Cameo

There was an assignment in Advanced Jewelry where we had to create some sort of cameo. We're accustomed to the image of the Roman-inspired cameo, where layered agate is carved into a profile portrait, usually of a beautiful woman.

This assignment was meant to elaborate on the idea of a cameo. What makes a cameo? What qualities does it have? How does it describe a person differently than an actual portrait? Narrowing this down, we came up with a few criteria: cameos were usually in relief, and they described some attributes about their subject - physically or emotionally - without including a background or context.



This project was difficult for me to start, but the result was my favorite piece - inspired by stories from my beekeeper friend Jacqui (jacquialexander.com) and by the beautiful image above (not by me - but I can't find the artist's name.)


(photo: "Elegy". carved boxwood, sterling silver, nickel silver, onyx, dyes. copyright emi savacool, 2009. photo credit: ken yanoviak.)

back it up, back it up...

I've been trying to post my pieces in order, but I got a bit ahead of myself in excitement. Here's two related pieces that I completed in the fall of 2008. During the summer, I had been picking raspberries in the backyard of my parents' house. In the woods, I came upon the perfect skeleton of a deer lying curled in the leaves. In the hot, quiet afternoon, it looked as if it were sleeping.

I couldn't stop thinking about this skeleton for weeks and weeks. The day I left to go back to Philly, I took a big bucket out into the woods and collected the entire skeleton.

(photo: "Osis Mantodea". carved boxwood, sterling silver, ruby, stainless steel, bone, pigment. copyright emi savacool, 2008. photo credit: ken yanoviak.)

"Osis Mantodea" was the first piece featuring a bit of this gorgeous skeleton. My teacher had suggested that I try and invent imaginary bug forms instead of using existing ones. This piece was completed for a project where we had to make something in one week. (?!! Why did I decide to do this?!! I'm a lunatic...)

(photo: "Remnant Curios". carved boxwood, bone, pigment, sterling silver. copyright emi savacool, 2008. photo credit: ken yanoviak.)

I love these little guys. They were originally imagined as pins, and could definitely still be worn, although I think I prefer them as little objects. They are totally weird. One of them is completely carved boxwood, with no bone in it - can you tell which one?

Exciting New Photos!

My photos are done! I'm so excited to share with you my pieces from the Crafts Senior Show, Out of Hand. I'm going to span them out a little so I have space to tell you about each one.

This piece may look a little familiar. It was photographed in progress (only the paper parts) for the Out of Hand gallery book and invitations. This piece was inspired by the life of the cicada, who emerges from the ground after 17 years to mate and die. Their transformations leaves behind piles and piles of shed skins.




(photos: "Emergence". carved boxwood, sterling silver, moonstone, copper plated chain, paper, gold leaf, pigment. copyright emi savacool, 2009. model credit: kaitlin kerr. photo credit: ken yanoviak.)

Renderings to tide you over.

I'm waiting on some images of my work from photographer Ken Yanoviak, but in the meantime, I thought I'd share some jewelry renderings from this semester.

Jewelry renderings are scale designs of jewelry. They can be done in most mediums, but are supposed to be fairly true to what the piece would look like in real life. I prefer to make my renderings in gouache and watercolor on bright paper. I am working on making the earrings on purple paper in real life - I'll keep you posted!

a brief update...

I know it's been awhile since I last updated, but I've been totally swamped with work for the senior show. Now that the show is over, I hope to be making more regular updates. My portfolio website will also be up and running soon.

In the meantime, to tide you over, here are some images from the UARTS Crafts Senior Exhibiton, "Out of Hand".






(me and the family in front of my display)

Insects, Part 2

I mentioned in the last post that the sex design prompt was for two brooches. Before construction on the second brooch began, I was told that there was someone who had seen Culicidae at the Gala and wanted to commission another brooch for their wife. Making the next piece was like killing two birds with one stone, since it would be both a commission piece and one for a grade (awesome!).

Making a second insect forced me to clarify exactly which elements were important to carry on from the first. I've been told that I thrive off of negative feedback, and a classmate of mine - who was not a metals major - had often remarked that he disliked most jewelry because it was "just tiny sculpture with a pin back slapped on it". Much of the strength of the mosquito piece had been in its mechanism because the pin was so natural to the rest of the form, and I knew that any other insects would have to be treated the same way, with any mechanisms being inherent to the body itself. I also wanted the next bug to have more implied movement to make it more alive.

I feel incredibly attached to this piece, Apocrita. I was so sad to see it go. The school ended up buying this one as well and giving it as a gift to the man who wanted to commission it, Norm Cohn. Another happy home for my "baby".

~emi

photo: "apocrita" (brooch). carved boxwood, onyx, sterling silver, stainless steel, dyes. copyright emi savacool, 2008. photos credit: ken yanoviak.)

The First of the Insects

Lately I've been totally preoccupied with making brooches based upon insects. The first work, Culicidae, was a response to a design prompt to make a pair of brooches about the subject of sex. This interpretation could be as loose or as literal as we wanted - obviously, I didn't go the literal route. This piece relates to sex with the idea of "penetration". (In case you can't tell from the photo, the mosquito's proboscis is the brooch mechanism.)

"Culicidae" was featured in the crafts showcase at the University of the Arts' 2008 Presidental Inauguration Gala event. It was purchased by the school and given as a gift to Norma Klorfine, a Gala chair.

I loved my "baby" and was sad to see her go, especially since she lead to some really exciting works of art for me. But I couldn't think of a better way for us to part ways. The brooches that follow are like sisters to this piece - more on them later.

~emi


(photo: "culicidae" (brooch). carved boxwood, garnets, sterling silver, stainless steel, dyes. copyright emi savacool, 2008. photo credit: ken yanoviak.)

(photo 2: view 2, "culicidae" (brooch). carved boxwood, garnets, sterling silver, stainless steel, dyes. copyright emi savacool, 2008. photo credit: ken yanoviak.)