How To Make Finishing Wax For Patinas

I plan to post a regular  piece about a "tip" I've learned for working with metal. This is the first in a series and today, I want to share directions for making finishing wax for any oxidized or patinated metal. I have always used Renaissance Wax which I purchase in small, expensive amounts from a woodworking shop. It isn't readily available in some parts of the USA. So today's tip will show you how to make finishing wax from materials that are easily available.

The first ingredient is beeswax. I found some two ounce cakes of it at our local hardware store.

Cut the beeswax into small chunks (or shred it) and fill a baby food jar with beeswax. This 2 oz. cake will probably fill the jar.

The second ingredient is Turpentine. Just regular old turpentine, again--from the hardware store.

Pour the turpentine over the beeswax to the top of the jar , put the lid on and set it aside.

After a few days, the wax and turpentine will emulsify and you will have a great finishing wax. The jar in this picture holds 4 ounces of beeswax because, obviously, I used what I had and it wasn't a baby food jar! Use a soft cloth to wax the copper bracelet and use another soft cloth to polish it. This recipe was given to us by two instructors at Metals Week so I am confident it will serve you well!

Back To Reality

After the car was unpacked, clothes washed, Etsy orders filled, civic arts classes attended, part time job schedule resolved, I began to ruminate on the experiences of Metals Week.

The Canopied Amphitheater

This picture of the amphitheater outside our classroom reminds me of the unusually peaceful and magical setting of Idyllwild.Yes, I did like to take pictures of the canopies.

Fred Zweig, Harold O'Connor and Teaching Assistant Jamie Kunkle With Yellow Pad. Thank you, Jamie!

The participants were serious about learning and they brought high levels of skill and talent with them. Many of them were "lifers" at Idyllwild and most were experienced metalsmiths. With no more than twelve participants in each class, some of the best artists/instructors, and Teaching Assistants available in each classroom, our learning was maximized.

Three Dimensional Piece and Reticulated Silver

 OK, I promised over a week ago that I would show you some of my work, so here goes. These are absolutely learning exercises for me. The three dimensional piece in upper-left corner was the most difficult and also provided a great learning experience for me. Yes, I know I needed to clean the solder off better but I learned to carve and fold the silver, solder it to a backing, and frame it. I know what I need to do differently and have already begun another.  The other pieces above are reticulated silver, oxidized with Liver of Sulfur. I'm still working on this also.

That's all the self-disclosure I can handle in this post, so I'll show you more--next time!

Culminating Event At Metals Week

No week-long session would be complete without a closing celebration and Idyllwild Metals Week had much to celebrate. Although many participants left to get a jump on the July 4th traffic, the final display of accomplishments for each of the classes was a huge success. Each class displayed samples of student work on tent boards for all to see. I think each of us wished that we could have also participated in other classes and we have ideas for next year. The following pictures show some of the sample student work from this last week. Others are available at http://idyllwildarts2011.shutterfly.com/

Student Work From Fred Zweig's Hinges Class

Student Work From Joanna Gollberg's Rings Class

Student Work From Sandra Noble-Goss's Married Metals and Etching Class

Student Work From Pauline Warg's Setting Small Gems Class

Student Work From Harold O'Connor's Surface Embellishment Class

These samples of work are indicators of the fine work that was accomplished in each of the classes. My apologies to Charity Hall whose students created awesome pins and pendants with sugar enameling. I wasn't able to get close enough to her display table to take pictures as it was very popular.

Do check out the shutterfly pictures of each Metals Week class and also the other art classes that were in session (http://idyllwildarts2011.shutterfly.com). Seldom do so many talented people gather to spend a week with outstanding artist/teachers where they can breathe, talk and submerge themselves in an artistic environment. It was an inspiring week and I am excited about applying what I learned at Idyllwild Metals Week.

Social Time At Idyllwild Metals Week

Wednesday, June 30th was the "peak" of the week and an auction/potluck dinner was scheduled. It came at a point where a little social time was needed after working intensely for four days. Participants and instructors donated tools, class gift certificates and creations for a silent auction which gave us access to some useful and unique items not usually available.  Fred Zweig donated one of his special forging hammers. Harold O'Connor donated his Instructional DVD set, and there were many others. Proceeds from the auction went to Idyllwild Metals Week to support the program. 

Students living in the residence halls purchased items for the potluck as there were no cooking facilities. Teaching Assistants participated also as well as Staff. Some food was ordered delivered, some was prepared by those living in cabins and liquid refreshment was available. Surprisingly, it came together nicely and the food was tasty. Can there ever be too many dips?

