Reflecting on my head shave

As before, if you have read my posts you will know that I aimed to shave my head on the 4th of July.
I was raising money for Target Ovarian Cancer and The Little Princess Trust. Im happy to tell you I did it and my total raised is £3740!!

I had a photoshoot done before and after to document the change. I wore the same clothes to emphasis that I am the same person, the only change is my hair.

It is now 7 weeks since I had the shave. Looking back now, it is amazing to see the support I had throughout my journey and on the night. I organised a race night, where I was going to be doing the shave infront of everyone. I ended up having my hair put into 7 plaits and they were auctioned off for others to cut and the first shave was also auctioned.

The tears came quite quickly after the first cut, it was unbelievable the amount of support I had in the room, it was very overwhelming. My brother even had his shaved too, to support me on my big night!

I also had a message board up on the night and the comments are so heartwarming. Something that has inspired me even more.

Reflecting back to before my shave, I thought that shaving my head would give me an idea of what its like to lose your hair through illness, and would benefit my idea for 4th year.
Since the shave, I havent felt the way I expected others to feel. I think due to the nature of my hair loss,  – it was my choice, it wasnt forced –  I cant even begin to understand what it feels like. I have been slightly anxious of what people would say to me, especially if they never knew I was doing it, but they feelings were very rare as I knew I had a reply for any questions, I was happy to tell people what I had done.
The only thing that could be helpful was that I always felt bare without any hair down my neck, so I always tried to wear high tops and scarfs to make me feel more comfortable.

This has given me a lot to think about in terms of progressing with my project, as I dont feel I could take the approach that I originally thought. Instead, I feel the best way would be to look more into the support angle for my research. I think that support was the biggest part of my journey this year, and it wouldn’t have been possible without everyone surrounding me, especially my family! Even though my gran isnt here anymore, her presence was very much present on the night, I did her proud!

I aim to draw from photographs that I’ve gathered to give me a starting point for developing designs. They will be personal photographs to keep the idea of having personal jewellery. To keep my grans memory close, to have sentimental jewellery.

Head Shave

If you’ve read my last blog post, you’ll know i’m shaving my head for charity.

After being part of both the Change by Design and 21st Century Designer modules, I was inspired, by what is possible through design.
The 21st Century Designer module was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. Our brief was to design a way to transform how people perceive breast cancer research and increase everyday behaviours that support its eradication. It challenged us to deal with a very sensitive subject, it was an extremely hard issue to approach because of the shear scale of people that it affects. Ive not personally been affected by breast cancer, but emotions were high throughout the week from not only myself but everyone else too.

I lost my granny when I was 9 from ovarian cancer and that week pushed me to all my limits as I was surrounded by a topic that was still quite raw to me. As I was young when she died, I never really understood what was wrong with her, I knew she had cancer but not what kind, and it was only during this week that I found out. I was too young and naive to really understand the shear impact of cancer. Now that I’m older, it’s much clearer that it’s a bigger thing than what I thought back then.
I have always been inspired by my granny. Knowing that she would be so proud of me, make things seem a lot easier. This was when I decided that I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to do it for her.

I chose to donate my hair to The Little Princess Trust, and I am also  fundraising for them.

As a result of treatment for cancer, most children will suffer hair loss as a side effect.  Some boys and girls cope remarkably well but for others this can be very upsetting. They provide real hair wigs, free of charge, to boys and girls across the UK and Ireland that have lost their own hair through cancer treatment. However, in addition they also assist children with other conditions which also result in hair loss, the most common being alopecia. 

Watch “The Little Princess Trust – “What we do”.” on YouTube

I wanted to chose another charity too, that was close to my heart, to do it in memory of my granny. I chose Target Ovarian Cancer. Target Ovarian Cancer does all of these things:

– Supports women living with and beyond ovarian cancer through events, publications and information
– Campaigns for better treatment for women with ovarian cancer
– Improves earlier diagnosis through educating women and GPs
–  Funds research to find new treatment

The more and more I do research, the more and more I want to make a difference.

