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Silversmithing Gallery

 

 

This page serves as a photographic record of some of the pieces I have made, the good, the bad, and the (hopefully!) not-so-ugly.

Click on the picture and you can see a higher-resolution image.

This is the first piece I made as part of the silversmithing class that got me started in all this. The ring is Ailsa's, and the stone is an irridescent glass sprinkled with "fairy dust".
The next piece I made was a "Viking knit" silver bracelet, again for Ailsa. The bracelet itself is composed of a single piece of silver wire. The Vikings used this technique to carry their treasure around with them -- they could just unwind it and snip off what they needed. The technique is about 1700 years old.
This is just a detail shot of the end of the bracelet, showing the pattern of the knit.
This piece is a woven bracelet made from twelve strands of silver wire. I'm most proud of this one because I made the clasp myself. The bracelet is fairly stiff, more like a bangle. You just give it a little squeeze and the clasp will come open; repeat to close.
This was a first attempt at making a pendant for Sally. Unfortunately, the trim came unsoldered in one place. A difficult fix, but possible. In the meantime, though, Sally saw a woven bezel that she really likes (that I think I can make) and asked if I could use this stone in that setting, so I won't be keeping this one (I custom-made the setting for the stone).

And here is the final version of her pendant. The stone is the same, of course, so that somewhat dictates the design of the pendant. In this case, I actually made the bezel (the woven part) myself. The bail (the part that attaches to the necklace) extends down the back of the pendant and comes out as the "feet" that you see on the sides.

I finished this on the day of our tenth anniversary!
This is the first thing I've made for myself. It was really just me fooling around with some silver, but I like how it turned out. I flattened the shank (the round part of the ring that goes around your finger) into a series of octagonal sections. I then flattened the top part of the ring and twisted it into the "Z" shape you see here. I made it in about an hour right before we were getting ready to leave for Disneyland. To this point, I've worn a silver ring with the seal of the Knights Templar on it, but I really wanted to start wearing something I'd made myself.
I gave the first woven bracelet I made (above) to a friend who wanted to use it for her Viking-era costume for SCA. She said she could really use a second one to wear with that costume, so I was happy to oblige. This one actually came out a lot better, though it's hard to see that from the picture. I didn't have time to take a picture with the good camera, so this was taken with my cell phone camera with the bracelet sitting on top of the cup holder in our car.
My son liked my daughter's bracelet, so asked me if I'd make him one as well. For this one I took it an extra step through the drawplate which made it end up with a much smaller diameter than the previous version. This also had the effect of stretching the "links" (stitches, really) into a more enlogated pattern. The effect is not bad; definitely a worthy experiment. I also learned that about three feet of wire is the absolute most I can handle at any one time for knitting. Any longer than that just starts to kink and knot up on me.
This was my first attempt at using a metal other than silver. This bracelet was made from 14-gauge red brass, so it's got a nice dark gold color. Brass is very stiff, so it's a bit hard to work with, but overall I was pleased with how it came out. I made the bracelet just a bit too short, though. It will easily fit around a wrist, but you have to stretch it pretty wide to go over your arm, then stretch it back to close it. For the next one, I'll probably design a longer clasp to allieviate that problem.
This is the first of three rings based on an 11th century Anglo-Saxon design. I'm going to be teaching a silversmithing class at the SCA's Estrella War event in February that will teach participants how to make versions of these designs on their own. This particular one is a braided (woven) design. The original version of all three of these rings had the back of the ring hammered flat and tapered to a point. My working theory is because that would have made it considerably easier to solder the ends together. I'm not terribly enamored of the hammering though, so students may decide not to do that part. I gave this ring to CJ when his choral group came to Phoenix to perform.
The is the second of the ring designs, this one is a simple twisted ring. The only difference between the two is that the smaller one has been hammered flat, while the larger one has not (that doesn't show up well in the photo). I gave these to Duke Jonathan and his Lady (friends of ours who are also in the SCA). Oddly enough, the photo makes one of the rings looked a little chipped -- it's really not; I'm not sure where that reflection is coming from.

These are the matched bracelets I created for the coronation of King Edward and Queen Asa of Atenveldt. The Queen's Bracelet (left) has a clasp that represents the Flower of Grace and three double strands representing the interconnected Peerages. The King's Bracelet has a clasp that is a stylized sword and the three strands here represent the three Combat Arts (which, as in life, often travel at lesser and greater distances from each other).
This was an early version of what would become the Coronation Bracelets above. I was originally thinking that I would make the King's with two strands of brass and one strand of silver, with the opposite for the Queen. I decided that I liked the pure silver bracelets better, however. A big part of doing art is experimenting!
I made these medallions for the Baron Ryan and Baroness Katheline of Sun Dragon. Together, they are the Dragon's Eyes. The Baron's (left) has a lapis lazuli, which period lapidaries associated with might and wit, while the Baroness' is agate, which is associated with wisdon and good counsel. These were the most challenging pieces I've ever made. The "flames" are extrememly fine twisted wire, so they often wanted to melt before the solder did. The bezels are woven from silver as well. The stones dangle freely from the main circle. I was quite pleased with the overall effect!
This is the fidchell board I created for the 2007 Estrella War Arts and Sciences Competition. The white pieces and the board decoration are made out of silver, the yellow pieces are made out of gold. The silver beads that mark the "squares" are hand-forged out of silver, as well. I won second overall, so I was quite pleased. You can find the rules that I researched and recreated here.
And this is the actual tenth century board that I based mine on. While this one was wood, I was envisioning a "game for the Queen". Still, you can (hopefully) readily see the inspiration.