Creating Linus Jewellery July, 2012

July 2012 Volume 1

JEWELLERY

FEATURING Sydney Lynch | Viktoria Munzker | Margaret West | Alice Sprintzen | Claudia Steiner | Jan Smith IN THE CLASSROOM Tube Riveting | Blue Patina | Framed Pendant | Measuring | Annealing | Roller Printing 1

inside From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Meet the Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 In the Classroom . . . . . . . . . . 40 The Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

ON THE COVER:

Sydney Lynch

EXECUTIVE EDITOR:

Nicole Baxter

CREATIVE DIRECTOR:

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Christine Mytrunec

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from the editor Creating something new is always exciting. Making all the rules even more exciting. So when we sat down and decided to create ‘Creating Linus Jewellery’, my little brain went nuts; I wanted it to have everything. I was a in a fever planing all the things that could go into it. It occurred to me some strong organization and intent would be needed; defining what the magazine was a vehicle for and how to achieve it, was going to be critical.

Not everyone can take 4 years or more to study art full-time with generous, knowledgeable teachers at a top notch school. A big thank you to: Charles Lewton-Brain, Dee Fontans, Sarabeth Carnat and all the other wonderful teachers at The Alberta College of Art and Design (Calgary, Alberta, Canada), where I received my Formal Education. I now have my own students and when I’m in the classroom, I draw hard on my experiences as a student. This is what I want ‘Creating Linus Jewellery’ to be a vehicle for; to give you, dear reader, the education I was so fortunate to have received.

Being a web based magazine allows for interaction between reader and writer in ways never before possible. In most of the articles you will be invited to participate; to ask questions, relay your experience or show us the work you’ve created using techniques explained by our teachers. Just as in a physical classroom, your interaction and input will be part of what dictates content.

Let’s enter into this together: ‘Creating Linus Jewellery’ will supply the teachers; you and your fellow readers, the students. Learning to be a jewellery artist is not just about techniques, it is about being exposed to a way of thinking about jewellery. In these pages you will find many teachers; some will explain techniques, others concept and inspiration and many will share their works; showing jewellery in a new and unique light helping you move in directions never thought of before.

So get ready for your first day; listen carefully, take notes, ask questions, share your thoughts and let us see your creations.

Good luck on your journey, Nicole Baxter, Jewellery Designer & Educator nabstudios.com

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Navigating the magazine As an online magazine, ‘Creating Linus Jewellery’ is able to offer functions that print magazines can’t. Links will allow us to bring readers directly to websites in an instant.

If you see a word underlined, highlighted or a web address, click on it and you will be redirected to that site. As long as you are logged into the Creating Linus website all of the links will work. If you need further assistance with navigation click on the “?” icon and a legend will appear telling you what each toolbar icon means.

visit our

website

If you like the Creating Linus magazine duo make sure you spend some time on our website too. If you’re a member you have access to some great features like:

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The Artist Index Did you see an artist in one of our issues, but can’t remember which one?

In the Artist Index you’ll be able to quickly find who you’re looking for and one click will take you directly to their feature.

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Magazine Archives Did you miss an issue or want to reference something you’ve read? This is your virtual Linus magazine rack. Here you can view any issue, any time without the cluttered stacks on your coffee table.

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Members Forum Got something to say? Maybe a question to ask? Post it in our Members Forum! We want our readers to talk to each other; answer questions, give suggestions and discuss. This is your opportunity to meet and connect with fellow makers and art lovers from around the world. How cool is that?

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meet the artists

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Viktoria M端nzker

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Jan Smith

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Sydney Lynch

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Claudia Steiner

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Margaret West

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Alice Sprintzen

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meet the artist an interview with

viktoria münzker “Jewellery is for me an object, which communicates on a nonverbal level. Jewellery emits signals. The signals which originate from thought, ideas and concepts. These pulsate in the space and communicate. My main idea is to show jewellery as an object which becomes its power by wearing on human body.”

Viktoria Munzker studied Jewellery at Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Slovakia. Her work has been exhibited in galleries throughout the world including: Museum of Arts and Design, NY, USA; V&V Gallery, Vienna, Austria; Museum of Natural History of the Mediterranean, Livorno, Italy and Gallery GestalterBund, Munich, Germany.

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Q:

In your opinion, how important is it to have formal training as an artist?

Q:

In my opinion, a formal training is important.

There are some aesthetical, historical and contemporary requirements if you want to make art. There are great possibilities for studying and training in schools and workshops where you can meet the best contemporary jewellery artists personally. Today in our cultural society it is much easier to establish yourself with a complete formal training.

Q:

Q:

I find my inspiration often in nature; it has spent billions of years perfecting forms. I recreate systems between living and non-living elements. There is a symbiosis of my personal experiences and jewelry creations. I often work spontaneously to achieve freedom in my compositions.

And if things get tough, I go for a walk and look back to the beginning, when or why I started doing these tough pieces. Sometimes I leave the unfinished piece for later and work on another one.

Which artists have influenced you, and how?

Artists from diverse art directions have influenced me - Louise Bourgeois with her inner emotional aspects of works. Karol Weisslechner, my professor, with his ability to bring somebody to give the most. Kasimir Malevich, pioneer of geometric abstract art with his views rendering the familiar into an abstraction, he was ahead of times. Deconstructivistic architecture from Frank O. Gehry, Daniel Liebeskind, Zaha M. Hadid and Coop Himmelblau influenced and inspired me with the idea of apparent chaos (my collection “Deconstructive Jewelry”). In literature, I was influenced by Frank Schätzing´s novel “The swarm”- with the story and the detailed descriptions of the space.

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough in the studio?

Q:

How have you handled the business side of being an artist?

I organize my time, plan my days and work often till night. I’m an energetic person and I make everything I can by myself. I’m working with clients and other artists. So I learned to handle the business side. And I love to do it all.

Q:

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Wherever I am, whatever I do, I want to stay true to myself. And when I’m lucky, my message reaches a single being.

Besides art, what are your interests and how do they influence you in the studio?

Everything I make and live has to do with my art.

There are no borders between my work and my life. I also cut precious and non-precious stones.

Cabochons and faceted stones ordered by the customers and for my jewelry, train me in geometrical harmony. I’m keen on reading specialist books about art, jewelry, philosophy, stones and techniques, eastern cultures and tattoo. On rare occasions novels. I try to spend a lot of time in nature. There is always something new to discover and to explore, impressions that I later process in jewelry.

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Q:

Could you talk about your latest series and what you are trying to achieve with it?

Q:

Why are you an artist, and how did you first decide that art was your path in life?

In my latest series called “Worms: Into the Unknown” I search through the deepest imagination about unknown life forms referring to the deepest dark ocean, where it lives unobserved by humans. Where the light goes out and ceases to exist, romp creatures of unknown nature. Out there are hundreds of species strange like “aliens”. This is my vision about these entities. How I see these species, how they look like in my imagination. In the context there is the material and the story, my searching in the past, for unknown and forgotten forms. I choose materials which I can “feel”. That means natural materials with some kind of spirit, materials with a touch, colour and light. I build kind of bridges between the materials, fit them into each other, and make something special. The main material in this collection is alginate, which is derived from algae. As a purely biological material it is safe and environmentally friendly.

Dried out it is very light. This lightness has intrigued me. This was the moment I made ​​jewelry of it. Next important moment is the devastation of ecological balance and overfishing. After overfishing shallow waters we threaten the deep seas which are full of species yet unknown to us. This can change not only these territories of Earth, but the whole evolution of it. Before we can learn about the secrets of deep see species, they could disappear forever.

A little bit of art was always in my family. The contact was always there with architecture, graphics and art history from my Parents and music from my Grandfather.

First I collected stones and minerals, then I begun to make jewelry out of them for myself and my friends. Later I identified myself with the jewelry I made and I discovered much more than just a decoration in it. I found my way to express my ideas in jewelry.

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Q:

What advice would you give to an artist who is just starting out?

Be yourself. Master the techniques and materials that you find for yourself. Hold on if something doesn’t work, and find your own special way of art. May the art be with you.

Q:

What are the major challenges you’ve faced as an artist?

I like challenges. They push me on. Every new work is a challenge for me. I treat every piece individually. The more complicated the work is, the greater the challenge.

A challenge for me is always the theme which I process in my collections and single pieces.

But probably the major challenge was a job for a client, to cut 780 different small precious stones which were set in historical jewelry. That was a great challenge for me, because I didn’t know if it would work well. But it did and I was happy to make it.

Q:

What are 3 words that best describe your work?

Q:

What is your favourite tool?

Q:

Where are you located?

New, trippy, true.

The tool I like the most and that I use very often is my faceting machine Ultra Tec V5. Since I have learned how to facet stones, I’m fascinated about the possibilities that I have. I can create nearly everything I imagine.

The studio/gallery which I share with few other jewelry artists, is in a historical building situated in the very heart of Vienna, capital of Austria.

“Everything I make and live has to do with my art.”

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meet the artist

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an interview with

jan smith I was always drawing; my grade 5 teacher gave me a small scrap book extracting the promise that I would use it when my classroom work was finished and that I wouldn’t draw in my school notebooks anymore, only the “special book.” It was a deal, I was totally hooked. The same year, on a school field trip I was exposed to native carvers and announced that’s what I was going to be, an artist.

I graduated in printmaking from Nova Scotia Collage of Art and Design and was an intaglio artist for 14 years. Overtime, I found myself becoming more interested in the making of the plates and their surface than edition printing. I was cutting my zinc and copper plates up and making brooches out of them. Later when I moved to Seattle, I made the transition from printmaking to jewelry.

