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It’s Not Enamel! Illustrative Powder Coating, Tabs, and Rivets
Ready to add color to your jewelry work? Powder coating is a great option if you aren’t ready to invest in an enamel kiln OR if you love enamel but want to learn a new color-application skill!
In this demo-focused virtual workshop we will not be traditionally powder coating but rather sifting on the powder, similar to how you would sift on enamel. Using a toaster oven we will then learn how to cure the powder coat and will additionally investigate how to add multiple layers of powder without over baking. Following the baking process, Brie will demonstrate how to effectively add color, patterns, and illustrations to the powder coated surface using Prismacolor’s, graphite, paint markers, and micron pens – teaching students how to add their own artistic aesthetic to their work. Then, students will look at two options of setting the illustrated metal pieces to create a pair of earrings or a brooch through tab setting and/or riveting. Basic jewelry skills such as sawing and soldering are recommended but not required.
Meet the instructor
Brie Flora is a contemporary jeweler and educator currently living in east Tennessee. Brie is a graduate from Massachusetts College of Art and Design with a dual degree in Metalsmithing & Jewelry and Art Education May 2015. Her wearable jewelry plays with symmetry and consists heavily of line work, negative space, patterns, and color. She pulls elements from nature, fantasy, & fiction to create unique works of wearable art with a minimalist aesthetic balanced with pops of intricate marks and illustrations.
Brie has been featured in over 10 group exhibitions, recently including Touchy Feely at the Baltimore Jewelry Center in Baltimore MD, and HOTDOG! Show Chicago at the Ornament and Object gallery, Chicago IL. She also created and curated the first vol. of “Guidelines – A contemporary jewelry project” that featured works by 15 jewelers and makers including herself. “Guidelines” was on view during Adorned Spaces at the 2019 SNAG Conference in Chicago, and then up for a month-long exhibition at the Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville, TN (for more information go to @guidelines_jewelry on Instagram).
Materials & Tools
The following supplies will be used for course demonstrations and objectives. A suggested item and/or vendor has been provided below for reference. Click the vendor name to be redirected to a page where you can view the item. The quantities needed for each item are listed first. If ordering, please be aware that some items may come in larger quantities than needed for this class. We recommend not opening an item's packaging until the day of the workshop. Student participation during or in-between class sessions is not required - observers are welcome.
Metal/raw materials:
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6"x6" x copper sheet - 24g (Rio Grande)
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6"x6" x brass sheet - 24g (Rio Grande)
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12" x sterling round wire - 18g (Rio Grande)
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8oz x Hotcoat powder coat - white (instructor uses Eastwood)
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Prisma color pencils - your preferred colors (Prisma)
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graphite pencils - 1 min. (Staples)
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Pitt artist pen brush - #101 White (Faber Castell)
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Pitt artist pen brush - your preferred colors (Faber Castell)
Hand tools:
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1 x chain nose pliers (Rio Grande)
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1 x flat nose pliers (Rio Grande)
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1 x snips / flush cutters (Rio Grande)
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1 x jewelers saw (Rio Grande)
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1 x pack saw blades - 2/0 (Rio Grande)
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1 x burlife / bee's wax (Rio Grande)
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1 x bench pin (Rio Grande)
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1 x half round hand file - #2 cut (Rio Grande)
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1 x rotary tool - flex shaft, micro motor, etc. (Rio Grande)
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1 x center punch (Rio Grande)
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1 x scribe (Rio Grande)
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1 x rawhide / plastic mallet (Rio Grande)
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1 x riveting hammer (Rio Grande)
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1 x steel block / steel surface (Rio Grande)
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1 x sheet of sand paper - 220 to 600 grits (Rio Grande)
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1 x 100 mesh sifter - large (Thompson)
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1 x 100 mesh sifter - medium (Thompson)
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1-3 x trivets - sized for your work (Thompson)
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1 x flat or knife polish wheel - fine and medium (Rio Grande)
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1 x cylinder polish wheel - fine and medium (Rio Grande)
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1 x Midas liver of sulfur (Rio Grande)
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1 x Renaissance wax polish (Rio Grande)
Torch setup:
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1 x fireproof area - steel sheet, tiles, etc. (Amazon or Home Depot)
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1 x Solderite™ pad / pan with pumice (Rio Grande or Rio Grande)
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1 x torch - Smith mini, Silversmith, or butane (Rio Grande or Rio Grande)
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1 x #0 or #1 torch tip - if getting Silversmith (Rio Grande)
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1 x striker or lighter - Silversmith system has one (Rio Grande)
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1 x soldering pick (Rio Grande)
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1 x cross lock tweezers (Rio Grande)
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1 x paste flux (Rio Grande)
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1 x copper tongs - for pickle (Rio Grande)
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1 x 6” silver solder - medium (Rio Grande)
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1 x pickle - sodium bisulfate or citric acid (Rio Grande or Amazon)
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1 x crock pot or lidded glass container (Rio Grande or Amazon)
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1 x tempered glass container or sink - for quenching and rinsing
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1 x small brush - for flux
Other/miscellaneous items:
- 1 x convection oven - must go to 400° (Walmart)
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particulate dust mask
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eye protection
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fan / open window, ventilation, or outside
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pencil, pen, paper - for notes