Sculptural Bangle Inspired by Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao

[Hermes2020]

I think of jewellery as miniature sculpture, so it may be appropriate to post a curvy bangle here. I visited the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, a few years ago. I loved the building and was moved to make a silver bangle inspired by the curves in the building. I had never done silversmithing before, so took some classes at a studio near my home. Instead of just buying ready made 1.5mm sterling silver sheet, it was immensely satisfying to start with pure silver pellets, mix in the correct percentage of copper pellets, and then melt it and cast my own ingots of sterling silver. The ingots were then rolled into sheets of about 1.5mm to make the bangle. I made carboard templates of the bangle parts, using my favourite Rhino 3D program. The silver sheets I had rolled out were marked using the templates and then carefully cut out with a fine saw to give the required profiles. I then silver soldered the parts together to make a hollow bangle. As a design element, and to give it some weight, I poured black epoxy resin into the hollow form. I did not want to-over polish it, because I liked the small textured areas that developed naturally during the making. This is the result

 

[Donna T]

Fascinating process and beautiful result! I like how there are two different sides to the bangle. It's jewelry and a real work of art.

 

[Hermes2020]

Fascinating process and beautiful result! I like how there are two different sides to the bangle. It's jewelry and a real work of art.

Thank you, Donna. Looking at the photos now, I see that there are too many distracting reflections from stuff in my workroom, because I don't have a light tent for this kind of photo. When I have time I will try to make a simple one and try again.

 

[pcj]

This is beautiful !

I think of jewellery as miniature sculpture too and have always wanted
to try silver or goldsmithing and stonesetting.

Do you have any photo's of your work in progress and the equipment you used ?

How did you melt the silver and how did you roll it ?

What torch did you use for the silver soldering ?

Cheers,
Patricia

 

[Hermes2020]

This is beautiful !

I think of jewellery as miniature sculpture too and have always wanted
to try silver or goldsmithing and stonesetting.

Do you have any photo's of your work in progress and the equipment you used ?

How did you melt the silver and how did you roll it ?

What torch did you use for the silver soldering ?

Cheers,
Patricia

Patricia, thank you so much! I will answer your questions later, because I have some things to do for the next few hours.

 

[Christel]

Beautiful!

 

[Hermes2020]

Beautiful!

 

[Hermes2020]

This is beautiful !

I think of jewellery as miniature sculpture too and have always wanted
to try silver or goldsmithing and stonesetting.

Do you have any photo's of your work in progress and the equipment you used ?

How did you melt the silver and how did you roll it ?

What torch did you use for the silver soldering ?

Cheers,
Patricia

Here are a few answers:
I don't have any photos, since I was working in a commercial studio where photography wasn't allowed. The setup of the studio was similar to what is shown in this Bobby White video, except that I did the design on my computer at home, using Rhino 3D.

I melted the silver in a crucible with a handle, using a large gas/oxygen torch, then poured it into a steel mould as shown here to make my ingots. The head if the studio believed that one should do everything oneself from raw materials, instead of buying sheet sterling silver.

The ingots were then rolled in a mill, as shown here.

Soldering is an important skill in jewellery making. Soldering together my bangle was particularly challenging, because of its size and the complex folds. There are many pitfalls, like melting a hole through the piece, or not heating enough and getting a bad seam. Here is a video showing what appears to be a very simple soldering job. This is the type of torch I used as well.

At the end the piece has to be polished to the desired degree of shininess, using buffing wheels and polish.

As you can see, jewellery making is a mixture of art, design, and technology, and appeals to a certain kind if personality profile. I just wanted to learn enough to execute the concept I had for a bangle tribute to Gehry's museum, and didn't want to buy some very expensive tools for a one-off project. I made a few crude preliminary rings, just to practice the techniques before tackling the bangle. Here are two of the practice pieces, with the printouts of the Rhino 3D profiles of the one with the trapped sphere. I didn't bother to finish them off to a high polish:

 

[Iain]

I love the shape of the bangle - like a sun symbol -and the "crude" rings are great too. The one with the spiral...! I think the bangle mirrors your concrete-based sculpture.

I really admire your questing and methodical approach. And bravery, from my perspective. Years ago, I practised lead burning, that is, welding sheet lead with an oxy-acetylene torch.

 

[Hermes2020]

I love the shape of the bangle - like a sun symbol -and the "crude" rings are great too. The one with the spiral...! I think the bangle mirrors your concrete-based sculpture.

I really admire your questing and methodical approach. And bravery, from my perspective. Years ago, I practised lead burning, that is, welding sheet lead with an oxy-acetylene torch.

Thank you, Iain, for saying nice things! You gave me a new perspective on it, since I never saw it as a sun symbol. The spiral ring looks quite simple to make, but believe me, it was quite challenging for a green silversmith. It probably sounds insane to go to all the trouble of learning a new craft just to make one object. I remember reading as a boy that James Joyce admired Henrik Ibsen so much that he learned to speak Norwegian, just so that he could write a fan letter to Ibsen in his own language. So, perhaps I'm not the only crazy one.

I was alarmed when I read about your lead heating endeavours — I hope you didn't get lead poisoning from the fumes.

 

[Artyczar]

I LOVE these!

 

[Hermes2020]

Much appreciated, Artyczar.

 

[Iain]

Thank you, Iain, for saying nice things! You gave me a new perspective on it, since I never saw it as a sun symbol. The spiral ring looks quite simple to make, but believe me, it was quite challenging for a green silversmith. It probably sounds insane to go to all the trouble of learning a new craft just to make one object. I remember reading as a boy that James Joyce admired Henrik Ibsen so much that he learned to speak Norwegian, just so that he could write a fan letter to Ibsen in his own language. So, perhaps I'm not the only crazy one.

I was alarmed when I read about your lead heating endeavours — I hope you didn't get lead poisoning from the fumes.

I wondered how I had suddenly lost my teeth and hair. Joke, although lead poisoning and asbestos-related cancer (which this country has had the most cases, I've heard), are no joke. The lead burning was undertaken with the appropriate extractor.

I happen to have been listening to a radio series on Joyce.

 

[Hermes2020]

An example of synchronicity! Thanks for telling me about the BBC Radio series on Joyce. I shall definitely listen to it.

 

[pcj]

Thank you very much for posting those video links. Very interesting !
I'm even more keen to try silversmithing myself !!

I really like those rings especially the one with the trapped sphere.

Cheers,
Patricia

 

[Hermes2020]

Thanks, Patricia. I am happy that you feel inspired to try silversmithing! Before investing considerable sums, you should, as I did, find a properly equipped studio that will accommodate you and try it out. It can be frustrating, but really rewarding, as a craft.

 

[joe1It]

it's fantastic, the beauty of the sculptures make me think of something magical.

 

[Hermes2020]

Thank you, Joe.