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This is a continuation of Making of: Winged Victory of Samothrace (Part 1)   Photo 13: To establish a good join between the impression and the backplate, I sand the back of the impression. Photo 14: An air vent is punched out of the backplate to prevent the silver from exploding when the two pieces are soldered together Photo 15: Flux is applied to the backplate and solder chips are arranged. A torch is then applied to the backplate to allow the solder to flow. Photo 16: Flux is applied to the back of the impression and re-applied to the...

To kick off 2021, I wanted to start with an uplifting jewelry piece. No better time than now to bring out my "Winged Victory of Samothrace" die. This die depicts the famous Hellenistic sculpture of the same name which is displayed at the Louvre in Paris, France. Photo 1: When working with impression dies, I mark the die to determine how much silver I need to fit the impression. For this pendant, I'm using 0.8mm thick sterling silver sheet. After cutting my silver to size, I anneal (heat and quench) it so that it's soft for pressing. Photos 2 &...

I've always been drawn to contrast. Light and dark, smooth and rough, sweet and salty. In jewelry, texture brings pieces to life. It's only during the last steps of the jewelry making process when I really get to see the fruits of my labour. I spend over 90% of my time heating, sawing, soldering, hammering, filing, sanding, and polishing. Then, the magic happens when patina is applied and floods into the recesses of the texture. What was once flat in contrast is now multifaceted and interesting. It's usually at this point when I do a happy dance because the metal looks...

My passion for metalsmithing began in early 2016 when I lit a torch for the first time. I was taking an introductory class on making spinner rings. Within the first 10 minutes of the class we dove right into lighting our torches to soften our pieces of sterling silver. I remember the exhilaration of handling the intense, hot flame and being dumbfounded that someone was trusting me not to burn the whole place down. As the class progressed, I fell more in love with the art form. I was fascinated with how a piece of metal could be transformed with some heat,...