My friend Kathleen and I wanted to try out her new electrolytic anodization setup to put some color on titanium and niobium. We were so anxious to get to the electricity and water/borax part, that we forgot we needed something finished to stick in the water. Disappointed that we couldn’t see colors right away, we spent some time making bracelets and earrings out of niobium and titanium. After making sure the pieces had nicely finished edges, we masked the metal and the fun really began.
When I pulled my metals out of my bag, I wondered why I’d only bought niobium this time. After we anodized the first of Kathleen’s titanium pieces, I remembered. I wanted brighter colors on these bangle bracelets.
Indian Jewelers Supply Co, in Albequerque NM http://www.ijsinc.com/
Indian Jewelers Supply takes its responsibility to the planet seriously, and that’s why we only offer silver manufactured by foundries certified by the Responsible Jewelry Council. The silver is only made using recycled scrap that originated from a RJC foundry and ore from certified responsible American mines. We also recycle tons of copper, red and yellow brass, and nickel every year.
The 2011 summer edition of San Francisco’s Metal Arts Guildnewsletter showcased me as an artist member. Since the newsletter is printed in black and white, we thought you might like to see some color pictures of the inspirations and work described in the article.
On a SCUBA diving trip to the Sea of Cortez in 2009, a pod of dolphins played with the boat while we traveled to the dive site. Luckily I was taking a picture of a flying dolphin in the boat wake at the same time one of the larger dolphins did a belly flop, soaking my back.
The flying dolphin that saved the camera
The dolphin who soaked us with a belly flop near the bow
Once we were in the water, the dolphins apparently stayed close, although out of sight.
Under water we were treated to an amazing experience of being encircled by a large school of sardines during the entire dive. Usually a school will come across divers, or vice versa, and keep traveling. The three of us watched in amazement as the school changed shapes and directions and yet stayed close to us; we all knew this was a special treat.
When we surfaced from the dive, we noticed that the dolphins were nearby and asked the boat captain if he’d been watching them during our entire dive.
The captain told us that the dolphins were circling us throughout our dive, thus explaininig the mysterious behavior of the fish school. The wall of sardines had been so thick that we missed seeing the dolphins on the other side of the ‘wall’.
The eye of the swirling school
“Swirling School” Pendant
Even while diving, I knew I had to recreate this experience somehow in jewelry. I wanted to elicit the sensation of the school swirling around us, and the individuals in the school, as well as the space in between the fish and us.
“Reflections” Earrings
I began by creating swirling filigree forms. And, I also designed and made some earrings that incorporated open space, togetherness, and yet non-uniformity.
Something was still missing that tied the whole experience together. I had a vague idea that I wanted the “Reflections” style earrings to be static yet kinetic. While I let the idea simmer in my head, I wore a pair of earrings that reminded me of my goal.
Prototype Earrings
Almost eighteen months after the dive, here are the earrings that were percolating in my head all that time
“Sea of Cortez 3D Kinetic” Earring Extenders with Stud Earrings
Pat Accorinti came over to spend the afternoon making silhouette dies. She created a shield shape and cut it out of brass and masonite.
16 ga brass and 2 pieces of tempered masonite cut into shield silhouette die by Pat Accorinti, thinnest red urethane sheet, and 24 ga copper sheet pressed in 20 ton hydraulic press
Second attempt with thicker yellow urethane sheet. 24 ga copper sheet pressed in 20 ton hydraulic press.
We switched to a thicker softer urethane and pressed again. Voila! A nice first press result for the 20 ton hydraulic press.
(left) 16 ga brass and 2 pieces of tempered masonite cut into shield silhouette die by Pat Accorinti, (center) yellow urethane sheet , (right) 24 ga copper sheet pressed in 20 ton hydraulic press
The scrap metal yard was a great place to find 16 gauge brass sheet for the top of a silhouette mold. And, they cut it into squares for us with their massive digitally controlled brake.
Jigsaw ready to cut general shape in tempered masonite
The lumber store cut the tempered masonite into squares for us.
Now it’s up to us to cut negative space into all the pieces so we have molds to use with the hydraulic press.
Oxygen Free Copper: Before and After Electrolytic Anodization
I had some oxygen free copper and fine silver parts that a friend’s local company deemed scrap. While I waited for clear nail polish (a masking method) to dry on my niobium bracelets, I decided to electrolytically anodize the oxygen free copper and silver parts. I kept part of the fine silver piece out of the process so I could compare the finishes to the raw material.
Fine silver anodized electrolytically
The beautiful blue oxide layers that developed on both metals was easily wiped off with a paper towel.
Oxygen Free Copper: Before (top) and After Electrolytic Anodization
Turquoise prospector and metalsmith Dayton Simmons was in the SF Bay Area recently and gave a presentation about turquoise to the Metal Arts Guild. Thanks to him, I now know that the name comes from a long ago mistake in thinking the stones arriving in Europe were from Turkey, and that most turquoise comes from the first 100 to 200 feet of the Earth’s surface, and that copper rich turquoise is bluer than turquoise with copper and iron – which is more green.
Turquoise prospector and metalsmith Dayton Simmons
In the past, I rarely bought turquoise because it’s so hard to know if the turquoise is natural. Dayton told us about the different processes for enhancing turquiose and how to tell some of them apart from natural turquoise.
