Brian Clarke
2011 ........ Silversmithing Workshops ........ 2011
"Through the Plasticity of Metal"

This year, 2011, the workshop titles are of a general nature, "Through the Plasticity of Metal". They will cover most of the Silversmithing techniques, relating to hollow forms and Jewellery. The main focus of the Silversmithing workshop is to give students a thorough understanding of how metal can be stretched and compressed.( see illustration below) This is achieved by Raising and Sinking two Hemispheres from the same size disc.The result is quite incredible as one gets from the "Raising" a smaller appearently heavier Hemisphere and from the "Sinking" one gets a larger aparently lighter hemisphere. It is being able to control these two properties of the metal, that enable us to produce vessels of hollow form both "raised and sunk" and to persue techniques like Forging, Chasing, and Anticlastic Raising.