Now comes the first tricky bit, translating a few lines on a page into a 3D piece of jewellery. I use fine piercing saws to cut out shapes from sheet, and use various methods to change the shape of the sheet, sometimes bending with fingers or with pliers, sometimes using doming tools, sometimes files of varying shapes and sizes, sometimes using hammers, sometimes my rolling mill. Wires come in a wonderfully diverse range of shapes and I use similar techniques to those I use on the sheet to alter the shape and flow of the metal.
So I make my jewellery by constructing; shaping and forming the metal to the shapes I want as I build up the designs. People are amazed at the size of the hammers and files I use!
