Fluorescent acrylic materials have always fascinated me. You can cut, glue, bend and melt it, and even vacuum-form it to your desire. The most fascinating thing is the way the light “goes round corners”, and the fact that you can get fluorescent material to enhance the effect. I have made a few things over the years, and some of it you can see here below.
I also enjoy making some silver-work once in a while. My sister Anette and I took a course in the basic techniques of working with silver and jewelry. A lot of it is not that far from working with electronics, and some of the tools are almost the same. But of cause there is still A LOT to learn!
Here is the first little thing I made. A ring with a BLIMP:
For a couple of years we had our occasional weekend workshops together with our mother, and we even built up a complete little workshop with all necessary tools and small machines. Sadly they both passed away… and the silversmith workshop has been quiet for a long time now. But hopefully the inspiration to create some “nice and tiny things” will come back again.
Acrylic necklace and ear hangers for Sissel
I cut out these ear hangers and the necklace with a fretsaw. This is, by the way, not very easy, since the acrylic tends to melt and very effectively stop your sawing. So it has to be done very slowly and precise. Sissel designed the ear hangers, and I designed the necklace as a farewell gift when she moved to Canada. The motive is from a children’s book about a teddy bear that is forgotten in a train. After a lot of difficulties he finds his way back home with the good help from a dove. On the last page he waves goodbye to the dove. The teddy bear is made from silver plate and fastened with two small pins soldered onto the backside. I had preferred a picture where Sissel is wearing it all, but until I get that, you will have to do with these pictures:
Beware of the “Mudakua”
“Mudakua” is a kind of ghost with only one glowing eye! When we were kids, my sister and I made this up to scare other kids and of cause the grown-ups. It usually consisted of a step-ladder with blankets over, placed in a very dark room, and with one bicycle lamp underneath as the glowing eye. Of cause my own kids learned how to make the “Mudakua”! I made these two Mudakua ear hangers for Sissel. They are made from white acrylic, and the glowing eyes are red-fluorescent clear acrylic. All parts are cut out with a fretsaw. The eyes were made to fit exactly in the holes, and finally pressed into place while heating with a small hot-air-blower (the type for shrink tubing). The silver eye-pins are also heated into the acrylic, after drilling a fine 0,5 mm hole:
The Glowing Bureau
I designed and built this small bureau for Sissel to keep her jewellery and other small things. The hidden lamp makes it useful as a night light at the same time. The main structure is 15 x 15 mm ramin-wood, painted fluorescent yellow, and the sides and top are transparent, fluorescent acrylic. The drawers are made from painted 4 mm plywood, fronts of white acrylic, and the coloured handles are from old computer boards. The light source is placed in the back, and the light is conducted and radiated from the acrylic parts. The strange objects in the top compartment have no purposes except for puzzling your mind. Through the small windows in the sides you can se some Beardsley drawings.
The Little Prince
I made this brooch as a gift for Karen at our 25 years anniversary, “Silver Wedding” in 2008. The book about “The Little Prince” has a very special place in our lives: When I met Karen I sent her a copy of the part where the fox meets the little prince (and you should definitely read it!), and at our wedding party Karen read it out loud to all the guests. Who is the prince and who is the fox, we still don’t know 🙂
The prince is cut out of silver, and the fox is copper. The pictured scene is not exactly from Antoine de Saint-Exupérys drawings, but my own composition that will fit the circular shape. The back-plate is cut out of petrified oak, that my father found many years ago in Sindal, Jylland.
Always remember what the fox says:
“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
