Final Class for Beginners

Last night ended another class for beginning students in Dana Evans' metalsmith class. Always sad, but always full of finished projects! Last night we had a slew of etching projects, too.

These 2 pendants by Jennifer feature an etching of her friend (Erykah Badu!) that she etched, shaped and textured. Etching is not a fool-proof technique- it involves ironing on a pre-printed sheet of special PNP paper, sometimes a few times to get it to stick completely. Then an acid dip, cleaning, texturing, oxidizing and finishing.

Another pendant by Jennifer- one to keep, one to give away!

This bird etching, also by Jennifer was a welcome relief to all the soldering she did last week!

All on sterling silver, and this one was dapped into a dome shape.

Jamie's bracelet was a labor of love- and it involved a lot of labor! Soldering the cuff together of all those wires proved difficult, but she got it done, and then wired the wire sculpture on top for a one-of-a-kind piece!

These gorgeous etched and domed pendants are by Tosha. Maybe a mother-daughter set? Etched and finished with a nice satin glow.

This "collage" ring by Tosha she nicknamed the "neverending ring"! She saw cut the ring and then soldered it closed, then soldered on strips and ball elements using a ring soldering stand. Not easy, but well worth the effort!

Tosha's ring was tumbled to shiny perfection!

This large neck-chain of Chris' was also a labor of love! The silver rings are large- over 1-1/2" wide, soldered and textured, and alternate with double brass rings, not easy to solder! Chris discovered that brass was a dirty and unpredictable metal. Finished off with an s-clasp, it's an attention-getter!

Amy created this ball-loop bracelet meticulously and tumbled it to shiny. She made an s-clasp and now it's ready to wear!

An example of etching on brass by Barbara.

This gorgeous Celtic knot design was etched by Joan. She painstakingly ironed on the PNP paper, nail polished the exposed surfaces, and gave it a 5-minute acid bath. Next she refined the shape, used Griffith's Silver Black for contrast, added a bail, and it's ready to wear!

This modern cross by Joan has been soldered and textured in silver and copper. It has just the right amount of detail and has been tumbled shiny and gorgeous!







Thanks so much to everyone- this was a great run!!!!

Some Experienced Beginners

This week we had a great class and got some cool stuff made!
This is Tosha's pendant made by doming silver and copper, cutting out and soldering shapes over each other, and sanding for a satin finish- great job!

Ann's pendant has a cosmic feel! She soldered a bunch of collage elements over a textured base.

Here's Ann's jumprope pendant- love the contrast! She cut out the shape of the figure and soldered it and the jumprope on the base sheet. Oxidizing the base worked out perfectly!

This is Barbara's etching- can't wait to see what she'll turn it into!

Jamie sawcut a piece of silver sheet, textured and oxidized it, then soldered on a piece of hand-made chainmaille, and epoxied on a barette finding for a one-of-a-kind hair piece!

3 examples of piercing and saw cutting by Barbara, Jennifer and Amy.

Great work everyone!

Advanced Students Working Hard

These students have only been metalsmithing THIS YEAR and look at their projects!!!

Daphne's large pendant boasts cabochons of jasper and green peridot. She acid-etched the front sheet and soldered on the bezels for the stones. She then refined the shape of the sheet and soldered on a tube bail on the back for a chain. Finally, she oxidized the piece in liver of sulfur, buffing off the high points and leaving the darkness in the crevices of the design etching.

A fantastic, large, and well-executed piece!

This is also a piece of Daphne's creation- a gorgeous cabochon of moonstone set in a decorative gallery wire and soldered to a substantial ring shank.

Monique acid-etched a sterling silver piece, punched holes, and oxidized/buffed it. A work in progress: she's going to string it to make a bracelet with these gorgeous coral beads.

Another seaweed acid-etched neckpiece by Monique.

These beauties by Monique utilize keum-boo- fusing pure gold onto the sterling silver surface, which was first depletion-gilded (annealed 4 times). 2 layers of thin silver sheet became a sturdy backdrop to the gorgeous faceted chalcedony stones.

A gorgeous glass cabochon bezel-set by Monique and ready to put on a chain and wear!

These artsy earrings by Sharon feature 2 sets of rubies- small faceted ones on the bottom drop, and 2 larger star rubies cabochon-set above. Cool hanging earwires too!

Another view of these fab earrings! All metalwork entirely hand-made by Sharon.

This "turbine" ring features a cool plastic button! Sharon bezel-set it and then accented the back plate of sterling with some punches and oxidation. A large ring full of character.

New Group of Metalsmiths

This new batch of beginning metalsmiths are hard workers! Check out their pieces so far:



These beautiful Ankh Earrings are by Jennifer. She made a template for the forms, cut out the silver from a sheet, textured it, soldered on the top teardrop and earwire (folded behind out of view) and then domed and tumbled for shiny perfection. Great prescence and style!

These great Triangle Earrings are by Chris- completed the first night of class. She cut out the triangle shapes out of sheet, textured them, soldered on the earwire and ball accent on front, and called them done! Perfect everyday earrings!

Check out this awesome pierced and sawed Flower Pendant by Joan. She sketched out a design onto the silver, pierced holes, sawed out the design, domed and satin-finished the piece. Complete with bail it's ready to wear.

This is a Teardrop Pendant piece also by Joan. She cut out the shape from sheet, textured it and soldered on the decorative wire in sterling. Tumbled shiny, she then pierced a hole and added a bail.

Jamie worked on this Heart Pin for 2 weeks. After designing the piece, she cut the components out of silver sheet, and soldered on the 2 side wings and the 3 pieces of wire. She textured the piece as well and made a pinback and soldered that on, too. Great on a jacket!

Barbara's Triangular Earrings have a great modern appeal- she cut out the shapes of sheet and carefully soldered on the decorative spiral wire, then bent them into earwires. Tumbled for shine, she wore them home.

This is Amy's exercise in soldering rings together. A pendant? One of an earring pair? Only time will tell.....

Great work soldering everyone! Next week- more piercing and sawing pieces!