Ovarian cancer is one of the five most common cancers in women. Over 7000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year in the UK. Around four times as many women die each year of ovarian cancer than cervical cancer. Ovarian cancer is the fourth most fatal cancer in UK women after breast, lung and bowel, but there is no national screening programme for ovarian cancer. There is currently no evidence to show that screening is effective, which means it’s extremely important for women and GPs to know the symptoms of ovarian cancer.

Other conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have symptoms similar to ovarian cancer but if your symptoms don’t clear up, go back to your GP or seek a second opinion, even if you’ve had tests. 

I want to help raise awareness for Ovarian cancer.

Most cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed in women who have gone through the menopause (over 50 years of age) but younger women are at risk too. Over 1200 women under the age of 50 are diagnosed each year in the UK, so everyone needs to be aware of the symptoms.

I was originally going to be just chopping my hair short although I had thought a little bit about shaving but never made the decision. Then after starting my fundraising I was spurred on by a lot of people to shave my head and thats how I changed my mind.

It is now just over a month until my shave on the 4th of July and I have already noticed a difference in peoples behaviours towards what I am doing. I am hoping that through conversation when people ask what i’m doing, they will understand why i’m so passionate about it. Hopefully people will realise why I think it is so important to know about ovarian cancer.

Any help would be greatly appreciated so if anyone would like to help me out, the link to my fundraising page is
–  http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RachelGlen

Change of Heart

I began my project looking at something that’s quite personal to me – my thyroid. I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid in June 2014. My thyroid controls all of my body and how its feeling, so if its off normal then so am I. This is something I’ve struggled with, especially being at uni as I’ve been tired a lot more and my self-esteem has gone down. I started to look at my individual symptoms and where I feel most at ease.

I wanted to create jewellery that can instil a sense of confidence, for especially people with chronic illnesses. An underactive thyroid is a lifetime condition, I have up days when I feel absolutely fine and then down days where my tablets wont seem to be working as well as normal, so I liked the idea of jewellery giving the wearer a new confidence.  All the attention would be on the jewellery and not how the wearer looked or was feeling. I also looked into photography and found that traditional model shots are all posing. I want the photographs of my jewellery to be in images with the wearer smiling and being natural rather than posing. The confidence showing in the smile.

My visual inspiration came from my home. I still stay at home with my parents and travel to uni everyday. Home is where I feel grounded so I’ve started to use it as my inspiration, taking photos of things I see everyday. I have focused on one photograph for this project to push it as much as I can. I have developed the photograph of the inside of a radiator.

As I’ve got further on in the project I’ve had a slight change of heart.

Since the Change by Design Module in second year, I’ve really been inspired by what people do to raise awareness. I made the decision there and then, to donate my hair to The Little Princess Trust.

 – The Little Princess Trust provides real hair wigs to boys and girls across the UK and Ireland that have sadly lost their own hair through cancer treatment.

I have started by fundraising for them and I am also fundraising for Target Ovarian Cancer. A charity close to my heart.

 – Target Ovarian Cancer is the national ovarian cancer charity working to save lives and help women diagnosed live their lives to the full, wherever they are in the UK.

Only recently, i have decided to take the plunge and shave it all off. I lost my hair a little more than usual just before I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid. This was what led me to go to the doctor, even though I have long thick hair, there was just something not right. I have experienced minor hair loss myself, my granny lost her hair and I know others that have alopecia that have no hair at all. Donating my hair is something I am extremely passionate about, so I thought, what better way to direct my work.

I thought it would be better to hone in on one symptom rather than the overall feeling of being ill and worn down. I want to aim my work in the same direction by creating jewellery and possibly headpieces that will cause a distraction for people with hair loss, to prevent it being something that is made to be a big deal. As I am shaving my head, I will be experiencing what it feels like to loose your hair. This will allow me to approach the project with a better idea of what it’s like and know who I am designing for.

