General news and information regarding Hammer & Hand in Hobart or Bangalow.

I can hardly look around and not see something – a window, an insect, the curling pages of a book – without thinking….’how fabulous, how could I incorporate that into a piece of jewellery?…’  As you can see by the pieces below, sometimes I just pick that thing up and turn it straight into something to wear, other times it’s more the feeling of it that comes through in the design.

Hope to see you at the pop up shop in Byron c/o Arts Northern Rivers (in the old library building – looking schmick with a new coat of paint and many, many hours of scraping the old one-way film off the windows).

Just a few pictures of some titanium pieces done by Stephen Chick. Steve is in the Hobart shop every Thursday.

Hi there Hammer and Hand world!!!

This is the first time we have used this page so please be kind. 🙂

We have been at Hammer and Hand in Hobart for a little over a year now. It is Steve’s second time after a break of a couple of years (or something like that).

You may hear of Steve as a master of anticlastic work in non precious metals (this is Mya typing) as he mainly works in stainless steel and good old hypoallergenic titanium. Steve may deny being a master, just tell him to shhh.

Hopefully we will figure out how to upload some pictures of Steve’s BEAUTIFUL pieces. We recently acquired a Titanium Anodizer which has opened up a whole new way of looking at titanium (and Mya’s photography skills).

Titanium is naturally a beautiful mild grey colour  which is slightly darker than stainless steel. It can be anodized or heated to a wonderful range of colours, though for some reason it won’t do red and black takes an awful lot of pressure or the addition of another chemical. We work with what is classified as “pure” titanium, Grade 1 or 2, which means that the only other chemical in it is oxygen, this makes it hypoallergenic and the type of thing a hip or knee (even some pace maker cases) may be made from. In short, anyone can wear it. It is also beautifully light weight which means the size of the piece only matters when it comes to its actual size, not its weight so much.

We also work in stainless steel and nickel, with the occasional sterling silver, gold and wood. We do hope to do more in sterling for a certain style Mya mainly works with in the future but are currently content.

Mya mainly works with nickel silver wire in different forms making what she likes to call “chaos”. They are completely free hand and can only be guessed at to what they will  turn out like. Many are similar but without the aid of a video camera and some super human skills they can never be the same.

We try to source out stainless steel and titanium as off cuts or other peoples “rubbish” not only does it keep our costs down, which we transfer to the buyer, but it can give pieces an interesting story. Currently you can guarantee that our titanium has traveled more than we have!

Anyway, enough blabbing on. If you have questions, comments, ideas etc. feel free to comment on here, come in to the shop on Thursdays or contact us on our facebook page.

Now to figure 0ut how to post photo’s!!!

The Blacksmiths… www.facebook.com/pages/Tasmanian-artist-blacksmiths-association/219791951451059?ref=hl mostly of Hobart’s Hammer and Hand, Built this one afternoom at MONA  www.mona.net.au/ as a public performance to a soundscape of digitaly manipulated samples from the forging process…

A few statement rings (mind you don’t take someone’s eye out!), and some delicate little flowers.

A Great exhibition !..including the works of 6 members of Hammer and Hand, Hobart.

Ella Knight

I made some new sterling silver earrings today using the Cuttle Bone Casting technique. There’s lots of cuttle bone on the beaches around Byron Bay and it’s fun to collect. It’s very soft so you can use just about anything to carve designs into it. It’s very resistant to heat so it’s perfect for using as a mold to cast jewellery. Cuttle bone has a beautiful wavy texture that is transferred to the finished item. Here are some pictures of the process…

and here’s the finished earrings…

Sterling Silver Earrings by Julian de Saxe

….and shiny…..and colourful….and ordered….and random….enough about me – here are some earrings!