Though I’ve been practicing the art of silversmithing only since January, I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to make a progress report on my blog – nearly a year after starting!
In fact, the very last post I made was just after I’d finished my first piece, shown below. This was the “class project” inn the only workshop I’ve yet taken, but it actually turned out very well, considering I really had little idea as to what I was doing. The stone is an Owyhee Jasper cabochon which I personally cut and polished.
As you may remember, I’ve spent the last few winters in Quartzsite, Arizona, working my lapidary skills in the local Quartzsite Roadrunners Gem & Mineral Club. That was where I took the step to take an introductory class in silversmithing, where I learned to foundational basics.
Then I headed to Tucson for the gem shows, and when it was time to return to Quartzsite and further practice silversmithing in their well-equipped metalsmithing shop, I found myself flummoxed…. I wanted to delve into metalsmithing, but the thought of going back to the town of Quartzsite for two month filled me with dread. If only the town had a decent bagel shop, I’d have been able to do it…… Oh, and public wifi and places to charge electronics, among a few other things. The two things, for me, that Quartzsite has going for it is the easy camping on BM land, and the gem club. Everything else….. it’s fine for a few weeks, but month after month is depressing. Especially after having done the winter seasons there for the five years I’d already done.
Instead, I stayed in Tucson, hoping to find some metalsmithing classes there. Unfortunately, I have a beer budget…cheap swill beer. I did locate the Old Pueblo Lapidary Club, which was within my ability to do, but unfortunately there were no classes to be offered while I was there.
I tried not to be hard on myself for not returning to Quartzsite, and have to admit I had a fear that I was subconsciously sabotaging myself. I believed that I truly wanted to develop my skills as a metalsmith, yet there I was – passing up the opportunity I knew was available.
“Self-teaching it is,” I told myself, and off I went to Kent’s Tools to purchase the basic tools….
Let me just interrupt this story to say this: If you are considering metalsmithing, and someone tells you that you “really only need,”…. do.not.believe.them. You will quickly realize you may not need anything beyond a few things like solder, a small torch, pliers and metal stock, but you will need them if you want to employ any creativity in your pieces.
But, back to my journey(which included several return trips to Kents, and an investment of easily a thousand dollars in materials and supplies over the last eight months.
Working with a cold pickle pot, and what I came to find out was a defective torch, on my folding desk table out in open air was….a challenge. A frustrating effort that nearly did me in as I ruined silver every time I tried to make something. At $23 an ounce(price on day of this post), it hurt to waste like this, and though I know it can be remelted and recylced, that’s not the point.
Once I got back to my home base here in New York, I quickly set up my studio space to include a section for smithing, and got to work. It has been so much fun, at least since I crossed the line from frustration into understanding on the basic fabrication concepts.
Nonetheless, there is a LOT to learn, and I’m old enough that I will never become a master metalsmith, at least in this life.
Accepting that fact, I’m developing well enough that I am(or should be) happy with my progress. In less than a month, I’ll be doing my winter travels, and the plan is to base myself out of Tucson, so I can utilize the metal shop this winter. If I get lucky and they offer the silversmithing class while I’m there, I hope I can afford to take it, as I would love to have a better mentor than myself…..
My style is simple, as I want my stones to be the focal point. That doesn’t mean the work is easy. Silversmithing is a precision craft, and jewelry is very small. The use of magnification is essential, especially with my aging eyesight. Cutting and filing also requires diligence, as one pull of the saw, or one misplaced file sweep, can mean I have an error that I’ll need to make up for somehow. Better to pay attention and not cause the problem in the first place!
I’m still struggling with being able to stay focused and intentional as I go, and I don’t yet have the optical magnification tools that would be optimal. I use reader glasses, and I have one desk lamp that has a magnifier lens I can look through, but I really need a higher magnification level. I’m wishing for Craftoptics glasses, but may need to make do with the less costly Optivisor, but up til now I’ve just made do. This goes back to not believing anyone who tells you that you can do silversmithing with just a few items……
One of the techniques I’m currently struggling with is stamping. I do like the idea of incorporating the motifs and patterns into my work, and have purchased a few stamps so far from House of Stamps and K2Stamps. These are artisan made stamps, crafted by hand and not factory-produced. They are not inexpensive…. and once you own a few stamps, you realize you’ve now opened Pandora’s Box and want more, more, more!
Stamping is not as simple as one might think. I’m sure it will become easier with practice, but getting the stamped properly positioned before striking it with a two pound brass mallet is a delicate maneuver. To properly produce the effect, repeated blows to the stamp are needed, and the stamp angle often needs reorienting(while maintaining the exact position of the stamp head where it meets the metal) to create the full impression. When creating a pattern of stamps, which is nearly always the case, things become more complex.
I’ve gotten a fairly good amount of pendants finished by now, and would appreciate you’re taking the time to browse the current selection, at Talisman Studios. Each of the images in this post also takes you directly to the listing when you click on the picture.
