Photo of Seventh Piece

Seventh Piece Inspired by Tibet

I decided to create a brooch for myself to wear on the night of the final exhibition. I also decided that I wanted to incorporate elements from all my previous pieces into this final piece.

I used the round shape from my first two pieces and the 'Cloisonne' and 'Champleve' enamel techniques from my second piece. The bends in the metal were drawn from my third piece and the wire work was inspired by my fifth piece.

This was the final design that I came up with.

Photo of Sixth Piece

Manufacture of Sixth Piece

First I pierced out the top plate.

I then pierced out the pattern for the bottom plate. This pattern ranges from petal shapes at the top, which represent the lotus flower, to circles towards the outside edge

This is what the two plates look like when they are together.

I then enameled the bottom plate using red and yellow enamel.

After filing off the excess enamel I drilled holes so that I could rivet on the top plate. I also soldered on the gallery through which the ribbon will be twisted.

I then drilled the holes into the top plate and assembled the piece using screws instead of rivets as there is no hammering needed, which could damage the piece.

Sixth Piece Inspired by Tibet

For this piece I wanted to redesign my first piece I wanted to make this new piece lighter and to incorporate enamel as my first piece is the only piece in my collection that has no enamel.

I decided that taking the central circle out would make the design more interesting and using the 'plique-a-jour' enamel would lighten it both aesthetically and physically.

I changed the design to make it more symmetrical but then decided against this change as the piece was more interesting hanging at an angle.

This was the final design that I settled on, incorperating red and yellow enamel.

Photos of Fifth Piece

Manufacture of Fifth Piece

First I took plate and bent it up into a petal shape using a pitch bowl.

I then soldered the ends together and filed off the excess.

I then drew the pattern onto the petals with shellac and etched the design onto the metal using nitric acid.

After enamelling these petals I found that the enamel colours I wanted to use, red and purple, did not show up as well when they have a backing ,as the colours distorted, so I decided to change the pattern and decorate the petals with the “plique-a-jour” enamelling technique which requires no backing.

I therefore pierced out the pattern on the petals,

And I only enamelled some of the pierced sections so as to create interest with the use of negative space.

I then put the petals together as seen here.

To link the wire together I bent the ends to form loops.