Jewelry Design

So this is my Metal Arts portfolio from high school.  When I attended Lakota East High School, for the last 2 years I was there I concentrated my art studies in jewelry design and creation.

During my senior year I put together this portfolio and submitted it into the Scholastics Art and Writing Awards.  I was awarded a Gold Key Portfolio Award in the regional level of the show, and at the national level I was awarded a Silver Key Portfolio Award.  For those who may not be familiar with the Scholastics Awards, it is one of if not the most prestigious art competition for high school art students.

I was part of the top 1% of all artists who submitted work throughout the country, and with my work being recognized at the national level I was invited to the award ceremony hosted at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

My work was also accepted into other art competitions such as the Ohio Governor's Art Exhibition and the Mason Arts Festival (a professional show).

Just to clarify, all the pieces are original designs.  Also none of the components in any of the pieces were pre-fabricated, all the pieces were fully hand crafted from either sheet metal or metal wire.

Anyway, here are the pieces of my jewelry portfolio:

-Mana Shoot- Riveted copper plates and tin detailing

-Empedocles- Nickel silver with crush stone inlay

-Golden Path- Cast white bronze on sterling silver band

-Oligocene Epoch- Nickel silver and sopper wire detailing, deer antler handle

-Rothko Experiment- Sterling silver and copper with crush stone inlay

-Scarlet Eye- Nickel silver band with copper and silver wire detailing, and crush stone inlay

-Unnatural Protector- Copper and brass plates

-Yamabushi's Gaze- Nickel silver and cast white bronze with crush stone inlay

This next piece was done about 2 years after I had graduated.  It has been a while since I had done any metal working and I was itching to create again.  I returned to my high school during my off hours from school, where there I helped students with their own designs while working on my own pieces.

This necklace was far more challenging than my previous works.  Each plate hangs separately from each other and when worn they adapt to the wearer since they are independent, while retaining their shape due to the way they are linked together.  It is about 2 inches tall and 1 inch wide, the minute scale contributed to the difficulty in the execution process of the piece.

-Nexus Lines- Cuddle fish cast sterling silver with copper and silver wire detailing, and a set stone

While metal working is very much different from any of my current digital projects, it is something I enjoy very much.  And even still, I find many aspects where the work is still the same.  The extreme organization and precision required, together with endless hours of polishing and perfecting make it seem like the mediums haven't changed at all.