The leaves are turning, the air is crisp, it’s time to get back in the studio and take a class with us!
Make your own Holiday gifts this year in one of our 6-week classes like Intro to Silversmithing , or Intro to Wax Carving
FALL+WINTER 2016 COURSE CATALOG
NR: My favorite musician is Macklemore…I’m more of an audiobook addict since I spend so much time in my studio. My favorite book of late is The Nightingale.
NR: I took a couple of silversmithing courses in college over 20 years ago. I made a really fun ring with lost cast wax that I was proud of at the time.
NR: My recent collection of botanical jewelry has taught me a tremendous amount about complex soldering, how to use heat syncs, how to heat just enough of the surrounding silver for the filler metal to melt perfectly into targeted seams, and how to make the most use of my pick while soldering.
NR: Yes…this one. It’s a larch cone. Soldering on each of the tiny layers presented a challenge.
NR: These poppy seed pods, primarily because it’s easy to explode a sphere while soldering on the additional components.
NR: I can’t say that I have just one favorite artist, but I’ve recently discovered the work of John Grade: http://johngrade.com. I would love to take him out for a glass or two of wine and listen to his story. As an artists, how did he reach where he is today?
Next weekend we’re hosting a super fun Weekend Workshop on Etching!
Saturday + Sunday | Jun 25+26 |11am-5pm | $240 | Register Now!
In this two day weekend workshop students will discover how to create raised patterns in metal without using any special equipment! You’ll learn how to transfer images onto metal to etch a variety designs using a low toxic and safe method. Etching is the process of using chemicals to cut a design or pattern into a metal surface. Etching your own designs into metal is a fun and rewarding way to customize your jewelry!
Class covers a variety of resist processes including ink transfer techniques and free hand solutions. We will also be covering basic metalsmithing techniques like drilling, filing, refining, and a variety of polishing and sealing methods, so this class is open to beginners as well as intermediate and advanced students.
Extra materials will be provided.
We spent a little time in the studio perfecting the technique this week, here’s some fun action shots:
Here’s the pieces after they’ve come out:
And here’s a couple styles of the final products!
This weekend we’re hosting a super fun one day workshop on Salt Casting!
Saturday | Jun 11 |11am-5pm | $179 | Register Now!
Salt Casting is the art of melting metal to its molten form and then pouring it over salt. This creates spontaneous forms and unusual shapes. In this workshop we learn how to recycle metal, create many different alloys, pour metal into different forms, and fabricate jewelry out of the salt cast pieces. Your old jewelry and scraps (gold, silver, copper) can be cast into new and wondrous forms. The salt cast pieces can be made into earrings, pendants, and pins during the workshop. Extra materials will be provided.
We spent a little time in the studio perfecting the technique this week, here’s some fun action shots:
Here’s the pieces after they’ve come out:
And here’s the final products!
Instagram eye candy alert! Enjoy some pictures from our classes and bench time below. Remember to #liloveve and tag us in posts when you’re in the studio!
One of metal’s unique qualities is its ability to be shaped and formed without breaking – its malleability. The hollow ring project demonstrates the fabrication of a shell structure which can only be fabricated using traditional metalsmithing techniques. Join us for our next session of Intro to Silversmithing to learn this technique!
I just caught up with one of our students, Lauren Neumann who was commissioned by a friend to make his engagement ring (don’t worry everyone, I’m posting this post-proposal). Lauren’s taken a few classes with us over the last year. She made this piece during open bench hours and it was so fun helping her & watching it come together. Take a look at how she created this beautiful and special piece….
After her model was finished – she brought it to a caster to get a mold made and and to be cast to 18k yellow gold.
Her settings were soldered on after the casting came back. She brought the ring to a professional stone setter, and he set all of the diamonds.
P.S. She said yes!
Liloveve: What was your inspiration behind this piece?
Lauren: I knew she liked a mix of modern and antique looking type pieces so I researched those type of designs and visited on of her favorite websites and drew inspiration from that and then came up with 12 -15 designs for (my friend) to choose from.
LV: If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
LN: My next place of travel outside the USA would be Greece! I adore Italy so I would love to visit there again. Also Turkey, Tulum in Mexico, Monaco, Paris, all of France … So many places! I love to travel. I always thought Anthony Bourdain had the most amazing job!
LV: What’s the most fun aspect of jewelry design?
LN: Knowing that everything you design and create is your own. I was a handbag designer for 3 years in the corporate world. And honestly I was so disheartened learning how the majority of the design world works these days. Its all knock-offs … or a version of someone else’s design. Granted I would design something but I would use a silhouette from another bag and then email my specs of to our factory in China and they made it. There was always a void in that whole process for me. I never felt like it was truly my design.
LV: What classes have you taken at Liloveve?
LN: Silversmithing & Wax Carving I
LV: What was the most challenging part of this process?
LN: The engineering aspect of it all. Figuring out how to go about building the ring and piecing it together. Luckily I had help from 3 very kind women (Caroline, Carolyn, and Emilie) who are seasoned veterans to help guide me throughout the process.
LV: What was the most fun part of this process?
LN: After I got over the hump of making the 3 rings from scratch and getting them all perfect it became fun because I could see the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. I knew if I had accomplished that feat that the rest of the ring was going to come together and everything from the point on was stress free and fun!!
Liloveve Designer, Caroline Glemann, recently created this gorgeous custom engagement ring. The piece is a vintage-inspired platinum ring with a beautiful center-set saphire stone and mill grain detailing.
Here is a quick portrait of her design process, from start to finish.
She begins with a sketch, which she then translates into a components that are hand sawed and fabricated in silver.
Each silver component is cast in platinum and then assembled.
Finally, once the platinum piece is completed, the mill grain detailing is applied and the saphire stone is set.
The stunning finished piece.
LILOVEVE 