Blogging Revere - Project 3

I hope everyone who celebrates Easter had a nice holiday, that all who celebrate Chocolate Day had a luscious weekend, that Passover was great for those who observe it and that those who don't do any of those had a fun weekend.

This last post is a bit late, since I was away for the extended weekend and I forgot to download the pictures from my camera (not that there are a lot of them, for reasons that will be clear in a moment). However, I am already working on Project 4, so I hope that will go up faster.

So, to work!

Project 3 is a pair of domed earrings. They have a cool ethnic vibe and I love the curve. It is also quite different from my usual work so I knew I would learn interesting things. I didn't expect that they would be quite so challenging.

The instructions start of detailing how to lay out the blank, so here are the pictures. I chose to do this project in copper for reasons both aesthetic and practical. On the practical side, I had plenty of light weight copper sheet around and it is a nice, malleable metal to form. On the aesthetic, copper takes on beautiful patinas that would work well with the shape of these earrings.



I also decided to go ahead and drill small pilot holes (0.5mm) instead of only marking them. After forming, these holes will be used for the posts and closure. A word of advice - gently round the angle at the widest point of the blank. Otherwise, the tip will impact the forming and you will never get a nice curve.

Copper blank with earrings laid out

And, here things got tricky. After all the details on layout, I was surprised at how little detail was given for the forming procedure. Revere recommends forming on a thick magazine, hard felt or soft wood end grain with an embossing hammer. After a few general recommendations (working from the center out, working both sides to keep symmetry, hollowing out an indentation on the wood), I was on my own.

My first attempt was using a very hard foam, similar to hard felt. It was, however, too soft for forming and the curve was erratic. Sometimes, the metal would bend too far, at others, it wouldn't respond. The hammer would bounce back uncontrollably and it was just miserable. Once I had a kind of half dome going, I decided to give up on the foam and lightly tap around the edges, to further the dome. This had mixed results - it can work but the metal tends to buckle and crimp. It also only forms the edge, so it can give the earrings a somewhat squared off look. But it is hard to control and the outline would be every shape except round, so I needed to fix it with a ring mandrel every few seconds or so.

This process was frustrating enough that I didn't stop to take pictures to share with the world.

At this point, the copper was work hardened and pretty textured from all the hammering. It was also not domed, not circular, not regular and not nice. So, time to start over. The only thing looking good was the texture, from all the messing around. I decided to just straighten out the metal and reuse it, to see if I could keep the texture. I annealed it and looked around the studio for another hammering surface.

I next moved to my stump, which, looking back, should have been my first choice. Without a dent that fit my hammer, the metal was still not doming. That one is my own fault, since I, for no reason, had not made a good indentation. A few good whacks with a raising hammer (so the dent would be a nice groove, to accommodate the earrings), a little shaping with a burr and I was off.

The strips began doming nicely, until I hit the next bump on the road. As they domed and curled, it was harder and harder to accurately hammer. The hammer head had to fit inside the curve and strike the right point of the edge, on the right place in the stump. My solution was to use a medium dapping punch and a mallet. This gave plenty of control, even if the going was a little slower.

At this point, I remembered that I wanted to document the process, so here are pictures.

The edges are still a little irregular but, over all, it is looking

pretty good and recognizable as hoop earrings

The next step is installing the ear wires. They are soldered on one of the tabs and snap into the matching opening on the other. I admit I was unsure about this design. The earring was pretty snug as it was and I felt that both twisting it to the side and pulling it wider in order to put it on would be both awkward and, potentially, would stress the metal at the opposite side, making it bend. But I try to be a good student and follow instructions (at least, the first time) and I found that it does work pretty well, as long as the ear posts are cut just a tiny bit longer than the catch - enough to hold on but not enough to make it hard to put on. The problem is that soldering annealed the copper, making the earring floppy. Back to the stump for a couple of rounds of light tapping, similar to planishing, to work harden it again. Otherwise, it lacks the springiness required to stay on.

Finished earring

While I am quite happy with the end results, I did feel let down by the instructions. There was a lot I had to figure out myself and a lot of unnecessary fumbling around. Looking back, this project would have been very simple with a small forming stake (like the Fretz bezel stakes, which I have been drooling over for months now). I want to experiment with the shape and, perhaps, make a wearable pair out of heavier copper or silver.

