What Do I Want To Make?

by Sarah Loch-Test on July 30, 2013

When I visited East Carolina University this past April, Ken Bova asked me ‘What do you want to make when you get here?’  I’ve been thinking a lot about this question since then.  It hasn’t helped that I haven’t gotten too much studio time in since then for various reasons.  I wanted to make an effort at composing all the thoughts and ideas I’ve had and all the ideas I’ve gotten from the numerous artists I’ve met along the way.

Pittsburgh has no shortage of young artists and educators.  I’ve made friends with a couple of the instructors from the Children’s Museum (it’s for science-y learning, not taxidermied toddlers, boo, right?). We had a studio play date back in February where we needle felted steel wool into wool roving, using it to complete a circuit with an LED light and cell battery.  I made these cute little ‘Green Building Brooches’ the fall before, and back in undergrad at Kent, I had made candle holders, both with Plique-a-jour enameling,.  So one of the first things I’d like to make is a whole cityscape that lights up, taking advantage of the transparent enamel.  Maybe I could even figure out how to use solar panels!  I liked doing electrical work on Fury Factory costumes,  only that stuff never had to be pretty.  The challenge would be to get all this electrical stuff covered, or at least successfully incorporate it into the design.  Dauvit Alexander made a nifty little light up piece with our Artist & Kids workshop a couple weeks ago, with the battery and wiring being hidden inside of the Altoids tin.

dauvit

Dauvit and the piece he made during Artist & Kids, of course there was a skull!

Wall pieces!  I’m not too happy with the large scale enamels I did at Kent, but I super miss that 12 foot long kiln, it was quite cozy in the dead of winter!  I could stare at Kat Cole’s wall pieces all day and not be bothered by it.  I’ve picked up a couple of awesome rusty pieces off the streets of Carnegie and Pittsburgh.  They’ll fit wonderfully in wall pieces that relate to my Urban Nature jewelry.  More layered enamel pieces and bigger cadmium flowers.  Yesss.  Since I’ve used sewer cover images maybe I need to do a floor piece too?

 

enamel

I etched and enameled this copper panel.  It’s alright.  Not a deluxe picture.

 

Obviously I want to make more wearable pieces.  More plants, soil, rust and decay, and new life.  I need better plants, so I’ll use some of Wayne Werner’s small scale raising techniques.  I also just want to do more insane chasing and repousse because it’s so relaxing.

 

rusty

Enameled Porcelain Steel Sample

Being an NPR junky, I’ve heard a few stories that I’d like to revisit….coal mine pollution in West Virginia’s waterways and cities contributing to global warming.  Now I’ll have to justify heating up a kiln to address these issues….  I think I’ve got my work cut out for me, in the past I’ve struggled with subject matter, not the case here.

bridgey

Bridge-y part that I really like.

So that’s what I want to make, how about you?

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Sarah Loch-Test
I'm Sarah Loch-Test, an artist from Columbus, Ohio. I've been making jewelry for as long as I can remember! I like to have fun with my work and combine childhood obsessions (like Dinosaurs!) with elements of design and craft that inspire me. Art Nouveau, Islamic and Indian craft are my favorite sources of inspiration and I hope you can see that in my jewelry. My work can be found at the Mac Worthington Gallery, The Columbus Cultural Arts Center and on permanent display in Northland High School. I'm a graduate of the B.F.A. craft program at Kent State University, concentrating in Jewelry Metals and Enameling. I sometimes get distracted and work in other mediums such as felt or will do some sewing. I've been in shows and exhibitions at Kent State, the SNAG Conference and around the Columbus Area. You can view other work at www.SarahLoch-Test.com Find my on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SarahLochTestJewelry Twitter: @SarahLochTest Currently I'm in Pittsburgh, PA at the Society of Contemporary Craft, where I am the first ever Studio Apprentice. I'll soon be moving to North Carolina, to start grad school at East Carolina University.
Sarah Loch-Test

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Behind the Brooch

by Sarah Loch-Test on July 8, 2013

Art jeweler and author Lorena Angelo contacted several artists last summer about a project she was compiling called Behind the Brooch.  She stumbled across my work on Crafthaus, so I’m lucky to be included in this forthcoming publication.  It’s recently been announced that the book will be out this coming February, 2014 thanks to Schiffer Publishing.  The concept of the book is to expose and share the reverse sides of brooches.  Whether it’s a nifty pin back/mechanism or just really neat detail, metalsmiths put as much time, (sometimes more!) addressing the side of a piece that not many people will appreciate.