We gathered under one of the airy, apparently nylon canopies on campus. It was the first time I had sat under one of them and looked up. When I did, I found a wonderful hypnotizing pattern of lines around a round hole in the top.

The CanopyAt Idyllwild

Harold O'Connor Must Have Liked It Too!

It was a relaxed time to interact with classmates and instructors.

Marjorie and Jill-- Extraordinary Metalsmiths

Metalsmiths Leslie, Marcia and Lola

It was a successful evening of talk, laughter, food and drink!

Day 3 Idyllwild Arts Program, Metals Week

I have lost track of which picture belongs to which day and from the very first day, Harold O'Connor demonstrated his skillful use of his breath controlled torch. So here's a good picture of Harold and his torch. He told us this is a European technique and we could tell he is highly skilled at using it.

Harold O'Connor and His Breath Controlled Torch

Copper Laminated to Silver and Carved

After we tried making a 3-dimensional form and then reticulating silver, we were introduced to making our own bi-metal from copper and silver. Here is an example of copper soldered to silver, run through the rolling mill several times and then carved to show the silver design underneath. The color is a torch patina on the copper.

The natural progression in making bi-metal was 18K gold on silver. The gold is a very thin gauge which is then fused to 12 gauge silver. First the silver is annealed three times to build up a layer of fine silver. Fine silver fuses easier than sterling.

Gold sheet fused to Sterling Silver

The bubbles that are visible may disappear in the rolling mill process. If not, then the artist works with them to create a design.

18K Gold Laminated on Sterling Silver

The result can be stunning-- especially if Harold O'Connor is the artist demonstrating the technique. In between these demonstrations we were cutting, filing, annealing, pickling, and working with the metal to create pieces with carved bi-metal designs. The result was quite satisfying and I will be showing you some of my work tomorrow.

First Days of Surface Embellishment Class

Our first day of Metals Week at Idyllwild Arts Center began with coffee and lots of breakfast. Breakfasts are especially welcome here and give new meaning to the word "break-fast".  After breakfast, Metals Week officially began with orientation in front of the library and an introduction of the instructors.

 Charity Hall, Sandra Noble-Goss, Pauline Warg, Joanna Gollberg,  Fred Zweig, and Harold O'Connor

                

Reticulated Silver

 On the first day Harold O'Connor demonstrated creating design on reticulated silver with a torch.

The picture above is one of Harold O'Connor's demonstration pieces. He made it look very easy. Some of the examples he created were especially awesome. For some reason, when I tried it on the 26 gauge reticulated silver it didn't work as well for me. I don't have the torch control to determine the resulting design. But I am here to learn.

Harold O'Connor's Three Dimensional Formed Silver

This piece is amazing and I have spent three days trying to produce anything remotely similar.
If I finish my piece, I'll post it here and then celebrate. Harold makes it look so easy.

I have more pictures. Many stories and lots to tell you but tonight, I'm going to sleep so I can work on finishing my Three Dimensional Form tomorrow.

On The Road To Idyllwild

Thursday was the big day. The day I gathered my stuff and packed it in the car for the adventurous trip to Idyllwild, CA. I am familiar with Interstate 5 in California and I know the speed limit often gets pushed a bit on this road. Somehow, motorists get in the way if they are really going the speed limit. The crowning glory was the 20 miles of construction between Bakersfield and Los Angeles. The only thing more boring than Interstate 5 is slowing down to 3 miles an hour for construction, not once but twice--maybe three times. I should have taken pictures of the crazy drivers, the crazy signs but I didn't. So I found this one. I wonder what we would do if we were asked to go 50 miles an hour on this highway now?

 Highway Sign Along Interstate #5 Shows the 50 Mile an Hour Limit Imposed by Officials in That State as Well as Oregon before a Federal Order Asked Motorists Throughout the Nation to Slow Down 11/1973

I spent the night in a town I remember as Valencia, California but is mostly Santa Clarita, CA now.
This morning I drove up the Interstate 210 and found it to be much more user friendly than the 5. In places it was even attractive. After another freeway change I got to Banning, CA where I turned onto the road to Idyllwild. This road is special. It goes through beautiful country and in 25 miles it climbs about 6,000 feet then drops down to 5,000 at Idyllwild. It does this with many, many hairpin turns.

                                                             The Flier For Metals Week

Idyllwild did not disappoint me. It is charming and very secluded. My cell phone doesn't work and I have no TV or radio. However, I do have Wi-Fi. Perfect. I checked in, got my room assignment and settled in.

                                                   The Piano Bench at Bowman Hall!

So, goodnight from Idyllwild. I am going to bed in order to be awake tomorrow for the walking, the
talking, and the learning. Also for picture taking!