Now, onto project 4 - making chains!

Blogging Revere - Project 2

I am going to excuse myself from this project, a crochet chain. I love crochet and woven chains and I have done many, many meters of them by now, which means I have drawn many more meters of wire down. I have done tapered chains, twisted chains, messy chains, open chains and, yes, the traditional chain as well.

So I will leave a few pictures up and move on to the next project, forged hoops. If anyone has any doubts or questions on this project, feel free to ask on the comments and I will do my best to answer.

A loose, open weave. I love the airy effect - perfect for spring

I am proud of this one! A very fine double weave which was very tightly drawn.

A tapered chain, oxidized.

And the promised traditional look!

PS - I have just been scolded for my lack of marketing sense. Yes, these chains are all available in both my website (www.beatrizfortes.com) and on Etsy (www.beatrizfortes.etsy.com). They can also be custom made in 22k gold.

Have I mentioned how bad I am at marketing my work? Yep, very bad.

Blogging Revere - Project 1

The first project of the book is a forged bracelet, which presents a few problems:

- my bracelet mandrel is wood. It isn't even particularly hard wood (just light reshaping will dent it) and there is no way it will stand up to several rounds of forging
- the largest hole in my drawplate is 2.9mm

But I decided to go ahead any way by adapting the project for a forged ring, instead of a bracelet. This is the first project and covers several basic skills, including forming and soldering.

I started out with 2mm square wire (why square instead of round? Because I am a distracted airhead). The ring blank was formed and the 4 corners were marked with a file, to keep everything symmetrical. I also lightly marked the solder seam, in order to keep an eye on it as the ring was forged.

First round of forging - spreading the center of each side. Everything is looking pretty good.

Next, the edges were forged out, to create the square silhouette. I skipped photographing this step but here is the ring after filing. The original bangle kept the beautiful forged texture but it just wasn't working on such a small ring.

Filed and sanded to a matte finish, so that any mistakes will stand out. And. believe me, they do! I had to do several small fixes. Here, you can really see how my project is different from the one in the book. When I scaled it down, the forging proportions changed considerably. The transition from the center to the edges has to happen in a much smaller space and the curvature just isn't as clear. In the original bracelet, the center of each side is quite clearly curved, so the overall outline is still rather circular. My final ring is a square.

Overall, I am satisfied with this project. It was quick, fairly easy and, despite all my modifications, it is a nice piece. It is a pretty but quite delicate piece so I want to experiment with heavier wire (2.5mm first, then I might go even heavier) for a more substantial man's ring.

I was surprised by the size increase from the forging. I started out with a size 6 blank, expecting it to end up as a size 8 (a 10% increase in diameter). However, the final size is a full 10, giving it a 20% diameter increase. With thicker wire, requiring more forging, the increase should be even larger.

Blogging Revere

Alan Revere's "Professional Jewelry Making" is something of a legend for jewelry makers. It is comprehensive, didactic and leads students step by step up to advanced techniques. It was also out of print for many years. It was reedited in 2011, with new projects, new layout, even more pictures and, best of all, once more easily bought for a reasonable price (directly from Revere, from Amazon or your favourite bookseller).

After hesitating because of the price ($70 is expensive for a book!), a lost Amazon shipment and waiting for international delivery, I finally got my hands on a copy. It is gorgeous! The explanations are clear and thorough, there are plenty of pictures and the projects are interesting and varied.

My first plan was to read through the book and select the techniques I wanted to master (clasps, findings in general, etc). But once I started leafing through the pages, I changed my mind. I am going to work my way through the book, from beginning to end, with the focus of precision, good finish and as close to fine workmanship as I can get. And you, my dear readers, get to come along for the ride.

6 basic techniques, 10.000 tricks.

Big News!

The 2013 GBK Oscar Gift Lounge starts today and my Moonlight Sonata pendant will be on display.

I love how this pendant captures the light of the moon shimmering over the water.

And the lucky celebrities invited to the gift lounge will also receive this lovely sterling silver bracelet:

It has been a huge undertaking for me, as an artisan working alone on my pieces. The required 100 bracelets translates into close to 20 meters of handwoven chain. That is a lot of chain! To give you an idea, about a third of the way through, I draped myself with all the chain I had so far:

That is "only" around 6 meters of chain. I admit I love the look and I will, someday, make myself a necklace like that. After I get a brief rest, of course.