I lost my granny when I was nine, from ovarian cancer. She has always been my driving force ever since and my main inspiration. My family and my boyfriend are very supportive of what I am doing and if I didn’t have the support I do from them, I don’t think I would have the guts to shave my head. I want my work to come from a personal direction. In previous projects, I get the best out of my ability when I am passionate about my subject. Even though I have been looking into objects in my house for inspiration, I don’t have that same connection with what I make. This is whats caused me to have a change of heart.

I have decided to look at old photographs and memories as they are something I like looking back on. I have quite a big family on my dads side and we are all very close.

I’ve put together an album that mainly contain family memories :

• photographs from holidays, – particularly camping and caravan holidays, quite a few relating to trains (my dads influence)
• photographs that contain my granny and photos that were taken at her house – which I then lived in, in 2013
• wedding photographs of my mum and dad and my aunties and uncles
• photographs in my house – that I have lived in all my life
• a couple updated photographs from the last few years of family
• and a few of my boyfriend.

I want to draw on my experience of hair loss and capture the essence of the memories in my work in fourth year. The support from my family and my boyfriend is something that is very important to me and I like the idea of having personal jewellery or headpieces to represent the memories.

I am shaving my head in July. I have planned an event and it will be done with all my family and friends surrounding me. I will be taking plenty photographs taken on the night to capture the theme of support and I’m also planning to get a photoshoot done to document the change.  I can’t wait surprisingly but it might be a different outcome when its done, but it’s nothing compared to losing my hair due to illness.

Easter Holiday Development

Over the easter holidays i’ve been working on developing and making my shapes into final compositions and pieces.

Ive been playing more with the paper shapes and beginning to develop into metal too. Thinking about ways to bring in my aluminium samples aswell. The patterns on the aluminium are something i’d like to continue experimenting with, and playing around with making patterns on different materials.

I wanted to go down a more commercial genre for my work so I decided to try working in silver to create a piece. Incorporating one of my aluminium triangles in a stone set style.

I created my triangles in silver by scoring and folding and originally connected them with a hoop but I wasnt happy that they were stuck connected so removed it so that the chain would go through the holes freely and each triangle could be removed and worn seperate.

I wanted to use more of my aluminium samples so practiced making some cold connections.

I also made a small necklace using one of my triangles and a triangle made from wire. This was also a more commercial piece. The silver wire triangle had a small post to be riveted through the aluminium.

I experimented with some compositions for neckpieces in paper hoping to make a larger bodypiece.

When sampling I didn’t like the shapes together on a big scale. I much prefered them as neckpieces rather than body pieces.
I love how paper allows you to design so freely and make up mock pieces. Its great to get quick compositions put together and allows for more making. Ideas that I didnt like could be reused in different ways or disposed of.

I decided to go back and try some more enamelling with the cut out shapes from the beginning of my project.

I curved my samples as I felt that some of my original samples were too flat. Enamelling is something I’d also like to experiment with more.

Touchpoint 4

Unfortunately due to health, I missed the last touchpoint. We had the chance to be part of a round table event where each discipline – (interiors, textiles and jewellery), had a chance to speak about their projects in small groups for 5 minutes and get advice and feedback.

We had to prepare 5 slides for the event that had to be visually exciting to go along with our talking. These are my slides and the background of my project.

I began my project looking at something that’s quite personal to me – my thyroid. I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid in June 2014 and since then, when I’ve been looking up things about it I found picture of thyroid cells. I love how cells can be so interesting and pretty, but yet they are the cause of you feeling unwell. In my case, my thyroid controls all of my body and how its feeling, so if its off normal then so am I. This is something i’ve struggled with, especially being at uni as I’ve been tired a lot more and my self-esteem has gone down. I started to look at my individual symptoms and where I feel most at ease. This is where the HOME comes in. I still stay at home with my parents and travel to uni everyday. Home is where I feel grounded so I’ve started to use it as my inspiration, taking photos of things I see everyday. I have focused on one photograph for this project to push it as much as I can. I have developed the photograph of the inside of a radiator.

