Shibuichi, Shakudo, Rokusho - let the experimentation begin!

Fall Class planning for WCCPL.

This gorgeous marriage-of-metal brooch by Susan Rezac uses both shakudo and shibuichi.

This week I've pushed the stack of ring orders to the other side of my desk, and am enjoying planning my fall advanced jewelry class at WCCPL. We'll be playing with the exotic Japanese alloys of shibuichi (a copper/silver alloy) and shakudo (copper/gold), and patinating them with traditional Japanese patinas including rokusho (a secret recipe, imported from Japan). Of course we could alloy these ourselves, but to keep things rolling we'll instead order from Reactive Metals, a wonderfully small and friendly (hi Michelle!) metals supply company in Arizona.
I've got two types of projects planned - one involving marriage of metal, and another using the alloys in bi-metal form. For that unit we'll create volume with shell-forming, fold-forming and anti-clasting, and even carve and etch our creations before applying patinas. I'm looking forward to seeing what my students create! If you are in San Diego and are interested, the class will be Monday afternoons from end of September through mid-December. Register at the WCCPL site.

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