You can read all about the gift lounge here: http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/347667-1361290573-contemporary-jewelry-by-beatriz-fortes-showcases-moonlight-sonata-pendant-at-2013-academy-awards.html

Both piece are also available for sale on my site: http://www.beatrizfortes.com/collections/pendants-and-necklaces/products/moonlight-pendant-in-sterling-silver-and-opal and http://www.beatrizfortes.com/collections/all/products/double-woven-bracelet

Notan - the balance between light and dark

The concept of Notan comes to us from the Japanese, where it literally means Light-Dark. It is the balance between light (white) and dark (black) in a figure, where neither color dominates or is subordinate to the either. Each is defined by the other and the viewer can switch between looking at the black or white figure, without a clear right way.

The most familiar Notan image is the Ying-Yang symbol and the philosophy it symbolizes also fits perfectly with Notan: male and female, light and dark - they complement each other and lose meaning alone. If we remove the white from the symbol, what would we have left?

This vase shows a beautiful balance between the shape and the spaces left empty - 3D Notan

The concept of "switching" the views was not natural to me and I struggled with the concept until I remembered this figure. A simple representation of a cube, made from lines or wire, known as a Necker cube. Is it facing up or down? I love this image and I never had any problem switching between the views. Once I had this in mind, I was able to see both values in Notan with no difficulty.

The concept of Notan can also be used to analyse Western art - how the light and dark shapes in a painting, for example, interact. I find Van Gogh a great example of this. In this oil painting of a field, we can focus on the lighter paths or concentrate on the dark figures and fields.

From here, it is simple to extend the concept to sculpture (the solid spaces and the empty spaces of a piece), to architecture, to quilting, etc.

Notan in jewelry --  http://www.etsy.com/listing/66871604/lightweight-silver-earrings-in-a-diamond   

Circus of light and darkness, dreams and magic

I haven't mentioned books often in this blog, although they are as central to my life as my jewelry. My childhood revolved around books and my little apartment is lined with books. I find that books show me new worlds, beautiful ideas, the gossamer connections around us and the solid fantasies of what could or could never be.

I recently read Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus. I was captivated by the dreamlike images and the weaving of magic and reality. While the characters are interesting and likable, it is the circus itself that captured me. A black and white circus that appears unannounced around the world, opening only at nightfall and lasting until morning. There, reality and magic combine, creating experiences that are hard to say if they were real or not.

The circus, however, is only a setting for a challenge between two magicians, who expand it with ever more amazing features, with delicate frost worlds, illusions, excitement and reflection. One works from a distance,
with careful models; the other is at the center of the circus, disguising her magic as mere illusions.

This is a book worth reading twice. The first time, you discover this beautiful, seductive world. You see a mystery unfold and are drawn in by the characters. The second reading shows how beautifully the story is constructed and how the main characters are often the only ones blind to the true meaning of what is happening. As the book unfolds, the true meaning of their challenge becomes clearer, as does their relationship with their mentors, circus members, each other and the Circus. Some of it is unexpected, some is heartwarming and many are heartbreaking.

The two competing magicians are wonderfully balanced. Marco is meticulous, careful and maintains careful control of his creations. He can also be cold, calculating and manipulative of the people around him. Celia is warm, collaborative and sparkling (perhaps not the best description, but sparkling is the word that comes to my mind when I think of her). However, she also tries to hold on to too much and won't let her creations have a life of their own.

One of the images that most struck me is quite simple and unobtrusive, in the middle of such glorious inventions. Marco is trying to explain the nature of the contest to a friend, even though he hardly understands it himself. He says it is like a balance and the contestants' achievements are placed on the plates and weighed against each other. Therefore, each one must keeping doing more and more, trying to outdo themselves and the other. At this point, the friend asks if the balance won't eventually break from the combined weight. Marco brushes this off, saying that she didn't understand it.

This image of always trying to surpass the other, until we break, seems to me to be at the center of our lives. We are always trying to be more, to do more, to be more that we do break. Instead of always competing, stop and enjoy this dream circus around all of us, called life.