Logo-This is an art page. Look at the pictures
Copyright 2010 - B. de Corbin and Splendid Fish Studio

What's new, Bill?

Last update 4/16/2010

Michigan Witches Ball 2010

I am very excited to be a sponsor for this great event! To find out more about one of Michigan's best parties, click the link above.

All sales are now being handled through my Etsy shop: www.splendidfish.etsy.com
Click on the link above to see what is currently available.
Don't worry, friends, it's still me behind the scenes!

I've added a new section called

Gods, Heroes, and a Couple of Regular Guys:
Corbin's Tall Tales

When I create a new piece
of design work, it often happens that they come, much like a baby with a silver spoon in it's mouth, bearing a story. Unfortunately, when I sell a piece, the story is sometimes lost with it. I've decided to collect these stories into a section all
their own, for your enjoyment.

Enjoy them!

Don't forget to click on the BLUE WORDS anywhere on this site to enter
new worlds of mythic imagination.
Tools to make snakes
Annealing the snakes
Frisky twisted
Frisky the Snake, all done
Both Sterling silver and copper are considered malleable metals, which means that they can be shaped under a forging hammer. However, hammering on them hardens them up (this is referred to as "work hardening") to the point where they will become brittle and break. To soften the metal back to the point where I can continue to hammer it, I have to anneal it - this means heating it to red hot, then dipping it quickly into water to cool it.

The only hard part is that when working with something this small, is that overheating it will cause it to melt, and I end up with a little puddle of liquid silver. Then I have to start over again

Now that the metal is soft again, I can grab Frisky near the head with one pair of pliers, and near the tail with another pair, and twist him.

This hardens the metal up, so I have to anneal it again. Then I can use jewelry pliers to put the bends in.

I polish it up, then dip Frisky into a stinky liquid with the attractive name of "Liver of Sulfur" to darken it, polish off the highlights, and, finally, add the ear hooks.

And there ya go - a pair of Friskys from me to you.

Back

Making Frisky the Snake Earrings

I start out with a piece of 12 gage wire, either sterling silver, or copper, about 2.25 inches long. Using the tiny hammer (notice the penny on the handle), I flatten out Frisky's head. This gives me something to hold on to while I do the rest. Then, I hammer out the round wire into a square shape, so it will show a twist later on when I twist it. Finally, I hammer the end out to a point for the tail. I use a little punch I made out of a ground down nail to punch in the eyes.