Hi Everyone!
I have been reading the postings for a while now, and have taken
great interest in the many topics discussed everyday. I am a
self-employed jeweler in Rochster New York. I work mostly in
sterling, copper and PMC. I do an increasing amount of sales from my
website, and that is always exciting. After years of working with a
number of web guys I finally found a great web guy, who allows me to
do the designing, while he focuses on the tech stuff. I had too many
who just wanted to make my website look like all their other
corporate clients.
I have been teaching PMC workshops for the last six years. I just
resently dusted off my bottles of enamels and have been doing some
enameling workshops for kids. (Still remembering my first workshop
when I was 16 or so at Fundy National Park in Canada, and how
excited I got about it.) I also teach general metalsmithing in my
studio on a one-on-one basis.
I have a few enameling questions. I have found a few sources that
say that backing a piece is necessary, and others that don’t. The
pieces I haven’t backed have stood up just as well as the pieces I
didn’t. Is it personal preference, or what? I also have been working
with 24 gauge copper, for small links in bracelets and that seems to
also work out OK, have I just been lucky, or should I be considering
a thicker gauge?
I will be presenting a lecture on marketing at the upcoming PMC
Conference at Purdue July 20-23. Is anyone here going?
In answer to the best tool question, by far and away, my rolling
mill. A vintage one I got as a throw away from RIT, so it is one of
those really heavy duty ones, it’s the first thing my customers
notice when they come into my studio.
And favorite books, well of course, Tim McCreight hands down, but I
was given an old book by a friend. “Jewelry Making and Design” An
illustrated textbook for Teachers, Students of Design and Craft
Workers. A great resource for those of us who love to fabricate
instead of cast. By August Rose, The Davis Press, Worcester, MA,
1946. I am sure it won’t be easy to track down, but I often use the
step by step assignments for my students. It’s interesting to see
how methods have changed in some ways, and how they haven’t.
Thanks for all the useful I have already gleaned, and I
look forward to being an active part of the forum.
Yours Truly,
Elizabeth R. Agte
Jewelry Artist
www.agte.com