1
Ideate / Design
So what is my process for making jewelry? It all starts with an idea. My inspiration comes from a love of nature, an interest in the timeline of life, and a dedication to acute detail. I enjoy trying to explore the remnants of our physical shapes, turn their form into sculpture, and modernize the idea of memento mori. Ideas come from everywhere though. I take whatever initial spark I find and spend a lot of time thinking it over. What will the challenges be? How do I want to make it? What techniques will it need? What are my reasons for wanting to make it? It takes me a long time to get everything mapped out, and usually the planning happens quietly, internally, before I ever touch a tool.
2
Techniques
The main techniques I use to make jewelry are lost wax casting, fabrication, and different types of stone-setting. Lost wax casting is an ancient art that essentially takes a piece of hand carved and sculpted wax, and casts it into an original metal sculpture. Fabrication on the other hand is where you cut, shape, join, manipulate and form metal pieces into the final product. Stone-setting can be accomplished with many different methods, depending on what the end goal is. I often times combine these techniques, depending on what my idea and plan entail.
3
Starting the work
I'm not great at sketching ideas on paper, so based on what techniques I anticipate using, I'll take a piece of carving wax or metal and dive in. Usually I start with a piece of wax and remove, add, or further shape it until it begins to look like what I had in mind. My brain just works better in three dimensions than it does on flat paper. So this is essentially my sketching process. I never use AI, 3D printing, or even a computer to help create my work. There's a time and a place for all of those things, but I prefer to do it all by hand.
4
Casting
It can take a long time to finish sculpting or fabricating the piece, but if the design incorporates wax at all, it is then time for casting. An investment mould is formed around the wax model and then heated. The wax melts out and molten metal is poured in. The metal casting can then be finished or have a rubber mould made for injecting wax copies for further casting. Casting is an art in itself, and I choose to have a local, family business do that work for me. It comes out way better with them doing it than if I were doing it myself. This is pretty standard in the jewelry industry. I like being able to support another small, local business who I can visit and talk to face-to-face. They have been doing it for decades, and have perfected their craft.
5
Last steps
If the piece is cast, there is still a lot of work to do once it comes back to me. Removing the casting sprue, chasing, refining any weird spots, finishing, adding patina, setting any stones, and polishing are just some of the things that a piece might need after casting. In the end, I hold in my hands a piece that I made. Something that I'm proud of and want to share with the world. The appreciation that I get from sharing my work with people who respect and admire it, whether they can buy it or not, is what really keeps me going.