Chains
Many
years ago, when I first started selling my work, I began
describing it as "completely handwrought," but
then one day I looked at the typical, commercial, machine
made chains I'd bought for my pendants and realized I was
not being true to my vision. These handwrought chains are
labors of love, my meditations in action, but well worth
all the effort.
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Roman
Chains
The first
chains I learned to make were Roman (sometimes called loop
in loop or foxtail) chains. These chains were made by the
Egyptians and the Greeks, but for some unknown reason, the
Romans got credit. In this ancient method, each individual
link is fused and formed from fine silver (99.9% pure silver)
or 22K gold and then woven together. A bracelet of the most
basic pattern may have as few as 25 links, a complex necklace
as many as 900. Pictured below are the patterns I use most
often.
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One Way Single
Roman |
One
Way Double Roman |
Two
Way Double Roman |
Original
Chain Patterns (Including Vertebrate and Side Weave Mesh)
Back
in 1997, I began experimenting with my own chain patterns.
I've created several, but my most favorite are the Vertebrate
and the Side Weave Mesh. Both were inspired by the traditional
Roman Side Weave. I wanted to create the look of that pattern
in a more three dimensional and mesh (think chainmaille) designs.
The Vertebrate pattern is formed without the use of any hand
tools. The individual links look like larks head knots, and
when woven together, create a raised braid on the top. I gave
the pattern it's name because the back reminds me of inside
shape of a spine. In creating the side weave mesh, I was trying
to design a wide braid pattern, which seemed unsuccessful
at first until I turned it over and found that what I intended
to be the back was far more interesting. |
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| Vertebrate |
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Side
Weave Mesh |
Woven
(Crochet) Chains
These
chains differ completely from the others in that they are
woven from a continuous wire. They are sometimes called
crochet chains but are actually knitted tubes. Around the
time I first learned to do them, my mother had given me
some tiny freshwater pearls. With no desire to set or string
them, I got the idea to incorporate them into the body of
the woven chains. I weave each loop and add each pearl (or
occasionally gem bead) one at a time to create spiral patterns.
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| Silver
Woven Chain (detail) |
Gold
Woven Chain (detail) | Woven
Necklace, Bracelet, & Earrings |
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