HEARTS, HEARTS AND MORE HEARTS

So, like I mentioned earlier in the week, the new issue of Stringing came out earlier than I expected.  I thought that when it came out there might be some interest in the pendant, so I had planned to have several made in the event that someone might like to buy one.  Well, thankfully, there have been some people interested in purchasing one, and needless to say, since I was clueless about when the magazine came out, I had none ready.  I had some of them that were made in fine silver, but none of the gold ones.  So, guess what I did yesterday?  You got it!  I spent the better part of the day making the pendants themselves, then applying the gold to them.

The gold is applied using a method called Keum Boo.  Keum Boo is an ancient Korean phrase, literally meaning, 'attached gold'.  I learned this technique a few years ago from the great artist and teacher, Celie Fago.  Gold foil or gold paste is applied to silver while heat and pressure are applied.  The result is gold that is bonded on a molecular level to the silver.  After the gold was applied and heated and burnished into the silver, I fused fine silver bails onto the hearts, tumbled them and then patinaed them with liver of sulfur.  I enjoy making these, but they are quite labor intensive and I should have been more prepared.  Oh well, I guess that's just how I roll.