This month was a bit of a short month. Well before Greg and I decided to take on the apprenticeship we had scheduled a intermission from mid May to late July. With the time we had available we got to melt some more silver and make a couple trips out of the shop.
Greg and I had lots of fun melting down some gold last month making flat mold ingots. This month we thought we would give a go at melting down some scrap silver to make some wire molds. This was a great refresher in how to use technique in melting silver and pouring into a tiny area with very little room for error. My first try I did not get it hot enough and it clumped up at the top.
The result was a smaller wire ingot wire. Another problem that can result of not pouring fast enough at the right heat can leave a spot that cools fast in the middle. If this happens you can get cracks when rolling it out.
The second poor went much better. It was very hot molten precious metal that moved easy like water in a spoon. Poor went in like butter. Next thing I know silver is bouncing off the top of the ingot mold because it was all full and the remaining silver had no place to go. At first I was surprised and thought something similar to the first time had happened. As we opened it up it was perfection. Learning as I go. Next I took them home and cleaned them up to put through the rolling mill. You can have some jagged edges that would ruin a mill.
We rolled a thinner D wire that is flat on one side and round on the other.This took a fair amount of time. Every 4-5 rolls we would have to anneal it (soften the metal cause rolling it makes it stiff and brittle). Pickle ( Liquid compound to remove flux and oxidation) then clean and dry. Rinse and repeat. We rolled a thin wire and thicker wire that we have yet to use, Most case they can be made for comfortable rings or bracelets depending on size.
Greg made a appointment for us to go visit his friend Fred Shields who owns The Wild Iris which is a beautiful gallery right up the hill from the Haines crew ship dock. Upon entering his gate you are surrounded by a beautiful garden with a walkway leading to a old fort building where his gallery is. The gallery broadcast multiple types of art with all types of beauty. Upon entering you are greeted by a very cheery couple that couldn’t make you feel more welcome as if seeing a old friend.
Fred shows us behind the scenes. He has a great portfolio of all the work he has done. Inspirational stone & gem settings in rings to pendants. He also has a rolling mill where he does all that Greg and I have and more.
Next we went to The Haines Sheldon Museum. Got to see so many incredible works of art. One of which is the main picture. Above is the back of the box. The original box is black from age that darkens over time. So the image on the boxes is practically unrecognizable. One of the workers who has a strong passion for NWC art got permission to take pictures of the box with a infrared lens that made the design recognizable again. Beautiful classical formline to be studied. Not only that but the person responsible came up and talked to us about it and proceeded to give us a tour into the archives that we very much appreciated. Thank you Zack for the amazing tour.
So for now that concludes the third month of my Apprenticeship under Greg Horner. Please come back in a few months after this intermission takes place. Very excited to share what we do next. Until then I hope you all have a very happy start to your summer. With that I leave you with a beautiful picture of the skunk cabbage and ferns that I find to be inspirationally beautiful. You can find these on a nice walk through the CIA trails.