I love to make things…I "think" with my hands. Collecting ideas, bits and pieces, making models is the way I work. I am drawn to the complexity of the patterns, surfaces, and colours on objects I gather on my journey to the studio. The marks created on the earth by both nature and man and the sculptural structures of steel rebar building foundations fascinate me. I never start with a complete concept, nor do I have a formal drawing or plan that I follow, but rather I have a feeling or sensation. The suggestion transforms itself into a complete piece through a series of trial and error compositions. My work table becomes littered with paper and metal shapes, partial and incomplete pieces. I explore the assemblage, seeking the combination which allows the work to transform itself, to become complete.

The process and journey are as significant to me as the finished work.

I use enamel, metal, and patinas to build layers of colour, images, and texture into my pieces; the individual pieces forming a series. I work intuitively with the materials, excited by the imperfections in the surfaces. Washes of glass layers allow for experimentation with nuances of colour and the exploration of surface subtleties through the combination of luminous transparent and solid opaque enamels. With much the same consideration that an architect sites a building on and within the earth, I consider how the finished objects placement on the body.

I am fascinated by the movement and the sound made while the piece is worn. I call attention to and thereby commemorate the erotic and seductive qualities of the shapes and surfaces of my studied objects and forms. I want the observer and wearer to be pulled into my sensual world and to feel the suggestion of that moment of discovery and wonder.

PHOTOS BY

Doug Yaple

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Q:

In your opinion, how important is it to have formal training as an artist?

Q:

Which artists have influenced you, and how?

I think it’s important to have education or training which allows you to develop your skills and techniques; also to learn or be exposed to a broad range of techniques thus allowing you a good technical vocabulary to express what you are trying to say. I also feel it’s very important that your education include design and art history. Art history gives you a background of periods and influences, and design enables you to take what inspires you and develop it in to your own body of work.

Jim Dine, I admire his drawing, the movement and energy in his work; I work hard at keeping a regular drawing practice, striving to have that kind of beauty in my own work.

In my late 20’s while still working as a printmaker I saw images of Ramon Puig Cuyas and Jens-Rüdiger Lorenzen’s work; both completely changed my idea of what was jewelry. In the enamel field I love the work of June Swartz, Elizabeth Turrell, and Helen Carnac; all have made huge contributions to the field of enamelling

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Q:

Besides art, what are your interests and how do they influence you in the studio?

Garden and landscape design and architecture are very big influences. Colour, patterns, shapes of the individual plants and parts of them. I love walking and being on the water, sailing or kayaking. There was an architectural model shop beside one of my studios and I loved spying in the windows at the sculptural forms. I love to travel and wander streets. I work in a series based on what I am gathering; sometimes its physical objects sometimes photos or sketches; I make drawings, models and then have parts I assemble. In terms of production it’s probably not the most effective or efficient but it’s the way I think.

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough in the studio?

I create as a way of getting the ideas out of my head; I love the physicality of making.

I try to maintain a regular practice, go to the studio whether or not I feel inspired; I try to keep regular hours. On those dry or uninspired days I do routine tasks, cleaning castings, preparing enamel; sometimes the rhythms of these activities inspire me. I try to maintain a walking practice, walking to my studio is meditative; I slow down and look at my surroundings, the textures, gather objects, take photos. The walking gives me time to be in my head, I see in a very pictographic way so I flip through images of things when I am designing. I also keep a scrap book of sorts, I paste all sorts of things in it; twigs, leaves, things I find or cut out from magazines. So I will use that a jumping off place when working. There is no way around it there are days I would much rather be gardening or just about anything other than working in the studio.

Q:

How have you handled the business side of being an artist?

I struggled at it for the first few years; there was not a professional practices component in my degree program. I didn’t have much business knowledge so it was a big learning curve. I would encourage emerging artists to learn about marketing and bookkeeping; if you can afford help hire someone. I try to pay for help with the areas I am not good at or don’t enjoy. I did not have a business plan at first and that was difficult. It’s something that helps keep me focused and moving toward my goals.

PHOTOS BY

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Doug Yaple

jansmith.ca

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Q:

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Q:

Could you talk about your latest series and what you are trying to achieve with it?

Q:

What advice would you give to an artist who is just starting out?

Hopefully working on my work, being in the garden, traveling. I see doing some printmaking and in some way it is incorporated in my work. I could also see doing some bigger pieces again not totally sure how. I am taking some cad classes and will be taking a laser class. Am excited about some new techniques I learned from Helen Carnac with liquid enamel and steel. I have been doing some small work so see where I go with that.

I am shifting from the botanical imagery or perhaps I’m zooming in on parts of them. I am exploring liquid enamel combined with some acrylic plastic and monoprints. I’m not sure what I’m trying to achieve, it’s in a very exploratory state. I see they could be wearable but also become much larger as sculptural pieces.

Take the opportunity to get training and continue to upgrade your skills. Join professional organizations in your field, and network with other artists, collectors and critics. Don’t be afraid to ask for help; curators, granting bodies want to help you.

If possible work for another artist. When in Seattle I was so fortunate to work for other metal artists.

It was working for Maria Phillips when I was exposed to enamelling and electroforming; I learned so much with her. Gina Pankowski was a great mentor and I learned so much about soldering. I owe each of them a big thank you for everything I gained from the experience.

Q:

Why are you an artist, and how did you first decide that art was your path in life?

Although I was fascinated by biology I always knew I wanted to do something with art. On an elementary school field trip we visited native carvers working on doors or poles that were destined for UBC Museum of Anthropology. I was mesmerized by this magical process of making something appear out of the wood. I came home and told my parents that was what I was going to be; an artist.

I was fortunate to have a strong art program in high school with teachers who helped me apply for scholarships and art school. It was a bit challenging for my mom who wanted me to do something more traditional; teaching or bookkeeping. I went to art school and studied ceramics and printmaking and upon graduating worked as an intaglio printmaker for many years prior to switching to art jewelry.

jansmith.ca PHOTOS BY

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Doug Yaple

Q:

What are the major challenges you've faced as an artist?

Upon leaving art school I moved from the east coast where I had attended school back to the west coast where I was from. I had a huge student loan debt. Maintaining a studio practice while paying loans without the network of colleagues was a challenge, I felt isolated and unsure where to access career help. Fortunately I found studio space in a cooperative studio space which at the time was funded by Canada Council which helped immensely. It was scary but I approached a couple of professors at Emily Carr College of Art to look at my work and began a dialogue with them. They gave me critical feedback on my work and helped explain some of the steps in the business of being an artist.

The second was shortly after my marriage. We moved to the US and the work visa my husband was on did not initially allow me to work in the US. At the beginning it was somewhat isolating and at times frustrating but having learned from the first experience I was more willing to take risks; join organizations (some worked, some did not). This was when I moved from the field of intaglio printmaking to metal and enamel. The Seattle Metals Guild and Pratt Fine Arts were great organizations and support systems.

Q:

What are 3 words that best describe your work?

Q:

What is your favourite tool?

Q:

Where are you located?

Painterly, colour, texture.

Hmm..think it’s my hands; I am very appreciative of them as I broke my wrist a few years ago and had to have orthopedic surgery. Although I do love my kiln and rolling mill!

Salt Spring Island, near Vancouver, BC Canada

“I create as a way of getting the ideas out of my head” 17

meet the artist

an interview with

sydney lynch I fell in love with jewelry when I was young, rummaging through my grandmother’s bureau drawers, enchanted by her treasure trove of costume jewelry that she kept in a jumble of tiny boxes, each with its own story. Since childhood I have accumulated and “curated” my collections of objects, found and acquired, assembling them in patterns and groupings that often inspire my jewelry designs. I think of these pebbles, shells, rusted metal fragments and art objects as an archive of personal memories.

While working on the Navajo Reservation during college, I fell in love with the wide open western landscape and met my first silversmiths who inspired me to learn to make my own jewelry. I moved from Connecticut to Colorado, where I got my BFA at the University of Colorado, and decided if nothing else, a traditional career wasn’t for me. I eventually relocated to a farm in Nebraska, then to Lincoln, where I now live. I have an airy, sun-filled studio where I work with two bench assistants and my husband, Craig Roper, who manages the business end of things.

Working with the materials is the most exciting part of the process for me. Simply put, I like making things. In my one of a kind pieces, I exercise my love of color, incorporating a wide range of colored stones in the designs. Another body of work focuses on sterling, sometimes oxidized, combined with high karat gold. Many of my designs are abstract, leaving the wearer open to finding their own personal, intuitive relationship with the piece.

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Q:

In your opinion, how important is it to have formal training as an artist?

I can't say definitively that a person needs an art education to be an artist, but to be a good craftsperson it is essential to study and practice technique, if not at a university art department, then at least take workshops.

I have a minimal formal education in metalsmithing. I have a BFA which encompassed as much art history as studio classes, and I've taken a few jewelry workshops. In retrospect, it might have been better to learn a broader range of technique.

Q:

Which artists have influenced you, and how?

When I was in my 20's Georgia O'Keefe was my art goddess. She was a strong woman with a definite point of view personally and artistically. I admired her bold move to rural New Mexico and her bold imagery. My current all-time favorite artist is the sculptor Andy Goldsworthy. I love his creative response to nature and his ephemeral constructions. His sense of design blows me away. I also love seeing the work of other jewelry artists-- I'm a big fan of both Michael Zobel and Todd Reed.

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Q:

Besides art, what are your interests and how do they influence you in the studio?

I grew up in rural Connecticut playing in the woods and on the beach. Spending most of my childhood out of doors, I've always been drawn to nature and the colors, textures and details I see everywhere.

In addition to getting outdoors for walking and bicycling, I love to travel. In the past 6 or so years I go to Mexico every year. I'm interested in other cultures, languages and music, and when I'm there I take tons of photographs. I don't design jewelry based directly on a specific photo but the images are all stored in my brain's hard drive, and that what I see percolates into my designs. I'm influenced by everything I see.

Q:

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough in the studio?

