Click on any of the images below to make them larger:
|
You may have noticed pretty much all of my work features an unusual texture. This texture is called reticulation. The short explanation is that reticulation is a heat texture done with a torch on silver or gold - but it takes a deft hand on the torch to get the desired results. Reticulation produces a ridged or ripply surface through controlled heating. Reticulation usually involves heating a sheet of gold or silver alloy up to 10 times to oxidize the copper at the surface, then pickling to remove the oxide and leaving a thin layer of pure metal. This process-called depletion gilding-results in different melting temperatures between the surface and the interior of the sheet. Once the sheet is gilded, it is heated with a torch: The alloy in the interior flows before the surface metal does. The result is that the surface wrinkles, something like the "skin" on hot chocolate-only more appetizing. Click on any of the images below to make them larger:
2 Comments
|
Kate Finley
I started to work on this blog but that dog up there distracted me with his antics. Check back soon though--surely he can't keep this up all day. Archives
October 2015
Categories
All
|