the magic of steel and gold
Steel opened a door to freedom of expression in my jewelry creations, allowing me to offer wearable art that is less constrained than that of precious metals. As an artist I am lured by steel into exploring a grittier aspect of jewelry creation, into taking the most humble material and applying vision, design and execution to create art. Fusing gold to steel takes my work to another level entirely. The counterpoint of gold’s golden-yellow glow against the jet black of patinated steel sets off some sort of primal whisper in my head, a voice that murmurs, “Yes, this is it. This is the perfect tension, the ultimate balance.”
I began my jewelry career in 2010, studying under expert jewelers and learning basic metalworking techniques. In 2013 I began studying the steel/gold processes and continued with advanced workshops with the late Chris Nelson, who pioneered fusing gold to steel in the United States. I built on those studies by perfecting additional techniques and processes, including the ancient art of Keum Boo applied to steel, fusing alternative metals and alloys to steel and working with alternative forms of steel such as wire and perforated sheet.
I actively pursue research into working with steel and have published articles on the topic in Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist and MJSA Journal. In addition, for the prestigious Santa Fe Symposium I wrote a paper entitled “Steel Jewelry-Expanding the Horizons of Steel and Gold,” which I presented to the Symposium in 2020. Subsequently, the paper served as a basis for my book Creating Steel Jewelry: Etching, Fusing, Keum Boo, Stainless, Enameling and More published by Artisan Ideas in 2024.
I teach private lessons both online and in my studio, as well as online group workshops. I also offer group workshops in teaching studios throughout the U.S.
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