What inspires me to create? I love the transformative process of making a beautiful object out of materials and making it take form and then finally shine as it becomes a new thing. Working with colored stones often provides a jump start for designing. The image of the artist sitting around their studio joyfully creating things they love day after day is a myth. It's hard work, there are days that I don't feel like opening the studio door. Weeks can go by without feeling inspired. Sometimes the inspiration to work comes from looking at the receding balance in my checkbook. But there are times when I finish a new piece and say, Damn! That's beautiful!

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“I’ve always been drawn to nature and the colors, textures and details I see everywhere.”

Q:

How have you handled the business side of being an artist?

I had no background in business, knew absolutely nothing about it when I began selling my jewelry. I didn't have a mentor and have always relied on information and advice from fellow artists and reading.

I would encourage any student or beginning jeweler who wants to make a living selling their work to learn about bookkeeping and marketing. The younger generations of artists have a huge advantage having grown up with the internet. Everyone has a website, a Facebook page and Twitter account. I haven't embraced Twitter even though I keep telling myself I should, but I have a monthly newsletter/blog that gets a lot of positive response.

I'm also lucky in that my husband, also an artist, took over the bookkeeping when we got married 14 years ago, and handles payroll, billing, etc.

Q:

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Where do I see myself in ten years? I'm 60, so while I may not retire, there are some other things I'd like to do with my time. I see myself either in a hammock on Tulum beach, or in a colonial city spending half of my year in Mexico and half in Nebraska. I'd like to perfect my Spanish and possibly teach English as a second language. Having a limited jewelry production for a small group of galleries would be ideal.

The business end and marketing are timeconsuming but necessary, so if you can afford to get help with that I'd recommend it. It's a competitive field, so you have to become a good business person and communicator.

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Q:

Could you talk about your latest series and what you are trying to achieve with it?

Q:

My latest series has been Cluster necklaces, in which there is a cluster of elements involving a variety of stones and metal shapes, suspended from a chain. It's a format that allows me to do what I've always loved which is arrange shapes and colors in a balanced composition that makes me happy.

Q:

Q:

The major challenges making my living as an artist have been, at various times, the concern of making enough income to support myself during difficult economic times, and also the uneven cycles of creativity and inspiration.

I feel fortunate in having been able to fully support myself with my jewelry for 30 years, and I'm used to not having a steady, predictable income. It's scary I suppose, but while self-employment is risky and involves a tremendous amount of responsibility, I have far more autonomy than people with an 8 to 5 job and two weeks vacation a year. As I said earlier, there are times I don't feel inspired and don't want to make another piece of jewelry ever again! But that eventually changes and it becomes fun again.

What advice would you give to an artist who is just starting out?

To a new jewelry artist starting out I would encourage them, if at all possible, to get a job working in an experienced jeweler's studio in order to learn about both technique and business. Over the years I've had a series of assistants who have gone on to start their own businesses, sometimes as jewelers, sometimes in other mediums, but working with me has been a crash course in how to juggle the many responsibilities that come with the territory. They learn in 2 years what took me 20 years to pick up a bit at a time. Also, no matter how simple or complicated your work is, be sure your craftsmanship is top of the line. A well-executed piece separates the amateurs from the professionals. Start out locally and expand to a broader market as you gain confidence and experience.

Why are you an artist, and how did you first decide that art was your path in life?

I had a circuitous path to becoming an artist.

As a child I loved making things, any kind of hands-on art project, and my grandmother was very creative in that way, very encouraging.

I never lacked for art supplies or crafts kits. I was pretty into weaving potholders and had a tiny loom for Indian beadwork; once I made handmade paper in the blender. My mother always thought I could be a bilingual secretary using my aptitude for languages. She made me take typing in 10th grade summer school, and I deliberately did poorly in order to prevent myself from achieving the fate of a secretary.

What are the major challenges you’ve faced as an artist?

Q:

What are 3 words that best describe your work?

Three words to describe my work: organic, bold, wearable.

Q:

What is your favourite tool?

Q:

Where are you located?

My favorite tool is a pair of pliers with one round and one flat side, I think they're called chain nose pliers. I use them all the time.

I'm also pretty in love with my relatively new Orion welder.

My studio is behind my home in Lincoln, Nebraska.

In college I studied anthropology and art history and then returned to my love of making things after taking a pottery class. After college I set up a little studio in my apartment and made jewelry for friends and then for a shop near Boulder, but I wasn't a full time jeweler until my early 30's when I began exhibiting at the American Crafts Council shows.

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meet the artist

“Music is always very inspiring during my concept process�

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an interview with

claudia steiner Details of life. Architecture. Interchange. Nature. Discoveries.

Changings. Diversity. Shape. Structure. Surface. Consistency.

Advancement. Reinterpretation.

With jewellery you have the possibility to intensify the presence of a person in a unique manner and as no other applied arts, you can wear it as a miniature sculpture – everyday in the publicspace.

claudia-steiner.com 25

Q:

In your opinion, how important is it to have formal training as an artist?

In my opinion it is very important, especially in jewellery. It is necessary to know and understand the properties of metals and how to work with them.

The techniques and tools we use are not always straight forward. It is better to be able to use these with the correct knowledge. If one is not aware of the materials or tools, accidents can happen. It is also essential to have a basic understanding of the techniques used by a jeweller with regard to the artwork produced.

Q:

Q:

Which artists have influenced you, and how?

I cannot name just one artist as I have many influences. I am aesthetically influenced by the pure and simplistic style of the Bauhaus-area, Piet Mondrian and the de Stijl movement, also the total art work from the Wiener Werkstätte at the beginning of the 20th century. For my own personal artistic process I am some- times influenced by the “cut-up technique” from the beat generation poets like Borroughs, or in some of David Bowie’s lyrics.

I adapt this text- technique to the development of my jewellery in a simpler way. For example I don’t use words, I use cuttings from photography or an existing pattern. I choose a form which I use in different ways for my jewellery collection. Always using this shape, I create different pieces. I am still discovering how to use this to its full potential in my work

Besides art, what are your interests and how do they influence you in the studio?

Besides architecture, nature and landscape has largely influenced my work. The natural beauty, colours and harmony of it all is such an inspiration.

Q:

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough in the studio?

Music is always very inspiring during my concept process and also incidental impressions.

If something gets tough in the studio I often leave it for one or two days, and then come back to it with fresh motivation and strategy.

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Q:

How have you handled the business side of being an artist?

Q:

Firstly I was interested and naturally directed in a handicraft direction. I was already on a creative road but then came the passion to find an outlet for the artistic expression of my ideas.

It was a natural path I took and after years of having other professions I decided to become a jeweller. Financially it is not always easy but I need to have this outlet and creative process for me. That is why I am an artist, but I am still discovering and learning a lot along the way!

This is a difficult question. One has to approach these things in a different way. As an artist you have to manage both sides, which I have been able to do so far but one must be careful that it does not become a 24 hour job as there is enough on both sides to get done!

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Q:

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

10 Years is a long time… I hope to see my work in more international galleries and exhibitions. I also hope for new impulses in my home country Austria for contemporary jewellery. It should have a higher profile already.

It would also be a wonderful to have my own gallery here in Vienna.

Q:

What are the major challenges you’ve faced as an artist?

The exiting metamorphism from the idea on a piece of paper or just in the brain, to its realisation at the working bench. And when it’s done, the adequate presentation and packaging of the piece, that belongs to it; like the frame to a painting.

Could you talk about your latest series and what you are trying to achieve with it?

My latest series “Ornamente 01“ refers to a brooch from the Wiener Werkstätten/Josef Hoffmann selection, an ornamental part of it.

With different surfaces and folding techniques, I give this form a new and independent character and creating an abstract frame around some of them. At the moment I break it down to this pure geometric shape. I play with surface using different techniques, as well as creating a black and white effect using oxidizing and whitening.

Why are you an artist, and how did you first decide that art was your path in life?

To get in touch with the people who collect and wear contemporary jewellery. It is such a small number of customers who buy ambitious jewellery and it is such a challenge to awaken the curiosity in younger people for this kind of jewellery.

Q:

What are 3 words that best describe your work?

Aesthetically, timeless, sculptural

Q:

What advice would you give to an artist who is just starting out?

To be passionate, power of endurance, to keep working on your ideas, and most importantly discipline!

Q:

What is your favourite tool?

Q:

Where are you located?

My favourite tool is the bench vice!

In Vienna, Austria

claudia-steiner.com 29

meet the artist

an interview with

margaret west Born and resident in Melbourne until 1978, Margaret West studied sculpture and printmaking at RMIT in the nineteen fifties, then ceramics, painting, and gold and silver-smithing at RMIT in the nineteen seventies. She has also studied philosophy and music (piano, oboe, viola). In 1979 she moved to Sydney to take up a position at Sydney University College of the Arts where she taught until 1999.

She has travelled and exhibited extensively in Australia and overseas and is represented in major national and international art collections. Her poetry and essays are published in journals and anthologies and on the internet. She has published several artist’s books which develop a dialogue between text and image.

Her work is broadly informed by interests which range through art, literature, music, philosophy, science and technology. The metaphoric potential of the everyday world and concern about political issues provide grist to her mill. Her art practice is polymorphic and idiosyncratic, moving between installation, object making, jewellery, drawing, and photography. She employs a variety of materials and processes, as dictated by the matter in hand. These, in turn, play their role in determining the focus and form of the work.

Since 2000 Margaret West has lived at Blackheath in the Upper Blue Mountains of New South Wales, where she delights in the clear air and the solitude.

Read Margaret’s CV

margaretwest.com.au/ 30

Q:

In your opinion, how important is it to have formal training as an artist?

