Making Victorian my own

 Above is a piece of silver i had etched with a ready made pattern which i printed onto transparency sheet. Because I am trying to personalise my designs a bit more I am going to try and etch over the already etched pattern- just using a nature inspired Victorian style spider and web scratched into bitchumen.

 This is my tattoo.

 I have also started designing my own wallpaper designs which i am going to make in digital form and mirror to make them symmetrical then etch and recreate in my jewellery.

Etching and then some

 

 I am trying to run silver solder into the etched copper lines as to later file down the excess and have the pattern shown in silver in the copper.

 I have some pieces of porcelain/pottery with which i am etching complementary patterns which immitate or correspond to the pieces themselves.

Etching away

As my focus moves more towards the ornament and it's patterns and motifs of Victorian objects, I am trying to incorporate more such style in my pieces. I have been etching silver and copper using bitchumen as a resist and hand drawing the detail to be etched using mainly Victorian wallpaper as a reference.

Originally i was using transparencies (as below) of printed pre-existing designs as a resist to etch but wanted to make the pieces more "my own."

Vinyl Record Bangles Revisitted

 I have been fighting the idea of leaving my record bangles plain because i just feel they lack substance without some eye garnish :P I was using lace and button or silver silhouette details to add some context to them, but have recently tried my hand at engraving them with an electric engraver.

 While the engraving was fairly successful on the flat records, once bent up it bent out leaving only the deepest enravings visible.

My next step is to send some flat ready cut record pieces (of wich i now have stacks) to a professional hand engraver to see if by our skills combined we can make some beautiful bangles.
I also noticed recently that it was common for Victorian cuffs or bangles to be made in pairs, and think this approach might suit the vinyl cuffs- especially in that i have always considered them to reference old fashioned sleeve cuffs.

A useful site. There must be others!

The more i come across other people, places or sites from which answers and questions regarding my research arise, the more i am aware that there is a larger interest in it and am keen to understand why THEY are interested in this area, and to which market/consumer do they look.

Some answers may be found by examining these amongst others:
http://www.victorianweb.org/index.html
http://www.historichouseparts.com/antique_hardware_directory.html

Textiles and Wallpapers

Having noticed the ornate, textured patterning that seemed to cloth many 19th century household objects and walls and furniture, i have been making some such patterning of my own using silver and copper. My first approach was to use nitric acid etching on silver covered witha ptterned film of ink as a resist.

The pattern unfortunately became over etched and difficult to see, but on two test pieces was clear enough to make out. If the unintentional etching is not too severe it actually has an aged appearance which could be used anyway.

On the pieces which i was not going to use further or keep as test pieces i tried to roll them thinner and intended on using the back sides of them as an excercise in how thin metal can be to still etch deeply enough to see. I noticed, however, as the rough etchings were being rolled, that the grainy unintentional etching (which is shallower than those areas intended to etch) rolls smooth before the rest, making the before unclear pattern much clearer.

Vintage Handbags

I want to make miniature replicas of 19th century handbags to be worn as necklaces or pendants. They are heavily ornate either in the handle metalwork, fabric or both.

Green Final Piece