my faves from HIGH SCHOOL, time of the Wolverines (part #4)

MY FAVORITE SERIES OF PIECES BY FAR ! A combination of found object casting with lost wax casting!!!

All of these pieces are rings made of sterling sliver, most of which I've oxidized. They are very sculptural and most (I think all of them) are too fragle, sharp, and even heavy/awkward to wear. These are still some of my most treasured art works that I've made.

This ring was made from casting a real leaf. This piece is very fragile and the one that I'm MOST PROUD OF. After I finished casting and cleaning up the ring, I soldered a tube setting on the leaf, oxidized it, and set a mystic topaz gemstone in the tube setting.


Here is part of a Holly-hawk seed pod and wax band that I sculpted, then cast into sterling. This piece has also been oxidized.


Here is a piece of Milkweed seed pod and wax that I cast into a quite unique ring. After I cast and cleaned the ring, I oxidized the seed pod to bring out the details and epoxied in little (micro) colorful, metallic balls.


This ring is my Wheat Ring, again it was cast out of wax and a piece of weed/wheat that I found. It is 100% silver and the wheat has been oxidized.


This is my Topless Ring... all cast sterling silver and oxidized.

my faves from HIGH SCHOOL, time of the Wolverines (part #5)

P.M.C. (precious metal clay)

So this process involves this "clay" metal that we rolled out with pens and then stamped patterns into. Then we cut out the shapes we wanted and poked holes in them with toothpicks for the jump-rings. Then we heated them up with the torch until they were glowing red, and after they cooled they were done!! Heating them up with the torch cooks out all/most of the clay particles so only the metal, in this case sterling silver, is left.

I hung all of the necklaces on waxed cotton cord, and the bracelet as well.


Gift to my lovely Mother

my faves from HIGH SCHOOL, time of the Wolverines (part #3)

DOMING to the max

This piece is very complicated...I had to saw out the band to fit the top ring. I also had to form the top ring and file it down with a half round file so that it fit the band. Then I formed a sterling dome and soldered it into the top ring. The last step was to soldered a tube set into the center of the dome and set the peridot gemstone into it. Then to give it a bit more sparkle, I used a diamond bit tool on the dremel and tapped in a texture in a band around the top ring.


This ring was made with sterling wire, sterling sheet, and brass sheet metal. I punched out and domed one brass disc and one silver disk and soldered them together, then I cut it in half and soldered it to the inside of the larger sterling dome. Then the whole thing was soldered to the sterling band I formed.


Here is a ring I made out of sterling and a slice of a wooden dowel. The decorative feature on the ring consists of three sterling domes I soldered together and then continued to drilled a hole through them and soldered a sterling wire though the hole and glued it into the wooden band. To make the band I cut off a slice of a dowel rod, then drilled out the center and stained it. The reason it appears so rustic is because I never cleaned off the fire scale from the torch, I just sanded it down a bit with some sand paper.


Here is a little sprouting seed sculpture! The pebbles holding it up are made up of three sterling domes, the seed is made of two brass domes soldered together with a sliced piece bent back as if it were sprouting. The stem is made of sterling wire with one copper leaf soldered on.

my faves from HIGH SCHOOL, time of the Wolverines (part #2)

Ceramics in high school! I litterly think this little guy took me a few weeks of class time to make which is ridiculous... I even made the tie and hat band out of textured brass, and the top hat I sewed together out of black felt.


Here is a random ceramic's piece from highschool, I love this triangular container though !


CASTING (lost wax & cuttlebone)... some of my favorite techniques

ALL of the below pieces were carved out of wax then cast into silver (except for the cuttlebone casting)

The mask on this piece was carved out of wax, then cast and soldered onto the square wire below it.


These two pieces I also soldered on prongs and set stones in them. *BLINGIN*
The ring below has a gold prong setting.


This necklace has a sterling prong setting.


These two pieces I inlay-ed stones in them. I had to drill holes into them and bend the surrounding metal over the edges of the stone to secure them in place. This is insanely difficult...at least for me.



This is a cuttlebone casting, I carved the design into a cuttlebone and then poured melted sterling into it and cleaned it up.

I know this is weird, but here are some of my faves from HIGH SCHOOL, time of the Wolverines (part #1)

Cut out and Soldered

My MOST PRIZED PIECE ! It took an extreamly long time to make. It was made entirley of sterling silver sheet metal. First I decided what shape I wanted the exterior band to be. Then formed the inter cuff, drilled some air holes, and soldered the two together. I then set the exterior form on its side on sterling sheet metal and soldered it down, cut it out and soldered down the other side and cut that one out as well. Sorry, I know I'm doing a terrible job explaining this... Next I soldered on three tube settings and scratched up the entire piece with a file and oxidized it. After that I set two peridot gemstones and one cubic-zirconia stone. Kabam, Done!


This piece won a bracelet competition at NAJA Tool and Supply in Denver in 2007. I won first place out of three different students that entered and received $100.


After that competition my teacher had me enter a national competition, the Saul Bell Design Award Competition in the Emerging Artist category. I ended up placing 3rd and received a $100 gift certificate to Rio Grange for jewelry supplies. It was really crazy, my dad and I flew out to Las Vegas for the award ceremony. We had a four course meal with a different wine/champaign with each and I got to meet many jewelry magazine editors and professional jewelers. Also they had all of us do individual photo shoots for magazine ads for Rio Grande. Here is mine ! It's ridiculous I know.

http://www.saulbellaward.com/SBDAWinners.aspx?year=SBDA2008


One of my favorite pieces that I now wear all the time! It started with cutting a band out of sterling, texturing it with a hammer, forming it, and soldering it together. I did the same with a smaller brass band, but didn't texture it. After they were both soldered together, I placed the brass ring over the sterling band and began flaring both edges of the band with doming tools and a hammer until the brass band couldn't fit off of either end.


