Kuriosities

I recently attended the Bead & Button show in Milwaukee, WI for a week’s worth of metalsmithing classes. It was an incredible experience…and as I am just now catching up with all of the other things that were waiting for me on my return, I will be blogging about it over the next little while. About the projects, people, and new things learned.

One class that stuck out for me in particular, and the one in which I created my favourite piece of the week, was Mary Hettmansperger’s class entitled “Stacked and Stitched”. It promised to teach different weaving and stitching techniques with wire and sheet metal – as well as applying heat patinas. I almost did not take the course, and it was a last minute addition to my list – as the techniques did not look overly complicated, and like something I could work out myself. I am so glad that I went ahead with it, it was a highlight of my week.

Upon entering the class, and during our first demonstration, Mary told us that she does not use conventional jewelry making tools. That she did not even use a saw??!? She said instead, she sharpens screwdrivers and uses them with a hammer to cut out inner shapes in the metal, and snips to cut out the main shape of the piece. Huh!? This seemed crazy to me. Then she said that she also did not use a drill, but instead used leather punches. I’m sure my face registered my dismay, even though I tried to hide it. A voice inside my head said “Erm, I think I’ll be a-usin’ my jewelry saw, thank-you.”

But I fought the snotty voice inside my head that was entrenched in traditional metalsmithing tools and training, and decided to go along with the way Mary did things. And I am so glad that I did.

Mary’s class was like stream of consciousness poetry in metal and multimedia form. I gave myself over to the process and the materials, and turned off the logical planning part of my brain. I took the techniques that she taught us and let my hands take the lead. I had no plan for the piece that I made at the outset, it revealed itself to me layer by layer, bit by bit, and even I was surprised by it at the end.

Usually I spend a great deal of time in planning and researching my pieces, imbuing them with meaningful symbols, and stories to tell. I am usually quite deliberate in what I create. So I was surprised at the story that revealed itself by the end. That there were meaningful symbols in it, that there was a story, although the story was not altogether clear, and perhaps a bit mysterious, and certainly open to interpretation. Perhaps a little darksome. You can decide your own story for it…for me, it changes by the day.

After I created the piece, I wore it the next day when I went out. I was wearing a new sundress that was not altogether revealing in a tawdry way, but certainly plunged at the neckline whilst remaining within decent boundaries. People stopped me several times on the street and asked to look at the necklace. They wanted to touch it, and turn the pages. Each time, so engrossed in discovering the bits of metal, that they seemed oblivious to the fact that they were reaching in towards my bosom and bringing their faces closer than what is usually publicly acceptable. At first I was a bit uncomfortable, but then decided to take it as flattery that they were completely unaware of the awkwardness of the situation, and just drawn into the little book and its story.

I hope to take what I have learned here, and let my hands serve to guide me to new places every now and then…

A StoryBook Pendant: “The Oldest Story in the Book“

A primitive storybook in copper that has been texturized with hammers, stamps, and punches. It has been coloured by applying flame to the metal and quenched in water. The front window punched out with a screwdriver. Text from a vintage newspaper ad has been sandwiched between copper and a sheet of Mica, using sterling rivets to hold. Handwoven wire creates the bail…

Cut from an old playing card. Holes were punched through and riveted with copper eyelets.

Rivets hold the page together. A window cut out with a sharpened screwdriver. The “glass” is made of Mica – a sheet of mineral. Clipping from a vintage newspaper advertisement. Copper has had a heat patina applied.

Sterling silver eyelets on copper with a heat patina applied. (Made by torching the metal and quenching, torching, and quenching). The back of page three is also shown, handstamped with the exclamation “oh!”.

Coloured with a heat patina. Riveted with sterling silver eyelets (bubbles). Handstamped with the word “deeper” and a tiny seahorse. Copper and assorted findings.

Handwoven fine copper wire hold the paddled pieces of the bail together, to give the piece a primal feel. Free mving hanger and beads add movement. A mysterious modern artifact piece.