Society of American Silversmiths

Since yesterday was the 4th of July I decided to have a look across the ocean at American Silversmiths. America has a great history of silversmithing and has lots of societies and organisations dedicated to maintaining this 3000 year old craft. I didn’t know I was part of a 3000 year old club until I found the Society of American Silversmiths website. It’s nice to know they were dealing with the same hammering, forming and soldering problems all those years ago!

When most people think of American silversmiths they probably think of Paul Revere, the country’s best known silversmith. Although he was made famous for his legendary ‘midnight ride’ in the American Revolution and not his silverware!

I’ve picked out a few pieces from some American artists, of course there is lots more amazing work out there but this is just a little taster to celebrate Independence Day.

I found the work of Michel Royston through the Society of American Silversmiths website, where I also spotted the work of Cynthia Eid who’s masterclass I’ll be attending this month. I love Royston’s flatware. Like all the best functional work it is just crying out to be put to use. This ladle which is hand forged is a perfect balance of beauty and function.

The other American silversmith I wanted to talk about Randy Stromsoe. I posted a picture of his workshop last year when I was dreaming of my perfect workspace. I kept meaning to come back to his work but I couldn’t remember his name and figured some day I would stumble across it. When I was doing a bit of Googling for this piece I found him and was reminded why I wanted to revisit his work.

I was looking at the website to see where he is based and discovered he has an exhibition space in Paso Robles, California. Paso Robles is a small town between Los Angeles and San Francisco that is well known for it’s wine. (I think it’s where the film ‘Sideways’ was filmed). Now here’s the weird thing…I’ve been to Paso Robles and I’ve stood in that gallery and I’ve drooled at his beautiful silver. And not until today did I put all of those facts together! When I was California last summer (sorry shameless name drop) we spent two days in Paso Robles sampling some of their amazing wine. After a tiring day of drinking wine we took a walk around the town and found a gallery that was having an exhibition opening. Randy Stromsoe’s work jumped out at me straight away, not only because it was silver but because it was so beautifully made. So there you go, my tribute to the 4th of July resulted in the rediscovery of this silver that had been blurred by a weekend of wine drinking.

I’m in the process of moving my workshop. The initial space I had was a bit too small and it was damp so my tools were in danger of rusting. I’m trying to plan the layout of my new workshop so I can make the best use of the space. As well as being a comfortable place to work it must be laid out to maximise my work speed and avoid safety hazards.

I started by listing all the tools and equipment that I have or plan to get that need to be in this workspace. I went through the equipment deciding where it needs to be positioned for ease of use and any safety hazards that should be considered. For example my soldering area needs to be well ventilated. I then looked at the list of tools deciding how best to store these tools. The hammers and stakes need to be on a stand where each type can be easily identified and accessed.

I had a look at some photos of other silversmiths workshops on the Society of American Silversmiths website. Apart from turning green with envy I got lots of clever ideas on how to store my tools. Here’s a photo of my dream workshop!

You can see from this that apart from an amazingly organised space everything has a place and everything is easy to get at. As you will see this won’t be as much of a problem in my workshop as I have way less tools and space so I’m going for the more minimalist look!

I’ve sketched out some different options because it saves me having to drag heavy equipment around the room trying to decide where everything goes.

Because of the limited space I’m going to make a rack for my hammers that sits between the two legs of my bench. I am also going to put a bar along the side of my bench to hold my pliers like in the photo above. I can put some hooks on the side of the bench to hold my piercing frame and my soldering torch. If you want to see more great photos of his workshop click here.

I know that despite my best intentions to be organised and minimal. Most workshops have the habit of becoming over run with odd useless objects and tools you pick up over time. I love the Workspace series by the photographer Joseph O Holmes. This series of various workspaces proves that eventually regardless of how tidy the person is the space becomes part of you. We’ll have to wait and see how my workshop grows…