This is the first spinning ring that I made. I had to make four rings for this piece and make two fit snuggly on the main band while the other was loose. After I formed and soldered all the bands individually, I soldered one of the snug outside rings on the edge of the band, then slid on the middle (loose fitting band) and continued to solder on the other outside ring. After words I soldered on a tube setting I made previously to the middle ring, cleaned up the entire piece with sandpaper, then polished it up on the buffer, and sealed the peridot cabochon in the setting.


Here is a TREE ! ! ! It was SUCH a PAIN to make. It is made of very thick gauge sterling wire and brass that I cut and formed into leaf shapes and made a brass domed base. I also textured the sterling wire then soldered them all together and oxidized the entire piece.


Here is a vintage looking pendant made of reticulated sterling that I then oxidized and soldered on a setting. Then I secured a peridot cabochon in the setting. Lovely


300 pin for my wonderful friend Frank when he dressed up as King Leonidas! It is made of brass, I cut out the top shape and the bottom and soldered them together, roughed them up a bit with a hammer and some files, then I oxidized it and glued two pins on the back.
The photo below are my friends Sam, Frank and I before we went trick-or-treating way back in the day (Frank wearing his PIN)!!!

old works from CU classes !

more SCULPTURE projects

Here is a tree made of wire with four white birds made of baking clay, and hung by fishing wire in the tree.


Hand of wire...and filled with crumpled pieces of paper.

Now property of Frank Mendez


I made these before I made my stick lamp, they were my sketches...
This one was made out of thick paper, cardboard, t.p. tubes connected together with staples and dipped in wax, paint, wire, sticks and glue.

This one is made of compressed cardboard, glue and many strips of different papers. The paper strips includes rice paper dipped in wax, gold tissue paper, and strips of those huge yellow envelops.

INTRO to STUDIO ARTS 1 & 2

Here we got to work with CLAY and make slabs and also carve ! Had to try and make three to five small sculptures that could work together as one sculpture and all stand on their own as individual sculptures.


All of these prints are carved form linoleum tiles, then rolled with ink and stamped on paper.

The first print below of the man is now framed and hanging up at All-sports Recovery club!!!




This is my Artist Book....oh what my head is full of


This was a group project that I worked on with two other girls in my class, one of the girls was Nichole Fox which is CRAZY. We had to make a sculpture that was visually pleasing and functional. We had to make a sculpture that could keep an egg from breaking and we could only use 5 different materials. I made the outside frame, Nichole made the sponge case that held the egg (not in the picture, she kept it), and the other girl connected all the silver wire in the center which also held the sponge. Our egg NEVER BROKE !


Here is a self portrait that I drew. It is a continuous drawing (you're not allowed to pick the pen up off the paper while drawing)


Acrylic painting of leaves on paper.

silly little CHRISTMAS gifts

COPPER ART !
I printed out a photo of aspen leaves and taped it down to the copper and then went around and outlined the images by tapping indents into the metal with a hammer and nail. Of course afterwards I oxidize it. This isn't finished here, I forgot to take a photo of the finished piece before I gave it away. To finish it, I cut it down to size and put it in a wooden frame that I rubbed down with black acrylic paint and then sprayed with a protective gloss finish.



Little sister and her new button earings!!! The buttons don't match which was planned and they were also super easy to make! I used copper wire to attach the button, which I then oxidized to turn it black. She loves them


Here is a picture I put together for Josh! I didn't build the frame or matting but did put together the text, sorry the photo isn't that great, I'll try to explain what I did and just know it looks better in real life! I found the quot and font that I liked and printed out two copies on rice paper. Then I melted wax in a brownie pan on the stove and dipped one of the copies in it along with a gold-ish piece of tissue paper. Then I centered and glued the wax dipped copy down to the matting, next I glued down the waxed tissue paper, and then the copy without wax which I glued down off center. Dipping the rice and tissue paper in the wax made it transparent, therefore the last layer of text can be seen, creating a shadow for all the text. It turned nicely.


Attempt to create wall art for Josh...It's a time-trial road bike and I found out later that I missed some gears on the back tire and the chain. Hope he still enjoys it !


Here is a belt buckle that I made out of copper for my good friend Becca. The Iris flower she got tattooed on her foot in memory of her uncle who passed away. It is also oxidized!



Here are a pair of earings that were special ordered!!!! My first one...well besides Tara's ring :) The metal is all sterling silver, and the bits of green sparkles are Austrian crystals. I have been informed that the receiver of this gift is quite happy!

Alex's little disproportional running man ornament!


Random wall decorations. Made of wood, spray paint, and wire.
(sorry about the crappy photo, to lazy to go outside and take it)


For my Harry Potter obsessed friend Christin :)
mini lightning bolt pillow


Snitch ornament!


Here is a little polar bear picture I made for Dev a long time ago. I first sketched a polar bear on rice paper and then dipped it in wax. Then I glued it on top of a piece of clean-x box that had an interesting bluish water looking design on it. After that I glued that onto a piece of white card stock paper.