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Handmade Silver
Art Jewelry
by Diana Kirkpatrick
My newest designs in handmade sterling silver
art jewelry combine shapes cut from sheets of silver metal with
silver wire used in a variety of forms. I select sheet silver in an
appropriate thickness, trace my design onto the metal, and cut it
out. Once the silver has been cut, I begin to sand and polish my
handmade piece of silver art jewelry.
In one design I’ve combined textured pieces of
sterling silver with a prong set cabochon. Each piece of silver has
been carefully cut and shaped. I’m experimenting with rivets for
joining some of my silver pieces as an alternative to soldering
everything. As with everything else in these designs, the rivets
are silver and are all handmade. One heart-shaped silver pendant
has a prong-set cabochon in the center of the heart. The outer edge
has been textured and has a patina applied.
Another of my new handmade silver art jewelry
designs is a two part pendant set with larimar cabochons. First I
select the silver I want to use and cut out the design with a saw.
Then I file and sand to shape and smooth the design. Once I’ve
done most of the polishing, I solder the bezels to hold the stones.
For this particular pendant, I also drilled holes in each piece and
connected everything with handmade silver jump rings. Some of my
new pieces have a lot of texturing of the metal, but this particular
pendant has a shiny finish like a mirror.
To increase strength and stability for my woven
fine silver pendants and earrings, I’m creating soldered frames for
my metal weaving. This construction approach will allow me to
design more detailed art jewelry pieces that combine bezel set
stones with woven silver elements. All these pieces are handmade
from cutting out the various metal shapes through the assembly of
all the pieces of the design.
An art jewelry bracelet design that I’m
particularly proud of uses large square sterling silver wire which
has been coiled into flat spiral elements. I’ve made each spiral a
little different and linked them together with silver jump rings
made from the same large square wire. I also made earrings to match
the bracelet.
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