From this...	...to this!

IN THE BEGINNING...

Mrs Pauline O'Brien, the Art Teacher and Coordinator of Technology and Enterprise at Beaconsfield Primary School  extended an Enterprise Challenge Project to the school community to design a souvenir for a coastal town on the coast of Western Australia. Details of some of the other resulting souvenirs can also be seen here.

Each of the following stages followed by Tosh, was involved in first creating the pendant, then later redesigning the pendant to make a brooch.

INVESTIGATE
I chose a lighthouse as my souvenir because coastal towns have lighthouses and so does Beaconsfield Primary School as its logo.
DESIGN
I looked at various lighthouse designs, choosing a combination of lighthouse features for my design.
CREATE

I carved my design into a plaster block.

I then melted an alloy metal.

I poured it down the sprue hole and waited a few minutes for the metal to set.

I released the fastenings holding the blocks together.

The sprue needed removing and the back filing smooth.

A hole was drilled to attach the jump ring.

I chose leather thonging for the necklace.

APPRAISE
 I thought the finished pendant needed to be made to look old, so l oxidised one of my prototypes using 1 part nitric acid to 6 parts water. I liked the aged look rather than the shiny silver appearance.

Festivals and Special Events coordinator Pamela Peelen approached Mrs O'Brien about using the design to promote the Lighthouse Concert, which will open the 1998 Festival Fremantle. The Festival Fremantle Planning Committee endorsed the concept and recommended that the pendant be turned into a brooch or pin and to somehow include the wording Festival Fremantle.

There were many steps involved in turning a prototype design into a marketable product.

Accepting the design brief
My mother, Katrina Lievense, said that she was interested in handling the modifications that were needed as well as actually investigating what would be involved in the production of a run of brooches in time for the Lighthouse Concert to open the Festival Fremantle.We could have just turned the whole project over to another manufacturing organization/jeweller, but thought it would be an interesting experience to go through it ourselves.

Investigating
 

Harry Lepelaars in his workshop, checking the amount of alloy required to give a cost estimate.	Tosh is holding a set of 3 brooch fronts as they come out of the centrifuge. The mould can be seen under the ingots of  Greenbushes tin in the background.

    Manufacturers - We approached Harry Lepelaars of Artis in Melville and Buckingham Pewter in Balcatta. We received samples from each manufacturer.
    Processes - Both Manufacturers used a centrifugal casting process.
Artis required 6 prototypes to create the vulcanised rubber mould, while Buckingham Pewter only required the one prototype from which they created a latex mould.
Buckingham Pewter uses tin which has been mined at Greenbushes in the south west of Western Australia in their pewter which is 97% tin and 3% antimony. The tin is sent over east to be processed to their required standard.
    Cost - The cost per unit depended on the size of the production run. The quotes were similar. Fremantle City Council ordered 272 brooches.
Our final decision to go with Buckingham pewter, even though they were more expensive, was initially based on the difficulties involved in producing more than one prototype from the original plaster of paris mould. We were very pleased with the quality of reproduction of the test pieces.

Redesigning
We decided the best way we could add the words Festival Fremantle was to create a rocky base foundation for the Lighthouse to sit on. This meant we had to go through the same process of carving the design out of a plaster block and pouring the alloy. Once we had a base, we were then able to solder it on to the original Lighthouse pendant.
Instead of a hole for a jump ring to hang the pendant, we now needed to attach a brooch back. Unfortunately, the brooch back covered up the two lighthouse windows which we felt was an important part of the original design.

Appraisal of the modified design
    Client - Liked and approved of the way in which the words 'Festival Fremantle' were incorporated into the foundations of the lighthouse.
    Manufacturer - The joint btween the base and the original pendant was too thin, so we had to resolder it so that Buckingham Pewter could do their first test reproduction.
                        - Anne Bradford suggested that a brooch back was not the best solution for supporting the size and weight of the brooch. Their suggestion was to use a long badge pin with a stopper to protect the sharp point. The extra advantage to this was that now the windows worked as windows again.

Modifications
To make the whole brooch thicker so that it would not bend or break at the join, we resoldered the joint, then coated the entire back of the brooch with plastibond. This thicker model was then used to create the first test moulds. As a result of this process, it also meant that the back of the brooch had a much smoother finish.

Marketing
    Presentation     Each brooch has been individually mounted on a card in a plastic pouch.
    Selling price    $12.50
                          Available from Fremantle Arts Centre gift shop, Finnerty St
                         and Customer Service Centre, City of Fremantle.

   Promotion of the product and the artist through the media.

1998 Festival Fremantle Program and Poster Launch

Mayor of Fremantle Richard Utting presenting Tosh with a Festival  T-shirt in recognition of his artistic contribution.	Tosh Sutcliffe with his mother Katrina Lievense, who oversaw the process of turning the concept of the brooch into a reality.

 Media Coverage.

Fremantle Herald  10/10/1998
School Matters  21/10/1998
ED Magazine 3/11/1998

ON REFLECTION

by Tosh Sutcliffe (artist)
I find it hard to believe that my lighthouse went from something I did for school to something that most of Fremantle will be able to see. Even the world can see it over the net. I've enjoyed the attention the brooch has created. I just hope I can have similar success in future projects.

and Katrina Lievense (mother)
It's been a valuable learning experience helping to get the original prototype pendant to the final brooch. Several problems had to be solved along the way but the effort has been worthwhile.

and Pauline O'Brien (T&E teacher)
It has been a real thrill, first to know that Tosh's work has so deservedly gained recognition outside the school community and also, that the initial idea of the Enterprise Challenge Project has resulted in such a meaningful and relevant enterprise experience.

You can see more of Tosh's creative work which has been completed in response to  various challenges at Beaconsfield Primary School in -
The Beacon Gallery room  FROGS: AN ART CHALLENGE  and also
on the CELEBRATION CHALLENGE page.

Find out more about what's happening in Festival Fremantle 98

Manufacturers of promotional products.