It is fundamental, to attain at least the rudiments of a material language. It is also crucial to develop insights into the practice of the art-form being studied — its histories and its contemporary manifestations; and to develop an intelligent understanding of where one’s practice is located in a visual arts context and, more broadly, within the area of cultural practice, and, in fact, within the expanding context of one’s life. This, of course, never stops.

Q:

Which artists have influenced you, and how?

Q:

Besides art, what are your interests and how do they influence you in the studio?

My influences are varied. They range from the ancient Chinese Zen poets to the music of Steve Reich. They are attitudinal, rather than stylistic.

My interests include philosophy and contemporary thought, science and technology, the visual arts, music, literature, gardening. My work often develops from concern about political issues, the ravages of war, the plundering and destruction of our planet, or, more modestly perhaps, from observations of the natural world, as demonstrated in my own environment, particularly my garden.

I often bring into play the metaphoric potential of subtle events of this world, in both my art making and my poetry.

Q:

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough in the studio?

Various interests and passions inspire me, from the overtly significant to the most subtle, from the sublime to the apparently banal: the image of a war-ravaged body, a weeping mother, the gentle breathing of a child, the sight of a fallen leaf, the glimpse of a bird in flight, lichen on a tree, a wind storm; also, and this is inevitable, the continually expanding poetic and expressive potential of material language — offered variously by stone and paint, gold or silver, steel, lead, wood . . . whatever is at hand . . .

When things get tough, I persevere, or garden . . .

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Q:

How have you handled the business side of being an artist?

Q:

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Q:

Could you talk about your latest series and what you are trying to achieve with it?

Not my forte.

Making work, writing, gardening, reading, listening to music, engaging in lively discussion with friends and colleagues.

My series of brooches From a Garden, developed from my observations of the grace with which the natural world accepts each small event — events which we, in our self-importance, might term catastrophic.

Every day there is a journey — to bring in the morning paper, to pull out a few weeds, to put out the garbage, to water newly planted seedlings, to feed scraps to the birds.

These journeys appear routine, unremarkable; but each brings some event or aspect of the world to mind — apparently insignificant, on the surface, trivial, perhaps, when compared with events enumerated in the news — but each with its own import.

A leaf becomes a memory of leaf. It evokes memories of other leaves. As actual leaves and remembered leaves coalesce they drift, impalpable, spectral. To have a dependable leaf — one which will not dry and drop and rot, one which, in its relatively immutable state, can stand in for and evoke other leaves — leaves of the past, the promise of future leaves, dreamed leaves, imagined leaves — there, perhaps, is solace: to observe, to cherish, to celebrate, with a small token, made from that earthly material — stone, worked to reveal what it may be willing to say, in order to hear afresh its voice in accord with the sense of this leaf.

Each brooch was made as a note, a memorandum of a fragment found or a moment experienced. Evidence that the thing has been. Has happened.

Read more here.

Q:

What advice would you give to an artist who is just starting out?

Q:

Why are you an artist, and how did you first decide that art was your path in life?

Mean it! Delight in it! Never stop studying, exploring, learning. When in doubt — go ahead and do it, with courage, passion, wit! And remember what Albert Einstein said: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

Making art and writing is a way for me to develop a more profound relationship with the world, to explore the potential of poetic expression to cast a new light on experience.

I decided to be an artist when I was a teenager. For as long as I can remember, since early childhood, I have drawn, painted, “made things”, written.

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Q:

What are the major challenges you’ve faced as an artist?

Those I have set myself. I thrive on challenge.

Although I have been fortunate in my opportunities to exhibit, and my work has been well collected, some gallerists and institutions find it difficult to pigeonhole my work, which moves between sculpture, installation and jewellery. I have not attempted to accommodate them.

Q:

What are 3 words that best describe your work?

Q:

What is your favourite tool?

Q:

Where are you located?

Poetic, austere, sumptuous (no — not a contradiction)

I have two: my imagination and a pair of hands (is that three?)

My studio is downstairs, in my home, which is at the top of the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia.

“Each brooch was made as a note, a memorandum of a fragment found or a moment experienced.”

margaretwest.com.au/ 33

meet the artist

34

an interview with

alice sprintzen Artist Statement Material Conversations – Jewelry Found and Fabricated The jewelry artist of today is not constrained by the conventions of commercial fashion but rather thinks from a place without restraints on creativity. All of the traditional jewelry making techniques may be employed but they are in the service of “out of the box” forms, images and materials.

Precious stones may appear alongside a rusty key, scale may be bolder, design may take on more of a sculptural stance as form interacts with body.

As the aesthetic moves away from mainstream conventions, images may not be as “pretty” but rather used to make a personal statement. The jeweler’s stage is broadened to include many diverse visions and the possibilities are endless.

Many contemporary jewelers are incorporating found materials in their work. These objects speak to past experiences as well as an aesthetic sense of color, form, texture and design. As inveterate collectors and scavengers, jewelers revel in manipulating objects, presenting them in new contexts, giving new meaning to what may have previously been overlooked. The castaway is elevated to a place of honor, the mundane becomes precious and materials rusted, worn by age and discarded, are valued for their intrinsic beauty.

The found object jeweler, always on the hunt, haunts thrift shops, antique stores, garbage dumps, and curbsides. Machine parts, plastics, metal, manufactured remnants present themselves in our everyday environment just as bones, plant material and shells inhabited the prehistoric jeweler’s landscape. Found object jewelers continue in a long tradition of the collage and assemblage artists throughout history who have exploited the found object.

Jewelry of this genre is an antidote to the wasteful, consumer oriented direction of modern life. It is a celebration of the inventive use of objects transformed. It challenges the viewer to take a fresh look at the ubiquitous mundane objects that can be appreciated if we only take the time to direct our attention in their direction.

“One day, in a rubbish heap, I found an old bicycle seat, lying beside a rusted handlebar… and my mind instantly linked them together. I assembled these two objects, which everyone recognized as a bull’s head. The metamorphosis was accomplished, and I wish another metamorphosis would occur in the reverse sense. If my bull’s head were thrown in a junk heap, perhaps one day some boy would say: ‘Here’s something that would make a good handlebar for my bicycle!’” Picasso

alicesprintzen.com 35

“Being an artist has always been such a part of me that I can’t even say I chose it.”

Q:

Q:

Q:

In your opinion, how important is it to have formal training as an artist?

My degrees in fine art have certainly expanded my horizons as to the many forms that art takes. University art classes also afforded me a good block of time when I could freely explore and find my own voice. I benefited from working with other students, the varied assignments of art teachers and my study of art history. Since my degrees did not include the study of jewelry making, I took many workshops, which have taught me the technical skills I needed to realize my designs.

Which artists have influenced you, and how?

So many. Which to mention?? Joseph Cornell’s boxes have always fascinated me. These 3-D collages were created from found objects which, originating from disparate places, were brought together by the artist to create integrated fantasy vignettes. They are like visual poems. Another artist who has influenced me is Louise Nevelson. First of all, she was a famous female artist, which was quite unique when I was in my formative college years when women’s work was usually thought to be second class. I enjoy her formalist perspective and the manner in which she playfully utilizes discarded wooden elements to build large assemblages.

Besides art, what are your interests and how do they influence you in the studio?

I am an avid tap dancer and member of a dancing troupe that dances at nursing homes and non-profit celebrations and fundraisers. Dancing has kept me out of my jewelry studio far too much. There is definitely a tension there, for both passions vie for my time. I also enjoy teaching and writing crafts books, but again, there is just so much time in a day.

Q:

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough in the studio?

I am mostly inspired by the possibilities presented by different techniques as well as the found objects themselves. I spend a lot of time manipulating my materials and enjoy seeing what emerges in the process. The dialogue itself is quite satisfying to me.

Q:

How have you handled the business side of being an artist?

Not very well. I have made a living teaching art and writing crafts books, which has afforded me the opportunity to create without concern for the commercial value of my jewelry work. That said, I have exhibited regularly and have had my work in several books and that has given my work some exposure.

alicesprintzen.com 36

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Q: Q:

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Hopefully still exploring, creating, enjoying and developing new work.

Could you talk about your latest series and what you are trying to achieve with it?

In the past few years, I have begun integrating bead weaving with my found objects and traditional metal techniques. I particularly like the way the beads afford the use of color and texture in my work.

Q:

Q:

What advice would you give to an artist who is just starting out?

I would suggest that an artist just starting out keep an open mind and do a lot of experimenting without getting too hung up on final products. Exposure to a variety of artists and techniques, even if they are in another discipline, is always a plus, as they open possible paths that can be drawn upon when the right time presents itself.

Take the time to find your own point of view rather than having a preconceived idea of what a piece of jewelry looks like. Any life experience is fair game for influencing your work. I also suggest to my students that they always carry a small sketchbook for sketching, or jotting down ideas.

Why are you an artist, and how did you first decide that art was your path in life?

Being an artist has always been such a part of me that I can’t even say I chose it. I think that from a young age, I was drawn to the artistic as a means of personal expression. As a child, I was not particularly facile with words and I think that dance and art were a necessary means for expressing myself.

Q: Q: Q: Q:

What are the major challenges you’ve faced as an artist?

The greatest challenge for me is time management and the balancing of the rest of my life with my strongly felt need to create jewelry.

What are 3 words that best describe your work?

Humorous, imaginative and original.

What is your favourite tool?

Love my riveting hammer.

Where are you located?

Syosset, NY, USA

alicesprintzen.com 38

39

in the classroom LESSON 1: Measure Twice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 LESSON 2: Annealing Sterling Silver . . . . . . . 46 LESSON 3: Roller Printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 LESSON 4: Blue Patina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 LESSON 5: Tube Riveted Earrings . . . . . . . . . 60 LESSON 6: Framed Pendant. . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

40

A bit about Creating Linus In the Classroom Tutorials. The projects and techniques here are meant to teach you how to make jewellery; creation is the goal, not copying; take the techniques here and make them your own. Use the tutorials to practice techniques; think of them as samples, then design and make your own creations. For some people designs come in great waves, all they need is some guidance on how to make them; you will find that help in these pages. For others designing can be a difficult and frightening process.

