If you’re a creative soul with a deep desire to design and create your own jewellery, you’re not alone. There is something wonderful about making things and wearing the fruits of your labour. We sent our reviewer Clifford Brown along to a Silversmithing course at City Lit to learn about the artistic process involved in making a silver ring…

Course: Jewellery- Make a silver ring
Venue: City Lit
When Is It?  Two consecutive Sundays from 10.30am-4.30pm
What You Need: Basic materials provided.  Wear comfortable clothing and bring a sketchbook.

‘Having always enjoyed crafty things, when our editor told me about the silversmithing course at City Lit I jumped at the opportunity to sample it. The course aims to teach people with no previous experience of working with metal how to make a perfectly formed silver ring.

The two-day course runs from 10.30am to 4.30pm on two consecutive Sundays. On the first day our tutor, Melissa, began by explaining a little bit about the course structure and asked us all to introduce ourselves and explain what jewellery making experience we had. I was relieved to discover that most people, like me, were totally new to it.

Tools for the job
After a health and safety walk-though, Melissa showed us the workshop and gave a brief demonstration of jewellers’ tools and equipment. Our working space included three fully equipped rooms: the main room, in which each person had their own work bench and did most of their work; then two side rooms, one for hammering and polishing and the other with equipment for annealing (a heating and cooling process)  and soldering. These smaller rooms were soundproofed, which meant that when we were bashing away with hammers to create our designs the noise didn’t bother the rest  of the class.

From practice to perfection
The first day was spent working with copper, an inexpensive material we used to get a feel for the tools and techniques before using silver. It would be a shame to waste any silver! Each of us was given a small plate of copper, a guillotine, tin snips and a saw and shown different methods of cutting the metal into strips. One strip was to be made into a ring; with the others we were encouraged to try out other techniques and equipment such as hammering patterns, drilling, scribing with miniature electric drills and texturing with rolling mills.

Before we began working on our ring designs, Melissa showed us how to anneal copper, heating up strips with a torch until they were red hot, which makes the metal softer and easier to work once it has cooled. The torches looked a little daunting but it was all fine under Melissa’s watchful eye! When we returned to work on our projects after lunch, we were free to do what we wanted. Some people produced several different rings, while others experimented with cutting designs in copper. The last big step that day was learning to solder, the process of joining strips. I learned that preparation is key; the flatter the sides, the tighter the join.

On day two we started on our silver rings. We were given a strip of silver and began to utlilise our new skills to work the metal and mould it to our specific design. Silver brought new challenges because it is harder to work with and not as forgiving as copper. But all  went well – and everyone ended up with a ring.

When it was all over, I was amazed by (and secretly felt proud of) my finished piece of shiny silver jewellery. If you had shown me the ring at the beginning of the course, I wouldn’t have believed that I would end up creating something so perfect!  Now the only question remains: who do I give the ring to?’

Meet the Tutor: Melissa Hunt
‘Jewellery making initially enabled me to combine small found objects with precious metals to exhibit them and keep them safe. I am now inspired by images of clouds, quilts, dogs and chairs which I reduce, etch on to silver and make into wearable pictures. Teaching at City Lit enables me to pass on various skills to mixed ability groups and spark the passion for jewellery making!’
www.melissahuntjewellery.co.uk