melded metals :: wax process carvings of my new collection

so, i have been extremely reluctant to show these to...well, let's just say everyone. i am always very critical of my own work - something i have really been trying to improve on. what you are looking at above are the rough {not dusted} wax models i carved for my new jewelry collection. they have already been delivered to a nearby metal artist who is casting them as we speak. through the process of lost wax casting, these lovely and strange things will turn into some pretty interesting accessories. can you tell how each piece will be worn? it's definitely understandable if you can't tell. most aren't bent nor shaped into their true forms yet and won't be until they're in metal.

when i explain to people the process of lost wax casting, they get befuddled. maybe because of the way i am explaining it or maybe it's because the whole darn process is so extremely detailed with so many steps. it is an ancient method that is used in lots of different ways. very few casters are willing to work with such fine and small pieces but thank goodness i found a very talented and local {very important to me} person willing to undertake my work. to find out more about the process, you can find out about general lost wax casting here and jewelry lost wax casting here.

another question i get asked a lot is, how did you get into this and learn how to do it? well, i used to assemble jewelry based on vintage articles i would find. but this was very limited. whenever i would be approached to do a wholesale order, i would usually have to turn it down because my pieces were so limited based on their rare and antique nature. when i started to buy 'vintage' pieces in bulk on etsy {to allow for wholesale orders}, i found that a lot of sellers on there were calling pendants and beads 'vintage' but once you got them you could tell that they definitely were not. sure, they might have been cast from a vintage object but i wasn't about to sacrifice the integrity of my shop based on their shortcomings. this also made it very easy for other sellers to copy my designs. it was really saddening and extremely frustrating.

so i sought out different ways i could make my own, original pieces that i could be 100% sure of and proud of for that matter. i took a few metalsmithing classes at a local college but it just wasn't my thing. all that sawing on a flat, one-dimensional piece of metal screamed of boredom and tedious time - not to mention not business savvy at all unless i had tons of people helping me. not to knock this kind of work at all - i own quite a few pieces of jewelry {that i treasure} born from this process but for me to make - just didn't excite me.

my style is very bold, dramatic and at times, i'll admit, a bit out there. i knew i wanted to make elaborate pieces that had a unique handmade appearance to them fitting my bold sense of style. also, being a painter for much of my life, i wanted to incorporate my aesthetic in this sense into my pieces. so i looked to other artists that i admired to seek out a process that worked for me. and behold, after many emails to kind and helpful jewelry artists, i found the process of lost wax casting. i then taught myself through what i like to call the school of many mistakes, google and youtube videos. yes, it's very true, believe it or not. determination and believing in yourself will get you anywhere in life.

carving was also something to get used to and designing in dimensions. figuring out where you want shading with patinas to go on your design. it's quite overwhelming but also really exciting to think about. it's still unbelievable to me that you can imagine something fantastic in your head and then logically deduce how you will execute them. i never knew such means were possible for me.

for the collection, i would like to make my pieces a bit thicker and more three dimensional. but for this collection it is a bit basic but concentrates on the line work and illustration within for the most part.

so, i can't wait to show you the final product which i will be seeing next weekend. for now, i can just imagine wonderful things and anticipate peeing in my pants at the sight of my new collection. yay!!

friday's child:: interview with artist chad wys

in the vast world of art, there are are over-consumed ideas, there are unoriginal ideas, there are even ideas that just don't make sense. artist chad wys is aware of this.

if you're not familiar with chad wys, you've most likely come into contact with his work at one time or another. whether it be browsing magazine covers in the bookstore, admiring opera posters in the city or watching modern family in the privacy of your own home.

his work can honestly be classified as a marvelous juxtaposition: combining classical reproductions with modern experiments. i, personally, have been a fan for quite a few years. he was kind enough to grant us an interview so that we can see just what's behind those antique prints and bold strokes.

hailing from and currently residing in peoria, illinois, wys owns his reclusive nature. after just finishing his MA in visual culture, he's spending the 'gap' year traveling and plotting his next moves; which he believes will ultimately lead him back to school once more to possibly pursue a PhD in some aspect of art history or visual theory. but for now he's meditating on his past and future, and is excited about deciding what his future will look like.

we asked a few pointed questions to help us get a better picture of chad wys and what inspires his work.

wanderlustings:: let's start from the beginning. do you recall the first piece of art you were truly taken with? what was it?
chad wys:: renoir's two sisters on a terrace is the artwork that comes to mind as a life-changer. as a child, and as an adult, i always thought it was an aesthetically magnificent work of art, but it was never a piece that i felt emotionally tied to. at a very young age, i visited the art institute in chicago for the first time and the very first artwork i saw when i walked up the entry stairway and into the front gallery was two sisters on a terrace. i was paralyzed. i was totally overcome by what i was seeing. no reproduction that i'd ever seen of that artwork before that moment, or after, can compare to the real thing. renoir's color palette is electric -- the oranges are absolutely neon. that was the first time i realized that you have to see artwork in person to fully receive and comprehend it. reproductions simply don't do art justice.