I started to look at how jewellery can affect someones self-esteem and how it can instil a sense of confidence, for especially people with chronic illnesses. An underactive thyroid is a lifetime condition, I have up days when I feel absolutely fine and then down days where my tablets wont seem to be working as well as normal, so I liked the idea of jewellery giving the wearer a new confidence.  All the attention would be on the jewellery and not how the wearer looked or was feeling. I also looked into photographs and found that traditional model shots are all posing. I want photographs of my jewellery to be of the wearer smiling and being natural rather than posing. The confidence showing in the smile.

To create eye-distracting jewellery I began to look at bold statement necklaces originally as the thyroid is in the neck. Neck pieces also give more potential on how big the piece can be. Gradually as I moved on in my sketchbook I also looked at various jewellery and how the confidence can be shown through them. When sampling I’ve found a connection with paper. When I first started researching, I was concentrating on solely commercial jewellery but I found this has been limiting my outcome and I’ve not been experimenting as much as I could be. Paper has never been something I thought could be commercial but if its done in the right ways, it can be. I’ve been looking into paper jewellery as an outcome for my project.

We have had different workshops through the semester such as enameling and anodized aluminum. I’ve tried to connect my samples with my research and development of triangles which come from the development of the inside of a radiator.  At the beginning of the project I did a couple silicone samples to replicate the cells so i have tried to combine this into my compositions with the paper and enamelled copper, by making them into triangles. There is a mix of hard and soft materials. I like some of my compositions as brooches and earrings but I still like the repeated triangles as the beginning of a neck piece.

I have started to do some more designs, changing the structure of the triangles and trying to add in more to the paper. Over the Easter holidays I’m aiming to create a mock neck piece based on the original combined and repeated triangles. This is something that I could look to developing in my final year. It is more fashion based so I’m also aiming to create a few finished rings as a more commercial direction including the paper, that can also be developed in my final year.

Silversmithing Project

For the 2 weeks we have been working with Kathryn Hinton.

Kathryn Hinton’s current work focuses on merging traditional silversmithing techniques with digital technology. After her BA(Hons) at Kent Institute of Art and Design Kathryn went on to study for an MA at the Royal College of Art, London. While at the Royal College of Art Kathryn explored the possibilities of new technology and the processes of digital manufacture. This then led to a 2 year MPhil research project, ‘The Craft of Digital Tooling’ exploring the possibilities of merging traditional silversmithing techniques and tools with computer aided design. Kathryn created a unique digital interface that took information from the physical strikes of a haptic hammering device and fed it to a 3D computer design programme.
The hammer and software interface serves as both an outcome in itself and as an experimental digital hand tool.

Kathryn taught us the basics of silversmithing.

We first began with a circle of 0.9mm copper then annealed to prepare for the next stage. The next process was blocking. Using sand bags and wooden hammers (pictured bottom right) we went around the circle starting at the edge and working to the middle. This began to slightly raise the metal into a shallow bowl. The process was repeated 3 or 4 times.

I wanted to try and experiment and see what effects I could get from different techniques. Ive been very interested in thyroid cells after being diagnosed with an underactive thyroid last June.

I love the patterns and colours of the cells and wanted to see how I replicate this in metal. I cut out shapes to look like the cells.

To get the bowl to the shape that it is above the next process is called raising. This involved hammering with metal hammers onto a stake. Due to the holes I had cut in one side, it was hard to round the metal as far as I wanted. There wasnt enough metal to go further. I used this bowl as a sample and experimented with texture by using my punch.

I liked the texture created from the punch, I feel they could be deeper so would need to experiment more with different punches.
I left this bowl as it was and started another one.

This circle I cut the holes all around the edges, but this time I wanted to keep quite shallow.

I looked into items that I could possibly make like a fruit bowl. I then raised the metal slightly until I was happy.

The next process was called planishing. This is where you use a planishing hammer and strike the metal to create a shiney finished surface.

I would like to try a larger piece that could possibly be a fruit bowl as this one is quite small. Overall it was a great workshop and something id possibly experiment more with.
Here are the outcomes from everyone.

Researching businesses – Design Enterprise

Over the last 4 and a half weeks we have been very busy researching businesses. Our job was to research into enterprising businesses, to interview them and find out how they work as a business, then produce a 10 minute presentation about them.

