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Jewellery Designer & Goldsmith Cork

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You are here: Home / Archives for silver sculpture

Alex Ramsay

04.18.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

'Bowl' Silver , Alex Ramsay
'Bowl' Silver , Alex Ramsay

This week I’m taking a look at the silverware of Alex Ramsay. She uses traditional silversmithing techniques along with her stunning contemporary designs to create a range of vessels.

'Nitrate Negative 2' Alex Ramsay, Silver & Glass
'Nitrate Negative 2' Alex Ramsay, Silver & Glass

Her silverware inspired by silver nitrate photography explores the ideas of light and dark, positive and negative in these pairs of vessels. Many of her pieces group together a silver vessel with a hand blown glass vessel. The combination works beautifully each object reflecting different elements of the materials.

I don’t know much about hand blown glass but I think the design here is created by the addition of copper oxide to give these effects of light and dark. The silver vessels area all hand raised with the surface patterns on the glass creating a starting point for each pattern on the metal. She begins by raising the forms of the outside and the inside bowl separately and then transferring the patterns onto the domed silver. These drawn patterns are then painstakingly pierced out of the silver using a traditional silversmiths saw frame.  Once the design has been cut out, the two bowls are soldered together to create these hollow layered vessels.

'Nitrate Negative Series' Alex Ramsay, Silver & Glass
'Nitrate Negative Series' Alex Ramsay, Silver & Glass
'Nitrate Negative 3' Silver, Alex Ramsay
'Nitrate Negative 3' Silver, Alex Ramsay

The double walled technique is used to great effect here to build up the shadow and depth of the silver vessel. It also enhances the play between reflection and shadow. When the silver vessel and the glass vessel are brought together they become a unique pair, each piece balancing and reflecting the other. If you want to see more of this amazing work take a look at her website or she’s also featured in the members gallery of the Contemporary British Silversmiths.

Silver Peaton Pots, Salt & Pepper, Alex Ramsay
Silver Peaton Pots, Salt & Pepper, Alex Ramsay

Categories // Silver Surfing Tags // Alex Ramsay, contemporary British silver, contemporary jewellery, contemporary silverware, Designer, Silver, silver sculpture, silversmith, silversmiths techniques, silversmiths tools

Silver Surfing

02.07.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

Since I’ve started blogging I’ve found some great silversmith-related websites. So rather than keep this all to myself every now and then I’m going to dedicate a post to some of the new and great things I’ve found. Because it’s Monday morning the best name I could come up with was silver surfing! So here’s the first installment…

Elie Hirsch

'Entre Autre', Elie Hirsch, Copper
'Entre Autre', Elie Hirsch, Copper

The first maker I found today was Elie Hirsch. This French silversmith works in a range of metals making large flowing pieces and also has a range of silver jewellery. The sculptural work is mostly made in copper and brass. This is probably down to cost but the warm colours work really well with the organic forms.

'Sofia' Elie Hirsch, Silver Bracelet
'Sofia' Elie Hirsch, Silver Bracelet

Although you can see evidence of the hammer marks the fluidity of the lines creates the impression that these ribbons of metal have simply fallen in these organic shapes. Even in his small pieces of jewellery he achieves the same sense of motion and grace.

Junko Mori

'Spring Fever' Junko Mori, Silver
'Spring Fever' Junko Mori, Silver

Junko Mori is a Japanese silversmith based in Birmingham. As well as making these amazing sea life inspired creations she has a great website that I could click on all day!

'02 Silver Organism Square Spike', Junko Mori, Silver
'02 Silver Organism Square Spike', Junko Mori, Silver

Sarah Denny

Vessel Three, Sarah Denny, Silver
Vessel Three, Sarah Denny, Silver

Sarah Denny’s website is full of images of her hand raised sculptural pieces. Her work as well as being beautifully made really explores the concepts of sculptural vessels. When you first see them the appear to be simple vessels until you look inside and see a whole other aspect to her work. Her website has great photo stories of how the pieces are created that will make you appreciate the work that goes into these complex forms.

Vessel One , Sarah Denny, Silver
Vessel One , Sarah Denny, Silver

Hope that gives you lots to click on this week. If you have any other suggestions of work that I should see, let me know. Happy surfing!

Categories // Silver Surfing Tags // Elie Hirsch, Junko Mori, Sarah Denny, Silver, silver sculpture, Silver Websites, silversmith, silversmiths techniques

Making Maths Beautiful

11.26.2010 by Eileen Moylan //

Don’t worry this isn’t a post about equations and theorems. It’s about what happens when a talented silversmith gets their hands on a big sheet of metal and some maths equations!

Benjamin Storch, Mobius, Copper
Benjamin Storch, Mobius, Copper

This is the work of Welsh based metalsmith Benjamin Storch. He works in sheet silver and other metals to create these amazing flowing forms. The work is based on different mathematical programmes and equations which he often uses to generate ideas. This piece is based on work by the German mathematician August Ferdinand Mobius and what is known as Mobius strip.

The process involves sketching the piece out and then creating a model on the computer. The metal is then cut and formed by hand to create these forms. These curves are created by a complex forming technique know as anticlastic forming, whereby the central surface areas are compressed and the peripheral areas are stretched.

Synclastic Raising
Synclastic Raising
Synclastic Sinking
Synclastic Sinking
Anticlastic Forming
Anticlastic Forming

Apart from the beauty of the work, the really interesting thing about this process is that it can be traced back to Celtic torcs which are now on display in the National Museum. The Irish Silversmith Brian Clarke and American Michael Good did research on the manufacture of these torcs. It just shows the levels of craftsmanship in these early pieces and that anticlastic forming is not new to the silversmithing world.

This was a pleasant surprise for me. I didn’t think when I started looking at Benjamin Storch’s work and maths, I’d end up back with a piece that can be found in the National Museum! I can’t find a decent picture of the torc but I’m planning a trip to the Dublin next week so I’ll pop in and take one.

Benjamin Storch, Copper
Benjamin Storch, Copper

Categories // My Inspirations Tags // Anticlastic forming, Benjamin Storch, National Museum, silver sculpture, silversmith, silversmiths techniques, silversmiths tools

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