Settings for Enamels and More!
Do you have completed enamels piling up that you're ready to turn into jewelry? In this demo-focused virtual workshop, students will learn a variety of setting options and techniques that will help them to creatively and effectively set enamels to create wearable pieces of jewelry. In addition to providing an introduction to settings, variations on the basics will be explored and examples of historic and contemporary settings will be discussed. The techniques that will be covered are also applicable to setting cabochons, found objects, and other alternative materials.
For more information about virtual courses, visit our Virtual Course FAQ page.
Please read the Materials & Tools tab!
Meet the instructor
Marissa Saneholtz makes narrative based jewelry and objects using humor and sarcasm to comment on gender roles in American society. She has been published in several books, including Art Jewelry Today II edited by Jeffery Snyder, Humor in Craft by Brigitte Martin, and Narrative Jewelry: Tales from the Toolbox by Mark Fenn. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally and can be found in multiple collections including the Racine Art Museum, the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC, the Enamel Arts Foundation in Los Angeles, CA, The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock, AR, and the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA.
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 (in red) to be redirected to a page where you can find 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 strongly encouraged but not required - observers are welcome.
Metal/raw materials (note that students can get as much metal as they plan to work with and it can be copper, brass, sterling, or nu-gold):
- copper, sterling, brass, or nu-gold sheet - 20g or 18g (Rio Grande)
- 12" x fine silver bezel wire, 1/8” x 28g or other size (Rio Grande)
- 12" x round, square, or 1/2-round wire - 16g (Rio Grande)
- 1 x #54 drill bit - if using 16g round wire (Rio Grande)
Torch setup:
- 1 x fireproof area - steel sheet, tiles, etc. (Amazon or Home Depot)
- 1 x Solderite™ pad / pan with pumice (Rio Grande or Rio Grande)
- 1 x torch - Smith mini, Silversmith, or butane (Rio Grande or Rio Grande)
- 1 x #0 or #1 torch tip - if getting Silversmith (Rio Grande)
- 1 x striker or lighter - Silversmith system has one (Rio Grande)
- 1 x soldering tweezers (Rio Grande)
- 1 x soldering pick (Rio Grande)
- 1 x paste flux (Rio Grande)
- 1 x copper tongs - for pickle (Rio Grande)
- 1 x 6” silver solder - hard (Rio Grande)
- 1 x 6” silver solder - medium (Rio Grande)
- 1 x pickle - sodium bisulfate or citric acid (Rio Grande or Amazon)
- 1 x crock pot or lidded glass container (Rio Grande or Amazon)
- 1 x tempered glass container or sink - for quenching and rinsing
- 1 x small brush - for flux
Hand tools:
- 1 x round nose pliers (Rio Grande)
- 1 x chain nose pliers (Rio Grande)
- 1 x flat nose pliers (Rio Grande)
- 1 x snips / flush cutters (Rio Grande)
- 1 x jewelers saw (Rio Grande)
- 1 x pack saw blades - 2/0 (Rio Grande)
- 1 x burlife / bee's wax (Rio Grande)
- 1 x bench pin (Rio Grande)
- 1 x half round hand file - #2 cut (Rio Grande)
- 1 x rotary tool - flex shaft, micro motor, etc. (Rio Grande)
- 1 x set of needle files - #2 cut (Rio Grande)
- 1 x scribe (Rio Grande)
- 1 x ring clamp (Rio Grande)
- 1 x small steel ruler (Rio Grande)
- 1 x sheet of sand paper - 220 to 600 grits (Rio Grande)
- 1 x sanding sticks (Rio Grande)
Other/miscellaneous items:
- dust mask
- brass brush or tooth brush - for cleaning metal
- dish soap - for cleaning metal
- eye protection
- towels / rags
- fan and open window - for ventilation