The desire to own and wear, or give, jewellery for personal adornment is as old as civilisation itself. Jewellery-making offers a bottomless well of inspiration to create innovative accessories, precious keepsakes, or valued gifts expressing our love, care, and concern for each other. Sue Lutkenhouse explains two of the most common techniques.
Silversmithing
Silversmithing is the term used for the manipulation of precious metals to create expressions of artistic endeavour, from buttons to jewellery to sculpture. Precious metals can also be used to embellish everyday household items from handles for teacups to candelabras. The range of techniques is broad and flexible allowing artists to explore 3 – dimensional shapes, surface texture, colour, and movement to create objects of beauty and wonder.
Background image: Silver jewellery by Jennifer Payne
Enamelling
Enamelling is the art of melting coloured glass onto a metal surface. Enamelling can create a range of effects determined by the base metal surface (usually Copper or Silver), the range of colours and opacity of the ground glass, the layering of colours and the underlying image the artist is trying to reveal or create. Enamelling is used in jewellery making, to create two dimensional images on copper plate, or to embellish copper cups and bowls and three dimensional sculptures to great effect.
![Jane Willis - Enamel Jane Willis - Enamel](https://northbristolartists.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/JaneWills2020-4-300x300.jpg)
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![A decorative woodturned plate by Robin Goodman. The design features three horn shaped pieces swirling out from the centre. One piece is reddish brown, one is made from blond wood and the third has dark rings that create a 3D ribbed effect, even though the plate surface is smooth and flat.](https://northbristolartists.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RG-plate.jpg)
Woodturning
![Drawings of three male figures placed in a row, one is bent touching the floor, the next is sitting on the floor with his hanmds behind his back and the third is reclining sideways accross the floor, They are loose yet anatomical in style - drawn with drawing pen and black ink line. Each figure has a pale pink watercolour swoosh behind it suggesting the basic movement of the pose. The work is painted on white art paper.](https://northbristolartists.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/KW.-pnklehead-comp-NBA-1-1024x357.jpg)
Life Drawing
![this painting is made up of a series of swirling graphic gestural paint marks. Playful, slightle transparent primary coloured graphic shapes and textures layered accross each other. This is a small painting so in this scan every mark is amplified. Strong gestural swirls of black hold the image together in a revolving unity. By local artist Laurel Smart.](https://northbristolartists.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Laurel-crop-2023-1024x365.jpg)