My best advice is to make what you like. Don’t stop to ask if “this is OK or right?” Human beings are creative; we might not all be Michelangelo’s, but we don’t need to be. Worrying about the “greatness” of our work is what stops the creative flow, just enjoy the process and be kind to yourself; as a student the only thing I can promise is you will make mistakes.

If you’re not making mistakes you are not learning. Finish one piece then go on to the next.

You will improve both in technique and design with each piece.

A word about safety. The most important tool in the studio, is the artist. Damaging yourself through negligence is not an accident. An accident is what happens when you take precautions for all the possible things that could go wrong, and something still goes wrong. The first tool you should purchase is a good pair of safety glasses. Wear safety glass while operating rotary tools or doing anything that could splash up at you; regular reading glasses are not safety wear, go to the hardware store and get a good pair that will fit over your glasses. Tie your hair back when soldering or using any rotary tool. Respect tools and don’t make them do things they don’t want to. Always read and follow safety instructions that come with tools and equipment. There is no such thing as being too careful; if need be put up signs to remind yourself about safety rules. Remember anyone visiting your studio is your responsibility, they should leave with all of their fingers, toes, eye’s and hair; this includes you.

In this first edition of Creating Linus Jewellery you will learn how to: Use measuring tools to give precision to your designs, tube rivet, roller print, make a framed pendant, anneal sterling silver and make a blue patina. These are just the first of many projects and techniques. We encourage you to share your experiences and ask questions in the CLJ Members Forum.

Remember, the only stupid question is the one that does not get asked; if you are thinking it, if you had trouble with a technique - so has someone else; be a super star and be the first to ask. If you know the answer, help out a fellow student by providing it; you will learn much from each other. And if you have a question for me, I’ll drop by every once in a while with an answer.

Good luck on your creative journey and remember: be gentle on yourself, try to do better next time and enjoy the process.

Nicole Baxter

41

in the classroom with Nanz Aalund

LESSON 1:

Measure Twice While teaching workshops I have noticed that many students do not know how to use the important measuring tools necessary for finely crafted jewelry. Since many participants in non-traditional jewelry education are primarily self-taught, it maybe that in project articles published in jewelry craft magazines and books, the critical aspect of measurement tool use is not thoroughly represented. I hope to address that deficiency, here. I will be discussing three tools that are essential to precision jewelry making and the fine craftsmanship associated with it. The 3 measurement tools that I use in combination with each other are: the dividers, a brass slide gauge, and a leverage gauge.

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fig. MT_01a

A dividers is the marking tool of choice as it can be set to a measurement and it will stay at that measurement while marking metal. A dividers looks like the compass used in elementary school, but is designed to lock to a set opening (MT_01a). To set a dividers place one leg of the tool into the groove at the start of the brass slide gauge (MT_01) then open the dividers to the desired measurement by unscrewing the nut. When working with cold connections marking exact distances for drill hole placement, for cutting tube spacers, and for marking distances for gemstone placement are all done with the dividers.

To make the opening for a gemstone in the center of a pendant plate, use the brass slide gauge to measure (MT_02) one quarter of the diameter of the plate. Open the dividers to that measurement and transfer that measurement onto the plate with the dividers (MT_02a).

Hooking one leg of the dividers on the edge of the plate and dragging the other on the plate, it will leave a scratched line or scribed mark. Use the scribed marks and a straight edge to mark the center of the plate (MT_02b).

The dividers provides a more accurate measurement by virtue of the scribed mark being finer than any other method of marking metal and the stabilized legs of the tool. The same scribing technique can be used to cut exact lengths of tubing for use as spacers (MT_03) or for any project that calls for repeated identical small components. Set the dividers to a desired measurement and scribe the tube each time you cut will provide a more accurate and inexpensive alternative to a tube cutting jig.

fig. MT_01

fig. MT_02

fig. MT_02a

fig. MT_03

43

‘Measure Twice’ continued

fig. MT_04

fig. MT_05

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The brass slide gauge is a more challenging tool in that it is an “off-set” measuring tool. Currently there are many poorly made versions of this tool on the market, do yourself a favor and pay a little more for well made and easy to read brass slide gauge.

The measurement is indicated at a mark which is “off-set” from the actual jaw of the gauge. As seen here (MT_04) I have inked the grooves with red to highlight the actual place the measurement is read.

Do not make the mistake of trying to read a measurement from where the jaw opening is. This will lead to ill-measured and inaccurate work. In the picture the edge of my triangular form is 26 mm as indicated by the red off-set grooves. A brass slide gauge does not lock to any particular measurement, so, as it’s name indicates, it will slide open or closed if you try to use it to transfer measurements.

You can use a brass slide gauge to mark an edge (MT_05) if you steady the slide gauge with your fingers as pictured. Remain mindful that the measurement markings on the brass slide gauge are “off-set” from the jaw opening and mentally do the math to make adjustments to compensate for the off-set. This technique can be applied to marking points on the edge of circular disks or other symmetrical shapes to find their center. Once three points are marked, open the dividers to ½ of the diameter of the disk or shape. Hook one leg on the edge of the disk, and scribe a small arc in the center of the disk/shape. Repeat for each point. Where the scribed arcs intersect is the center of the disk/shape.

fig. MT_06a

fig. MT_06

fig. MT_07a

fig. MT_07

The last measuring tool I will discuss is the leverage gauge, which is used for precision measurement of gemstones (MT_06a) and other small parts. The leverage gauge has 10th of a millimeter markings, which can be read at the other end of the tool (MT_06).

The measurements from the leverage gauge can be transferred to metal with the dividers to mark distances between gemstone seats (MT_07) or to mark the depth from an edge that seats can be cut (MT_07a).

A leverage gauge is essential for identifying which gemstones can be used with different diameter tubing in tube setting, and for selecting the correct size setting bur to cut the seat.

I also use the leverage gauge to check the exact lengths of tube spacers once I have filed and sanded their ends level. Making sure all the tube spacers are exactly the same size to a 10th of a millimeter insures that the final riveted project will be level and straight.

Other craftspeople use the leverage gauge to sort granuals for use in granulation, thereby insuring that their final result will be uniform.

An individual new to the craft of jewelry making may wonder why uniformity of lengths and sizes is so important. Why bother with all this fuss to measure and mark, when it is more organic to just eye-ball measurements? To this line of questioning/thinking I respond that the human eye is a very keen instrument and will pick up on any small discrepancy. If something is slightly off, it is read as being unintentional. Even if it is indiscernible to an untrained eye, the natural human eye will want to correct the imbalance. If left unchecked a collection of small discrepancies/imbalances become an irritant to the viewers eye and they will turn away.

If as crafts people we do not catch those small discrepancies before they are finalized into our work we run the risk of not fully communicating our intent with the piece we are making. Because jewelry is a small and intimate art form, small nuances in the exact balance of size and length is required so that our craftsmanship enhances the intent of the object and does not distract from its power to communicate. _NA

Do you have a question or comment about this tutorial? Post it in our CLJ Members Forum.

nanzaalund.com 45

in the classroom with Nicole Baxter

LESSON 2:

Annealing Sterling Silver Annealing is the process of using heat to soften metal. In jewellery making metal is annealed for two main reasons; firstly to make moving and shaping easier, secondly to reduce metal fatigue; which could result in breakage.

In this demonstration I am using an acetylene air torch (but any torch would do) and a firebrick to anneal sterling silver.

cone

cloud

1. The flame There are two parts to the flame: The cone and the cloud. The cone is the hottest part of the flame and the cloud is the coolest part. Most of the time the cloud is the part of the flame used; good soldering starts with good heat control, slowly heating the metal allows control of the heat.

1

46

2. Annealing It is always best practice to remove anything combustible from around the soldering area before starting a torch; safety first.

Using the cloud of the flame, slowly move the flame over the sterling silver (photo 2). How the flame is moved over the sterling silver will depend on the size of sterling silver sheet; large pieces will take longer to heat up and small pieces less. With large pieces of sterling silver don't take the flame off the sterling silver, move slowly covering the length and width. With smaller pieces do small circles and take the flame off the sterling silver frequently. The first time a piece of sterling silver is annealed it will go through a very specific colour change: golden yellow, blue black, dull red, bright red and finally melting. What we want is: golden yellow (photo 3), blue black (photo 4) and dull red (photo 5). At dull red sterling silver is annealed. At bright red sterling silver is heat hardened.

2

3

4

5

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‘Annealing Sterling Silver’ continued

3. Pickling After annealing a piece of sterling silver for the first time, the metal will turn black. This is because heat has caused the metal to oxidize. It is very important to keep the sterling silver clean, solder will not go where it is dirty and oxides are dirty; pickling the silver will clean it.

Pickle is a low acting dry granular acid mixed with water, commercially called Sparex; available at any jewellery supply store. Mix about 1 teaspoon of Sparex per cup of water.

Pickle is most effective hot; use a crock pot on low, never allow the pickle to boil and use in a well ventilated area.

Once the sterling silver is no longer glowing red, use a pair of steel tweezers to transport it to the pickle pot; using the lid as a splash guard, drop the sterling silver in; do not allow the steel tweezers to touch the pickle solution. Although pickle is a low acting acid, it does remove material. Sterling silver can be left in the pickle for days and there would be very little material removed; but on a molecular level the pickle bath is becoming "charged" with whatever has been in the pickle. There is a chemical reaction that occurs when sterling silver and steel or iron are in the pickle bath together; the copper molecules in the pickle become attracted to the sterling silver resulting in copper plating of the sterling silver. Always use copper tongs to remove sterling silver from the pickle. To neutralize the pickle, anything that touches the pickle should be rinsed in baking soda and water.

