Stringing Caught My Eye, Wirework Sucked Me In

Time keeps slipping past me! Classes begin this week at The Workspace! I so enjoy teaching there and am ready to play and explore.  Resin class is this week and Wirework is in March. Both are full. I am looking forward to the wirework class as that is what really got me interested in tools and metalworking.

A look back at one of my earliest samples of work.  Strung bracelets and an early wirework piece

I have been playing with jewelry for over ten years. I can't remember when I first began but I think one of those little project books caught my eye at the local fabric/craft store. Stringing is fun and I soon became obsessed with collecting natural - no dyes etc - gemstones. That is where I came up with the name "Silver Leaf". Silver leaf is a name of a type of jasper. Jasper is one of my favorite stones. But stringing led to looking at magazines and Step by Step Wire caught my attention with Connie Fox's work on the cover.  Her wirework was stunning and fun and I learned about base metals, silver plate and sterling.  Oh and tools! First there were the pliers.  I started out with cheap pliers. Then I could see the marks from the pliers on my wire. That is no good!! I worked on tight even coils, neat spirals and filed all ends of every wire so there would be no discomfort against the skin or snagging of sweaters. But tool marks on the wire was not cool so I bought some of that tool dip, to coat the pliers and that helped. But what helped the most was practice and the right touch and some new, more expensive pliers :) Then files and cutters and HAMMERS! weee!  So much learning too! The glossary grows - Gauge of metal, types of metal, hardness of metal, more tools and how to use them.  And since Connie Fox doesn't seem to leave California, my best bud and I drove up to Minnesota for a really fun weekend taking a class from Sharilyn Miller. She has her own fun style and I learned how to go crazy on a bead.

Crazy fun wire work on jasper and turquoise!

Have I mentioned polishing? There are so many ways to polish. You can buy stuff in a bottle, rub with a special polishing cloth, use finer and finer grits of sand paper, even hit metal with a polished hammer to planish the metal. But my favorite method is tumbling with steel shot. All of this lead to even more learning and growth and true metalsmithing. Cold joining, soldering, foldforming, ...so much fun! And still there is so much to learn.  And with classes coming up, I will learn more, hopefully my students will too. Call The Workspace at 515-294-0970.

Check out Connie Fox -although she has also "graduated" to metal work, her site is educational and beautiful. I hope to add more in depth education to this blog. But time flies!!

For wirework I also recommend Sharily Miller's book "Bead on a Wire".