I teach a range of jewellery making short courses in my central London workshop - this month I would like to share more about the electroforming course I offer.

This course is running next on the 6 & 7 April 2017, and then again on the 9 & 10 June. The course costs £210 for the 2 day course and this includes all materials.

What is electroforming?
Electroforming is a way of depositing metal particles onto the surface of another item. The process can be used to either entirely coat a master model (eg a wax carving) to create a strong but lightweight metal form (allowing larger scale work than would be practical to cast in solid metal for example), or to add metal highlights onto a non-metallic object.

In my work as an artist / designer, I use electroforming to add contrasting elements, to add metal forms into designs that use other materials as well. For example; I create metal highlights onto hand carved stones, I use electroforming to combine with beadwork or to blend and hold a stone into place on a fabricated metal form.

In this course we will be working with copper - growing copper onto non-metallic objects such as stones, leaves, twigs, glass, ceramic items, gems, and more.

What does the course cover?
The first morning covers preparation and setup -
We start the course with how to prepare objects for electroforming, using sealants and then conductive paints, safe use of these and the key practical considerations for the most successful results.
Once the pieces are prepared, we cover setting up a simple, basic kit that is practical and affordable for electroforming at home or in a small workshop.
The course then takes a break, I run the tanks and check on them every hour over the afternoon and the next morning. It takes a while to grow a substantial layer of metal, so the class continues on the afternoon of the second day.
On the second day we cover working with the completed pieces plus kit storage and maintenance -
We start by going over all the pieces that have been formed - what worked best, what might not have worked so well, and what could have caused this / how to improve it.
We look at refining, finishing and using the formed pieces - what can and can't easily be done with them.
We also cover how to safely store the chemicals and kit and how to maintain the liquid and materials for future use.

I have been making jewellery for well over 20 years and teaching jewellery making for 7, but one of my favourite things to do is to learn more. It may be unexpected, but for me it is vital on many counts and one of the most productive ways to spend my time, and money. The making process is key to my work, and to keep my brain and hands ticking over and my passion and curiosity for it alive, I need to keep challenging myself, moving forward and trying new things. For me, thinking you know it all is when I start to stagnate, get stuck in my own ways, and get boring as an artist/designer, and unhelpful as a teacher. 

There are many ways to learn new things - and I will be adding my perspective on different aspects in future posts, but this one is all about taking classes - as I have spent the last two days as a student, further exploring metal clay.

One of the best ways to learn is in person with an experienced tutor - you have them there in front of you to show you processes, to watch up close, to ask questions, and to chat with. Whether this is in a 1-1 tutorial, in a large group class or anything in between, this is one of my favourite ways to learn new things and challenge myself. In a 1-1 or small group - you get a lot more of the tutors time - it is more intensive and you can go into more detail, but in a group class, you get the alternative benefit of the other students' experiences, ideas and variations on the theme, which can be just as fascinating and helpful as the teachers.

For me taking classes is never about going home with a finished piece of jewellery, the idea or design of the class project doesn't need to appeal, for me, it is about the techniques involved and practicing them to be able to apply them to my own designs and ideas.

Firstly - however much you think you know - in jewellery making there are many different ways of working, different approaches to design, and new tips, tricks and ideas to discover. The more people you meet, the more new ideas you get, and the more different teachers you learn from, the more you can learn, even if you take the same class with 5 different teachers, you will still learn something new each time!

You can end up taking classes and different teachers telling you contradictory things - each teacher is giving you the best of their experience and what works best for them, and this can be confusing, but for me it is a great opportunity - if one way isn't working for you, try doing things a different way - give yourself a new perspective, and then work out what works best for you. So long as it is safe, efficient and gives the desired result, how you get there can take many routes and you get to work out your own!

Jewellery making (if you think outside of traditional fine jewellery, but even just within that) is such a large field in terms of the breadth and depth of skills possible, that you can quite easily study just one aspect all your life and still have questions, or want to improve.

This weekend I have been at Metal Clay Meet Up - working with silver clay. I have been working with silver clay for maybe 9 years, done many classes in it as well as certificates, and for the last few years have been teaching with it myself, but this weekend I got to meet teachers I have not met before and worked with different variations of the clay that I don't normally use, as well as getting the time and opportunity to experiment outside of what I normally do / teach with the clay. The pieces I made over the two days are not particularly impressive, but that was not my goal, I have left with some exciting new ideas for working with the clay, and a renewed fascination for the material itself as well as fresh tips and advice for working with it.

Finally - as a teacher - it is challenging, and great to be 'the other side' of the classroom - it helps me to keep improving my teaching skills. It is a great way to remind myself of the challenges my students are facing - the pressures of being put on the spot to make something , and to think about what can help them to relax and learn, and to experience what works well or not so well from a student perspective.

What are your thoughts on taking classes - do you have a different view? Do share your own ideas and experiences in the comments....

So, I managed a second month - creating / posting a new image every day and this is what my February looked like!
I've got a few favourite images from the month - from 6 and 22 Feb - what are your favourites?!?

For March I've upped the stakes and given myself more of a challenge - each pattern has to be something I've drawn! I'm looking forward to seeing what I come up with!!

Well i love my tools, and I often get questions from students about different tools, so I thought i could share some here.

The next key jewellery making tool I'd like to feature is the humble bead mat. Often overlooked - this is one of the most helpful bits of kit for any work away from the workbench!

A Bead Mat - How does it help?
A bead mat is mostly used when working with beads or other small items - the spongy feel and fine, soft pile to the surface give an ideal surface to help control all those small parts from disappearing off the table. It helps to prevent beads rolling away from you, and gives a defined work surface.

Bead mats are useful when working with; - bead stringing, pearl knotting and stitched beadwork, but also when doing wire work, sorting and packing stock for shows or customers, photography backgrounds, and many other uses...

Bead mats are large enough to use to plan out and design a whole necklace or set of jewellery at once
Bead mats are soft so you can tuck needles or pins into the edge to keep them safe
Bead mats protect delicate items from hard tables or surfaces - you can lay out delicate stones for sorting or planning designs, use it to catch loose ends if you are trimming wires or bits
Cut them down and use to pad delicate items in transit
Lay them into a tray or box, to create a stable mobile workstation
Choose a colour that contrasts with the colour beads or thread you are working with to make it easier to see and work with your beads (especially with stitched beadwork and the tiny seed beads!

Have you got any other key uses for your bead mat/s that you'd like to share?!

I decided it would be fun to start a new challenge for myself this year (and anyone else who fancies watching or joining in) - to try and create or find something new every day for the whole year... 

I am fascinated by patterns and shapes and these are where I find a lot of my inspiration for my jewellery designs, so it seemed logical to do a daily pattern.

The rules I have set myself are primarily just that I must post something every day for the whole of 2017.  The images must be photos I have taken - either as they are, or edited and adapted - but my own, and they must show some sort of repeated or abstract pattern or shape that intrigues me.

Pretty quickly I decided to make these collages of patterns that work together or contrast in some way and i'm really loving some of the images I have come up with. I haven't given myself themes for the months as I rather like the way these patterns are showing an organic sequence of the types of things I have been looking at over the month.

Here is my first collection - my 31 January images - they are quite varied, but they all give something that intrigues and inspired me - hopefully some will inspire you too!