The beginning of this semester I created several wax figures for my independent metalsmithing study. The project deals with facing fears, it has evolved in several areas since its inception. Below you can see the wax models all sprued up for casting. This was actually the second round of casting, the first set failed. I was able to salvage some parts from the first casting, you will see them a little later.

Just below you can see the casted parts of the wax models. I used the lost wax method for making the mold, then I used both centrifugal and vacuum casting methods. The metals I chose were sterling silver and bronze. I did not want to have all of the pieces out of silver due to the nature of the project.

After a bit of clean up and soldering you can see that the parts are becoming whole objects. This is actually parts from the first casting, originally there was to be 11 legs but only 9 of those were usable after casting. There is yellow ochre on the leg joints in preparation for soldering the last two legs on.

Over the course of my time in metals, I have wanted to play with the idea of beauty. In this study I am exploring how beauty or lack there of may affect how fear is attached to an object or being. In this case, spiders are elegant but also enigmatically creepy. I have boiled down that it is the legs that really unsettle me. So with this project I decided to accentuate that, giving the objects more legs, all legs and no body or no legs and just a body. I have also explored the idea of how nature works and demonstrated how it does not.
Below are two of the many objects that I am making, 'elephant' and 'rack'. These two are perhaps the smallest of all the objects that I am making. Both will be set with gem cut stones. Rack will be set with an emerald and Elephant will hold a smoky quartz. The stones are both teardrop cut, emeralds represent beginnings for me and the smoky quartz are lens to tone down all that is viewed through it. 

Today I felt a little accomplished. I have finished one of the many objects that I have planned for this project. Below you can see the progression of finishes that I put on this piece. Going from no patina to a full liver of sulfur patina and brushed details. The Jade is hammer set in cast sterling silver. The holes in the front of the body represent the absence of legs.

I hope to be able to post more completion photos in the next week. Till then keep arting!

As the end of this semester draws near, I am starting to feel the tension of so many final projects due. I think about how deadlines affect the psyche and general well being of people. I think about this in terms of my future students and how exam time will affect their ability to focus on so many different things at once, and how the pressure of doing well may make them on edge. This does not reflect how I feel about the subject just what I am considering about others. Sometimes I thrive in the crunch and other times I just get crushed. It is difficult to say what will be the outcome of this semester but I have hope for the best.
One of the projects that I will be doing, along with many of my classmates (but independently) is a flipped classroom video. I have not had much experience in making videos so this should prove interesting. The assignment parameters are not even available yet but I am super curious to know what I have to do so that I can plan it out. Or at least have a decent idea of what I am doing. So look for a link to that towards the end of December.
In other classes, there will be teacher work samples due (two classes), an ignite presentation and a final metals project. I will most likely be working over the fall break on all of that, there is so much to be done yet. For the metals project the soldering operations alone will take a day or two. I need to learn to work smaller. Lol.

Recently I attended a presentation on 'The Many Faces of Cyber Bullying', it was informative. I had not imagined previously how many ways someone could bully or be bullied through technology. The ability to remain truly anonymous online is slimmer, but I feel that the lack of face to face interaction allows a sense of anonymity which may encourage a lack of accountability. Teaching our young people responsible use of technology and how to be a good digital citizen is the responsibility of every adult in their lives. As far as in the classroom goes, there were some good scenarios presented to the group at the presentation. I found that I was quicker to seek outside help than some of my peers. Perhaps they feel more versed in this transformation of bullying? Perhaps not. Regardless their responses have encouraged reflection upon my responses and how I truly feel about bullying in any form. Dependent upon how this un-welcome activity takes place in my classroom I will react appropriately. Thanks to my peers I will consider my reaction more deeply and without emotion before I approach the 'what to do' portion of intervention. I would like to remedy the situation with as little impact to the rest of the class as possible. So in short my steps for stopping cyber bullying in my classroom would be (in general, there may be special situations) 1. Address the action 2. Make the action stop. 3. Set the rest of the class to an activity. 4. Discuss the issue with offenders.  If it needs to go further than that or they are non-compliant or violent, I will seek outside help (administration and above).  The last thing I would want in my classroom is alienation, anything that makes my student artists feel as though it is not a safe place to express themselves, or a safe place to be is unacceptable. This includes students who may cause trouble, I do not want them to feel alienated but I want them to understand that unacceptable behavior is not tolerated in the classroom.