A3 Syringe Project

Domed syringe set

Submitted to the Registry evaluators - February 2009

I’m not a big fan of the syringe so this project was a tricky one to approach. My first submission was a pretty simple disk and used PMC Standard as a backing with syringe lines randomly applied to the front. This meant that when fired, the disks domed up. The assessors didn’t think much of them though.

Originality of design – 2 out of 3.5
Craftsmanship – 2 out of 3
Control of technique – 0.5 out of 2
Relation of elements – 1.5 out of 1.5

6 out of 10, not enough. The comments from the assessors were interesting. “My favorite part is the pair of teensy jump rings that make the bail of the pendant. They speak of attention to detail and nuance. By contrast, the syringe work seems careless, random and not very interesting. It stays safely away from the edge of the disk – spaghetti in the center of the plate.” Useful comments.

The main issue though is this, “This does not satisfy the project criteria of exploiting the possibilities of syringe clay.” So I needed to rethink this one.

Pendant and earring set by Julia Rai

Re-submitted to the Registry evaluators - June 2009

My second attempt was more successful. For this I made disks with the centre punched out and dried them on light bulbs so they were domed. When they were dry I anchored them onto the light bulbs using little bits of polymer clay and then drew syringe lines across the gap.

The pattern – another tear away sheet – was a criss-cross design. I followed these lines across the gap and crossed them over each other. I put several layers of syringe but still had problems with them cracking. I also had to work with them from the back as well as the front to make sure the back of the syringe work was properly anchored to the rim. The pendant was easier than the earrings. They were so small I had to be very careful. It was a very delicate operation and had lots of issues but finally I got something that was robust enough to fire. This one scored well.

Originality and appropriateness – 3 out of 3.5
Control of the technique – 1.5 out of 2
Overall craftsmanship – 2.5 out of 3
Relation of the objects – 1.5 out of 1.5

I was pleased with 8.5. The comments were a bit mixed, “The elements work quite well for me and demonstrate control and thought in their design. However, the earwires are not well designed nor well finished and drag the rest down.” So my ear wires need work.

Here is the project description from the Masters Registry website:-

​A3 Syringe Project

Make a pendant and matching earrings that demonstrate design and application skills that take advantage of syringe clay.

Click here to go to the next Level 2 Project