“This is a 4 and a half week project that will begin to develop your understanding and appreciation of what running a business entails. It will give you an insight into the creative sector and the different models of enterprise that operate within it. It should also encourage you to think about where your skills fit within the Market and what new skills you need to develop to reach your intended goals.”

We established our teams and started our research.

As jewellers we wanted to create an identity and came up with the name JMD_DESENT, and created our logo to give us a visual presence on social media.

We decided to approach two different businesses to start with and kept more in mind. They were Edinburgh Contemporary Crafts and The Ringmaker. We wanted to be creative and grab their attention in a different way. This was when we thought of handmade letters made from wood. We used the laser cutter to create these.

We even added some personalised sweet treats to put in with the letters to entice them to chat with us.

We got a response from both businesses, although The Ringmaker was too busy to meet with us. We also contacted Brazen Studios by email and unfortunately they were extremely busy aswell, so we focused on securing our interview with Edinburgh Contemporary Crafts.

With everything in place for our interview with ECC, we began to think about our questions.

“Edinburgh Contemporary Crafts is run by it’s director Louise Smith. It provides high quality multi-disciplinary craft workshop facilities for: ceramics, jewellery, textiles, print and furniture for professional and the general public. The shared studio supports emerging and mid-career makers, encourages collaboration and cross-discipline practice and our program of courses allows the general public access to fully equipped workshops, with courses taught by skilled professionals.”

ECC was somewhere we were all quite interested to find out about as its somewhere that we could possibly go when we graduate.

During the interview we asked Louise about how and why she started ECC. Lousie identified the problem that craft was seen as the “poor little brother of art” and wanted to bring this to the forefront so decided to create Edinburgh Contemporary Crafts. Louise came from a interdisciplinary craft background and loved the sense of community. She is a great believer of having people around you creates more inspiration and motivation.

Louise also worked freelance before creating ECC, she worked in places like schools teaching, but felt there was a lack of facilities and it was harder to work and be creative. ECC is not only for makers but for the general public too. They run classes and workshops to give people experiences they possibly wouldn’t have had access to before.

As there is a high demand for studio spaces, it has driven them to expand to Abbeymount Techbase.

The building used to be an old school so has larger rooms than their smaller premises on Blair Street. We were invited to have a tour around the 3 rooms they already lease in the building. They are hoping to have made the move and re launch in 2017, with the anticipation of leasing the whole building.

It became very apparent that ECC is not-for-profit when we looked around the rooms, there were mezzanine floors in each room to create more space, these were built by a friend. We were showed around by Sarah and she pointed things out to us that were make themselves, or sourced from elsewhere for cheap.

The money they get from studio fees and workshops have to be returned back for materials and facilities for the centre. It was amazing to see what can be created with a little energy and drive. There was a real positive atmosphere in both premises.

Louise stated that social media was a key tool for getting their income. Their main way of advertising to the public is through social media. She said it has to be done right. We have to treat each media as its own post. Louise uses Twitter for sponsorships and press, and uses Facebook for the main contact for getting in the public, using it as the “digital word of mouth”.

During the interview Louise mentioned our unique way of contacting ECC grabbed her attention and subsequently got us the interview. This could be seen as the old fashioned way on contacting someone in this time considering we have the technology, but it showed us that taking the time and making something special that stands out actually does work and has proven effective for us and this project.

We thanked Louise for her valuable time with some more sweet treats, as everyone has a secret sweet tooth!

Collectively we all agreed that this was a very beneficial visit. It was great to see that there is somewhere out there for practicing designers, and also the general public. We learnt that you cant be the best for everybody, and we need to do whats right for us and our businesses. There was a real sense of community flowing through each premises. They were all very welcoming and eager to give us their advice and we are looking forward to returning again with our open door invitation in the future.

It was then presentation time,

as nervous as we all were, we managed to get a B1 for this project and also some very beneficial advice to take forward with us in our careers.

