Luna Moth Cocooning Ring Prototype v01

Side profiles of the prototype

I am designing a new custom ring as a gift for Lauren's birthday.  These are the initial design sketches of the process to evolve a new ring form.  

The goal is to create something with a formal relationship to the Luna Moth pendant I designed last year as a gift, but to also transform that geometry into a new life-cycle of the creature.  I begin with a few snippets of geometry from the initial pendant, proto-forms that I assemble into a new body in search of transformation.  The idea is to have the ring be in a state of change, the cocooning, as transfiguration takes place in its becoming moth.  Some of the initial formal elements remain in play, the long tails and the striated surfaces, but they are something more primal, more raw.  The ring wraps itself, keeping an insect symmetry along the primary axis of bending, but showing signs of differentiation at the two ends.  The open patterns of the original moth wings are compresses, bundled into a knot of convergence and divergence.  The wings are pushing through the tail as they begin to emerge.  This forms a high density of internal spaces within the form that will capture and refract light once it is produced in polished metal (probably sterling as it looks great on Laurens skin).  I also want to use this design as a platform to test applying some gem settings to a design, providing a contrast of rich color to the sleek silver with a Mexican fire opal.

These images represent the initial recombination and emergence flow of the ring design.  The form is currently out for production as 3D printed prototypes so that I can work on the physical aspects of the piece, such as weight, balance, interface with the hand, and visual proportions.  Physical prototyping is an integral art of my work flow and often uncovers new trajectories that were not yet apparent in the purely digital space.  I will post photos of the prototypes and discuss how my experience with them folds back into the next phase of design.

Not Quite Micro Worlds

Asphalt and Dandelion Seeds

Unexpected result from a photo of dandelion seeds stuck on some raw asphalt along the Bronx River.

Inspiring June Flowers

I like to take close up photos of flowers that I find in my daily travels.  I generally share some of them on Instagram @rooksisfun, but I wanted to keep a record of what I find each week/month so here is an installment from June.