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WIRE
WORKING AND WIRE WRAPPING Working
with wires of different thickness, hardness, shape, color,
materials, strength in fashioning jewelry and other objects
is a very desirable skill. It takes experience with the feel
of wire, how it is shaped, how it's strength can be structurally
enhanced, and how it can be interlinked, interlocked and interconnected
with other wire, with beads, with other materials. This "feel"
will vary a bit with the type of metal. For example, brass
is harder than sterling silver.
There
are two approaches.
The
first is called Wire Work. In wire working, the artist creates
shapes, using various sizes of wire. The artist can create
jewelry findings, such as clasps, headpins and earwires. S/he
can create chains of linked wire shapes. S/he can create unusual
shapes to dangle from earrings, or to embellish pieces as
decorative components. SHAPE is the key word here.
The
second is called Wire Wrap. In wire wrapping, the artist uses
wire to create structural components, then assembles these
into a supporting system. This is similar, though on a micro-scale,
to building and engineering a bridge. The artist might create
a setting for a stone, or a piece of jewelry which depends
on controlling the tensile strength of the wire in some way,
to hold the stone in place, and keep it from popping out.
STRUCTURE is the key word here.
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