How do you start making a piece of jewelry?
I often hear the question, so I though I share it here. With every piece of my jewelry, I almost always start with sketching, either with pen or pencil, on my sketchbooks (all eight of them) or pieces of scrap paper (too many of them). When I sketch, I try to be as precise as possible regarding to size, shapes, details and materials.
Original sketch of ‘Dragonfly’ earrings
‘Dragonfly’ earrings in silver.
A handmade process
From the sketches, I continue with making models, usually using air dry clay. This is quite a straightforward process, I try to create the shape as detailed as possible. By doing this, I can see if I need to adjust a part of the design or even change it completely if, after all, I’m not keen on how it looks.
For a piece which requires exact measurement, I sometimes scan my sketch and transfer it into vector graphic using graphic design programs such as Adobe Illustrator. ‘Winter Garden’, my piece from 2015, is an example. The jewel has three separate parts which have to fit to each other, otherwise it wouldn’t work. The outer frame, a locket, has a challenging arch shape and I’d like to have the pattern connect nicely on each side of the locket. The piece is even more complicated as one element includes New Mokume Gane, a combination of silver and copper, which has different shrinkage than the rest.
I sketched the side of the locket with pencil, scanned it, and drew it into vector to get a clear and precise guidelines. After that, I transferred the pattern on a silver clay piece, and the process continues by hand cutting the piece using a craft knife.
The pattern for New Mokume Gane part is made slightly larger, as it has a higher shrinkage rate than silver clay.
Hand sketch to a handmade piece, here before the next step: engraving pattern on silver.
After firing, finishing takes another serious amount of attention. I usually hand polish my pieces, or use a rotary polishing tool.
Keep the ideas flowing
I wish I have time to create all my ideas into real pieces, but meanwhile, at least I keep sketching the new ideas on books. One of the most important thing is to right away put the ideas on the paper, so it will be there when I’m looking to make the next project.
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