Natural turquoise from Nevada, Arizona, and Persia
A simple way to tell acrylic or epoxy impregnated turquoise from natural is to run your finger across it. The finger catches a little just as it does on plastic. A finger run across a piece of natural turquoise goes very smoothly. With a jeweler’s loop, one can look at the item in question and look for parallel lines versus random scratch lines. Parallel lines imply that the piece was shaped with lapidary equipment. Random scratch lines occur on “stabilized” pieces. A third way to tell is to run a knife blade across the piece. “Stabilized” pieces will scratch. The knife blade will leave carbon on the surface of a natural stone.
The finger test was enough to tell that these turquoise beads has been “stabilized” with acrylic.
"Stabilized" turquoise and sterling silver necklace that I created years ago
If stabilization with acrylic or epoxy was the only method, that’s be easy. The Foutz Process, also called the Zachery Process, and the Eljen Process both modify natural turquoise to be harder than natural turquoise, so the knife test gives the same result for all three. Luckily, for now, sellers of Foutz / Zachery and Eljen turquoise are proud of their process and often label the pieces they are selling.
Natural turquoise, chrysocolla and sugilite from US Mines
One other way to tell if a piece is processed is to ask for the source mine. Dayton Simmons shared that any turquoise coming out of China is treated without first determining if the turquoise would have been strong enough on its own. Sad. Certain US mine names imply certain treatment processes, and some stones are not from the mine they are being sold as coming from. For example, Valley Blue is often sold as coming from Dry Creek. Blue material coming out of southern China mimics Sleeping Beauty material coming out of the Kingman mine east of Phoenix. Certain turquoise look-a-likes, such as White Buffalo, are in reality a different stone. White Buffalo is calcite + quartz. Elat stone is Chrysicola. Hubblite sold in the past was Czech glass made to look like turquoise.
Dayton only sells natural turquoise, so I bought some pieces to use in future art jewelry pieces. I have a vague idea about combining some turquoise with orange sapphires.
Natural turquoise from US and Persian Mines
Above are pieces of natural turquoise I purchased from Dayton which come from different mines in the US along with some Persian pieces. One of the pieces looks like the ocean, although someone else said it looks like the sky. The silver colored matrix material in some of the pieces is pyrite.
Picture phone shot taken at a riveting demo by Lynne Todaro of Mission College for the Metal Arts Association of Silicon Valley.
Riveting demo by Lynne Todaro of Mission College
Lynne did a great job showing how to rivet, and reminding those of us who’ve done it in the past that annealing the metal to be riveted is key to success.
Prepared to set stones. Drill bits and stone setting bits alongside corresponding 3, 4, and 5 mm stones
Recently all senior instructors for Art Clay World were asked to create 4 pieces showing their craftperson skills with Mitsubishi’s silver clay. The curriculum had changed since my certification as a senior instructor almost 2 years ago, and 4 new projects now replace some previous projects in the curriculum. Those 4 projects were thus a new requirement for all senior instructors who wished to retain their certification level.
One of the 4 pieces was required to be a hollow form brooch with faceted stones in three different sizes set into the clay after the clay dried. The piece also needed to have twice as many empty drilled holes as stone filled holes, 50 percent or greater of the surface area needed to be mirror finished, and there were more requirements…. Since this is a class demonstration piece which will sit in a box unworn, I used lab created faceted rubies and a lab created faceted amethyst.
Stones set in skills test piece: 3, 4, and 5 mm stones
I was happy to put my traditional stone setting workshop skills to work on metal clay. The skills for sizing and shaping a setting translate directly from cast or fabricated metal to dried metal clay.
When Pat Accorinti floated the idea of creating an alloy with metal clay as a supplement to our demonstration with Mitsubishi’s quick fire copper clay, Kathleen Gordon and I were on board immediately. Pat had read Hadar Jacobson’s blog post about creating an alloy of copper and silver by combining PMC+ with her formulation of Quick Fire Copper Clay. Pat had also read the Art Jewelry Magazine article on shibu-ichi alloys which Hadar mentioned in her blog post, because we’d all just recently received our copies in the mail.
I had Mitsubishi’s clay products on hand, and I have a wonderful book on Japanese patinas which lists shibu-ichi alloy ratios and shows patina on some pieces made with shibu-ichi. Once we decided on a ratio, I calculated the amounts of silver metal clay and copper metal clay needed to mix the nami-shibu-ichi alloy of 25% silver and 75% copper.
Nami-shibu-ichi samples (created w/ copper and silver metal clays from Mitsubishi)
After Kathleen and Pat mixed up the clay alloy, Pat created samples to match the copper clay samples she’d made almost a month earlier. The domed circles of nami-shibu-ichi clay were then split up for various treatments and finishes by the three of us. Kathleen fired her set of samples immersed in carbon in a kiln. Pat fired her samples by torch and in a kiln without carbon. And, I kept some of the torch fired samples to patina. Pat also took some of the samples to enamel on and to paint with purchased patina solutions.
Sea salt, vinegar and ammonia patina test on Nami-shibu-ichi sample (alloy created w/ copper & silver metal clays from Mitsubishi)
Results Summary: the quick fire clays seem to sinter reliably in the kiln. The nami-shibu-ichi does take patina differently than pure copper. Care needs to be taken to avoid the introduction of air bubbles in the clay alloy mixture. Torch patina and kiln patina on the nami-shibu-ichi were very popular with the demonstration audience.
