Materials Glossary
Acid Etching
Flourishing on Metal
To begin this distinctive look in copper (or brass) I use a pointed calligraphic nib and lacquer based India ink directly on the metal. The pointed nib allows me to achieve fine detail in intricate patterns with swells in the compound curves and leaf designs. The ink acts as a resist so when I place the metal in acid, the background its etched away, leaving the design raised.
On Copper Clad Fine Silver
This technique is done by creating a mask on a sheet of bi-metal (2 thin sheets of different metals or alloys) and then etching the exposed area until the bottom layer of metal is revealed. The same process is used to create circuit boards and was translated and adapted for use on precious metals by Carol Webb of Santa Cruz, CA.
The drawing on the front of this amulet (pictured right) is from copper/fine silver bi-metal. I photocopied and reduced onto a sheet of Press and Peel transfer paper a pencil drawing I had done of a statue of the Pharaoh, Tutankhamun. When heated, the paper transfers the design to the copper side of the metal, which serves as a mask for areas not to be etched. I etched away all the exposed copper using ferric chloride, leaving only the copy of my drawing. After fabricating the amulet, I patinated the copper black to give greater contrast to the face.
Chains
Many years ago, when I first started selling my work, I began describing it as “completely handwrought,” but then one day I looked at the typical, commercial, machine made chains I’d bought for my pendants and realized I was not being true to my vision. These handwrought chains are labors of love, my meditations in action, but well worth all the effort.
Ancient Mediterranean Chain Patterns
The first chains I learned to make are often called Roman, loop in loop or foxtail chains, although ancient Egyptians, Sumerians and Etruscans made loop in loop chains first, to be followed by the Greeks. For some unknown reason, the Romans got credit. In these ancient methods, each individual link is fused and formed from fine silver (99.9% pure silver) or 22K gold and then woven together. A bracelet of the most basic pattern may have as few as 25 links, a complex necklace as many as 900. Pictured below are the patterns I use most often.
Original Chain Patterns, Including Cross Link, Vertebrate, Undulating Mesh, and Side Weave Mesh Patterns
Back in 1997, I began experimenting with my own chain patterns. I’ve created several, but my most favorite are the Vertebrate and the Side Weave Mesh. Both were inspired by the traditional Roman Side Weave. I wanted to create the look of that pattern in a more three dimensional and mesh (think chain maille) designs. The Vertebrate pattern is formed without the use of any hand tools. The individual links look like larks head knots, and when woven together, create a raised braid on the top. I gave the pattern it’s name because the back reminds me of inside shape of a spine. In creating the side weave mesh, I was trying to design a wide braid pattern, which seemed unsuccessful at first until I turned it over and found that what I intended to be the back was far more interesting.
Woven (Crochet) Chains
These chains differ completely from the others in that they are woven from a continuous wire. They are sometimes called crochet chains but are actually knitted tubes. Around the time I first learned to do them, my mother had given me some tiny freshwater pearls. With no desire to set or string them, I got the idea to incorporate them into the body of the woven chains. I weave each loop and add each pearl (or occasionally gem bead) one at a time to create spiral patterns.
Forging
Hammering metal, usually over a metal or plastic stake, anvil, or mandrel to manipulate its shape.
Granulation
Dating back to the Egyptians and the Etruscans, this technique involves placing tiny spheres of gold or silver on a base sheet and fusing (which is really a technical way of saying melting) them together.
The method I prefer uses sterling silver and/or 18K gold. The copper in each of these alloys melts first and joins spheres to sheet in a diffusion bonding process. I often use wire in this same technique. It looks like filigree, but differs in that there is no solder joining it to the base sheet. (Learn the technique: Granulation Techniques Demystified)
High Relief Eastern Repoussé
Eastern Repoussé… Western Repoussé… You can be anywhere as long as you know the secret.
Repoussé is a French word, meaning to push out and refers to the technique of hitting metal alternately from the front and back to produce detailed sculptural relief. The term is often (rather redundantly) accompanied by the word, chasing, which means to hit metal from the front. There are 2 processes of repoussé in the world, Eastern repoussé and Western repoussé, which, not being aware of the difference, most people in North America just call repoussé.
Repoussé is a French word, meaning to push out and refers to the technique of hitting metal alternately from the front and back to produce detailed sculptural relief. The term is often (rather redundantly) accompanied by the word, chasing, which means to hit metal from the front. There are 2 processes of repoussé in the world, Eastern repoussé and Western repoussé, which, not being aware of the difference, most people in North America just call repoussé.
