Earrings by Helen 78

When shaping square wire, make sure it stays on thesquare. This means that, as it is being shaped, thelines on the edges of the wire should not turn over.

On the square Off the square

Should one cut end of any of your jumprings be higher than its counterpart, openwide the jaws of your pliers to rest its lowerjaw under the bottom of the ring while youpress down gently on the higher (cut) end ofthe jump ring with the upper jaw. This willforce the higher cut end to align itself flushwith its counterpart.

To open a jump ring, place the jaws of yourchain- or flat-nose pliers next to each cut endand, working in opposite directions, slightlyturn the jaws of one pliers towards you as youturn the other pliers away from you. Workingthe ends of the jump rings in opposite direc-tions ensures that the ring will not become dis-torted. (To close up this ring, simply reversethis movement until the ends meet up flush.)

11 To widen a pre-drilledhole in yourbeads, insert a diamond drill into thechuck of a DremelMiniMite. Allowenough of the drillslength to extendbeyond the chuckto be able to drillthrough half ofthe bead. DONOT USE A 110-VOLT ELEC-TRIC-POWERDRILL.

When drilling beads, hold the bead in place within a pearlvise and submerge the bead in water during the drillingprocess. Move the drill in and out of the bead hole asyou work to widen the hole on one side of the bead andthen turn the vise over to redrill the other half of the beadhole. The bead is ready when your wire can easily passthrough the hole.

If you need only a few jumprings, you can prepare them

using your flush cutters. Coil upa short length of round soft wire.(To make this easier to illustrate,we did this using colour-coated

wire.)

Draw a straight line down thelength of the coil and, with theflush side of your cutter on the

mark, cut the first ring.

Turn your cutters around and, withthe wedged angle of the cutters

covering the cut-off end of the firstring, cut into the second ring

at the mark.

(Turning the cutters over in thisfashion will ensure a straight

cut at the mark and the ends ofeach jump ring will meet up

evenly.)

The first jump ring is ready. Now make the rest.

Hand cutting, opening and closing jump rings

Redrilling bead holes

Keeping wire on the square

Content 2007 - Helen Goga

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MY ENTHUSIASM for wirejewellery has led meon an amazing journey an adventure beyond anyof my expectations.

Looking back, when I firstthought about building afamily-based business withmy daughter, Becky, I hadno idea that a series of

events would lead me to become a professional wire-art jewellerwho felt passionately about promotingour artform with the intent of openingup our market. At that time, my plans wereunassuming and basic. Becky, who workedher way through adversity and obstacles, wasa few years from graduating high school. Knowing how muchcourage that took and how important on-going support would befor her to succeed in her adult life, I began making suggestionsas to how we could team up.

How often have you heard Timing is everything? It was evidentmine was a little off. (One should not suggest a business collaborationto a 17 year old who had just undergone facial reconstruction. Herconcise comment, Mom, get a life. was softly spoken but I heardthe note of finality in her voice.) So I put the idea to rest . . .for the moment.

As graduation became a reality, a new approachwas used. This time, I came prepared. How about allthose we knew who built a family business andworked happily alongside each other? Becky lovedgemology, so what about a business in jewellery? Iproposed to be the front man and, with time(and it wouldnt be long), customers wouldknow who had the real talent and theskills. This time, she believed we couldbuild a business . . . together.

Plans were laid. Leaving a steady pay-check is scary, but leaving a managerial position wasnt. Theday that I absentmindedly sketched an iris and bees all overmy daytimer as yet another difficult and dicey situation had tobe worked out, I knew that what I was doing to pay the bills wassoul destroying and that I was really ready for a change. Themost amazing thing was I hadnt drawn for more than 30years! What I saw in front of me made me realize I had beensquelching my creativity.

Using the same degree of dedication and determination that

worked so well throughout my business career, I taught myselfthe basics of making jewellery from wire. As a wire-artjeweller, I recognized the infinite possibilities fordesign and self-expression. And, without adoubt, drawing helped with designing giving afresh perspective and appreciation for the unlimitedpotential of wire as a medium. This made it easy for me to strivefor a distinctive style that not only reflected my personality butcarried my own unique artistic signature in each piece.

Now I was ready to launch our business. While attending abusiness course, I met Alan and we quickly became inseparable.But, when he began walking into my studio only to tell me howto make jewellery (not such a good idea!), I knew he wasdefinitely too young to retire and that we needed to find himsomething to do. With his background in graphics, editing, anddesk-top publishing, his skills were ideal for publishing some-thing useful. When we formed a partnership with Mavis andSusan Llewellyn to launch The Wire Artist Jeweller, I thought:Thatll keep him busy . . .

Little did I know . . . as the publication grew, so did my involve-ment. This meant pulling back on making and selling jewellery tomanage the magazine. But my passion for wire-art jewelleryremained constant. While this was going on, Becky became an

exceptional chainmaker and we truly were an awesometeam. Seems remarkable that she drew me into herworld of gemstones and I, in turn, helped her discovera hidden talent.

Though The Wire Artist Jeweller is no longerpublished, I am particularly proud of how wehelped build a sense of community for wire-art

jewellers and how that generated interest forwire jewellery in other publications. As artists,

we are more connected than we realize,and our ability to make jewellery from wireis really a celebration of talent and creativty.

Along the way, I have also learned thatfor any one of us to succeed we should under-

stand that art is about commitment, dedication and stick-to-it-iveness. And that it helps to have a sense of humour.

So, how is our family business? Well, Becky still makesbeautiful chains (and goes to university), I still love designingand making wire jewellery, and we still keep Alan busy (andout of trouble which isnt easy!) but, as so many ladies willunderstand, it takes two of us to clean up after him.

In other words: Life is good.

PPuubblliisshheerr,, pphhoottooggrraapphheerr,, wwrriitteerr aanndd,, mmoosstt iimmppoorrttaannttllyy aa wwiirree-aarrtt-jjeewweelllleerryy ddeessiiggnneerr

Helen Goga

Earrings by Helen 5

Content 2007 - Helen Goga

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