6

7

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8

4. Is the sterling silver annealed If the sterling silver comes out of the pickle pot still looking bright and shiny, the sterling silver did not get hot enough to become annealed. The sterling silver should have a white filmy look. Sterling Silver in North America is called 925; this refers to the metal content.

92.5% must be pure silver and 7.5% copper. Pure silver is a very soft almost white metal; copper is added to it, giving the created sterling silver strength and brightness. When sterling silver is heated high enough to anneal the pure silver content in the sterling silver comes to the surface, this is called raising the fine silver or depletion gilding. However, since the sterling silver when heated enough will hit annealed and then heat hardened, it is possible to anneal then heat harden the sterling silver. To test if the sterling silver is annealed, give the metal a bend. If the sterling silver bends it's annealed; if not, repeat the annealing process.

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not annealed

annealed

5. Repeat annealing Every time sterling silver is annealed the fine silver is raised to the surface; the more times the sterling silver is annealed the thicker the fine silver layer at the surface becomes. It is the copper content in sterling silver which oxidizes, fine silver does not oxidize; therefore the thicker the layer of fine silver, the less oxidization occurs. Eventually when repeatedly annealing, oxidation will not occur; the sterling silver will simply go from white to dull red.

It can be very difficult to see the annealing point even when oxidation occurs, wearing dark sunglass or annealing in a dim lit room can help.

Do you have a question or comment about this tutorial?

Post it in our CLJ Members Forum.

49

in the classroom with Nicole Baxter

LESSON 3:

Roller Printing Roller printing is a simple and quick way to add texture to your work. The process is fairly simple: all one needs is a rolling mill, a piece of annealed metal and a die.

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1. Choosing a die A "die" is what makes the imprint. This could be any number of things: paper, fabric, organic material.... I am always on the lookout for new dies; often I am surprised by what will and what won't work - so make some samples (just remember that the die is destroyed in the process so don't use Grandma's best lace).

Here are some samples of my favorite dies:

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‘Roller Printing’ continued

2. Anneal the metal (see tutorial on Annealing here) It is important the metal is annealed; a soft piece of metal will take the imprint best.

Once the metal is annealed, the next step depends on what the metal will become.

For example if more soldering is required there is no point in removing firescale; since soldering will only bring up more (you'll have to live with the firescale). If assembling with cold connections, remove the firescale before roller printing.

3. Setting the rollers Before beginning always make sure the rollers are clean; any debris on the rollers will imprint to the metal.

Always clean with a dry cloth, or in cases of hard to get off debris a micro sanding pad (6000 grit or higher) with a bit of oil on it (remove oil from rollers with a dry cloth). Never use water, the rollers will rust.

Raise the rollers high enough that the metal can easily slide between the two rollers. Do not have the die on the metal at this point.; use just the metal to set the rollers Bring the rollers down until the metal is tightly secured; you should not be able to move the metal with your fingers.

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Using pencil, draw registration lines on the center gear and one of the outer gears. Raise the rollers just high enough to remove the metal, then lower them back down until the registration lines match up once more. Now the rollers are set to the same thickness as the metal; this is always the starting point.

A nice new rolling mill will have dials on the gears with numbers that can spin. This will allow you to easily set the tension. But my old purchased used rolling mill is missing them; so I use the pencil method. If your rolling mill still has the dials; instead of marking with pencil, tighten the metal between the two rollers and move either the dial on the left or right to zero; do not adjust this once set. Open the rollers enough to remove the metal, then close the rollers until back to zero.

4. Setting the tension Why do you need to set the tension? Roller printing uses the rolling mill like an embossing tool; the rollers "squeeze" the die into the metal. With most dies you only have one chance to get the roll right. Setting the tension is the most important part of the roller printing process; set it too tight and the metal will get stuck in the press or the image will be seriously distorted; but set it too loose and the imprint will be too light. The more roller printing you do the better at judging the tension you will become. I recommend keeping a samples book with notes on how much tension used, sample of die and the resulting metal sample.

Depending what the die is the rollers may need to stay at the starting point, or might need to be tightened or loosened. When trying a new die I always do a quick sample in copper. Generally speaking not much tension is needed on most dies; just tighten the rollers a bit. A little experimenting will be required.

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‘Roller Printing’ continued

5. Doing the roll Always roller print your "stock" first, then cut out the shape; the shape will get distorted through the roller printing process. Place the die on top of the metal. Position the metal in the middle of the flat rollers. Grab the handle and start rolling. A little muscle should be required but if you are using all of your strength, the tension is set too tight, stop and reset the tension. Role the handle backwards and remove the metal before resetting the tension. If you continually set the tension too tight and force the handle, there is a great possibility of damaging the rolling mill.

If you start rolling and find the metal won't go in, sometimes pushing hard on the metal while cranking the handle will help get it started. The rule of too much tension still applies; if the handle is too difficult to move, the tension will need to be loosened.

Now that you have your texture treat the metal with care; any scratch or mark you make will be impossible to get out without removing your texture.

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Some advice on purchasing a rolling mill with the intent to roller print The rolling mill was originally used to make flat sheet and wire; but at some point in time a clever person discovered it could also be used to imprint or emboss on Metals. The important thing to consider when purchasing a rolling mill is how wide the flat rollers should be; the metal you roller print will be limited to this. Be sure it has a reduction gear; if it does not you will have to put a lot more muscle into it and the imprint might not be as deep.

Rolling mills come in various roller styles the two most common are: combination (wire and sheet) and sheet (no wire).

The rollers will be available in various lengths; for example: 90 mm or 110 mm. If you have no intention of making wire, going with a flat only mill can be advantageous; since flat only mills offer wider rollers, larger pieces of metal can be roller printed with them.

The two most popular rolling mills are Durston and Pepe. I've used them both and liked them equally.

There are economy rolling mills available but I feel this is one item where spending a little more now will pay off in the long run. For $200 - $500 more you can get a pretty good rolling mill that will last a life time.

Do you have a question or comment about this tutorial?

Post it in our CLJ Members Forum.

55

in the classroom with Nicole Baxter

LESSON 4:

Blue Patina Colour plays a large role in design esthetics. There are many ways to add colour into jewellery work, applying patinas are one of the simplest methods; requiring very little equipment or in some types, expense. Copper takes a patina especially well. Every metal has its own personality; I like to think of copper as an old, smelly, dirty, drunk, homeless man; if you’ve worked with it, you understand why. Because copper is such a dirty metal, it likes to oxidize; in simple terms: put it next to a chemical and it will react by changing colours. This process is called Patination.

There are hundreds of Chemical Patina Recipes; many requiring expensive, hard to find and potentially dangerous chemicals, all things I like to avoid whenever possible. Instead, my favorite patinas are made by more common household chemicals. My current favorite household patina, is a brilliant blue made by using: 1. Clear Ammonia (found in the cleaning aisle of your local grocery store) 2. Table salt 3. Water

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1. Making a fume chamber First you will need to construct a fume chamber. Find a plastic container with a lid (clear if possible), large enough to hold your copper in. The copper will need to be suspended in the container; drill or poke holes in the sides of the container large enough to slide a bit of wire through (any type of wire will do). Depending on what you wish to patina, you will have to customize the hanging mechanism; I used two wires to support the sheet evenly.

At the bottom of the fume chamber place a bit of paper towel. Dribble some ammonia on it; you want it moist but do not soak it. Warning inhaling ammonia fumes can be harmful.

The fume chamber is now ready for use.

2. Preparing the Copper It is essential the copper be free of oxides, grease and dirt; otherwise the patina will not work. There are many ways to prepare metal for patination. In the case of my simple flower, emerying with 220 grit will do the trick. Other methods that work: scrubbing with a past mixture of pumice powder and water or heating and pickling followed by cleaning with soap and water; will also work. Which ever method you choose, always handle carefully during and after; hold by the edges so as not to transfer grease from your fingers.

3. Adding water and table salt Run the copper under water and sprinkle a small amount of table salt onto the side or sides you wish to patina. The resulting patina will vary depending on how much salt you use; do some experimenting and see what the results are.

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‘Blue Patina’ continued

4. Going through the stages Carefully place your copper in the fume chamber and close the lid; again avoid touching the copper, hold by the edges only. Your patina is finished when you are happy with the colour; it may take an hour or two or a day or two.

5. Sealing the Patina Once you are happy with the patina, remove the copper from the fume chamber. The patina will be very fragile so handle delicately.

Allow to thoroughly dry. Most patinas are a surface treatment which can be rubbed off and must be sealed with a lacquer or wax of some kind. My favorite is Pro-craft Lacquer (available at most Jewellery supply stores), applied in 4 or 5 thin layers.

Warning - When using lacquers always have adequate ventilation; the fumes can be harmful.

Do you have a question or comment about this tutorial? Post it in our CLJ Members Forum.

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59

in the classroom with Nicole Baxter

LESSON 5:

Tube Riveted Flower Earrings

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In this example of tube riveting, I made a simple pair of flower dangly earrings. I often like to make a simple sample project when learning a technique. The irony here is when I was a student I strongly resisted sample making; I now see the wisdom of it. I would like you to think of all of the projects in this magazine as sample making; then go out and design something completely yours.

1. Make a billet by gluing two pieces of copper sheet together (since I made earrings I needed two copper billets)

2. Draw your pattern onto a piece of label paper and stick it on the copper.

The first bit of this project will be done while the pieces are glued together; insuring both halves are exactly the same. I like to use a quick glue like Super “T� or Crazy Glue.

3. Saw out shape using a jewellers hand saw.

4. Shaping the edges If you are unhappy with the cutting job, use hand and needle files to refine it. If you are not applying a patina, you should also emery the edges smooth starting with 220 grit and working down to 1200 grit. Unfinished edges make a piece look unfinished.

