week I have also been in touch with PPD to learn how they would like to receive my illustrator files. Adjustments such as ensuring there were no gaps smaller than 1.2mm and changing the colours of the design were made accordingly.

After my group crit, I have been experimenting with materials and adhesives. Using brass offcuts, I applied some dyed feathers I brought off ebay with wood glue that dries clear. The twisted detailing around the brass plates has been replicated with twisted wire. To do this, I clamped two lengths of wire together, secured the other, looped ends into an electric drill and ran the drill until they had twisted together tightly. I then removed the plat from the vice and sprayed the alluminium gold.

Changes to my original making plan have occured as a result of research. Solder will destroy the gold colour to brass sheet metal and will therefor, defeat the point of me using brass in the first place. After considering cheaper materials, I believe that brass will give the best finish and realistic weight and sheen.

Methods of making

Before Easter I constructed a mock up to see how the plates to my hairpiece would fit together and appear at a 2:1 scale. Each layer to the design was traced from my original, A4 image, p[photocopied and cut out to create the templates for each section. I am pleased with the result created from attaching all the plates together and this has lead me to believe that laser cut brass plates will give a nice finish and work well. I have used 2mm thick styrene in the mock - up to give the structure sufficient strength and depth whilst allowing the material to overlap with each other.

To re-produce in gold, I have looked at sites specialising in Brass etching and gold solder. I will be submitting my illustrator drawn outlines to PPD, based in Scotland to be laser cut. To ensure that my drawings are correct and will be read correctly by the laser cutting programme Excalibur, I will test my drawings in veneer using the University's laser cutter. As for the gold solder, I wish to look into using twisted wire painted gold as a substitute due to material costs and availability.

Backboard photographs and illustrations

Modern day photographs of Beijing and the Forbidden City provide me with a style and theme for my early presentation boards. These images were found on Google Earth and allow me to imagine how a gallery themed around Ancient China should look. The fact that these palaces have been preserved and opened to the public show the potential for educating tourists about Ancient Chinese life. The Western market are also interested in the culture and History behind these sites, generating huge markets selling replica goods of this original style and symbolic nature of these items. I have recently found a collectors guide to Hair comb collecting which sites Oriental design as a major influence in Art Deco Jewelry. After further researching jewelry trends on the internet it appears that there are many collectors and enthusiasts who would love to own a piece of Oriental jewelry for themselves at present day, due to their vintage appeal and high value.

The Last Emperor, (1987 directed by Bernardo Bertolucci

Through gathering inspirational research on ethnic jewelry, I found myself particularly interested in chinese Emperial dress, made for Emperors and Empresses across an ancient tradition lasting over ten thousand years. This film shows the decline of China's imperial system up until the last Emperor is expelled from the forbidden city by the Republican army in 1924. Coming to the thrown at the age of three under the command of the Empress Dowager Cixi, the plot tells the extraordinary life of Pu Yi giving a rich insight into the lifestyle and richness that surrounded him within the Forbidden city while the rest of China modernised under Western influence outside his knowledge.

The film was shot on location to accurately re-create the environment in wich the Emperors had lived. All the costumes had to be accurately designed and made for a large number of extras in keeping with traditional garments and dress. As a Historical film, I feel this was a very useful source of information through showing how replicas of traditional items and costume help to tell the story. There tends to be a greater importance attached to the re-creation and restoration of items for museum displays and collections.

Russel Cotes Museum, Bournemouth

Early in this project I paid a visit to this local art gallery/museum for inspiration. The house showcases the lifestyle of those who occupied it, including many royal visitor's portraits and gifts to the house. Two displays showcase objects collected from their travels to Japan and Europe, including illustrations, armer, pottery and furniture. The Japanese Room had a conventional layout found in many museums, while the other items were on display behind glass within the original house. The Japanese room hosted impressive objects, though it was difficult to find the corresponding information to explain what was on show. Large blocks of text stickered onto the wall provided interesting background information, though I found it difficult to pay sufficient attention to it and read in depth. The one interactive was out of order on the date of my visit, but it seemed to consist of screens that would tell a story associated with the items. For me, the most effective elements of this room were the hanging, enlarged card cutouts of items suspended from the ceiling as they are a simple and eye catching way to sum up the style and key items on display. There were few illustrations or photographs to be found here but I did find them much easier to learn from than taking time to read all of the text across the walls.

The areas beyond the conservatory of the house were much more like a traditional art gallery consisting of sculpture and portraiture. Child participation has been strongly considered here, with activities such as giant puzzles, dress-up and question sheets provided. Some of these sheets were organized to cater for different learning levels, considering the needs and interests of the different age groups. The Manga to Muriel section successfully caters for adults and children, the walls showing a series of illustrations with captions while there are several display cabinets posing questions and highlighting points for the kids to look at. In the centre of the room, there are photocopied segments from the drawings for children to create their own interpretation of the artwork.

The merits of this museum include its layout and setting amongst the restored house. There is sufficient information also about the funding and conservation behind it's upkeep to assure visitors where their donations will be spent. Unfortunately, there is a strict no bag and no photography policy here so I was unable to include any exhibits that really stood out to me in my comparison report.

Museum website: www.russel-cotes.bournemouth.gov.uk