Blog
The giraffes tale
I have always been interested in silversmithing and so when I saw an advert for a 4 week silversmithing workshop I signed up straight away. In this workshop I was given a sheet of silver and was taught the basic techniques in silversmithing such as how to correctly use a saw, filing and polishing. Gerold the giraffe was my first ever silver creation. I didn’t realise it when I started making Gerold but this was a difficult thing to make due to the shape being so small and complex. I started by marking the outline then moved onto cutting out the shape. After Gerold began looking like a giraffe I filed the edges down and then decided to use acid etching to create the pattern on him, I polished him up to be nice and shiny. Little did I know I would go on to studying silversmithing at university! He is now happily living on my shelf in my living room so I can look back and remind myself how far I have come.
The start of University
The first ever piece I made at university was a ‘tussey mussey’, I know that sounds strange but I promise it is a real thing. A Tussey mussey is a brooch which can hold water and flowers in, it is typically worn at weddings. This was quite a challenge as it consisted of numerous different parts, to add to the challenge I also had to make the pin mechanism on the back. The overall shape had to be what the university tutors told however I then added a few things to it such as the rings on the top and the cut out v shape. In the picture you can see the process of me putting everything together, the picture on the bottom right is part of the pin mechanism on the back of the brooch.
The brooch of honour
The second piece I made for university was a brooch with a stone setting, this scared me as I had never set a stone before. I was given the stone by my tutor and was told it had to be a cabochon set (the metal encases the edges of the stone) ‘bar brooch’ (basically a long brooch). I was also told I had to make a pusher and also a burnisher tool for this project, these tools are used to carefully rub around the edge of a stone setting to push it into place and to also polish it. I designed the brooch to have points on either end, to me this represented the triumphs and setbacks in life. I also added bars either end of the brooch to add some depth to the piece. I made the brooch and the pin mechanism on the back (the same mechanism I used in the ‘Tussey mussey’.) To add the stone setting I had to make some tubing which meant using new equipment such as draw plates, a draw bench and a rolling mill. I finished making all the components of the brooch, soldered them together and then polished the piece and set the stone.
Commonwealth Games Medal
A few years ago I attended Birmingham city university, in 2022 the commonwealth games committee asked the jewellery and silversmithing students to submit designs for the 2022 Birmingham commonwealth games medals and boxes, every student submitted a design for the medal. They wanted the design to include things relating to the commonwealth games and Birmingham. I was only in my second year at the time and so I hadn't learnt much about the practically of design however, my design got into the top 10!! I included various things relating to the commonwealth games and Birmingham in my design including; the iconic Birmingham bull, the pattern on Birmingham library, Birmingham clock tower, the commonwealth logo, the Birmingham commonwealth logo, and much more. Even the medal ribbon colours and medal box had symbolism!
Engagement and wedding ring for a Uni project
CAD Computer Aided Design (or computer aided disaster!)
In my second year of university I had to learn how to use CAD (Computer aided design), it felt like learning a foreign language! My tutor would say things like ‘Use BooleanDifference to subtract this shape’ and ‘Extrude Surface then add a new layer’. I have dyslexia and so it is difficult for me to learn new words in English let alone a computer programme language! After learning a little about cad (using Rhino software) I had to design and make an engagement ring, a few days before the deadline I then realised I also had to make a wedding ring too! The engagement ring was inspired by sea waves, I knew I only wanted one main stone in the piece. Once I had finished the engagement ring I designed the wedding ring to fit, I added extra stones to resemble the light reflecting off the sea. I got the pieces cast in silver and then cleaned them up, I have definitely improved on my cleaning up process since then! I set the stones by myself, I was proud however I needed more practice!