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‘Tube Riveted Flower Earrings’ continued

5. Mark the center with a pencil 6. Drill starting hole The copper tubing rivet is 2.5 mm in diameter. I don’t like to jump right to drilling a hole that big; a drill bit that size can easily slide around making a mess of the metal and end up where I don’t want it. “Pilot” drilling is the technique of starting with a smaller drill and working up to the final size. I like to use at least 3 or 4 drill bits to pilot drill with. In this case: 1 mm, 1.6 mm and 2 mm.

Don’t drill all the way to 2.5 mm, when dapping (step 7) a hole will stretch and distort. Drill the final size after dapping. Now is the time to separate the two sides of the earring. Soak in acetone until they come apart and rub off the remaining glue with a cloth.

7. Dapping (doming) With an asymmetrical pattern, care must be taken not to dap the wrong sides. Mark with a sharpie the two interior sides and place mark side up in the dapping block. Start with the large dapping hole and proceed to smaller holes for a higher dome. Since I wanted a shallow dome, I stopped at the largest hole.

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8. Drilling the final hole size Larger drill bits don’t always give a nice round hole.

Instead I use setting burs; a setting bur will always produce a perfect round hole. Setting burs are not the same as drill bits; they remove material differently; being designed to remove small amounts of material from an existing hole.

Don’t try to remove too much at one time; the bur will quickly become dull. A bit of wax on the bur (and drill bits) will help keep it cool and make for a cleaner cut. I used a 2.25 mm then a 2.5 mm setting bur to get my final hole size.

9. Counter sink holes (de-burring or removing burrs) Drilling holes will often result in rough burs. De-burring can be done with files, emeries or burs. I prefer a pin vice with a large setting or round bur in it. De-bur both sides of the hole.

10. Emerying the connecting edges Make the edges sit nicely together by emerying the connecting edges flat. This will help hold the two sides together, preventing them from slipping around as much while riveting. For esthetic reasons, I prefer to emery the connecting edges down to an almost sharp edge. Check often, it is possible to remove too much material; resulting in the two sides no longer match up nicely.

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‘Tube Riveted Flower Earrings’ continued

11. The final finish It is best to put the final finish on the metal before riveting the pieces together.

There are many finishes to choose from, for example: •

Roller printed, hammered or etched finishes (which should be done to the metal before cutting out the form)

•

Polish

•

Patinas

•

Heat Treatment

•

Satin Finish

•

Enamel

I used a ammonia and salt patina. (see page 56 for instructions)

ASSEMBLING THE EARRINGS 12. Measuring the rivet The tube rivet will need about 1 mm of overhang on both sides of the pieces of metal being riveted together. Cut with jewellers saw or tube cutter. Make sure the ends are cut 90 degrees and are free from burs by filing and emerying the ends smooth.

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13. The mechanics Before starting the rivet don’t forget to insert the chain. Attach the chain to a small jump ring; close the jump ring up tight.

Thread the jump ring onto the tube rivet, then slide both sides of the earring on.

14. Starting the rivet A tapered pointed tool such as a center punch, awl or nail, is the simplest way to start a tube rivet. Against a steel block, use a hammer to force the punch down into the tubing. Flip over the rivet and repeat. Always work back and forth; a little on each end. Only flare the end enough that the tube will not slip through.

15. Tightening the rivet Now that the rivet has a slight flare use small steel dapping tools to tighten the rivet down against the metal. As the Rivet becomes tighter the metal will become more secured. Move from smaller to larger dapping tools; this will “roll� the tube down tight. The rivet is complete when the metal no longer moves and the rivet is smooth to the touch without snagging.

Do you have a question or comment about this tutorial? Post it in our CLJ Members Forum.

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in the classroom with Nicole Baxter

LESSON 6:

Framed Pendant 66

MATERIALS:

TOOLS:

1. Roller Printed “insert” piece

1. Jewelers hand saw

2. Framing Material - I used flat, rectangular, sterling silver wire (2mm x 6mm)

2. #3/0 saw blades

3. Bail Material - I used 2mm round, sterling silver wire

3. Hand File #2 4. Square Needle File #2 5. “C” Clamp 6. Flex Shaft (rotary tool) 7. Emery Paper (220, 400, 600, 1000, 1200 & 1500)

1. Start with your roller printed insert. Decide on what shape you would like, square or rectangle.

Roughly cut to size (make it a little bit larger than final size - 1 or 2 mm all around). (photo 1) 1

2. File the edges evenly, making sure the corners are 90 degrees (check the angle against a square or a piece of paper) (photo 2)

2

3. Cutting the framing material: Length will depend on the size of your insert. You will need 2 “L” shaped brackets. Each bracket will make up 2 sides of your frame. To begin, you will want your framing material to be a little long, as you will be butting up the edges of the brackets to solder them together. (photo 3) 3

4. Rough out the Score: using a separating disk cut about half way through the metal. Make sure you are cutting a 90 degree angle across the long side of the metal. (photos 4 & 5)

4

5

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‘Framed Pendant’ continued

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6 8

5. Refine the Score Using a “C” Clamp with a piece of leather against the metal (no scratches), secure it to the “V” Board. Finish the score with a #2 Square File. Don’t forget that the file is tapered and will give you an uneven score if you do not rotate sides while filing. (photos 6, 7 & 8) You will need to file almost all the way through the metal - there should only be a paper width left. This will give you a crisp corner.

If you do not go far enough through, the bend will be rounded rather than square. (photo 9)

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6. Bend the Score Before bending, anneal the metal. If you don’t it will break.

Carefully bend the score into the required angle. You will need to match the bend to the insert as it may not be a perfect 90 degree angle. (photo 10)

TIP #1 If you find that it will not bend enough; the angle in the score may not be deep or wide enough. This can be fixed by annealing the metal again (or it will break) and slowly opening up the score in order to continue filing. Then repeat steps A & B (yes you will need to anneal again before re-bending or it will break)

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10

7. Soldering the Brackets Solder the corners of the brackets with hard solder. This will secure the brackets so they are unable to move. They are very fragile and easy to break otherwise.

11

Flux the inside corner of each bracket. Position the first bracket so the inside is away from you and the corner is towards you.

Heat the bracket evenly until the silver is a dull red colour then place a piece of hard solder on top of the seam. Direct the torch on the lower outside of the corner until the solder flows trough the seam. (photo 11) Allow the silver to cool until it is no longer glowing and carefully place in pickle. Repeat steps with second bracket.

8. Forming the Frame Each bracket will require a “just right” end and a “long” end.

Mark the length of the “just right” end of the brackets and file or saw to the correct length (photo 12). Then saw or file it to size. (photo 13)

12

You must get a good joint. This is tricky. Using a #2 Hand File, file the “just right” ends until they but up with no gaps against the “long” end of the opposite bracket. (photo 14)

A word of encouragement It is likely that you will end up shortening the length of the brackets while trying to fit the seam - this is ok keep in mind that the insert is a bit larger than what the final size will be. It is easier to file the insert to match the frame once the frame is soldered together.

13

Go slow and check the fit often. This is a difficult seam to match - look at it from many angles. If you get frustrated it is a good time to stop and have a nice cup of tea. Fresh and calm always beats irritated and tired.

14

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‘Framed Pendant’ continued

9. Setting up the Frame Make sure when you set up the brackets to form the frame that you get the size correct by sliding the brackets to the right position. Remember to make the interior frame a little smaller than the insert, as you can always file the insert smaller to fit the frame. (photo 15) Solder the brackets together using hard solder. This step is very similar to step 7. This time, since there is more than one joint, flux both joints - solder the first joint then rotate the firebrick so that the second joint is in position and solder it. (photo 16)

TIP #2 15

Yellow ochre can be painted on to the original two solder joints to discourage the solder from flowing.

Do not allow the flux and yellow ochre to mix together.

Yellow ochre all of the original joints. You will have to use discretion here - you can not allow the yellow ochre and flux to mingle. Remember the joints that you want to solder must stay clean. So, only put yellow ochre where you can, without risking contamination of the flux.

16

10. Emery the inside frame.

17

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Once the insert is soldered into place it will be very hard to evenly emery the inside frame - so emery it before soldering.

Start with a good # 2 Square Needle File in the corners. It is important to get a crisp corner - it will help with the fitting of the insert. Go slow and check often, be careful of thinning out the edges or creating ruts with the file. Once the corners are completed, emery the inside frame with 220 Grit and work through 400, 600, 1000 and 1500. Don’t do any polishing. It will be very difficult to get into the inside corners with a polishing tool. I prefer to leave the finish at a nice even 1500 emery than have an uneven polish. (photo 17)

TIP #3 Clean as you go? When working on a complex solder constructed piece with many joints it is hard to know when to clean (emery) solder joints. My rule of thumb is to ask myself this question: Can I get to it once the next joint is soldered in place? If the answer is no - then clean it now.

Leaving extra solder in a joint until all of the soldering is completed is a “trick� that can save you a lot of problems later. Every time you solder one joint you risk opening up all of your previous ones.

By leaving the extra solder, there is a good chance that the solder will not flow out completely should the joint open up. If you clean all of the extra solder away leaving only the solder in the joint and it opens up there is nothing there to flow in behind sealing the joint once more.

11. Fitting the Insert

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File roller print insert with a #2 Hand File to fit snugly into the frame - no gaps - it should require a little force to fit, but not so much that it bends or bows. Go slow and check often. It is helpful to use registration marks to ensure you are always checking in the same position. (photo 18)

TIP #4 Emery tools. Polishing tools can not get into every spot but the right emery tool can. I love emery tools (just ask my students how much and listen to them moan!) It is well worth the effort to make emery tools - they will save you time and give you precision.

Using 1/8 MDF board cut strips - for this project I made mine 6 inches long and the same width as my double sided tape. I prefer MDF board as it is very flat (giving you good contact to the metal) yet flexible.

