This journal entry is from a social media post I made on May 20, 2020 prior to the release of the Hope Collection. It gives a little insight to how I work and how a piece is created. I hope you enjoy learning what goes into creating handmade jewelry.
My work starts with metal sheet and wire.
I use simple hand tools.
Saws, files, hammers, punches, a couple of torches, and an ever-growing selection of pliers, to name a few!
Each heart and aralia leaf is carefully pierced and sawed from sheet using a hand saw and minuscule saw blades.
An array of files in different cuts and sizes are used to attentively shape, refine, and remove sharp edges. Then, further refinement occurs with sand paper and sanding sticks.
Hammers, punches, blocks, a sandbag, and a bit of muscle aid in forming the three dimensional hearts.
Gemstone settings are built, formed, and fitted for each individual stone because no two are ever exactly alike.
Texturing occurs through hammering, etching, and layering of elements.
Silver is torched on a charcoal block until it’s molten to create balls in an array of sizes.
Soldering—with a bit of flux, fire, and meticulous staging—is the magic that makes it all stick together. Most pieces usually go under the torch several times before completion.
Wire is coiled around a mandrel then sawed open to form every jump ring which then gets individually soldered closed.
Wire is cut to length, hammered, filed, and shaped with pliers to create necklace clasps one by one.
A flex shaft—the only power tool I use—is invaluable and aids in drilling, polishing, cutting seats for gemstones, and other tasks which would otherwise be tedious, time consuming, and difficult by hand although not impossible!
Patina is added and then selectively removed to create richness and depth.
Stones get cautiously set using a bezel pusher or burnisher to bend the metal over the stone to hold it securely in place.
And, finally, after countless steps to get to this point, there’s that one last polish and bit of adjusting to make everything just so before it’s declared complete.
While I often lust after jewelry tools they are quite expensive and I have to justify a real need before I plunk down big bucks for one. And, if I finally do make the purchase it makes me appreciate that new tool more than I otherwise would have having previously done it all by hand!
I remind myself time and again that ancient jewelry was created using crude and simple tools and if they can do it so can I. It may take a little longer, but it connects me to my work in a way that machines can’t.
As I create a piece I get to know each one individually—every curve, every solder join, every quirk, and every bit of blood, sweat, and sometimes tears, that went into creating it… each piece built by hand, hope, and heart!