w:: it sounds like you appreciated art from a young age. what sort of things did you create as a child?
cw:: i constantly drew pictures before i knew how to read or write. i've never been a good draftsman, but i always enjoyed telling stories through images. as i grew, i turned to poetry and short creative fiction and left the fine arts more or less behind until reapplying them in adulthood. all the while, also, i experimented with computers in creative ways. i was a 'graphic designer' before i became a teenager -- creating logos for my imaginary companies. i very much lived in my own head, and creation was my way of acting out.

w:: that's awesome! nowadays, where would you say most of your inspiration is drawn from?
cw:: art history. i've formally and informally studied art history for the last couple decades. when other kids were playing sports, i was admiring the work of monet in some picture book.


w:: so let's talk a bit about your studies - you've had quite a bit of schooling; do you still consider yourself self-taught?
cw:: technically speaking i'm self-taught, but conceptually speaking i have been studying art history and visual theory academically for years. i believe the concepts i address with my work are the most important aspects, which is why i've never felt compelled to study studio arts in any great depth. i, personally, find more value in a critical theory class than i do in a drawing class. that doesn't mean someone else should follow the same path. one should follow the curriculum that best informs one's work.

w:: that's a very refreshing perspective. so if we were to look in your toolbox right now, what would we find?
cw:: i've got lots of domestic supplies like craft paint, super glue, glitter, craft paper, scissors, etc. but i've also got heaps of decorative objects that i've accumulated from thrift stores and garage sales. my studio looks like the combined sitting rooms of a couple dozen grandmothers. i've got figurines, china and garish wall art ebbing from every nook; those objects are my blank canvases.


w:: that's amazing - i would be in heaven with all of those awesome thrift store find you use! can you walk us through your process then from inception to execution to finished work?
cw:: not really, because my creative process tends to occur informally, unexpectedly and randomly. most of the time i act on impulse and chance, and i develop the form of my work as i progress. i seldom ever plot a work out to the minutest detail and then begin the process; in many ways my process is my work and i don't often know what it will end up looking like or saying. i may have a general idea of what i want to aesthetically accomplish, but how i accomplish something is always a new experience. i know what themes and concepts i wish to address with my work, but how the work materializes is very much a chance encounter with the formal elements.



w:: very interesting. so what themes or concepts are you trying to address in your work?
cw:: there are a lot of themes and ideas addressed by my work that i hope people ponder and consider. i will refrain from being too specific because i hope that viewers will react and respond to the work in their own way, without any direction from me. obviously, i play with art history and aestheticism and i subvert objects in strange ways. i do so to draw attention to ideas of identity and tradition. i'm obsessed with the decorative objects that we inundate our lives with, so i incorporate those objects in my work. i see that act as questioning what those objects mean in our lives. how the viewer responds to this visual discussion is entirely up to them.

w:: what would you say most influences your work?
cw:: other artists. nothing is original now; we must take and reform ideas into versions that are relatively 'fresh' -- but all artists borrow. i adore artists throughout all eras and i constantly look to them for inspiration.


w:: i'm glad that you 'own' that. most artists won't admit that they look to other current artists as sources of inspiration. it has an awful stigma but i think it's wonderful. so what artists then, living or dead, are you most influenced by?
cw:: there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, who influence me as a person and as an artist, but three that randomly come to mind are jean arp, gerhard richter and james whistler. each experimented with form, color and concept, pushing the boundaries of the respective eras they were born into.


w:: that definitely makes sense. your play on eras seems to be such a huge part of your work. do you yourself purchase original artwork?
cw:: absolutely. i was a collector years before i felt comfortable labeling myself an artist. i still very much am.  over the years, i've begun to specialize in works on paper by 19th and 20th century french artists, but i am open to anything that moves me.


w:: that sounds like quite a collection! when you're not creating or collecting art, what can you be found doing?
cw:: i'm always 'consuming' art. i read and i constantly study images. i constantly listen to music and watch films and television and i question what it means to me. other artists inspire me to no end, so my greatest hobby is admiring the work of others.

w:: now for a devil's advocate question. if you could effortlessly crossover into any other creative genre, what would it be and why?
cw:: for me, creative fields are quite fluid. i don't think of myself as restricted in any way to painting, or photography, or filmmaking, or graphic design, or writing, or any other creative category. they're all up for grabs. i think the best works often don't fit comfortably into any single category.


