Happy 50th, Doctor.

I watched a lot of Dr Who this past year.  It was my time-passer of choice during the last weeks of my pregnancy.  At two weeks overdue in July, I didn't want to leave my couch or air conditioning.  After my son was born, I watched it regularly during middle of the night feedings.  I thought some of the images from the show would look cool engraved into oxidized copper - especially the cybermen and daleks.  I decided to start with a dalek piece and here is what I came up with:

 I started out by scavenging some pieces of copper sheet and trimming away rough edges.  Then I filed, sanded and buffed the edges smooth.  I used a series of sandpapers to finish the faces of each piece, starting with 220 grit, then 320, 400 and finally 600.

I wrapped 16 ga wire around a dowel and used my jeweler's saw to cut the resulting coil into individual jump rings which I used to link the three pieces of sheet and build the chains on either end of the bracelet.  I soldered the rings shut to make the bracelet as sturdy as possible.

The same 16 ga wire was bent by hand to make a hook for the catch.
I tumbled the bracelet in steel shot for about 30 minutes to harden it.  Here it is after being tumbled along with a few other "link" style pieces I am working on.

As much as I love the clean shiny, fresh-out-of-the-tumbler polished look, I wanted this bracelet to feel more worn, almost antique.  So I used one of my favorite patinas: Liver of Sulphur.

I warmed the bracelet in a cup of hot water before dipping it in the liver of sulphur because I think it helps the oxidation happen more evenly.
Once the piece was oxidized, I used my dremel tool to scratch the tardis and two daleks into the surface, exposing the shiny copper underneath.

It was a little awkward to avoid bumping some of the jump rings with the dremel and I only had one chance to get the pictures drawn.  Ideally I would be able to make the pieces first, get them exactly right, then link them.  However, I really wanted to solder the links and the heat from the torch would have burned off the patina.

Flowers for Valentine's Day

Now that it's February, I've been thinking about Valentine's day.  Jewelry and flowers make great gifts for your valentine, so I was inspired to make a set of jewelry using one of my favorite flowers: the dahlia.

I started out with a rough triangular piece of copper, then trimmed, filed and sanded the edges smooth.

Next, I drilled holes in the top two corners and threaded jump rings through them.  I attached some chain and soldered the jump rings closed.  Then I used my pliers to bend a piece of 16 gauge copper wire into a catch.

I oxidized the copper surface, then used my rotary tool to "draw" my design, exposing the shiny copper.  It seemed like a good idea to make a matching pair of earrings.

Both of these items are for sale in my etsy shop, Coppermare.

Saw Piercing

Saw Pierced Pendant

I love saw piercing!

Here is a pierced copper pendant I made:

First I drew out the design on a piece of paper and glued it to the copper sheet.  Each shape that is going to be removed has a hole drilled into it.

I threaded the blade of a jeweler's saw through the drilled holes and cut out the shapes.

Starry Night Brooch

In my exploration of adding color to metal, I came across the technique of using colored pencils and thought I would give it a try.  Here is what I came up with:

To make this brooch, I started by sawing out a 20 ga square for the base and a thinner 24 ga shape for the dark tree in the foreground.

 I hammered texture onto both pieces and formed the tree shape to have a series of ridges so the finished piece would be more 3-D.  Then I sweat soldered them together.

For the pin mechanism, I soldered two copper tubes to one corner and a wire hook to the opposite corner.

This is what it looked like before I added the actual pin.

I used liver of sulphur to oxidize the copper, then cleaned it up  by scrubbing with a brass brush.

I used prismacolor pencils to add some color.  They are pretty subtle, which works in this case.  If I wanted them to be more intense I would have painted a base layer of gesso first.

The final step was to use a rotary tool to scratch away the areas of the brooch where I wanted to shiny copper to peek through.

Copper and Brass Pins

This week is Thanksgiving vacation.  I am super thankful that I have an awesome husband who takes care of our baby so that I can spend extra time in the studio, making pieces to stock my etsy store. 

It has been a productive couple of days so far.  I have been experimenting with different ways to alter the color of my pieces.

These are two horse pins that I made.  The one on the left is copper, the one on the right is brass with an oxidized copper mane.  The manes are cut out of thinner gauge metal, soldered onto the back and folded over to give the pins some dimension.

Etching

Etching was the first process that I tackled in my new metal adventures.  It doesn't require much equipment and the results are pretty effective.  I do an etching project with my highschoolers, but also had success teaching kids as young as seven at a summer camp. 

Here is how I do it:

I start by cutting a piece of sheet metal into the size and shape I want, then filing and sanding the edges smooth.  You could also skip this part and purchase "blanks."  I did this for the campers in the interest of time and also because some of them were to young to be wielding saws.  There are lots of supply sellers on etsy, I bought the campers some heart shapes and dog tag blanks from etsy seller gottagettadeal. 

For etching, you will want a fairly thick metal.  Most of my cuffs are 20 gauge, but I occasionally use 18 if the band is narrow.  The lower the gauge number, the thicker the metal.  I want my cuffs to be sturdy enough to hold their shape.

Now I add my design.  A permanent sharpie marker works well for this, but sometimes I use an acrylic paint pen.  I freehand draw my designs so none of the pieces are exactly the same.  You could also use a stamp.

Next, the pieces are placed in an acid bath.  I use ferric chloride, which is a salt.  The salt eats away at the exposed metal, but can't touch the parts protected by the acrylic paint.  This creates a relief pattern on the face of your metal.  I like to accentuate the relief by coloring the metal with a patina.
My favorite is a turquoise patina created by painting the metal with salt water and leaving it in an enclosed container with a small open container of ammonia.  The ammonia fumes react with the salt water and you get this:

All you have to do is lightly sand to clean and polish the high points, bend into shape and voila!

What I do

I am an art teacher.  I love teaching and I like the fact that I have to know about a lot of different media and techniques.  Experimenting and exploring a wide range of media from drawing to painting to screen printing keeps me inspired.  I also like working in metal.

I was lucky enough to have an outstanding teacher to get me started in metals.  He was a master silversmith and he was as talented in his craft as he was enthusiastic about sharing it.  He taught me a ton when I was just a high-school student.  I took a hiatus in metal-work for many years and now I am revisiting it.

I love my job as a teacher, but it doesn't leave me with much time to pursue my own art.  However, I am on maternity leave this year and I intend to spend my time playing with my new baby and making lots and lots of art.  So far, the baby has left me with very little extra time - but here is what I have been up to:

Etching!