Barking Dog Jewelry Design Studio
Jewelry
As a specialist in hand forged and woven/braided metal, I use a mixture of traditional silversmith, blacksmith, and goldsmith techniques and equipment to create wearable works of art with meaning, predominately through the use of a modified repousse’ technique I developed in 2002. A second technique, based upon a 15th C. technique is acid etching in sterling silver, copper, bronze, and german silver. Other techniques used include hand forged gold & sterling silver; 14K, 18K gold & sterling silver sand casting, and hand made/hand soldered bracelets & chains in sterling silver & 14K gold. I am a native of North Carolina, trained in historical archaeology, with a subspecialty in metals. I am a trained jeweler and a self taught traditional silversmith.
Most of my tools date from the 18th and 19th C. Many of the tools came from a German Jewish goldsmith who survived the Holocaust and come from the camp where he was imprisoned.
With respect to style, my knowledge base is heavily influenced by historic texts, paintings, etchings, and probate inventories while many of the techniques have been reverse engineered using methods learned as a graduate student in archaeology and museum conservation and restoration. Many of these techniques are based on hours and weeks of trial and error in an attempt to recreate lost techniques. Examples of these techniques include traditional sand casting, shot peening/burnishing, chain link construction, hand forging and folding, chasing, embossing, and metal weaving/braiding. Many of the techniques are similar to traditional blacksmith techniques, albeit slightly different. The result is a unique blend of current and historic metal smithing techniques and design.
From initial design to final polishing, all work is done by hand.