Simply adhere the emery paper with the double sided tape. This is an example of a basic emerying tool. I have many specific and more complex emerying tools in my kit that I make as I need.

How much emerying is needed? Well the harder the spot to get into the more emerying I do. My minimum is 220 and 400 grit (from here I can get a good finish with polishing tools). But with hard to reach spots I will go all the way up to 1500 grit - I find that I do not need to polish the silver at this point, saving me from trying to find a polishing tool that will fit. I always prefer an even fine emery to an uneven polish.

Later in this project a more complex emerying tool will be needed. I made this one with 1/8 MDF board (cut to the same width as double sided tape and 3/4 inch long). Using fast setting glue (krazy glue) attach a handle made out of doweling.

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‘Framed Pendant’ continued

12. Positioning the Insert

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I like to use coins to set the depth of the insert - metal will expand and contract when heated, which can cause a tight fitting insert to slip. By using coins or scrap bits of metal during soldering, underneath you can prevent the insert from moving. Just be sure if using coins that they are made of material that can withstand high temperatures - some of the newer coins are made with low melting alloys - I learnt this the hard way! (photo 19) 13. Setting up for soldering Place solder on the backside of the insert (that way if there is any solder mess it will not flow onto your image.)

Flux along the edges of the contact points - both front and back.

Place the piece front side down on the fire brick.

20

Using wire silver solder, lay in “strips” of medium solder (flux the solder strips) against the inside frame wall. Do not use too much solder, which could flood the piece. (photo 20) 14. Soldering the insert into the frame Heat the piece evenly using a medium sized flame until the metal turns a dull red. If the flux boils causing the solder to move - move it back - the solder must be touching both the insert and the frame wall. (photo 21)

21

Once the metal turns a dull red, move the flame so it is pointing low on one of the outside frame walls and draw the solder towards the wall - once this happens on one side - keep moving the torch until the solder on all four sides has pulled through the seams.

Allow the silver to cool until it is no longer glowing and carefully place in pickle.

TIP #5 Yellow ochre can be painted onto the roller printed side to act as a barrier against solder spillage. Yellow ochre is a natural paint pigment; it is sometimes referred to as anti-flux as it does the opposite of flux. Flux keeps the surface clean where yellow ochre dirties the surface - solder does not like to go where it is dirty. Dirtying up the surface of the solder will often (though not always) prevent it from flowing.

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15. Making the bail In keeping with my leaf motif, I wanted the bail to resemble a stem. To do so, I started with a 6” piece of 2 mm round wire.

Using a Cross Pein Hammer against a steel block, forge out the stem with graduated blows, leaving the end of the wire wider. Use files and emery to smooth out the hammer marks. (photos 22, 23 & 24) 22

Let’s Talk Design

23

When designing jewellery there are some practicalities you should not ignore. Pendants hang, so the design should take this into consideration. I do not like to just “stick” a bail onto my pendants. Every part of the design should be considered and incorporated. Using a theme or motif can help. Not only did I use a stem as my bail inspiration, I also cut a “tear” into the upper left hand corner - reflecting yet again a natural leaf.

You might have chosen a different image or even a texture for your insert. What ever your insert might be, take some time to consider the design of your bail - it is an opportunity to add further interest to your piece.

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The other thing to consider about a bail is that it is a “ware” point. The chain will rub up against the bail, causing it to thin.

Starting with an already thin bail will result in breakage. The bail on a pendant is usually the first thing that needs repair.

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‘Framed Pendant’ continued

16. Fitting the Bail

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Where ever possible I like to avoid a “butt” joint. By slotting or pegging a joint you make it stronger and more incorporated into the design. In the case of my bail, I am able to make the joint slotted by filing a slot onto the back of the frame. Go slow and check the fit often - NO GAPS - I filed the slot about half the thickness of the bail.

Before soldering the bail to the frame emery the back edge of the frame flush and smooth, starting with 220 emery through 400, 600, 100, 1200, 1500 grits. It is much easier to get at the back edge of the frame before the bail is soldered on. (photos 25, 26 & 27) 17. Soldering the Bail

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Yellow ochre all of the solder seams. Flux the seam to be soldered and the connecting point on the bail. Lay the frame image side down. Use a third arm or, coins or scrap bits of metal to prop up the bail in place. Heat the frame section first - this is your heat sink. Once the flux has gone clear place a ball of medium silver solder on one side of the slot and direct your heat to the opposite side pulling the solder through the frame.

27

TIP #6 Heat Sinks When Soldering two pieces together where one is significantly larger than the other; the two pieces will heat up at different rates. Part of the reason is that they are of different masses, but also the larger mass will “suck” heat away from the smaller. Always keep in mind that solder is attracted to the hottest point.

By heating the larger mass first, allowing the heat to move from it to the smaller mass, you are controlling the flow of heat. Paste flux is a good indicator of heat temperatures; once enough heat has moved from the larger mass to cause the flux to go clear on the joint, the metal is hot enough to place the solder.

Give the larger mass just a bit more heat (until it turns dull red - not bright red) - then go in for the “kill”.

Direct your heat on the opposite side of the solder - to draw it through the joint towards the flame.

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TIP #6 More Emery Tools An “Emery Block” can be very useful. I get my steel blocks from the scrap metal yard. While digging through the scraps keep a look out for a block with a smooth finish. Use a palm-sander with emery to smooth the surface - 220, 400, 600 grits will do it. Adhere the emery to the block - some brands of emery or sandpaper come with adhesive backs, if not use spray glue.

I can’t take credit for this idea - a big thank you goes out to one of my students, Mitch.

18. Finishing Now that all of the soldering is done it is time to do the finishing. First trim off the frame overhang using a saw. File and emery the frame sides smooth (220, 400, 600, 1000, 1200 and 1500 emery).

Polish to a bright finish.

Emerying the back and front of the insert will be more tricky - here is where emery tools come in. For the front of the insert the finish will depend on what your image or texture is; because of the imprint, I couldn’t do too much emerying or I’d risk losing the image - I decided on a light emery only 1500 grit using my emery tool.

For the back of the insert, I gave it a good emery - 220, 400, 600, 1000, 1200 and 1500 emery - no polishing, since I could not get into the corners evenly with a polishing tool.

While the bail is a straight piece; emery and polish. Carefully curl the bail using fingers or pliers. (photos 28 & 29)

28

29

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‘Framed Pendant’ continued

Let’s talk about the Finish The finish is the part I like the least! I am all about the action: soldering, hammering, fitting things together the fun bits. But the finish - well - is probably the most important part. No matter how well you do the action bit - carefully fitting that perfect joint and getting a beautiful clean solder joint - a poor finish makes it all look bad.

Heating sterling silver has one particular side affect: firescale. Here’s the science: Firescale is a red or grayish purple stain that appears on mixtures of silver and copper, such as sterling silver. At high temperatures, oxygen mixes with the copper to form cuprous oxide and then cupric oxide.

Once you are done all of your soldering, firescale is not “noticeable” because it is covering the entire surface of the piece. Emerying or filing will start to remove the firescale making it noticeable because now there is a contrast of where it is and where it is not. You will never get a nice bright even finish without removing all of the firescale. Attempts to “cover” firescale with a texture will only result with a texture overtop of the firescale - since you can not hide a colour by putting a texture overtop of it!

Whatever finish I choose to end my piece with, I always bring it first to a high polish by emerying all of the firescale away and polishing. I might not leave it at a high polish but I always start there - a high polish will always make a texture look better.

Removing Firescale It is not always possible to emery away firescale. If a texture or imprint must be done before soldering it into place (as in the case of my roller printed insert), emerying the firescale away after all of the soldering is completed will result in the loss of my image. Instead I “live with it”. One trick that can be used in this case is “raising the fine silver” or “depletion guilding”. By heating and pickling the sterling silver several times (until you achieve a uniform white colour), you are creating a thin layer of pure silver at the surface - sterling silver is made of pure silver and copper. Once this pure silver surface is achieved, a tumbler or brass brush can be used to polish it. Do not use emery or polishing techniques that remove metal - as this will remove the very thin layer of pure silver. I only do this in areas that are recessed; if used on outer surfaces, repeated rubbing will remove the pure silver - the piece will look fabulous when you sell it, but will not take long before the firescale is noticeable - this is a dirty trick! Always remove firescale where you can.

Some artists choose to leave the firescale on a piece because they like the look of it - this is an honest design choice. In the end what is important is that you - the artist - are happy with the work. It is important to make conscious design decisions - much like good abstract art - your finish should be a result of choice not a lack of knowledge, skill or craftsmanship.

Do you have a question or comment about this tutorial? Post it in our CLJ Members Forum.

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Is there a technique you’d like to master, a project you want to try or simply a question you need answered?

We want to hear from you. Our goal is to make ‘Creating Linus Jewellery’ your personal guide to perfecting your pieces and exploring the jewellery artist within.

E-mail tutorials@creatinglinus.com with your questions, comments and suggestions.

VIDEO TUTORIALS COMING SOON!

sawing & piercing riveting

tools

dapping

cold connections cuffs

drilling

bezels

chain pendants bangles wax carving silver

heat treatment patina copper

rings

etching polishing

stone setting

soldering

brass

texturing

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the

wall In recent years the internet has become an important tool for artists to exhibit and sell their work. Multi-vendor websites like Etsy.com offer a collective forum where buyers can access many Artists under one website. “The Wall” represents the best of Etsy. If you see something you like, click on the image and you will be redirected to that artist’s Etsy page where you can see more of their work.

Would you like to nominate an artist for The Wall? Let us know in our CLJ Members Forum.

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79

Deborah Brackenbury

Mark Doolittle

Alice Pasquini

ART MAGAZINE 80

Cole Thompson

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