w:: that sounds like a good way to look at crossing-over. so do you have any creative motivators you can share with us? 
cw:: i often listen to music, but sometimes i'm so caught up in the moment that any silence goes unnoticed.  when i do make it a point to put some sounds on, i favor contemporary classical pieces -- like the work of alexandre desplat.


w:: well that brings me to my next question - what are the top five songs you listen to while you create?
cw:: 
"wong chia chi's theme" by alexandre desplat

"at the river" by groove armada
"the garden" by faithless
"dawn" by jean-yves thibaudet
"sebastian" by adrian johnston

w:: oooh, i'll have to check some of these out. how about movies? can you name the top three movies that inspire you?

cw:: 

1. pan's labyrinth
2. dogville
3. vertigo

w:: wow. talk about heavy-hitters: guillermo del toro, lars von trier AND alfred hitchcock. nice. now before you leave us today, can you give us three quirky things about yourself?

cw:: 

1. i'm a promising future agoraphobic recluse. (you think i'm kidding.)

2. i put a large amount of honey on almost everything i cook and prepare -- from pasta and pizza to salad.
3. i enjoy using the color pink ironically as much as possible.

a huge thank you to chad wys for granting wanderlustings this interview and for being so open to sharing history and process with us. 

check out all of his amazing artwork here.

film inspiration:: metropolis

so among the four million things i am currently juggling, i have been managing time slots to get inspired for my new fall//winter 2012 jewelry line. i have a list of old sci-fi movies i had really been wanting to see and now i am finally doing it! woo hoo!

first up on my list was metropolis. i had seen stills from the film, vintage posters for the film, etc. and had always been immensely intrigued. well, there's a reason i was intrigued...it was because it was sooo right. the film was so ahead of it's time in terms of cinematography, set design and just overall art direction that it blows my mind just thinking about it.

what i find so captivating is the sheer genius that is fritz lang. his vision throughout this film is so epically beautiful you seriously have to wonder how on earth all of this was achieved in 1927. i am still just completely dumbfounded by it.

next up on my list:: la planète sauvage


anyone have any other suggestions?? 

tools of the trade :: self-taught jewelry designer

do you have a self-taught career? it had never really occurred to me until i sat down to do this post but i am most definitely in a self-taught career and hopefully, it will be my full-time gig one day!

i am very proud to be self-taught in a lot of different things. it's what makes me, well, me! i feel like this day in age we have so much learning power at our finger tips. a lot of things i've learned from searching tutorials, scouring youtube, etc. it's amazing!

one of the main things i taught myself is jewelry design and manufacturing. i believe it was the lovely samantha over at wandering threads that mentioned she'd love to know how i learned my metal and jewelry techniques. so i thought it would be wonderful to share that with you today.

wanderlustings originally started as a bridal hair accessory line if you can imagine that. the items were lovely and sold really well. but it was hard to keep up with because so many requests were all custom orders. wanderlustings, since it's inception, has always been just me - except in rare occasions when my mom, sister or the honey come help me at a show or my dad helps me solder. i still do custom orders once in a while because amazingly enough people still contact me after seeing some of my pieces. i randomly find my pieces as inspiration on larger blogs which is such a huge compliment! i more recently found my hair pieces featured on lulu frost's blog and the decorista! it's such an honor.

i loved embellishing everything i wore; from adding bow ties or scarves on handbags of mine to switching out buttons on my jacket. so naturally i would be affixing hand-picked silk flowers to combs, right?! not such a logical leap i know but it is one of those merry mishaps that resulted in something beautiful.

unfortunately, i got too overwhelmed and burnt-out on bridal orders. but my interest had been piqued by jewelry crafting. at first i dabbled in period pieces like victorian ruffs - metalwork intimidated me so much that the only other option i could think of was the safety of fabric.

i gradually started to incorporate metal into my fabric pieces and after many googled tutorials on metal tools and process, i made the full leap into metalwork. i picked up tools at hobby lobby and experimented with techniques - made LOTS of mistakes and have honed new skills at every turn. i even took a metal class where i gained a lot of helpful tips and tricks.

right now, i am working on lost wax casting - something that has always intrigued me. once again, this was a googled technique that i learned all about through research and emailing other artisans who happened to be very sweet and helpful.

i love sketching and painting so drawing out my designs and then carving them is such a gratifying experience. the carving part is the hardest since i have never done anything like that before but i am slowly getting the hang of it. i would really love to have an elaborate studio some day where i could do all of the casting in-house but it is insanely expensive. so it looks i will have to work towards that goal in the somewhat near future.

you can see the post on my metal class here.
you can see the post on some of my process here.
my old floral hair combs can be seen here. {have to be logged into facebook to view those i believe}

i hope you enjoyed this post. feel free to let me know if you have any questions or would like to hear more about other topics you are interested in!

lovely workspace image from here.