I work primarily with silver, gold, and titanium. The techniques I use include anticlastic raising, casting, chain making, etching, fold forming, forging, and stone setting. I find chains and chain mail particularly interesting because they combine art, mathematics, and construction techniques into each different chain pattern. There is art in the way the finished chain jewelry decorates the body. The mathematics comes into play in calculating the new ring size to use when changing the wire gauge in a particular pattern or creating a new pattern. The techniques needed to properly construct a pattern are like solving a jigsaw puzzle. I teach chain and chain maille classes at The Crafts Center at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, the William Holland School of Lapidary Arts in Young Harris GA, the ArtsCenter in Carrboro NC, the Sawtooth School for Visual Arts in Winston-Salem NC, the Interweave Bead Fests, and the Bead and Button Show. Three of my designs appear as projects in “Chain Mail Jewelry: Contemporary Designs from Classic Techniques”, by Terry Taylor and Dylon Whyte, ISBN 1-57990-723-7, and two of my project articles have been published by Art Jewelry magazine and several more have been accepted for future publication. My mentors have included Mary Ann Scherr, Blaine Lewis, Thomas Mann, and Betty Helen Longhi.

Community Info Member since:   07-30-2007 Last visited:   10-09-2009 Timezone:   -5.00 GMT Total Posts:   39 Post Rank:   0

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