Image via LD Photography
Step right this way... Each month a group of jewelry artists use their blogs to get together online and answer the same question - each in their own way. This month's query is:
What's Your Favorite Metal Technique Related Book?
Okay, let's start the hash marks. How many of us do you think are going to top the list with Tim McCreight's "The Complete Metalsmith"? This book has been the bible for every kind of jeweler since it was first published in 1991. Since that time it has been through a number of revisions and is now available in three versions. The student edition is just as comprehensive as the more recent Pro Plus with very easy to understand descriptions of basic jewelry making techniques along with great diagrams and illustrations. I've had this book since before I really knew what metalsmithing really was and don't think I could create anything without it.
"The Art and Craft of Making Jewelry" by Joanna Gollberg, "Making Metal Beads" by Pauline Warg and "The Metalsmith's Book of Boxes and Lockets" by Tim McCreight are three of my favorite metal making project books. The step by step instructions are very easy to follow and adaptable for metal clay artists as well as being highly do-able for a beginning metal worker.
As far as dedicated metal clay books go, there are just too many in my extensive library to review - and they're each wonderful. I do think that Tammy Powley's new "Picture Yourself Creating Metal Clay Jewelry" is a fabulous choice for makers new to metal clay. It's really more like an encyclopedia than a simple how-to book. Every tip and technique you ever wanted to know about is thoroughly described and illustrated with lovely photos of work by nationally known artists. There's a section on how to set up a workspace, a great gallery and projects suitable for a beginner as well as more advanced projects designed by the afore mentioned well known contributors.
To discover which is your favorite book, I highly recommend a trip to your local library. There are some wonderful books available there that would be very hard to find in the marketplace, out of print must-reads and just released publications to peruse to your heart's delight.
Read about even more great books by visiting the blogs of the other Carny's:
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