Touchpoint 3 : Design in Motion

Last thursday we had a chance to visit the Design in Motion bus as part of the pre-opening programme for the V&A Dundee. It parked up outside the university. This was a small exhibition that housed the work of 8 designers. The bus is making its way around the country until it finally stops at the V&A in London.

The work was all from designers that use digital technologies to push the boundaries of their dicipline. These included, Anarkik3D Ltd, Digital Design Studio, Holly Fulton, Sophia George, Lynne Maclachlan, Geoffrey Mann and a collaboration between Sara Robertson and Sarah Taylor. 
How these designers where chosen was very interesting to hear. The team put together many secret pinterest boards, a collective of all different designers and eliminated one by one until they had their shortlist.

Being a practicing jeweller myself, I particularly liked Lynne Maclachlan’s work.

Lynne originally trained in aerospace engineering before she made the move to jewellery and metalwork design.  She creates her pieces through computer software, 3D prints them in nylon to get the physical piece then hand dyes each individual piece. I love how she uses new technologies but combines them with traditional methods for the finishing.

Geoffrey Manns work was also very intriguing. He is facinated by transforming the ephemeral nature of time and motion, into forms that we can see. His work from the bus was the fluttering of a moth around a light. It was simply beautiful to look at.

This piece is the flight of a bird.

It was great to see the exhibition and im excited to see what the V&A has to bring to Dundee.

Medal Project

The first project we were given this semester was to make a medal for the British Art Medal Society Competition (BAMS). We were to make a bronze medal through the casting process.

My master for the mould was made from milliput. Its a soft material to work with, then drys hard over 2 – 3 hours. My medal was to represent the regeneration of my hometown. Back before I was born there used to be a railway station, and this is where my house is now built. So one side has a railway track that once was, and the other side has a door to represent my front door now.

We first had to prepare our mould boxes, with the help from Roddy at the foundry. Its slightly like delft casting but only on a bigger scale. I prepared my mould with three other students from my class as its a big process.

This was a lengthy process but was very exciting to do. We had to place our masters in then pack the sand around them, then do the same for the other side of the box. We then had to make channels in the sand so that the molten bronze could flow into the moulds and come back out the airways.

Once this was done we screwed both sides back together and they were ready for the group pour that we had in the foundry.

All our boxes were lined up ready. This part can be very dangerous so it was left to the professionals. The bronze was heated to 1200 degrees to allow it to stay molten during the length of the pour!

We let them cool down, then opened them up outside to see the results.

As they were quite dirty from the burnt clay, we had to sand blast them to clean them up. We then started the finishing process.

We cut them off of their trees and started to tidy them up. We filed and sanded them until we were happy.

We have had pattination workshops the last couple days to add finishing touches to our medals. I wasnt a big fan of the colour of the bronze, so my medal is silver plated and then I have worked back into it adding darker areas through oxidisation.

Reflection to Touchpoint 1 – Introduction

After being back to uni a few weeks, I felt this was a good time to reflect back to our first touchpoint, our introduction.  We had our first lecture on Monday 19th January to introduce us to the new semester. We will have a series of touchpoints throughout the semester. We have already had our second one that you can read about on my previous post. And the other two are still to come.
   The first few weeks are always a bit hectic with research especially with our first one. We are taking part in the British Art Medal Society Competition, (BAMS).  Its been all go trying to get them completed over the last two weeks, and they have to be sent away next week. I will have information on this project in a seperate blogpost.
   We’ve also got a self motivated project to think about – who do you think you are?.  Its quite scary to think that this is us thinking about our 4th year and its not far away. This project doesn’t start for another while so will also keep you updated on everythin that is happening.

We also have a few visitors this semester that we will be working with for different projects.
Kathryn Hinton – She is a silversmith that uses CAD, CNC milling and press forming.
Lindsey Mann – She will be coming in to show us her work with coloured aluminium jewellery
And
John Moore – He works with anodised aluminum.

Im very excited to see their work and hear what they have to say and to get to work with them on our projects. This semester is going to be jam packed but its good to get us prepared for our 4th year and I’m looking forward to whats to come.