Lily test in silver

I forged the lily shape in silver, starting from a bar ingot. All forming and finishing was done with hammer and anvil/steel block.

It occurred to me as I was working that I have ventured into the domain of the silversmith so I will investigate where skills overlap from the disciplines of the silversmith, goldsmith and blacksmith.

I think the main difference may be that a silversmith would start with sheet metal, cut a basic shape and then form it, where I'm starting with the blank, forging the flat shape and then shaping it.

I would like to bring my hammering techniques up to a point where all finishing is done with a polished hammer face and steel block. Then I'd like to add elements made in a more traditionally jewellery fashion, filling, sanding, setting and polishing to counterbalance the hammered finish.

I'm also going to look at making paper preforms and rolling them to see what exact shape I should be forging toward in the flat stage.

You grow me like an evergreen....

I took some time yesterday to forge a bit of mild steel. I've watched videos where people forge the floral and vegetal details used in ironwork and wanted to get some experiential knowledge of these techniques. It's not as easy as it looks but it's not impossible.

Repeating these patterns on a smaller scale is the next step, as well as practising refining the larger forms.

As to coupling the pieces with poetry, I still want to do that but perhaps use a stanza and concept for an entire range. It feels like too much pressure on one piece to convey the message. Also I found I was getting too zoomed into making everything about one piece. This way, I can make several with the same theme.

The stanza I've chosen for the plant inspired metal forms is from the song Without you I'm nothing by Placebo:

"You grow me like an evergreen, you've never seen the lonely me at all"

I've chosen this line because, unlike their plant cousins, metal flowers do not wither or change once formed, making them evergreen. I also like the idea that without the wearer, the pieces would be lonely and would possibly deteriorate.

I've included some pictures of the process of forging a lily shape, the first test pieces as well as some floral metal work done by the experts.