Last month I wrote about my search for a creative class to take this fall, which ended up being “Beginning Sewing” (sadly I never had home economics in school), but our Executive Director Judy Tuohy is honing her jewelry making skills through several Arts Council classes with local artist, Donna Harris. Her first class was a 1-day (10am – 3pm) Wire-Wrapping course. As Judy put it she is a “beginner, no experience” with this medium, but Donna, “did a fabulous job explaining what was happening when the metal was heated and the various techniques. She was encouraging and really made it fun.”

After picking three stones, they started with the largest and flattest stone, because it would be the easiest to work with when learning the wrapping techniques. (All the supplies were included in the $20 supply fee.)

Judy's first piece

According to Judy, they first created a “basket” out of sterling silver near the bottom of the stone. This is done to make the stone more secure in the setting. The rest of the wrapping is more for decoration. The soldering and bending during the wrapping process made the silver “pretty ugly”, but after some sanding with superfine sandpaper and polishing the shine returned.

The next one...

Judy left that day with 3 beautiful pendants (although she is not as complimentary of her work), as well as a much better understanding of the equipment and tools for this art form. The latter might prove to be the most helpful as she continues to work with artists, such as Donna, to outfit the production studios in our Visual Arts Education Center.

All three together

Obviously, this is a quick and dirty summary of a 5-hour class, but hopefully it provides a small glipse into the world of wire wrapping. Up next silversmithing…