Taming the Tangle

Riverstone Bangles

I received another how-to inquiry for a project not in my book, and here is how I responded:

The Riverstone Bangle is not in my "Elegant Wire Jewelry" book because it's an advanced project that required soldering, whereas the book is geared towards people who want to do wirework easily at home. The idea is the same as my other projects, though -- you build an under-structure first. I do this by soldering 3 individual rings, 2 that are the same size to fit your hand as a bangle (with a little added room for the wrapping) and 1 that is larger to add dimension. I then create some bracing wraps in copper around the frames to hold them in place -- this is hard to do and takes patience because you are holding 3 rings in one hand while wrapping with the other. The wraps do not have to be neat because you will cut them off. So, when the structure is stable enough to let go of, you can start wrapping with the sterling silver wire; as you approach a section of copper, cut it off.

Hopefully that helps. I've only taught this project once in a workshop and each student had an idea of how they would approach it... whether using a mold, or soldering some structure in place, etc. So just experiment and have fun with it (but remember it's my copyrighted design).

Gradient patina technique

I received a request from one of my "Elegant Wire Jewelry" book readers to explain my gradient patina technique. Here's a verbal rundown... let me know if you want to see or learn more.

Have you used liver of sulfur before? That's what I use for all of my patinas. It comes in a dry chunky rock form, which is the best. I put a few chunks in a glass container (sized to fit the piece you want to oxidize; for big ones I have a round casserole dish that's pretty deep). I then fill the container with boiling water and use a little stick to stir the chunks so they dissolve. There's no exact science of proportion... the more chunks, the stronger the solution and the darker/faster the results. You might want to play around with some scrap metal to see how it all works.

Anyway, for the gradient, I dunk the piece very, very quickly and immediately plunge it under cold running water. The first dunk I go as high as I want it to go before I leave part of it silver. Then I dunk it again, leaving a little of the already slightly oxidized portion exposed -- also very quickly and then immediately rinse. Just keep repeating this process moving down the form until you are at the part you want the darkest. It may already be as dark as you want (the liver of sulfur builds up), but if not go ahead and dunk that part and hold it until it's the color you want then do a final rinse.

If you hold the piece too long in the liver of sulfur it gets a matte finish. You can then brush it with a brass brush to bring up the shine again. If you want to seal the patina so it doesn't change, you can try lacquer. I have played around with various types. I don't really love any of them so I just accept that it changes over time, an artful process. Some people have suggested a wax seal but I haven't tried anything like that... too hard to do on wire.

The results are in!

After 3 days of wire wrapping, my group of 5 wonderfully attentive and eager students produced some wonderful samples. They all left excited to take their new skills home for more practice and idea generation, and at least 1 new wire junkie was created. Here are some shots of our practice pieces: Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Teaching workshops

Had some great discussions in class at the Peninsula School of Art yesterday about what it means to learn a new technique but incorporate it into your own designs. This can be a tough thing to convey to students since in class they are following your example, but my students seem a little extra sophisticated since they are the ones who wanted to understand this topic. We all also had the reality check that there's not much new under the sun, but ethically you want to be true to yourself. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

End of summer sale on ETSY: August only!

Call it part moving sale, part anticipation of the end of summer. It's no secret that I'm an autumn girl myself, although this year summer in Chicago has been beautiful!

Since we still have more warm weather ahead, what better time to buy some favorite Kathy Frey jewelry designs in summery colors... for the month of August on my Kathy Frey etsy page everything is 15% off, and books are only $20! More pieces will be posted as we get them photographed this week.

Are you a bit on the crafty side yourself? Check out the jewelry supplies that I'm selling on my Kathy's Yard Sale etsy page.

Happy shopping!

Making Connections

When looking back at a show to evaluate its success, it's important to look at connections in addition to sales numbers.  Shows are the time when you are really putting yourself out there, and you need to be open to all different opportunities. It was the summer of 2005 when a representative of Lark  Books saw me and my work at the State Street Art Fair in Ann Arbor, and that discussion lead to my book, Elegant Wire Jewelry, which was published last year.

Beyond my own book, being in touch with Lark prompted me to ask about another author and jeweler, Joanna Gollberg, who looked a lot like someone I went to high school with in Asheville, North Carolina. It was her! When I traveled to Asheville for my book's photoshoot, we only spent a few minutes catching up on high school, agreeing we'd rather focus on where we are at now and relish in knowing another jeweler buddy. Joanna has a great website filled with stories of her travels, and I finally got to see a full display of her work in person when our paths crossed at the Buyer's Market show in Philadelphia. We had a couple of minutes to re-connect and admire each other's work and give pep talks where needed.

This year in Philly I had the opportunity to meet many other jewelers, which is a comforting way to start building a network at a show with hundreds of artists. After hours we would meet up at the Loew's Hotel for happy hour, and, if we had the energy after that, smaller groups would break off and head to dinner. For our last night there, my roommate Olive (center) and I joined up with a group and walked over to El Vez restaurant. This was my favorite meal of the whole trip... I went decadent and ordered the braised short ribs with horseradish sauce. yum! No wonder I put on a few pounds this trip despite all my best efforts to workout every morning.

El Vez happens to have an old-fashioned photo booth... there were 9 of us at dinner, and we managed to get 8 of us into the booth at one point. I'll spare you those blurry cheek and forehead shots, but wanted to share these fun shots. Dawn Benedetto (on left) and I had a trunk show together a few years ago at Virtu in Chicago. Her Poppi rings are addictive, and she has a new direction to her work that is just as fun! Her giggle is infectious. She is fun to hang out with, and I have a lot of business acumen to learn from her... she has a helpful website and lots of great show and business experience in the jewelry field.

You can see I got roped into the photo booth unexpectedly where I then took out Olive trying to find the camera... we finally got our act together in the last shot.

I will weave stories of other connections throughout my posts, both of jewelers, artists, and galleries.