Aaaaaaargh, so it's been an age since I last wrote and even longer since I posted. Things got a bit mad but it's over now. Post Mortem time. The last piece to receive individual treatment was the cigarette holder, piece 4 and there are now 7 pieces. Sadly, the last piece was a:
" Foolhardy, Underestimated, Complicated, Kinetically- Unmanageable Problem" and shan't be discussed at any great length to avoid further disappointments and to minimise the attraction of high ledges. The previous two came out ok, quite pleased with the ring, fondly dubbed "The Face-Hugger" or some other biological term that needn't be discussed in too much detail...


 The other bangle (yes, I did another one after swearing up and down that they were horrible and evil and all manner of other adjectives) came out quite well. Much playing with surfaces on that one and and exploration into sweat soldering which was not as bad as it could have been, resulted in a fairly cool product.

After losing a chunk of my finger to the vicious pair that is an ingot and a manual roller, I moved onto getting the rest of my work together. Since August, trying to work things out on CAD- my feelings towards this are: Had I been able to take the time to learn the program and play with it, I would not have had problems. However, in retrospect seeing how much time (I'm talking 200+ hours here) I have spent, fruitlessly banging my head against a wall, I should have forgone the CAD and concentrated on the work that I can do at the standard that is required. After handing it all in, I still have a bitter taste in my mouth, thinking about the hours vs the result. The standards to get in are that one must have completed one's undergrad- 3 years of study. My Rhino skills are comparable to that of a first year. In that respect, I should have stuck to my strengths and produced the quantity and quality of work that I knew was expected of me, instead of flogging the dead Rhino.

 Sadness over things I can't fix aside, the year is over. A more trying and defining year could not have been engineered. In the time since I started this year, in February, I have learnt a huge amount and seen the possibilities for future endeavours that previously, hadn't even crossed my mind. I hope this is not my last body of work such as this, I would certainly love to carry on, but this is it for now. Research and streamlining of concepts will have to keep me busy until then. who knows, now that the pressure is off, I might even be able to get the hang of Rhino.

 These are the finished pieces. All seven of them, though the last one will not be included in the final exhibition.