Mark your calendars!  Although I can’t say which of my pieces will be featured, I can point you towards Lorena’s Blog and some other places with more information.

Ring by Lisette Fee of Eilisain jewelry

Lisette Fee, of Eilisain Jewelry (one of her claw rings is pictured here) will also have work in the book.

And if you haven’t seen it already, there was a sneak peak online exhibition on Crafthaus.

I’m really excited for the book to come out because I think Lorena took a good deal of care in selecting young artists, (like myself, Lisette and Sarah Truett.) to feature amoung established ones.  Can’t wait to get my hands on it and see all the wonderful artists included!

Piece by Sarah Truett

A ring by Sarah Truett, love how this gal uses enamels!

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Sarah Loch-Test
I'm Sarah Loch-Test, an artist from Columbus, Ohio. I've been making jewelry for as long as I can remember! I like to have fun with my work and combine childhood obsessions (like Dinosaurs!) with elements of design and craft that inspire me. Art Nouveau, Islamic and Indian craft are my favorite sources of inspiration and I hope you can see that in my jewelry. My work can be found at the Mac Worthington Gallery, The Columbus Cultural Arts Center and on permanent display in Northland High School. I'm a graduate of the B.F.A. craft program at Kent State University, concentrating in Jewelry Metals and Enameling. I sometimes get distracted and work in other mediums such as felt or will do some sewing. I've been in shows and exhibitions at Kent State, the SNAG Conference and around the Columbus Area. You can view other work at www.SarahLoch-Test.com Find my on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SarahLochTestJewelry Twitter: @SarahLochTest Currently I'm in Pittsburgh, PA at the Society of Contemporary Craft, where I am the first ever Studio Apprentice. I'll soon be moving to North Carolina, to start grad school at East Carolina University.
Sarah Loch-Test

Latest posts by Sarah Loch-Test (see all)

Hydraulic Forming at Rio Grande

April 15, 2013

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico, home of Rio Grade, a jewelry supply and tool  company.  I ended up there to take a workshop on the Bonny Doon Hydraulic Press; Society of Contemporary Craft just acquired one of these beauties and Rio Grande was generous enough to donate the tuition for this […]

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My Sixth Month Mark at SCC

March 6, 2013

I’ve now completed six months as the Studio Apprentice at the Society of Contemporary Craft, which means my time here is half over!  Steve, who is the out-going marketing director, asked me to write a little bit about what I think about this opportunity and what it means to me. Leaving my job at  Costume […]

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Contemporary Craft: An Odyssey

February 16, 2013

We recently had three consecutive weekends with ceramics workshops- taught by visiting artists Kevin Snipes and Sharif Bey (who grew up in Pittsburgh), and Yoko Sekino-Bove, (Japanese born and now resides in Washington, PA).  Some students from the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild were given scholarships to attend these various workshops, and so we met Nikki.  Nikki’s […]

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Artist & Kids Weekend

February 3, 2013

This post is a couple weeks over due, I think I needed some time to recover from the chaos.  One of the outreach programs Contemporary Craft does is called Artist & Kids, which is for kids between ages 12 & 16.  They spend two days working with an artist to complete a project.  Our artist […]

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Interview with ceramics artist Sharif Bey

January 12, 2013

 Sharif Bey, a ceramics artist and art educator, grew up in Pittsburgh and will be returning to the city to teach a workshop at Contemporary Craft.  The workshop, entitled Object & Identity, takes place on Saturday & Sunday, January 26 & 27.  Students will make clay objects infused with cultural, historical, political and personal meaning, all […]

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Recent Work and Inspiration

January 7, 2013

I just wanted to take some time to post some recent finished work along with some of my inspirations.  Having a camera on me at all times is really great, and bonus- people probably think I’m nuts for stopping to take pictures of sewer covers.  It’s these everyday things that I’m referencing in my jewelry because […]

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A Different Kind of Urban Gardening

December 16, 2012

I’ve been doing some research for the work I’ve been making recently. I like things like facts and science, that’s where I get some of my inspiration.  I started with reading about Pittsburgh, which seems appropriate having recently moved here.  Pittsburgh is of course known for its history as a town of steel and industry. […]

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Latest Work- Urban Nature Jewelry

December 5, 2012

I realized I haven’t talked much about what I’ve actually been making lately.  I started playing around with flower and leaf shaped copper pieces that I enameled, fusing the pieces to copper wire.  At first I used a layer of opaque white and then painted transparent colors over top. Sometimes I don’t pay very good […]

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