The other night I took one of the best classes I have taken in a long time. A young local artist, - Michael Bauman - gave an extraordinary class on how to solder with sterling and/or fine silver. There was another student in the class with me and we both learned so much that we walked away with literally weeks of education. We also had a few refreshers on simple metalsmithing!
We walked into the back room of my favorite bead shop BEAD NEED (www.beadneed.com) in Fort Lauderdale where we sat down in front of just a couple of pieces of equipment; a small, hand-held torch, a very inexpensive paintbrush for chemical application, small squares of inflammable tiles to work on and paper and pencil. The chemicals were far enough away that we had to reach a bit and Michael said not to drink them. ‘Nuff said!!! Thanks, Michael!!! Flux does look somewhat like a lemon drop.
After we drew out our own original designs of our intended pieces of jewelry we proceeded to bend, snip, and cajole sterling silver wire to mirror our sketches. We were instructed about everything from safety to how to pound metal into fine curls and we loved every minute of it.
Our projects came out great if I say so myself. We ran out to the larger room where Kasey was giving a beading class to show them what we were taught and how we applied it. It was great. There we were; happy people, just as tired as could be, yet invigorated and ready for out next rendezvous in the back room.
My point: try something new. It’s invigorating. When we were told that ours were some of the finest pieces to come out of the classes that had been given our illustrious teacher simply said, “THAT’S BECAUSE THEY HAD FUN!”
Enjoy yourself and create freely.
Madeline
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