Eastern repoussé is the technique of the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, which spread all over the Hellenized World. Since Europeans and Americans of the 19th century tended to call any area east of Italy “Eastern,” the name seems to have stuck for the metalwork being excavated from what they called the Near East. Western repoussé is the process currently used in Western Europe and, irrespective of biased geographical terms, in Japan, Thailand, and other parts of Asia.
Eastern repoussé differs from Western in process, tool shapes, the angle the tools are struck, the delineation of the shapes throughout the process, and most notably the potential for height or depth. Examples of Eastern repoussé from antiquity include famed objects such as the gold mask of Tutankhamun and the Vappheio Cups.
The peaks and valleys you see in my artwork are NOT the definitive indicator of what makes my style of repoussé Eastern. They are my aesthetic and technical stylization of the technique and the direction (pun possibly intended) that I’ve chosen to take it.
Although I studied how to do both processes, I found Western extremely limiting. When I was lucky enough to study with artist in residence at GSU, Gia Gogishvilli, I felt like I was in the Way Back Machine, transported to said Near East circa 1230 B.C. Suddenly I knew the secrets of how to make anything and everything out of repoussé from fish and foul to the wildest relief map of abstracted mountain ranges I could dream up. While the technique of Russian filigree (also rather misnamed) is forever close to my heart, Eastern repoussé is the secret knowledge of how to get metal to do almost anything I want (except clean my house for me).
So how is it done? Watch the video above or read below (or do both, if you’re really into it).
I use thin gauge sheet silver, copper, or gold, hitting alternately from the front and back to create the high relief you see. Traditionally, the process of hitting the metal from the front is called chasing and may be done alone or as part of the repoussé process. THERE ARE NO MOLDS OF ANY KIND. Really, nothing but my tools, my hammer, and my imagination.
I first hammer my design on the front of the sheet with a line tool, which looks like a dull chisel. Next I hammer the metal from the back with oval ended tools. By this time I’ve work hardened the metal, so it’s time to anneal it (the process of heating then quenching the metal to make it soft again.). I continue hammering on the back and front alternately, and annealing until I have achieved the height I want. This can be anywhere from five to ten rounds.
Once it is “puffy” enough (a technical term), I begin hammering more from the front to create the ledges, and swirls that are characteristic of my style of repoussé. To achieve the look of relief upon relief I return to hammering from the back to further “puff” out the shapes. It is a long but rewarding process that cannot be duplicated by any other smithing technique.
Unfortunately, there are many incorrect explanations of these technique in art history books and web sites. Many of them describe hitting the sheet metal over a stone or wood form until the metal conforms to the desired shape, a feat that defies the laws of physics. The ancients did use molds for repeating elements, such as the small amulets placed within mummy wrappings in Egypt, or the acorn or other seed shaped repeating elements in the Hellenistic and Classical Greek gold necklaces, but in such cases, the metal was pressed into these molds rather than being hit over them as some historians have erroneously described.
Complex, one-of-a-kind, or larger works, such as Tutankhamun’s mummy mask, the inlaid necklaces also of the late 18th dynasty, and many of the unique Greek and Scythian pieces of gold work were not made with molds, but by the Eastern repoussé technique. It is fairly easy to tell the difference between molded and not molded work. The repoussé pieces have distinct tool marks on the fronts which create much more definition in the relief. There is also a third category of pieces that were molded for efficiency and speed, and then chased from the front to create beautiful and unique details.
All of the work on this page was executed using Eastern repousse and shows but a fraction of what can be accomplished with this technique.
Russian Filigree
Technically, filigree means anything, cast, handwrought, or otherwise that has delicate swirls. The kind of filigree I do is known as Russian filigree, or open back filigree.
I build the frame from 18K gold or sterling silver wire and make the tiny “filler” wires from fine silver (.999% pure silver) for flexibility and contrast. I shape and cut each individual wire to tension fit it within the frame so that I can turn the piece over with the wires still in place and solder from the back. This method preserves the integrity of the wires’ patterned edge.
There is much filigree on the import/tourist market from Mexico and Israel. What makes mine different, besides the less traditional designs, is the way I use the “filler” wires. In the faster methods a whole section of frame is simply filled in with a tightly packed coil and flooded with conventional solder. For me, sculpting each section is like shading in a line drawing. I don’t plan out that part of the design ahead of time. I just know how it’s supposed to feel in terms of negative and positive space and then have fun making pieces to my own puzzle.
People always accuse me of having infinite patience and great eyesight to do this technique. I find it humorous because I don’t see myself as patient just determined. I joke I do filigree more by feel than sight, particularly in the wee hours of the night with an impending deadline.