Last week I spent a few days in Birmingham at a hand raising workshop at the Birmigham School of Jewellery. This was one of there short summer courses which run from May until the end of July.
The course was run by Samantha Chilton. It was a great four days we did lots of work on hand raising and forming. I know four days of hammering metal may not be everyone’s idea of a holiday but I came back refreshed and relaxed!
As I mentioned last week I was also using my time in Birmingham to stock up on some new tools. I wasn’t able to get everything I had wanted but considering the weight of my suitcase I didn’t do too badly!. Here are just some of the tools I brought home.
As we were working in the silversmithing department of the college we also go the opportunity to try out the Bonny Doon hydraulic presses. I had never used these before so was delighted to get the chance to play around with them. I made a simple beaker shape and then decided to put add a step on the design. Alan the technician showed us some amazing tricks on how to get some really impressive forms. I’ll post photos of some of the work I did next week.
After my busy week of in Birmingham it was lovely to get back to the workshop and try out my new tools.