First, Bridgette Guerzon Mills opens me up to the idea of combining bookmaking with encaustic wax, but then on Day 2: Crystal Neubauer blew all of my assumptions out of the water with the introduction of creating small, three-dimensional adornments and jewelry out of rebar wire and waxed paper.
Not much of a jewelry maker myself, I felt I was really opening myself up to trying something new with Crystal's class. I quickly found that I needn't limit myself to brooches and pendants, and struck out to create a few pieces in the "Christmas-ornament-sized" scale of adornments.
My first attempt was an old, but true design I created many years ago for my Mom, when she was raising and showing Siamese cats. This particular design has always been a little difficult to shrink down to the size of wearable jewelry, but at 6" in height, it makes a wonderful tree ornament for the holidays.
A single piece of rebar wire was first sanded, then bent to the proper shape, in one continuous line. The paper was selected, dipped in encaustic medium
and allowed to dry or harden. The waxed paper was then cut to fit the wire and additional medium was applied in small quantities as I pressed the paper forms to the wire outline.I ended up creating six or seven completed pieces, incorporating found objects and 3-D embellishments to truly get into the mixed media possibilities this new technique had to offer me. I'm pleased to say, every single piece (despite being somewhat fragile) made it home to Indianapolis in my checked luggage!
Live the dream:) Brenda
 |
| Jesi's steampunk pendant |
 |
| 105% pendant |
